Inches to one of the country's bedrock environmental laws if finalized federal agencies would no longer have to consider climate change before approving big projects such as oil pipelines and highways N.P.R.'s Jeff Brady has more the National Environmental Policy Act or Nepa is 50 years old and requires federal agencies to analyze a project's environmental consequences and also gives the public a chance to comment on government decisions for many years now a wide range of industries have complained that the need for a process is time consuming and expensive the changes expected today are designed to streamline that process but environmental groups say the changes would undermine the intent of the law and make it difficult to plan for the effects of climate change court challenges are expected and the changes are unlikely to be made final before the November election Jeff Brady n.p.r. News Puerto Rico continues to be shaken by earthquakes there have been half a dozen already today some with magnitudes greater than 3 a powerful tremor on Tuesday left one person dead several others injured and collapsed many buildings people in Puerto Rico are sleeping in the streets on a cots and under plastic sheeting about half the island's residents still lack electricity. You're listening to n.p.r. News from Washington support for n.p.r. Comes from n.p.r. Stations other contributors include I drive maker of remote p.c. Providing remote access to computers anywhere for remote assistance and featuring remote p.c. Vision and augments a reality support tool learn more at remote p.c. Dot car. Good morning from News I'm Lisa Ray I'm the Atlanta Police Department is shifting its focus away from illegal narcotics as Lisa Hagen reports the a p d says it will disband its narcotics unit and use that manpower to instead focus on violent crime in guns it's not clear yet when members of the 20 person narcotics unit may start being reassigned but the agency says it will be soon in a statement spokesman Carlos Campos told. The department is decentralizing its narcotics unit in recognition that the violence that surrounds this trade should be the focus of the entire department not just one team The move follows on the heels of another policy shift from a.p.t chief Erika shields she announced late last week that her officers will no longer chase suspects fleeing in cars to innocent bystanders were killed in December by a car attempting to get away from officers Lisa Hagan w a b e News Mayor Kesha lands bottoms just a point in a new city contract compliance director that comes after former director Larry Scott was sentenced to 2 years in prison this week Scott pleaded guilty to wire fraud and tax evasion he worked under former Mayor casino reads administration new director Martin Clark will start immediately Lance bottom's has said that she chose Clark because of his history of prioritizing women and minority owned businesses and lettering slow when it comes to the nation's highest paying jobs that's according to the u.s. News and World Reports best jobs in 2020 list the Atlanta Business Chronicles Crystal Edmonson has more if you're looking for a lot of high paying jobs New York San Jose and San Francisco are the places to be in fact San Francisco paid well for most of the jobs on the list 77 positions by comparison metro Atlanta was considered a best paying city for just 4 positions according to u.s. News and World Report Atlanta pays a competitive salary for art directors and health. Gaiters the median salary for those Atlanta based jobs about $100000.00 Meanwhile the best paying job overall according to the list anesthesiologist with an average salary of $267000.00 from the Atlanta Business Chronicle I'm Krista Levinson for w.a.v. . On the next closer look at land a city council member a mere is calling for peace between the u.s. And Iran also our focus on the Georgia voter continues with Fulton County Elections Director Richard parent plus this is the secret room this is where all the yucky stuff ends up Georgia Tech's new research facility and why it's called a living building i'm room Scott closer look today at 190 point one. Ready to watch the best of p.b.s. Any time anyway on nearly any device it's easy with passport now you can watch the latest episodes of p.b.s. News Hour b.b.c. World news and frontline we'll catch up on documentaries and science shows you've missed and when you donate to w.a.b. Eat you can get passport giving you access to more episodes more specials more of what you get passport now and it's been the best of p.b.s. Any time you want any way you are go to w a b e dot org slash passport to start streaming day the Trump administration has informed the United Nations that when it killed Iran's general in a drone strike it was acting in self defense but members of Congress haven't seen evidence of that and according to some lawmakers who were briefed by the White House yesterday they have been instructed not to question the legitimacy of the strike or even ask tough questions about it our next guest was in that closed door briefing and afterwards called it quote insulting and demeaning he is Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah and he joins us now Senator thank you so much for talking with us thank you it's good to be with you you came out and came to the microphones and said it was the worst briefing you have seen on a military issue in your 9 years in the u.s. Senate what how. You know my anger was not about the salon monic health killing it was instead about the possibility of future military action against Iran and it was on that topic that they refused to make any commitment about when whether and under what circumstances it would be necessary for the president or the executive branch of government to come to Congress seeking authorization for the use of military force because Congress has not been able Congress was not given a heads up that the the strike was going to happen again that's right that's right and now I want to be clear with respect to this strike against soul of money that was the arguably lawful I still have questions that remain unanswered on that point I'm going to set that aside Sayah in a moment and I'm going to assume for purposes of this discussion that that may well have been lawful what I'm most concerned about about is about where that goes from here or what comes next is there another strike coming against Iran if so at what point do they need to come to us seeking an authorization for the use of military force the fact that they were unable or unwilling to identify any point at which that would be necessary yesterday was deeply distressing to me what kind of hypotheticals were you putting to them in hopes of understanding when