Francis Parker dot org slash open house. It's 7 o'clock. Good morning President. Series of tweets targets old and new today is Monday December 4th This is Morning Edition. From question the F.B.I.'s direction and retreated a post saying the new f.b.i. Director needs to clean house in San Diego a signature drive in support of. That. Also coming up on Morning Edition an update on the nation's longest court case ever which is taking place at Guantanamo Bay That story is just ahead in the San Diego forecast we're expecting plenty of Santa Ana winds today along with high ranging from the sixty's along the coast to the seventy's in the desert news next. Ly from n.p.r. News in Washington one corps of a Coleman president said this morning he feels very badly for his former national security adviser who pleaded guilty last week to lying to the f.b.i. N.P.R.'s Scott Horsley reports Trump spoke to reporters before leaving the White House enroute to USACA Trump defended his former national security adviser saying Michael Flynn has led what he called a very strong life in his guilty plea last week Flynn acknowledged misrepresenting his contacts with Russia's ambassador during the presidential transition although Trump himself fired Flynn after those misstatements became public he accused federal prosecutors of acting unfairly Hillary Clinton lied many times to the f.b.i. Nothing happened Hillary Clinton lied and they destroyed his life I think it's a trap offered no evidence for his claim that Clinton a lot of the f.b.i. In her 2016 interview Scott Horsley n.p.r. News Washington President Trump is traveling to Utah he's expected to announce his administration will dramatically shrink 2 large national monuments that had set aside hundreds of thousands of acres of public land for special protection N.P.R.'s Kirk Siegler has more the 2 monuments President Trump is likely to reduce or the grand staircase Escalante near the Grand Canyon designated by President Clinton in the ninety's and bears years national monument created by President Obama shortly before he left office much of the land in and around bears years is considered sacred to Native Americans federal law is gray when it comes to whether Trump even has the authority to shrink or abolish large national monuments like these if he's successful This would mark one of the largest ever removals of public land protections in u.s. History Kirk Siegler n.p.r. News Salt Lake City the u.s. And South Korea are carrying out 5 days of joint air force drills in South Korea tension remains high with North Korea N.P.R.'s Healy's he reports from Seoul the drills include American stealth fighter jets who have flown over the Korean. Insula the exercise dubbed vigilant includes $12000.00 military personnel $230.00 aircraft and 2 dozen stealth fighter jets North Korea warned that the drills are an all out provocation the South Korean military says the exercises were planned long before last week's test launch by North Korea of its most powerful missile yet N.P.R.'s. Drugstore chain c.v.s. Wants to buy insurance company Aetna for $69000000000.00 If the merger is approved it could be one of the largest health care combinations ever c.v.s. And Aetna say they want to create community based health care clinics in c.b.s. Stores for basic health care they say it will cut health care costs consumer advocates worry patients could lose choices and may be forced to buy prescriptions at c.v.s. On Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up more than one percent of $24519.00 You're listening to n.p.r. Support for n.p.r. Comes from n.p.r. Stations other contributors include log me in makers of Go To Meeting a collaborative meeting platform committed to helping get work done in today's modern workforce learn more at Go To Meeting dot com and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Good morning It's Morning Edition alloca p.b.s. I'm Deb Welsh the petition drive is key to unlocking San Diego State University's access to the city's Mission Valley Stadium site is moving forward k.p.s. Reporter Eric Anderson has details friends of s.t.s. You hope to collect more than 71000 valid signatures in support of s.d.s. You were asked that measure clears the way for s.t.s. You to buy the city owned land and build an annex to its campus steering committee member Steve Doyle says the 5 week old drive is close to hitting its goal of more than $100000.00 signatures we are looking for some middle of our signed petitions at the end of this month and we are well on our way to get there on track to meet those numbers without any problem rival developers fs investors already have their initiative on the November ballot Soccer City backers say they're legally binding measure users no public money or they say s.t.s. You West's plan doesn't offer those same binding commitments Eric Anderson k p b s News San Diego State University's football team has been invited to play in the armed forces Bowl later this month in Fort Worth Texas on Friday the 23rd the Aztecs will take on army a team they've beaten twice in 2 meetings including the last time they played in 2012 as she finished the season with 10 wins and 2 losses including victories over Pac 12 schools Arizona State in Stanford Meanwhile Holiday Bowl here in San Diego will feature Washington state from the Pac 12 taking on Michigan State from the Big 10 the 40th Annual Holiday Bowl is set for December 28th at the San Diego County Credit Union stadium in Mission Valley It's 7 o 6 Monday morning traffic time here's Tory Pac it's been a busy went out of the South Bay both freeways the north 5 from me and a downtown across are the 94th cleared out west 94 that's backed up behind the 5 out of Oak Park and North 15th been slow out of City Heights to Friar's there's a crash on the south by. 15 as you head towards the 5 trying to move out of lanes but a pretty good backup behind at Africa ports made possible by the 10th annual San Diego pottery tour this weekend self guided tour of studios throughout San Diego information that s.t. Pottery Tour dot com for k. P.b.s. I'm Terry Pak areas of coastal low clouds and fog of the ill and valleys clearing from north to south this morning later in the day periods of moderate to strong Santa Ana winds and we can expect those through Thursday the strongest most widespread winds are expected for late tonight into Tuesday This is Morning Edition i k p b s where news matters. P.b.s. Is supported by the family owned and operated Ace Hardware stores in San Diego is can be your connection for holiday decoration and lighting needs with knowledgeable in experience customer service staff ace the