In Sudan a constitutional declaration is expected to be signed later this week The agreement sets out 3 years of transitional pasturing government commentating in elections in Sudan aftermath pro-democracy protests sold the ousting of former President Omar Hasan of Bashir demonstrators had been demanding a civilian led administration but Sudan's interim military leaders were reluctant to give ground protestors warn there must be no immunity for those who ordered a deadly crackdown on demonstrators last month saying those responsible for atrocities and killings must be punished and Justice Served off if you will stop them n.p.r. News former Mexican drug cartel leader Joaquin El Chapo Guzman will be sentenced today in New York he was convicted in February on numerous conspiracy counts prosecutors say Guzman's seen a low of cartel members kidnapped tortured and killed anyone who interfered with them I'm Korver Coleman n.p.r. News in Washington. Support for n.p.r. Comes from n.p.r. Stations other contributors include the Walton Family Foundation where opportunity takes root more information is available at Walton Family Foundation dot org And the John d. And Catherine t. MacArthur Foundation Ed Mack founded dot org. The man. It's Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Steve Inskeep and I'm Noel King good morning retired Justice John Paul Stevens served on the Supreme Court for more than 30 years he died of complications following a stroke he suffered on Monday he was 99 years old Chief Justice John Roberts announced Stevens' death in a written statement in which he called him quote a son of the Midwest heartland and a veteran of World War 2 Roberts also said Justice Stevens devoted his long life to public service his unrelenting commitment to justice has left us a better nation n.p.r. Legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg is on the line with me now good morning Nina good morning so tell us about John Paul Stevens long life and career. Well Stevens is appointed in $975.00 by President Ford he was a Republican born and bred in Chicago he was a moderate conservative and interestingly President Ford at the time said that he wanted to appoint a just as with no political ties because that was just at the beginning of the Ford administration it was right after Watergate. The resignation of President Nixon and Stevens was a well known very respected appeals court judge in Chicago beloved by his colleagues he was not on a list of likely contenders prior to this but he was a choice that Ford was very happy with spoke with glowingly up until the time of his death in fact decades after appointing Stevens President Ford in 2005 said you know you're not usually known by the justices you appoint let that not be the case with my presidency or I am prepared to allow history's judgment of my term in office to rest if necessary exclusively on my nomination 30 years of Justice John Paul Stevens he has served his nation well at times carrying out his judicial duties always with dignity intellect and without partisan political concerns and Stevens was a guy who evolved right he came in as a moderate conservative but that's not the way he left the court well he would say he didn't involve evolve and I actually think he's right he said that he didn't change it was the court that changed he was at the center right of the court when he came on but as more Republican presidents got the opportunity to name Supreme Court nominees and as those nominees were more and more conservative Stephen suddenly found himself at the left end of the court in the most liberal end of the court he hated that label because he viewed himself as a conservative what were some of his notable decisions he wrote. 400 majority opinions for the court that's a really a lot of majority opinions almost on every imaginable subject from property rights to immigration from abortion to guns to obscenity from school prayer to campaign finance reform from the relationship between the federal and state governments to the power of the presidency yet I think the decisions they will likely be remembered for are those he wrote about national security and presidential power he wrote the court's 5 to 3 decision repudiating George w. Bush's assertion of unilateral executive power in setting up war crimes tribunals Ikhwan time of a Cuba and in 2004 and a 6 to 3 decision he wrote that detainees could challenge their detention in court and both of those decisions had profound implications for the limits of presidential powers to be clear you know Noelle Bush was not the 1st president to feel the sting of Justice Stevens' words he wrote the Supreme Court's unanimous decision refusing to postpone Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit against President Clinton let's see summarizing his decision for the bench in 1970 and here he is dismissing the notion that the suit would be a burden on the presidency in the entire history of the Republic only 3 presidents have been subjected to it for their private action and for the case at hand there's nothing in the record to identify any potential harm that mining from scheduling a trial promptly have to discovery is concluded. You know when did you last talk with John Paul Stevens. I talked to him in April for an interview about one of his 3 books it was a memoir he told the as I said he'd written 3 since leaving office he told me that he was still swimming in the ocean in Florida. He was playing a wicked game of ping pong he bragged about it saying there was nobody his ace that he thought could be Timothy at that condo where he lived and he said he he traded in his tennis racquet for his ping pong paddle in that conversation I was reminded what a kind gentleman he wasn't what a sweet and understated temperament he had he sent pictures and a video which we posted online of him playing ping pong with a much less younger neighbor n.p.r. Legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg thanks Nina thank you Noel Alexandria Ocasio Cortez the high profile freshman representative from New York is one of the supporters of a green new deal clean energy guaranteed jobs she says when she announced that plan everybody asked how are you going to pay for that and here's what she told Morning Edition earlier this year I think the 1st thing that we need to do is kind of break the mistaken idea that taxes pay for 100 percent of government expenditure what she's saying there is that ambitious government programs can be financed through borrowing deficit spending in saying that she has spotlighted an obscure brand of economics known as modern monetary theory N.P.R.'s Scott Horsley has a beginner's guide