the administration sees a need for congressional authority. As I recall one of my colleagues asked a hypothetical involving the supreme leader of a law or wrong if at that point the United States government decided that it wanted to undertake a strike against him personally recognizing that he could be a threat to the United States would that require authorization for the use of military force the fact that there was nothing but a refusal to answer that question was perhaps the most deeply upsetting thing to me in that meeting I think it was unprofessional inappropriate and reflective of a certain cavalier attitude toward the Constitution to refuse to make a commitment on that front so. The. Reporting has it that you all in that briefing were were outrightly discouraged from asking tough questions that the tone in the room got a little tense when people tried to push Is that correct Well when people asked tough questions it's not so much that we were discouraged from asking them in that context as much as it was we weren't getting direct answers and at one point at least one of the briefers discouraged us even from having a debate on the Senate floor including among other things in the context of a War Powers Act resolution talking about future military action that that might somehow embolden the Iranian regime in future attacks against the United States it wouldn't be helpful I think that is the very kind of advice that is counterproductive and decidedly not helpful and I found that upsetting so they were discouraging debate over a potential war powers act that would limit the president's ability to deploy military force against Iran this is something we should mention House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is bringing a vote on this very kind of resolution today it is my understanding that you were against limiting the president's power in that respect before you went into this briefing and you came out and changed your mind I wouldn't put it quite like that I was undecided as to whether I would be supporting the resolution introduced by Senator Kaine. And amended modified version of that pursuant to amendments that he agreed with me to make yesterday. But you know where do you stand on joining that I'm going to I'm going to join it I'll be supporting it I'll not only be voting for it I'll become a co-sponsor of it as soon as those changes are made I do want to as a member of a sorry interrupt I do want to play a clip of Florida Senator Marco Rubio he and other Republicans had a dramatically different take on the outcome of the briefing it was very well done I think they've done an excellent job of outlining the rationale behind both the decision to go after Solomonic and the response. So to the Iranian attack yesterday now you have said earlier that you you believe in the in the legal justification of the strike but how could Marco Rubio come out of that briefing with such a different opinion than you I think he must have been in a different briefing than I attended I literally find it difficult to imagine how my friend Marco who is smart who listens carefully who cares about these things and how he could emerge from that meeting and say that it was good it was terrible I think it was an unmitigated disaster what kind of dangerous precedent or what kind of precedent rather I shouldn't characterize it what kind of precedent do you think this sets a not a good one it's a precedent that is unfortunately not itself unprecedented we have had many decades now going back 506070 years in which we've been drifting away from this idea and bedded within the Constitution that the power to declare war belongs to of Congress it's enumerated in Article one Section 8 there's a reason for that we want to make sure that the power to put American blood and treasure on the line is given only to that branch of government most accountable to the people at the most regular intervals ours is not a system in which we can be taken into war by the executive and it never should be Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah we appreciate your time thank you sir thank you N.P.R.'s Mara Liasson was listening in to that conversation she joins me now Mara what's your my garments What did you think about the. Well this I have there have been a lot of clashes between the president and his own party on foreign policy even though Republicans are usually in lockstep with him on almost everything else but I have never seen it reach this level of ferocity even if it isn't that widespread other then Senator Lees Senator Paul was also expressed his disappointment in the briefing I don't know how many more Republicans would come forward but this is a pretty big split and as Senator Lee said the clash between the branches about war powers have been going on for a long time Congress has been ceding its constitutional authority to declare war bit by bit to the executive but this is a president who has said that Article 2 of the Constitution lets him do whatever he wants and Mike Lee said he has a cavalier attitude towards Congress others have said it's contemptuous is this going to be a problem for the president who up until now as you have noted has has enjoyed a kind of unanimity among Republicans on the Hill I don't think that the war the War Powers Resolution is going to affect him in the short term 1st of all he seems to be willing to accept the off ramp that Iran was offering doesn't want to escalate and also this is a resolution it's not a law it doesn't have the law N.P.R.'s Mara Liasson with context for us thank you thank you as Australia has been ravaged by one of its worst bushfire seasons in history there is a lot of debate about controlled burns and the role that fire can play in managing fire Aboriginal Australians used fire to manage brush lands and forests long before Britain started sending convicts to the continent in the 1700s N.P.R.'s Jason Beaubien caught up with an Aboriginal teacher who just lost his home and camp to the raging inferno knoll Butler and his wife Trish used to run the Noura going yeah Aboriginal culture and education camp deep. In a forest in New South Wales but last week an inferno swept through their Canyon in front of us of course there that's what's left of a house that was a 2 story I frame house which are built the inferno torched the camp their house and the surrounding woods for miles and once you can see. There's nothing not a single thing left its own absolutely completely destroyed the ground is now covered in powdery ash every tree trunk is charred black some of them still smolder there's not a single green leaf left anywhere so Butler is putting out hay for the kangaroos and chicken feed for the Wallabies Wallabies. Anything