Autism and Tylenol, Jimmy Kimmel Returns, Trump At The UN

0:01President Trump says this about Tylenol. Taking Tylenol is not good. I'll say it. It's not good. He linked it to autism, but the science does not prove that claim. I'm Leila Faudel, that's Michelle Martin, and this is Up First from NPR News. Jimmy Kimmel will be back on some ABC channels tonight. But the broadcaster that owns the largest number of affiliates says it won't air the Late Night Comedians program. And President Trump will address world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly today. I'm going to meet with a lot of the leaders at the U.S. We want to probably 20. Everybody wants to be put on one person.

0:43He speaks as more and more U.S. allies recognize a Palestinian sovereign state. It's a position the U.S. refuses to take. Stay with us. We'll give you news you need to start your day.

0:59This message comes from BetterHelp. President Fernando Madeira describes how BetterHelp Online Therapy has helped him. For me, sometimes I just need to go and talk to somebody that is not going to judge me, right? Is going to be there and going to listen to me. And I can start just saying, look, I'm not feeling right today. And it feels natural. I love it. To get matched with a therapist, visit BetterHelp.com slash NPR for 10 % off your first month. This message comes from AT &T. Whether you're calling your parents to say happy anniversary or checking in with your kids before bedtime, staying connected matters.

1:40That's why AT &T has connectivity you can depend on, or they'll proactively make it right. That's the AT &T guarantee. Terms and conditions apply. Visit att.com slash guarantee to learn more. AT &T Connecting changes everything. President Trump blamed the active ingredient in Tylenol for causing autism, and he especially warned pregnant women to avoid the drug. Science, though, doesn't back him up. And you shouldn't take it during the entire pregnancy. They may tell you that toward the end of the pregnancy, you shouldn't take it during the entire. And you shouldn't give the child the Tylenol every time he goes.

2:16He's born and he goes and has a shot. Trump also suggested that a cancer drug might relieve some symptoms of autism, And he repeated a favorite talking point that vaccines are harming children. Joining me now to break down the president's advice is NPR science correspondent John Hamilton, who's with me in the studio. Good morning, John. Good morning to you. So first, exactly how does the president expect to get people to go along with these recommendations? Largely through changing the labels on these drugs and also changing payment policies. So for acetaminophen, that's the active ingredient in Tylenol, Trump said the Food and Drug Administration will now require the label to warn pregnant women about a risk of autism.

2:57The FDA, however, later issued a statement that was a bit less strident than the president's remarks that we just heard. It says the pain drug may be associated with an increased risk, and it said it was reasonable for pregnant women to take acetaminophen in certain scenarios. As for the cancer drug, which is a form of vitamin B, the label will now list autism as one of the approved uses. And Trump says Medicaid will now cover it for this purpose. It is worth noting that there has been no formal process for any of this, like an FDA hearing, and they are making the labeling changes anyway. Okay, so we heard that the science doesn't back it up.

3:30There's been no formal process. So to say the least, this is controversial advice. Is there good science at all supporting either of these recommendations? Well, let's start with the cancer drug. which is called leucovorin or folinic acid. It seems to help get a form of vitamin B into the brain. But it's not clear how many people with autism actually have a deficiency of that vitamin in their brains. And there are really only anecdotal reports that the drug reduces the symptoms of autism. And what about Tylenol? There is some evidence, but it's not the sort that federal agencies usually require before making recommendations.

4:05The government likes a randomized controlled trial studying something showing cause and effect. What they've got here is some studies of pregnant women that found a potential association between taking acetaminophen during pregnancy and an increased likelihood that a child would later be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Other studies, though, have not found this association. and the reason for these inconsistent results may have to do with a person's genes, which are far and away the most powerful predictor of autism. I spoke with Jonathan Sabud. He's a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego.

4:41There have been a number of more recent studies of acetaminophen that actually account for familial genetic factors. So they look at siblings and other first-degree relatives. And when you do that, the correlation with acetaminophen really weakens. Are there any credible scientists, John, who think Tylenol might contribute to autism? There are some, but they generally disagree with Trump on vaccines, and they are a lot more measured in how they express the risk from acetaminophen. I spoke with Ann Bauer, an epidemiologist at the University of Massachusetts. The case is closed on vaccines. The case is still open on acetaminophen.

5:21Bauer says women should know about the potential risk, but she says they should also know that there is still a lot of uncertainty about that risk. NPR Health correspondent John Hamilton. Thank you, John. You're welcome.

5:39Jimmy Kimmel Live will be back on the air tonight, nearly a week after the late night show was pulled off the air. During his monologue last week, Kimmel made fun of Trump's reaction to the Charlie Kirk killing and accused MAGA of using his death to score political points. The chair of the Federal Communications Commission made what seemed to be a public threat to ABC over the comments, and some affiliates urged the corporation to do something. Kimmel's show was yanked. Now the show is back on, but not everywhere. Joining us to talk about all the back and forth is NPR's Madalit del Barco, who is with us from Los Angeles.

6:12Good morning, Madalit. Good morning. So for people who might not know, the Walt Disney Company owns ABC. So what did Disney say about putting Kimmel's show back on the air? Yeah, the Walt Disney Company said in a statement that it originally suspended the show because they felt some of Jimmy Kimmel's comments were, quote, ill-timed and insensitive. And they wanted to, in their words, avoid further inflaming a tense situation and an emotional moment for our country. But after days of thoughtful conversations with Kimmel, Disney decided to return the show on air. But, you know, even so, one of the larger broadcast affiliate owners, Sinclair, says it will not air Jimmy Kimmel Live on its ABC stations in 30 markets.