modern monetary theory has been around for years but it's only recently stepped out of the shadows economist Jeffrey Kelson of Stony Brook University says that's partly thanks to Ocasio Cortez the social media darling embraced the theory while making an unapologetic case for costly new government programs there was something of an Oprah effect when she did that people immediately probably started Googling modern monetary theory to find out what she was referring to run that Google search and you'll quickly find Kelton herself the economist who advised Bernie Sanders 2016 campaign is one of the best known evangelist for m.m.t. Kelton says paying for big government programs is the easy part if Congress has the will she argues the Federal Reserve can effectively print. The money if Congress authorizes a few $1000000000.00 of additional spending or a few $100000000000.00 then the Fed's job is to make sure that those checks don't bounce a central element of m.m.t. Is that governments that control their own currency like the United States don't have to worry about spending more than they collect in taxes they can always create more money but Kelton says that's not a blank check for unlimited government spending too often people get a whiff of n n t they don't read the literature and they somehow arrive at the takeaway that an n.t. Is about printing prosperity and of course when people hear printing money they go straight to Zimbabwe you have fine art Germany those are notorious cases of runaway price hikes but Kelton says inflation is only a danger when demand outstrips the real capacity of the economy the people machines and raw materials last week under questioning from a cost of Cortez Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Palak knowledged the Us job market has shown more capacity to grow without triggering inflation than he and his colleagues had expected still now is no fan of m.m.t. As he told a Senate hearing back in February the idea that deficits don't matter for countries that can borrow in their own currency I think is just wrong we're going to have to either spend less or raise more revenue taxes story and Bruce Bartlett also blasted m.m.t. As little more than a fig leaf giving license for big spending in the same way Art Laffer gave Republicans cover to cut taxes with the dubious claim they'd pay for themselves m.m.t. Is sort of the last occurrence in the West some of Aunty's biggest supporters however are not liberal politicians but bond traders at firms like Pimco and Goldman Sachs James Bond who's with the investment firm g.m.o. Says he turned to m m t after more conventional economics led him astray in the 1990 s. Monday and many others. We're convinced Japan's rising government debt would drive up borrowing costs it didn't accost me and my colleagues or anyone of his stupid enough to fall I made money it was one of the well stright positions I've ever suggested in my entire life Monti says m.m.t. Offers better financial forecasts and help him understand why interest rates in the u.s. Have stayed low despite growing government deficits persistently low interest rates have also prompted some mainstream economists like Larry Summers and Jason Furman to rethink their attitudes and be less concerned about federal deficits but they haven't gone so far as to embrace m.m.t. Firman who advised for President Obama says there are always a lot of ambitious ideas floating around Washington he argues those that are really worth doing are also worth paying for. Scott Horsley n.p.r. News Washington a federal court in Ohio is releasing data detailing the opioid epidemic and revealing the role of pharmacies North Country Public Radio's Brian Mann has that story beginning in 2006 the pharmaceutical industry was required by the Drug Enforcement Administration to collect data on every prescription opioids medication it made tracking how each pill was distributed where it was sold at the local or chain store pharmacy until now that information known as our coast was kept hidden from the public that federal judge Dan poster ordered Monday that 6 years of data be released covering the period when the drug epidemic was intensifying Paul Farrel is an attorney suing drug makers and pharmacies on behalf of local governments he's seen the arcos records I don't think I'm kind of to truly understand scope or the depths that the level of penetration you still have in each community it's going to be an awakening Carroll says he's already been able to compile information about his own community in the Ohio River Valley hard hit by prescription opioids overdoses in my home town of home too much for junior there are 24 c.v.s. Pharmacy since 40 miles of hatched some of those 24 farms she's 18000000 pills were distributed many pharmacy chains including Walgreens and c.v.s. Deny any wrongdoing in a statement sent to n.p.r. C.v.s. Spokesman Mike D'Angelo said allegations about c.v.s. In this matter have no merit and we're aggressively defending against them but the wave of the geisha and has exposed big pharma to growing financial risk and to increasingly harsh publicising as court rulings like this one reveal more details about industry practices local state and federal officials say companies earn hundreds of billions of dollars aggressively marketing prescription opioids medications while downplaying or lying about the risk Ryan Mann n.p.r. News this is n.p.r. News and you're hearing at this morning on k.q.e.d. Public raid. 519 on Wednesday morning Bay Area commuting time on this early Wednesday let's find out about the latest conditions whether you are driving or catching some trans some transit or a bus here's Peter Finch Good morning Dave Concord this would be Highway $242.00 southbound at Clayton Road to vehicle accident one car facing the wrong way the 2 left lanes are blocked right now that's our only accident right now traffic starting to build coming out of Tracy though Bart all trains running on time I'm Peter Finch or k.q.e.d. a Good transit start Thank you Peter he's in for John McConnell today and his report brought to you by Positive Coaching Alliance support for k.q.e.d. Comes from opera program presenting the world Primero if I were you an opera in 2 acts by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer opening at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco August 1st through 6 tickets and information at Maryla dot org Geico protecting people in their vehicles for over 75 years Geico is proud to offer emergency roadside service to Bay Area drivers learn more at Geico dot com or 18947 auto Wednesday whether for the Sacramento Valley. Mostly sunny again today plan on highs