Butler has also been burying kangaroos and wallabies that were killed in the blaze but he's seen one large grey kangaroo still alive in the tracks of some wallabies and a few birds have returned Butler and his wife used this place to hold camps and workshops on Aboriginal culture and a program for troubled indigenous use school groups would come to learn about native art history and food fire was a key issue they teach about far in this place is their friend far has been used to bind. This whole continent for native peoples used what they called Cool burns low intensity fires and tended to balance the various plants and trees growing in an area how we balance. By not letting any one thing dominate something else the eucalypt shouldn't be allowed to overrun all the other trees if one tribe starts to take over a grassland if you get burned back Aboriginal people have generations of knowledge about managing the landscape on this continent Butler says but they were ignored by public officials who rely on massive back burns this week the New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner defended the large scale controlled burns firefighters have been using There's been a torrent of criticism over the blazes the clearly frustrated commissioner declare . The burns are necessary to try to cut back the amount of fuel available for the next blaze but Butler says there's clearly a problem fires have been burning since October all across Australia and officials say they could continue to burn for months to play hating destruction nobody can deny never going to say just yet. Australia had its hottest and driest year on record in 2019 Butler puts the blame squarely on humans by his words not respecting Mother Earth mismanaging the land and continuing to burn fossil fuels I think this is a wake up call not only for you but for the rest of the world you cannot just destroy the land you cannot destroy what keeps you annoyed Butler's father told him a long time ago he says that the white man may have to destroy himself in order to save himself and Butler is worried that now that may be coming true. Jason Beaubien n.p.r. News New South Wales Australia. This is n.p.r. News. Support for w a b e comes from Georgia State's Robinson College of Business its executive m.b.a. Program is now ranked the number one m.b.a. Program among public universities in the southeast by the Financial Times classes meet every other week in book Ed for 17 months students can earn a living 6 sigma green belt N.G.'s you certificates in change management data analytics and Fin Tech while earning their m.b.a. Waivers available more at m.b.a. Dot g.s. You dot edu. It is 719 Good morning I'm Lisa Ray I'm 36 degrees in Atlanta and vice president my pin spoke when say about the killing of Iran's top general we are safer today than before President Trump ordered our military to take out Qassam Solomonic Rachel Martin speaks with Representative Adam Smith of Washington chairman of the Armed Services Committee about the tense state of relations between the u.s. And Iran that's coming up in about 10 minutes. Every day N.P.R.'s All Things Considered includes news that keeps you head of the curve if this issue is not for nothing for us to draw a line in the sand what is sure plus the unexpected the skin the neck the heart the making chicken meatballs cooking the card ledge All Things Considered from n.p.r. News every weekday afternoon from 4 to 630 it's All Things Considered here on 90 point one. The high today will near 60 in the back in 2011 crippling snowstorm down 3 to 10 inches of snow across north Georgia was a very unusual cold snap that consisted of 96 hours of below freezing weather many schools and businesses were closed for close to a week 721 on Morning Edition. Support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from visit St Peter Clearwater offering a downtown street near all seen the James Museum of Western and wildlife art and the upcoming Museum of the American Arts and Crafts movement more at visit St Pete Clearwater dot com from the George Lucas Educational Foundation creator of Ed utopia an online resource dedicated to improving the learning experience for America's students with information and strategies about what works in k. Through 12 education learn more at Edutopia dot org And from Drexel University recognizing 100 years of a cooperative education program that prepares students to address the challenges of a changing world more at Drexel dot edu slash ambition can't wait It's Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Rachel Martin and I'm David Greene they are called the one percent the richest of the rich and as income and wealth inequality have grown significantly in this country they've become more of a political economic and social focus we have a new poll out today that breaks down people's views on a number of topics by income and it's pacifically looks at the one percent comparing them to the views of everyone else this telephone polls conducted by n.p.r. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Harvard University's th chance School of Public Health and let's talk about the poll with n.p.r. Political reporter Daniel Kurtz Lavan Hi Daniel Hey David so the poll covers a number of issues but I want to hear about how it isolates the views of the one percent what happened here. Right so this is a really unique poll we have here because usually in a poll we take a sample we ask people questions but that sample of people is usually not big enough to really drill down and see what a small tiny subgroup really like the one percent things by want by definition the one percent is tiny. Right and the one percent is people earning at least somewhere in the ballpark of $500000.00 a year or more so pretty rich people this poll allows us to see how the views of those highest earners differ from people of other income levels because we have enough of them in this poll to look at this well how big are the differences I mean to do people who are making that kind of money have really different views on on some really important topics yes no I want to start here with something that was pretty similar across the board on income inequality itself a majority of respondents overall say it's a very or somewhat serious problem so not too much of a difference there by income but then when you ask people what should be done about it there you see a bigger gap 45 percent of one percenters say it should be a very or a somewhat important priority for the president and Congress to reduce inequality between the rich and the poor that increases as you move down the income spectrum 2 thirds of the lowest earners said should be a priority so a significant difference there now that's perhaps