helpful place location info it hardware dot com The San Diego Foundation helping to maximize the impact of charitable giving for San Diego including families and businesses learn how you can establish a donor advised fund and leave a legacy for your community at Estee Foundation dot org This is 89.5 f.m. Key p.b.s. San Diego. It's Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Rachel Martin and I'm Steve Inskeep So what will a Republican tax bill really do to this country well depends on just what the bill says the House and Senate have passed different versions which they now try to merge but it's never too early to predict good things Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was on c.b.s. I think this coupled with the with the regulatory relief the administration has been providing for the reasons they're commies beginning to pick up consumer confidence is up I don't want to read too much into quarterly girls rights but we've had to quietly rolled right in a row of 3 percent growth I think that's going to get the country growing again a couple of economists have their own opinions economists with opinions Jared Bernstein was Vice President Biden's chief economist Good morning sir the money and once again conservative economist Peter Morici is with us he writes for The Washington Times and Dow Jones Good morning to you good morning Ok so it's tax cut why are Democrats calling it a tax scam Jarrett. Well 1st of all what Mitch McConnell just said was completely implausible somehow the economy was growing over the last couple of quarters because of a tax plan that was just worked through in the dead of night that nobody really knows what's in there the problem with this plan is that it is structured in such a way as to transfer. Really really trillions of dollars from low moderate middle income people to those at the top of the income scale to corporations to multinationals to the heirs of wealthiest states and it puts it on the back of the budget deficit so it's a deficit financed regressive tax plan that's going to down the road leverage big spending cuts Peter even if you like this tax plan isn't that essentially true wealthy people get tax cuts the estate tax get smaller it goes away it's not where you want to focus but it's true no it's not I mean you go on going there basically cleaning out a lot of deductions and credits and so forth consolidating and lowering the rates there lowering the corporate tax rate to something that is more competitive with our Japanese and European competitors I mean 35 percent is too high given all the cuts they've had over there that were probably induced some more growth I mean econometric studies done in academic journal published in academic journals do indicate that if you lower the corporate tax rate you do get some positive effect on investment so the economy will grow more rapidly as for all this redistribution Democrats are going to have a heck of a time explaining how it is that people have more money in their paycheck come March and April if money was being taken away for except that some people are going to have less road actually the real deal it's going to be about 9 percent if the House bill would go through no that's not the tax cuts do go away in about 10 years and so that creates a problem if they don't generate all this growth then they're in the soup because they can't continue the cuts Jared you actually nodded when when Peter was saying something I was stunned he was talking about the business tax cut is it at least true that there can be some economic growth that is spurred by this tax cut even if you don't like. The way it's structured sure it's a possibility I think the magnitude of the growth is what we need to focus on. A well designed tax cut which this isn't can maybe add a couple of tenths to the g.d.p. Growth rate over time if this generates half of that I'd be surprised there is no credible estimate that that says this tax will come anywhere close to paying for itself and in fact of probably one of the most more optimistic scores of that dynamic subtracts about maybe a 3rd of the cost so you end up with a trillion dollars in deficit spending I have to do a very important fact checked on something Peter said it is not the case that just a few people end up with with tax increases from this plan once it's fully phased in on average every household below $75000.00 faces a tax increase and those at the very top not to continue to benefit and you did acknowledge that that at the end of the end plan basically that let me just ask one of the if I can gentlemen I just want to direct you to one other thing that I want you have time to discuss and it's the repealing or reduction of the estate tax it goes away in the House bill it affects fewer people in the Senate bill this is a tax currently paid only by people who leave depending on whether it's an individual or couple something more than $11000000.00 to their heirs Charles Grassley Republican of Iowa defended getting rid of the estate tax by saying the following quote I think not having the estate tax recognizes the people that are investing as opposed to those that are just spending every darn penny they have whether it's on booze or women or movies Chuck Grassley of Iowa Peter Merissa do you think it's only people who are wasting their money on booze who don't have a lot of a 1000000 dollars to give to their heirs I think that's a terrible question to ask Yeah of course it is but that's my job I mean the stand I think that having the estate tax apply to all income would be a bad thing I think having an estate tax exemption liked. House bill completely phasing it out getting rid of it completely would be a bad thing I don't think it serves the country well to let billionaires leave the billions dollars to their children it creates an aristocracy the question is where should the cat be right now it's 10 and a half 1000000 per couple this would take it up to about $2223.00 the Senate version right exactly I think that's appropriate when we consider the value of things like family farms and so forth I certainly would not not eliminate it Jared So that last time I hear you can't find a family farm that fits into that that cut off the p.p. Or just scrub the estate tax reaches at this point only the top point 2 percent of the wealthiest estates and there is and this is really important based on the broader plan there is just no correlation between tweaking the estate tax even the corporate tax and the kind of investments that Republicans expect expect to see so again what we're doing is transferring income to the top of the scale and what we haven't gotten to