between 91 and 97 Bay Area morning clouds giving way to mostly sunny skies except along the waterfront partial clearing today in the forecast on your highs upper sixty's low sixty's to the upper sixty's beaches all the way up to the low ninety's today and next time on the California report we visit the tide pools along Sonoma County coast where marine biologists say entire beds of mussels have been dying and it wasn't just a few. You know just your feet then going on the shoreline. What scientists think happened and why the last is bad news for. That story and news from around the state next time on the California report hosted today by Penny Nelson and Saul Gonzalez coming up at 5 51 am support for n.p.r. Comes from Dreamwave maker of luxury massage chairs from Japan with shots who point to and 16 program massages including morning night and stretch sessions. More a dream wife chair dot com and Subaru committed to doing its part to make the world a better place by supporting philanthropic initiatives and local communities learn more at Subaru dot com slash love promise it's what makes a Subaru a Subaru and by the Kauffman Foundation working together with communities in education and entrepreneurship to create uncommon solutions and empower people to shape their lives and be more successful more online a Kauffman dot org. It's Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Noel King and I'm Steve Inskeep 5 years after Eric Garner died after a choke hold while in police custody federal prosecutors have made a decision they will not charge a New York City police officer involved in his death prosecutors cited insufficient evidence against Daniel Panta Layo Gardner's dying words I can't breathe what she said again and again became a national rallying cry in a flash point in the black lives matter movement those unhappy with the lack of federal prosecution include Josie Duffy Rice president of the appeal a new site that focuses on criminal justice she's also co-host of the podcast justice in America Good morning to you good morning thanks for having me what led the Justice Department to look into garners case you know it was. A long process of 5 years over 4 different attorney generals that have been looking into this case and I think and that came and and and kind of after the Staten Island us attorney decided not to charge again up until a 0 in this case almost 5 years ago in December of 2014 so kind of in light of the moment of police brutality. Being found a single case after case of. Of men and women being killed by the police especially unarmed black and brown men and women and the Department of Justice decided that they were going to bring an investigation Ok but now let's look at this decisions we now have 2 different prosecutors we have a local prosecutor we have federal prosecutors have looked into this and both said insufficient evidence I realize there's a video people have seen it people heard garners words people feel they know a lot about this but twice now prosecutors have looked into this and just found there's not enough to charge the officer who says he thought he was doing his duty as he saw it at the time is there any justification for that point of view. Well 1st I'd say that while 2 prosecutors both the Staten Island and the u.s. Attorney in Brooklyn have decided not to bring charges we also saw that the Office of Civil Rights at d.o.j. Did think that this was a case that deserved charges to be brought so there is some back and forth on on how prosecutors more broadly are looking at this case but it's very difficult right to charge police officers. In these cases because functionally they have to prove that they used they willfully used excessive force and that's a very very high standard to have to prove Oh sure because you have to know somebody is intent what was in their mind at the time right and as long as an officer can make a case that he quote unquote feared for his life he has a very very high chance of getting off we see it time after time and in cases across the country where prosecutors are very very hesitant to even bring charges against someone like Officer pantaloon could the attorney general though have made a different decision within the law even giving the given what the law says about police officers absolutely he could have brought charges right that's not that doesn't mean a conviction he could have made a case that there is an argument that the officer acted out of hand that he violated the civil rights of Eric Garner and caused his death and and he could have brought charges in fact and that if the Office of Civil Rights Act recommended that that what we see is that the attorney general bar has decided that he doesn't think that that's that that he can win this case or he doesn't think it's a case for threatening Ok Ms Rice thanks so much Thank you Josie Duffy Rice is an attorney and journalist who advocates for criminal justice reform the u.s. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville Alabama celebrated the anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch yesterday by trying to set a new world record Britannia hill from w l r h has the story. Blue banners wave above the grandstands on this muggy morning more than a 1000 people gathered to celebrate humans watched the moment aboard the Saturn 5 rocket built here in Huntsville and to hopefully witness a new world record for most model rockets simultaneously launch expected to see like fireworks like let's assume oh that's how you are with a Girl Scout service unit 220 being corralled at the moment by Laura frame local engineer whose husband is a rocket scientist for me it's really special because my girls this is one thing a lifetime thing so it's very important to me that they get to know about that here it's their city 54321. Thousands of model rockets shoot into the sky on a jet they're long silver streamers and flutter back to earth through a giant cloud of smoke volunteers swarm the field like hands gather the rockets and drop them by the armful and the giant piles the motors are removed and the rockets are then handed out as souvenirs John Cranston One of the Rocket Center Museum docents is helping coordinate the effort living on the heritage back to those that allowed us to get to the moon and back safely is just awesome So now that we're talking about going to the moon again I'm training my kids would still to have hopefully one of them be an engineer astronaut going to you to the moon or Mars excitement about the global launch challenge and the future of America and space is obvious and young and old ally Randy is all smiles as she clings to her rocket with one tiny hand and