6:54That means the show will be unavailable to viewers in many parts of the country, mostly in the South and the Midwest. And for now, at least Sinclair will replace Jimmy Kimmel Live with news programming. You know, people may remember that President Trump had celebrated the decision to suspend Kimmel Show, and the chair of the FCC, Brendan Carr, reportedly threatened affiliates that he might take their licenses or fine them if they kept it on the air. But yesterday, apparently he had a different message? Yeah, so last week, Carr was on a podcast saying that pulling Kimmel off the air could be done the easy way or the hard way.

7:30But yesterday, Carr said that those comments were not meant as a threat to ABC affiliates. And on his ex-account, he posted what he said at a Global Affairs Forum called the Concordia Summit. The reality is there's a lot of Democrats out there that are engaged in a campaign of projection and distortion. And distortion is they're completely misrepresenting the work of the FCC and what we've been doing. You know, Anna Gomez, the only Democrat on the FCC, had said Kimmel's suspension was an alarming attack on the First Amendment. She celebrated Kimmel's return and she thanked Americans from across the ideological spectrum for speaking out.

8:07So, Madalee, what about other reaction, you know, elsewhere to the news about Kimmel? Yeah, before the show was reinstated yesterday, nearly 500 entertainers, that include Pedro Pascal, Selena Gomez, and Olivia Rodrigo, had signed an open letter asking for Kimmel's return. Protesters around the country, including some conservatives, had been worried about what taking the show off the air meant for free speech in this country. And Kimmel's fellow late-night hosts had backed him up. Last night, Jon Stewart celebrated the news of his return, and he asked President Trump's defenders to join in fighting for the Constitutional Republic.

8:42In his monologue, Stephen Colbert cheered, saying, our long national late nightmare is over. Jimmy Kimmel Live will return to air on ABC tomorrow, Tuesday night. Come on!

8:59Yes, sir! As well as you should be. This is, I just couldn't, this is wonderful news from my dear friend Jimmy and his amazing staff. Thank you for the show. So Colbert, whose show is being canceled by CBS, joked that he's once again the only martyr in late night. And now many people are waiting to see what Jimmy Kimmel has to say when he returns later today. That is NPS Maderley Till Barker. Maderley, thank you. Thank you.

9:34President Trump is in New York this morning, where he will address world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly and meet privately with some in the afternoon. I'm going to meet with a lot of the leaders at the U.N., probably 20. Everybody wants to be, but I'm one person. This comes as Trump is finding the U.S. increasingly isolated at the U.N., where there is a growing push to recognize a Palestinian state. Here to tell us more about all this is White House correspondent Franco Ordonez Franco, Good morning. Good morning, Michelle. So how is this move by the UK and Canada and others to recognize a Palestinian state having an impact?

10:10I mean, well, it really kind of boxes them out. I mean, those leaders want to put more pressure on Israel to end its attacks on Gaza. But Trump sees this as a mistake and says the leaders, like others, are rewarding Hamas. He wants the hostages released first. And this morning, he's going to press allies to take more action. So we just heard the president say he's going to meet with a lot of leaders. Who is he meeting with? Yeah, he's got a big group meeting today with eight allies from the Middle East and Muslim world, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia. He's also got one-on-one meetings scheduled with the leaders of Ukraine, Argentina, and the European Union.

10:48And I expect him here to talk about how the war in Ukraine continues to frustrate him. And I'll be very interested to see if that frustration manifests itself into action. because he's threatened tougher sanctions on Russia, but he's always or often backed off saying Europe needs to do more first. Speaking of Russia, as we've been reporting, Putin continues to test NATO allies. Three Russian jets were intercepted flying into Estonia's airspace on Friday. Any sense of how that is going to play out this week in New York? Yeah, I mean, NATO has really, really struggled to come up with a proper response to those incursions.

11:24Estonia actually called an emergency meeting at the U.N. Security Council to talk about it. And analysts I speak with warn that allies actually risk emboldening Russia if they don't take strong action and soon. So I'll be watching, see how Trump addresses that. So say a little bit about Trump's relationship with the U.N. Yeah, I mean, he's really never had much use for the U.N. I mean, he cut U.S. funding for the body earlier this year. He's long questioned the usefulness of these group talks, these group diplomatic talks. And he really, really likes negotiating one on one. And I think we'll hear more about his feelings about the U.N.

11:59in this speech. The White House says that part of this speech this morning will center on the problems with what they called globalist institutions and how they have, quote, decayed the world order. And what is he planning to do after all these meetings? Yeah, I mean, this is really the start of a busy week of foreign affairs. On Thursday, back at the White House, he's going to be meeting with President Erdogan of Turkey. They're expected to talk trade, but I'll be interested to see how much Russia is discussed. Turkey is obviously a NATO member and one of the biggest buyers of Russian oil. So I'll be listening to see if Trump puts more pressure on Erdogan to stop buying oil as he has other NATO countries.

12:38And next week, Trump is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And I think you can expect Trump and Netanyahu to together push back against this international pressure for Palestinian statehood. That is White House correspondent Franco Ordonez Franco. Thank you. Thank you, Michelle.

12:57And that's Up First for Tuesday, September 23rd. I'm Michelle Martin. And I'm Leila Faldil. The NPR Network includes the work we do here at NPR and the work of reporters at stations across the country. Support that reporting at donate.npr.org slash Up First. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Amina Khan, Kevin Drew, Roberta Rampton, Mohamed Elbardisi, and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Zian Bunch, Anna Perez, and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Zach Coleman, and our technical director is Carly Strange. We hope you'll join us again tomorrow.

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