not surprising but it's interesting to be able to actually see with some actual data yeah no I got it totally great what else stood out to you as you went through this so what really stood out to me was when you drill down to party and then break it down by incomes there you have some really interesting gaps by political affiliation and by income so just 15 percent of Republicans who are the very highest earners in that one percent just 15 percent of those say the government should make it a priority to make sure everyone has health insurance but then roughly 3 times as many about half of the lowest income Republicans say it should be a priority so health care has obviously been this. Szell issue and here there is this big divide among actual Republican voters now interestingly when you look at Democrats they're pretty consistent across incomes about 9 in 10 give or take one in 10 Democrats say universal health coverage should be a priority regardless of income. So it sounds like party affiliation doesn't necessarily work the same way when it comes to this smaller subset of Americans right it doesn't necessarily Well if you're breaking it down by income now then again there are some things that of course separate the 2 parties no matter what regardless of whether you're looking at income or not for example clear majorities of Democrats say they believe graduating from college is essential or very important to being economically successful then if you look at Republicans the numbers are much much lower the numbers for them is about 40 percent that's across income so there's a pretty big divide there and it's really issue dependent we see the wealthiest Republicans differ from other Republicans on some issues while Democrats appear to be more aligned at least on some of these pocketbook issues but really on other issues you see this clear worldview difference philosophy difference even cultural difference between the parties interesting stuff n.p.r. Political reporter Daniel Kurtz live in talking about this new poll this morning thanks Danielle thank you there's been deadly violence in Mississippi prisons It happened last week 5 inmates were killed by other inmates advocates say understaffing and constant lock downs are in part to blame the calling on the federal government to investigate the state's corrections department Mississippi Public Broadcasting's Ashley Norwood reports as lawmakers met inside the Mississippi state capitol earlier this week dozens of people rallied outside. The hard. Right Hand of. God only while being black. Advocates from the Southern Poverty Law. Enter in other groups called on the u.s. Justice Department to investigate the inmate on inmate violence in the States prisons Sharon Brown has a family member in custody and told the crowd the situation is bleak is on the country. And heart and it's not Ok. And if they damage these advocates claim Mississippi has the nation's 3rd highest rate of incarceration and a prison staff vacancy rate of nearly 50 percent the average hourly wage of correctional officers in Mississippi is the lowest in the nation outgoing Republican governor Phil Bryant has been fielding questions at recent news events about who's responsible for what's happening in the state's prisons the in the end the ones that take each other's lives in light of the war and fashion weapons medaled in much of the one that they do the damage to the very rooms that they are living in that kind of thinking has angered some in Mississippi and has become an issue in the state capital as lawmakers are back in session this week Democratic State Representative Christopher Bales says the state prison system is in turmoil he says prison officials have warned legislators they need more money to hire guards and pay them better will have to give them the amount of money today need. A 2nd it has to gain control of Prisons Republican senator Bryce Wiggins is a member of the state corrections Committee he agrees the legislature should look at ways to funnel more money into the department but it won't be easy or fast what's going on right now has brought it to the forefront and yes we need to address it and look at ways we can do it but it's not going to be fixed in one year I mean we didn't get here overnight we're not going to get out of it overnight for the past few years Mississippi's correctional spending has declined while it's prison park. Elation has remained almost unchanged reform advocates say that's exactly why they've seen more recent prison lock downs and violence in many of the state's correctional facilities for n.p.r. News I'm Ashley Norwood in Jackson Mississippi. This is n.p.r. News. Support for w a b e comes from Atlanta international school offering a rigorous international baccalaureate curriculum with a Chinese immersion from preschool to grade 5 fluency in the language is not required admission session on January 14th a high school dot org. And 729 glad to have you along a member supported. His choice for n.p.r. a Water main break continues to wreak havoc in grainy Memorial Hospital and it's having an impact on Atlanta as emergency medical network Sam White had reports from the deadly a.b.c. News room but 1st saw the top stories from n.p.r. With Morning Edition on $90.00 to be Atlanta I'm Lisa Ray and then at $730.00. Live from n.p.r. News in Washington I'm Dave Mattingly a resolution meant to limit President Trump's authority to take military action against Iran comes up for a vote today in the house the measure is largely symbolic It follows a u.s. Drone strike in Iraq that killed Iran's top general Qassam solo Monny the trumpet ministration is telling the u.n. That drone strike targeting the Iranian general was an act of self-defense Linda facility has more in a letter to the Security Council u.s. Ambassador to the u.n. Kelly craft said that the u.s. Acted in self-defense and was prepared to take further actions as necessary to protect u.s. Personnel and interests she also said that the u.s. Stands ready to engage without precondition and serious negotiations with Iran to prevent further endangerment of international peace and security despite denials from Iran the head of Ukraine's security council says a missile strike has not been ruled out. Out in the crash of a Ukrainian airliner the Boeing 737800 crashed minutes after taking off from Tehran's main airport killing all 176 people aboard most of the victims were from Iran and Canada Iranian Investigators say the crew of the jet made no radio distress call and was trying to return to the airport when the jet went down the crash occurred hours after Iran fired missiles at 2 bases in Iraq this is n.p.r. News from Washington. Good morning from the newsroom I'm Lisa Raye I am a