what we need to perhaps in the future discussion is that now the Republicans are going to try to leverage this hired budget deficit by dint of this plan to in forced spending cuts so that the middle and the and moderate income families get a double hit they get nothing from the tax plan and then they get on the spending cuts Jared Bernstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities thanks very much and Peter Morici of the University of Maryland Dow Jones in other places thanks to you both thank you we'll have you back for more discussions. Over the weekend a plane carrying a military judge prosecution and defense teams interpreters journalists and relatives of people killed in the $911.00 attacks flew from Washington to Cuba the destination was Kuantan him obey every other month or so for the past 5 and a half years of war tribunals has assembled there and has struggled to bring to trial 5 men accused of plotting the $911.00 attacks including the alleged mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed that court begins its 26th session. This morning N.P.R.'s David wellnigh joins us now from just outside that courtroom David you've been covering what could become the trial of the century their 1st years now how is it that there's not even been a date set for the actual trial Well Rachael it certainly has not been for lack of trying government prosecutors keep pressing the military judge to set a trial date it's been more than 5 years since charges were brought against lead Shaikh Mohammed the alleged mastermind of the $911.00 attacks and his 4 co-defendants and earlier this year those prosecutors wanted a trial in March their latest request was for January of 2019. What's holding things up well you know this case is immensely complicated under the military commissions created to try these people all the proceedings are being held here in Guantanamo as if they were in an actual war zone and the military is at the same time victim judge and prosecutor and this case is not just about mass murder it's also about torture a Senate report laid out how all 5 defendants were brutally interrogated for years in secret CIA run prisons called black sites before being transferred to Guantanamo and defense lawyers call these black sites crime scenes but the government says they're classified and it won't reveal if they're where they are or who was working at them in fact even though these secret prisons were supposed to be preserved the precise judge without 1st notifying the defense teams allowed one of those sites to be destroyed yesterday I talked with Walter Lee's He's the lead lawyer for one of the defendants and Rees claims the reason this war quote was created here was to cover up the CIA's conduct and withhold as much information as possible here's we Kuantan him and terms of his isolation was selected as a place of thought they could isolate and control right they didn't feel like they could have that same type of isolation that same type of control over a federal judge in a federal courtroom with the application of all of the curtain due process standards that we have in federal court in fact during the session starting today released plans to argue that his client doesn't even belong in this war court he contends there was no war between the u.s. And al Qaeda when the 911 attacks occurred and that those attacks should be treated as acts of terrorism rather than as war crimes and that federal courts are where they should be adjudicated so Meanwhile thousands of people relatives of those who were killed on 911 have been waiting for justice for more than 16 years now any idea how much longer they're going to have to wait well the defense teams expect it will be years before this case gets to the trial stage a separate case here was expected to come to trial early next year. That's all up in the air no because 3 defense lawyers accused the government of illegally eavesdropping on them while they were meeting with their client so the judge in that case ordered Brigadier General John Baker who manages the defense teams to put those lawyers back on the case and when Baker refused to do so the judge slapped him with contempt of court and 3 weeks confinement he was freed a few days later but this gives you an idea how chaotic things are are here in these war court trials and in seconds remaining David I mean what is get more now I mean the President Trump has said he was going to load it up with bad doods his words and has he kept out pledge not at all not a single new detainee has been sent here since Trump took office in fact he seems to have changed his mind about this place after that truck mowed down by cars in New York on Helloween truck tweeted he'd love to send a driver to Kuantan a mo but he said statistically that process takes much longer than going through the federal system and he's right N.P.R.'s David Welner Thanks David this is n.p.r. News. P.b.s. Is supported by Shea homes a family owned builder of new homes with 13 communities in San Diego from North County the south county sheriff builds homes designed with families in mind to match their lifestyle more information is at Shea Homes dot com live The difference this is Kay p.b.s. Member supported public radio Good morning I'm Terry peck of attack on trot that that south of teens been a busy one we started Temecula year it out of traffic down to go for Can you got more head from Al Gore to veer Rancho Parkway 56 West getting slower off that 15 out to Carmel Valley and north 5 a couple of tough areas National City and a Mission Valley again through Corning makes the West dates back that behind that 8 o 5 now from a lot Mesa the 125 on the west of you 2 has been slower out of Santee Cui and back up and over the summit West 94 now college into downtown it's full of downtown and northbound 5 out of National City traffic made possible by 0 rest carpet cleaning at 0 San Diego dot com for k. P.b.s. I'm Tory pac. From n.p.r. News in Washington I'm Dave Mattingly House and Senate negotiators are beginning work on a compromise tax overhaul now that the Senate has approved its tax cut bill White House budget director Mick Mulvaney says despite estimates to the contrary lower taxes will eventually result in a reduced federal deficit a healthy American economy where everybody works folks make more money actually generates more money for the government coffers so what the ways we're hoping to reduce the deficit over the long term is by having this tax bill passed will fail he was speaking to c.b.s. This morning there are reports that Yemen's former President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been