water main break re Tadic at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta in early December for a time the facility could take no e.r. Patients even now one of the region's largest emergency rooms is at a reduced capacity. Sam Whitehead reports on how that's impacted metro Atlanta submergence the medical network some patients that would have gone to great easy are have ended up here at Piedmont Atlanta hospital and Stead we've seen higher emergency room volumes in December higher in patient volumes in December and lover is chief operating officer at the hospital he says his ers volume in December was up 12 percent from the year before but that it's hard to know if that's because of Grady So wait times are a bit longer and lover may have to bring in more staff if things get busier for now we've really fallen into a pattern now I mean you know when it subsides that'll be great but you know we'll be ready to keep going as long as we need to other area hospitals such as those run by well start and then Emory health care said much the same one thing that has changed more coordination between emergency medical services providers Terence ram Atar is with American Medical Response its ambulances take about 50 patients a day to Grady from to cab and North Fulton County so on each 911 call when the patient is in the back me ambulance and ready to be transported to our paramedics we make a phone call that phone call goes to Grady which tells paramedics which local can take patients Ramit are says that changed to help area paramedics normally operate as help spread out the volume that Grady can't take the hospital runs the call center with support from the Georgia Department of Public Health which also helped Grady secure a 30 bed mobile e.r. In part thanks to a state of emergency declaration Chris Ruston is with the agency the system is working and there's been no major combat. Claims and we'll continue to monitor it until the duration of how long this event last but it's unclear how long the event will last Grady did not respond to questions from. About when it expected to return to normal operations Sam Whitehead. 36 degrees in Atlanta and 734th time. Support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from the Arcus Foundation dedicated to the idea that people can live in harmony with one another and to the natural world learn more about artists and its partners at Arcus Foundation dot org from the Andrew w. Mellon foundation guided by the belief that the arts and humanities are essential to the well being of diverse and democratic societies learn more at Melun dot org And from the William t. Grant foundation at w t Grant Foundation dot org. This is Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Rachel Martin in Washington d.c. And I'm David Greene in Culver City California on Capitol Hill the House is expected to vote today on a resolution to curb president trumps war powers administration officials briefed lawmakers yesterday on the strike that killed Iran's top military leader Qassam saloon money Congressman Adam Smith is a Democrat from Washington state he is chair of the House Armed Services Committee and he joins me this morning to talk through all of this Congressman thanks for taking the time for us thanks for give me the chance I appreciate it so what with this resolution accomplish the resolution basically require the president to get congressional approval before taking military action against Iran. It would do is direct his ability to commit acts of war against Iran and basically reassert the congressional role in in going to war and you're going to support it yes I am and I mean is there any chance of it surviving in the Senate well I will say that there has been bipartisan support for the basic principle that the executive has overreached and not just this president but many presidents have pretty much ignored the congressional role in deciding when to commit our troops to military action there is bipartisan support as we passed a similar amendment to this that was attached to the National Defense authorizing Act last year and it had bipartisan support now it did not survive the Senate Senate Republicans opposed at the White House opposed it but it's not just a Democratic idea that the legislative branch ought to have some say in when we go to war as I've talked to generals actually who feel strongly about this that the country needs to support the military action of our military Well I'm glad you brought up the timeline because it's not just President Trump I mean presidents before him ordered hundreds of drone strikes in the Middle East in Pakistan in Afghanistan in the Horn of Africa I mean what why why now why wasn't this done sooner MUDs. Bits been introduced throughout all that period and people have supported it there have been efforts to rewrite the 2001 a your mouth there have been efforts to repeal the 2000 and want to go out to 2002 a year after Mina number of efforts on this front but they've run into some of the same challenges that this one is going to run into so this is something we've been talking about and pushing for a long time I just want to ask I mean there are members of Congress who say they fully support what the president decided to do with this drone strike the administration has made the argument that there was an imminent threat that sort of money was plotting attacks against the United States if this went into place would it constrain the president from being able to act quickly to prevent what the president sees as an imminent threat one no and that's the interesting thing even the resolution that I mentioned or the piece of legislation that was attached to the defense bill it always has a clear exception for the president's right to act in self defense and then this is a both a necessary element and a flaw without question because it says you know if an attack is imminent if the president feels that his action is necessary to protect American lives then he has the right to act regardless of what's in this resolution or any other resolution now obviously you can see the flaw in that what is an imminent threat what is defense Well that brings up the very situation we're in now you got a briefing from the White House yesterday I presume making the case that he did pose an imminent threat and that this was an act of self-defense did you learn about the rationale the President Trump had to carry this out when the big problem there is what we did and I personally have had conversations with General Milley and Secretary of Defense Marc esper about this and I knew where they were coming from their argument is that they had intel that Iran to sell them on e. Was planning attacks but when you ask Ok well what attacks what what were the targets they didn't know what was the timeline they feel that the time line was days maybe weeks but there was no message that they received or intel that they got that said Ok Iran has a has approved this attack on these sites in this timeline it was just a lot of chatter about targets that they were looking at and the desire on Iran's part to hit those targets some time in the near future so the near future be immediately I mean could could chatter be enough to could be an act of self-defense could be I mean that but that but we were not specifically told there's reasons for this they want to protect their sources and methods you know not not let people know what we know or how we know what more importantly what we would not specifically said Ok here's what we heard here's why we thought it was him and so I think there still is a legitimate question as to how imminent this attack was Chairman Smith thanks much your time really appreciate it thanks for the chance Democrat Adam Smith chairs the House Armed Services Committee I want to bring in n.p.r. National political correspondent Mara Liasson who was listening in to Mara Hello interesting here what struck me in that conversation was that this this is not about a single drone strike I mean this has been a fundamental disagreement between 2 branches of power going back through George w. Bush's days maybe beyond Right yeah maybe beyond Congress has many people think Congress is under reached you know you hear a lot about congressional overreach in this case they haven't passed a new. Authorization to Use Military Force since 2002 and that's been a really long time and certainly when you have divided government it's usually the opposition party in Congress that wants to put some checks on the president but the Constitution does give the sole power to declare war to Congress and so that's why you had not only Democrats in the house pushed. Back against the president with this resolution but you had some Republican senators who felt that the administration has not given them in these briefings a clear enough moral legal constitutional rationale for why they took the strike and they are willing at least 2 of them Mike Lee and Rand Paul to join Democrats and vote for some kind of a restraint on the president going forward 2 senators could could there be more I mean do you think Republicans are ready to do something like this if they believe in it fundamentally but if it could come across to the American public as. A criticism of this specific president yeah that's a good question I don't know the answer to that I do know that in the past even though Republicans in Congress have been in lockstep with the president on almost everything foreign policy is the one thing where they have broken with him on various resolutions whether it's about NATO or Saudi Arabia or Russian sanctions and even if the Senate did join the House and pass this resolution that doesn't have the force of law the president doesn't have to sign it and the president has taken a very very expansive view of his constitutional authority he has said famously that Article 2 allows him to do whatever he wants Congressman Smith very measured I mean even saying he's had he's had conversations with the military with the White House or other Democrats ready to be as measured in the criticism of this president's foreign policy in this moment Well sure because as you said this is a constitutional argument this is going to affect the next Democratic president and this is about how popular will is represented in government this is a long standing constitutional debate n.p.r. National political correspondent Mara Liasson Mara thanks so much as always thank you. This is n.p.r. News. Support for w e b e comes from the law firm of Arnold gold Gregory the real estate attorneys of Arnold Golden State owners developers lenders and investors navigate legal challenges and opportunities Arnold told Gregory. Moore dot com and from Alliance theater presenting maybe happy ending this award winning new musical imagines a bittersweet reawakening to the things that make us human directed by Tony nominee Michael Arden on stage January 21st tickets at Alliance theater dot org. 743 in Good morning I'm Lisa Ray I'm glad to have been along on 90 point one in Atlanta for n.p.r. . The monthly employment report for December will be released tomorrow it will cap off a year of decent job growth coupled with declining unemployment but the numbers might indicate for 2020 that's ahead in the Marketplace Morning Report but 1st a quick travel advisory for you there is a crash I 7585 northbound this is that avenue causing delay its. Support for w e b e comes from the original mattress factory now offering to hand hybrid mattresses both models combine the support of traditional inner spring with the comfort of memory foam available at the Atlanta factory showroom or original mattress dot com and from the Friends School of Atlanta a diverse learning community teaching to the goodness within every child French school is hosting an Open House Saturday January 11th a 10 am more French school Atlanta org. National Weather Service out of peace trees city calling for increasing clouds today with a high near 63 tonight cloudy with a low around 49 looking ahead to Friday cloudy with a high near 63 then. An 80 percent chance for rain Friday night with a law round $59.00 It's Morning Edition and $745.00. Support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from Zoom Zoom offers cloud video conferencing online meetings and a video conference room solution and one plus for featuring digital video and audio with screen sharing account registration and more at Zoom dot us and from c 3 dot a i c 3 dot AI's software enables organizations to use artificial intelligence at enterprise scale solving previously unsolvable business problems learn more at c 3 dot. This is Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm David Greene and I'm Rachel Martin the trumpet ministration is expected to announce sweeping changes to one of the country's most consequential environmental laws today under the proposal federal agencies wouldn't have to consider climate change when approving major new projects like oil pipelines or highways we've got N.P.R.'s Jeff Brady with us to explain Hi Jeff good morning tell us more about this change what it is expected to do yeah this law is called the National Environmental Policy Act It's better known by its acronym Nepa and it's been around for 50 years that requires federal agencies to consider the environmental effects of proposed projects before approving them and it doesn't say that the agency has to choose the least polluting option it just says that they have to think about the environmental consequences and that gives the public the opportunity to see what the government is doing and how it arrives at its decisions and it also gives the public a chance to comment on those decisions and it also gives environmental groups a chance to comment over the years though through a series of court decisions and as some of these issues have become more complicated the process has gotten long up to 6 years that's because some of these big projects you know like a gas pipeline or big highway they have a lot of the environmental consequences to consider Ok so that's what the law is and what it has done previously What's the change about why is it happening now well since these industries have long complained about the time it takes to get through the need for a process that expensive they want these regulations streamlined and that's what the trumpet ministration is proposing to do here some of those groups led by the u.s. Chamber of Commerce have long been working with the administration to rewrite the regulations we haven't seen all the details yet but they're going to come out later this morning and there are some early indications of what they've come up with one big issue is whether an agency has to consider the cumulative environmental effects of a project and think about an oil pipeline under these changes the agency would count only. The environmental effects of building that pipeline environmentalists agency should also have to count all the oil that's flowing through that pipeline they argue that not doing that makes it very difficult to plan a plan for climate change so any time you lift regulations I mean fair to say the industry has been replaced with this change oh yeah from early indications you can definitely say they're very pleased with this they don't like the direction the cases have been heading in courts they've There have been some recent decisions about oil and gas drilling on public land and about pipeline construction where judges have said that agencies must consider climate change during the need for a process that adds all that complication and there's another big change that we're going to see here companies would be allowed to conduct their own environmental reviews Christi gold for us she's with the Center for American Progress and she was an environmental officials around the Obama administration here's what she had to say about that this is clearly a conflict of interest to just say to the company go ahead and tell us what the environmental impacts are going to be Does anyone believe that's actually going to result in information that the public can trust or that we can use in the future to makes wise decisions right self-regulation is always sort of problematic so once these changes are announced what happens then well President Trump he's expected to make this announcement himself at the White House later this morning and there's going to be a public comment period but there's a question about whether the civil ever even take place because there's going to be court challenges and then we don't know if it's going to become finalized before the November election All right N.P.R.'s Jeff Brady on this news today Jeff thank you for explaining it to us we really appreciate it thank you Rachel. This is n.p.r. News. History . What's it mean to be financially independent if your grandmas her majesty the queen Marketplace Morning Report is supported by Carbonite protecting small businesses from ransomware attacks Carbonite helps businesses recover computer files without paying a ransom learn more at Carbonite dot com I'm David Brancaccio in New York 1st it has been an unpredictable week for geopolitics given Iran given Iraq and more but it's possible there is some predictable big news tomorrow the official report on hiring and unemployment for December hits the wire at 8 30 am Eastern tomorrow it's expected to be quite strong yet again Marketplace's Mitchell Hartman has a preview back in 2018 the labor market was on fire fueled by the Trump tax cuts and sky high consumer confidence employers added about $225000.00 new jobs on average every month then in 2019 that slowed to around 180008 month amid rising trade tensions and sluggish global growth still that's well above what's needed to absorb young people entering the workforce here zip recruiter economist Julianne Pollack as we start 2020 we see a job market characterized by remarkably steady job growth but economist Dan north that business and assure you'll are Hermes North America sees some signs of weakness in the job market as the u.s. Economy slows temporary job growth shrunk to 0 and temporary people are usually the ones that stop getting hired 1st plus state unemployment claims have risen over the past few months those so far that hasn't been reflected in the unemployment rate which remains at a 50 year low Mitchell Hartman for Marketplace show we do the numbers and s. And p. Futures are up 3 tenths percent at the moment the Nasdaq is up a future of 4 tenth's percent footsie index in London up half. Sent crude oil down yesterday as the u.s. And Iran seemed to back away from immediate confrontation is a bit is up this morning that price it's up $7.00 tenths of a percent to right at $60.00 a barrel in New York Ok pleasant couple in their thirty's decides to forge a new career path outside the family business is that news well it is when their senior members of Britain's royal family must take a moment to follow the money after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex you know them as Harry and Meghan said they want to make their own way in the world with a view to becoming financially independent by marketplace colleague the B.B.C.'s Victoria Kreg in London is of course following this Victoria Hi David So where do British royals get their money well for Harry and Megan 95 percent of the money they need to carry out their royal duties comes from income that's a lot of it to Harry's dad Prince Charles the other 5 percent they say comes from something called the sovereign grant that's a pool of money that the royal family gets every year it's paid to the queen and is a portion of revenue generated from buildings and land Oh and by the Crown estates Prince Harry also has an inheritance from his mom Princess Diana she left in a state of about $20000000.00 So theoretically he's gotten about half of that and Megan of course has money she made as an actress before she became a royal now can senior royals like Harry and Megan really become financially independent I mean cut themselves off from this gravy train that is the $1000000.00 question so they say they're still going to live in Frogmore cottage which is owned by the Queen so last year it was renovated to the tune of 3000000 dollars that was at a cost to taxpayers it's also kept up with funding from that sovereign grant so they still want to also carry out royal duties which means they won't have to pay for their own travel expenses and other costs associated with those trips the bottom line though here is that Buckingham Palace says nothing has been agreed so far senior members of. Royal Family are not allowed to hold their own jobs so we're not sure what the parameters might be for private work for Harry and Megan for example could make an return to acting would they be able to go on the speaker circuit earn money that way or start up their own private company even all that remains to be seen this is a pretty unprecedented move her right Victoria Cregg marketplace b.b.c. In London thank you my pleasure she's in the B.B.C.'s big news room in London where I've seen there's assigned seating for business reporters for sports reporters and no kidding one whole section labeled royals. Marketplace Morning Report is supported by Newman providing an online evaluation and the tools to help people live healthier lives through behavior change more information at noon and o.o.m. Dot com. And by Fidelity wealth management where advisors work with their clients to develop flexible investment strategies that evolve as their needs change that ality dot com slash wealth to delegate brokerage services Alcee electric cars are a burgeoning business with there's still just one and a half percent of total passenger vehicle sales in the u.s. What might increase that are more places to plug in and charge who carpenter has the story Mallory bass lives in l.a. And drives a mini cooper that runs on gas the when her lease is up in early 2021 shell consider an electric car I like that it's good for the environment. That I weighed it spends less money on gas but she doesn't like i worry about her finding a place to charge that the vehicle when you buy a gas powered car you don't ask how many miles I'm going to take a guess Chad Baulch the spokesman for Chevrolet but anybody that's your 1st question How far can I go before I run out of battery and what happens when I do Chevrolet makes the all electric Bolt says charging infrastructure is important for . Drivers peace of mind right now there are 76000 public charging station outlets in the country according to the alternative fuels data center compared with 168000 stations that serve gas we're improving the infrastructure but we're not where we need to be Kevin Roberts is a senior mobility analyst with a global consultancy firm easy why it surveyed u.s. Consumers and found more than half in Evie due to a lack of charging stations ranging Saudis a major concern for most consumers. Public Chargers are operated by a handful of companies crane lots ego and a new player electrify America folks who are going created the subsidiary as part of its u.s. Department of Justice emission settlement that requires feet of you to spend $2000000000.00 on charging infrastructure Brendan Jones's with electrify America he says by the end of 2021 it plans to install $3500.00 high speed Chargers nationwide you can get 20 miles in a minute on that charge Mallory bass will be on the lookout for more charging stations over the next year while deciding on a new car maybe I'll do the research and go for an electric car. Maybe there will be more charging stations because seeing more Chargers might tip the balance on what she decides to drive in Los Angeles I'm Sue carpenter for Marketplace. The Marketplace Morning Report from a.p.m. American Public Media. Support for Marketplace comes from Emory University's course what a business school and its number one ranked evening m.b.a. In Atlanta your life keeps moving forward your career should learn more at. Evening and from Scott antique markets held the 2nd weekend of every month at the Atlanta Expo centers you can help preserve artifacts culture and shop from 3500 exhibitor booths Scott antique markets com. Always good to have you here today good morning I'm Lisa Marie I'm here with us on 9018 plants currently 37 degrees in Atlanta Fulton County district attorney's office is celebrating the creation of the Conviction Integrity Unit sense dot reports from the deadly avian is here I'm stating from the latest from. N.p.r. It's a damn. Good morning Iran's ambassador to the u.n. Tells n.p.r. His country is done retaliating for the killing of its top military leader but he said he can't take responsibility for what pro Iranian militias might do It's Morning Edition from n.p.r. News. Iran could also deploy its cyber arsenal I'm David Greene and I'm Rachel Martin Homeland Security officials are concerned about the Iranian threat to American cyberspace this hour will consider the u.s. Might be vulnerable. To wage growth last year happened at the bottom of the economic ladder will explore why and emotional scene in an Arizona courtroom where a man was sentence for killing a Border Patrol agent It's Thursday January 9th Kate Middleton Cambridge turns 30 years old today. Is next. Line from n.p.r. News in Washington I'm core of a Coleman House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House will vote today on a resolution intended to limit president trumps military action against Iran N.P.R.'s Susan Davis reports members of Congress have raised concerns about the president's decision to engage in hostilities towards Iran without consulting Congress the resolution is an outlet to express that frustration it sponsored by Michigan Democrat Alyssa Slotkin and it says the president can't engage in military actions towards Iran without expressed approval from Congress unless there's an imminent threat to national security it's also symbolic The resolution has no force of law and does not require presidential signature Democrats could have put forward a more binding resolution but they chose not to continuing in a stablished record of Congress declining to call back war making powers from the presidency Susan Davis n.p.r. News Washington a humanitarian crisis is looming in northwest Syria hours before a crucial deadline that the United Nations the u.n. Is weighing whether to reprove cross border aid to civilians trapped by War N.P.R.'s Deborah Amos reports aid agencies are raising the alarm more than $4000000.00 Syrians depend on aid to survive the need made more acute by relentless winter rains and cold David Miliband president of the u.s. Based International Rescue Committee published an open letter urging the u.n. To renew the program the i.r.c. Serves more than a 1000000 Syrians across the country in December Russia and China vetoed approval for the u.n. Program for the 1st time in 5 years without a vote the program is set.