Good morning Republicans have options to defend President Trump there was no quid pro quo or there was but it was not that or the impeachment process is a sham what's going to be It's Morning Edition from n.p.r. News. This hour we'll talk to a veteran Republican strategist about the way forward I'm Rachel Martin and I'm David Greene will also talk about one way President Trump could have a lasting impact on the country it's with his record number of judicial appointments. As Trump reshapes the courts how might that affect our lives and communities also we get a look at the man behind President Trump's effort to save coal and the Australian women's soccer team wins their fight for pay equity that's a fight that's still going on in the United States it's Thursday November 7th d.j. David Guetta turns 52 years old today. Uses next. Live from n.p.r. News in Washington and Barbara Kline President Trump is lashing out at news reports that he wanted Attorney General William Barr to hold a news conference declaring Trump broke no laws and his July phone call with Ukraine's president N.P.R.'s Tamara Keith reports Attorney General Bart never did hold a press conference that the Justice Department released a statement at the same time as the rough call log saying the criminal division had looked into it and determined there was no campaign finance violation on the part of President Trump when he asked his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate a political rival since then Trump has had nothing but good things to say publicly about the attorney general saying he's doing a fantastic job and is highly respected As for reports that Trump wanted a public declaration of his innocence Trump tweeted they are quote totally untrue and just another fake news story with anonymous sources that don't exist Trump is known to label as fake stories that he considers negative Tamara Keith n.p.r. News Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson is retiring his spokesman tweeted it just short time ago Johnson has been in the job just under 4 years battling the city's high murder rate using new technology and boosting police ranks Johnson grew up in Chicago public housing and went to city schools to become head of the nation's 2nd largest police department Iran is following through on its promise to resume enriching nuclear fuel and step back from commitments under the 2015 nuclear agreement N.P.R.'s Peter Kenyon reports Iranian officials say over a 1000 centrifuges at the underground Fordo facility begin and reaching uranium gas with the knowledge of u.n. Inspectors but Tehran also said it barred one inspector from another site Natanz out of suspicion she was carrying quote suspicious materials the White House wants Iran to negotiate a tougher nuclear deal than the one. President trampled the us out of N.P.R.'s Peter Kenyon authorities in Brazil are struggling to combat a new surge of fires this time in the world's largest wetlands N.P.R.'s Philip Reeves reports there's been a 5 fold increase in the number of fires there this year the fires in the Amazon rain forest have abated last month's numbers were the lowest in years attention switching to the plan to know the world's largest tropical wetlands and home to thousands of species the area straddles Brazil Bolivia and Patagonia I it's a popular eco tourism destination the rainy season was supposed to stop it by now it hasn't there are reports of people finding the charred remains of snakes lizards and alligators and of a threat to an already vulnerable species of Macor because the habitat is being destroyed officials in the area say the scale of the destruction of the last few weeks is unprecedented and blame the fires on a combination of dry weather and illegal land clearing Philip Reeves n.p.r. News. This is n.p.r. . The international criminal court has sentenced Congolese military to 30 years in prison for. Rape and child soldiers by. Conflict. To 3. People arrested for smuggling Fenton. To death to others to life the result of collaboration between. To crack down. More Americans are delaying marriage. Together. That's the finding poll from the Pew Research Center. Partner even if the couple has no plans to get married a higher percentage of people. And well a much higher number. 53 percent rather than living with an unmarried partner 7 percent. On the decline and living with an unmarried partner is on the rise but the survey found that. People still think that if a couple wants to stay together. And if. Their partners and more satisfaction in their relationships. Support for n.p.r. Comes from n.p.r. Stations other contributors include expanding. To open access content. And. Good morning The time is 8 o 6 today's Thursday November 7th and you were listening to N.P.R.'s Morning Edition on case you t. 4 Corners Public Radio with support provided by the glacier club a unique place to host holiday parties with a customizable menu a decorated clubhouse with a fireplace and room for dancing and games they also offer the little big party package the glacier club just 20 minutes north of Durango on Highway 550 they're online at Glacier Club dot com you get another mostly sunny day in store for the entire region afternoon highs will range from the low fifty's in the San Juan Mountains to the upper fifty's into low sixty's across the mountain valleys and the high deserts clear skies will continue overnight with Southwest Colorado seeing lows across the low to mid twenty's north of New Mexico settle into the low thirty's looks to be several degrees warmer across the region but other than that very similar conditions will persist throughout the weekend coming up on next Monday is the Veterans Day holiday and that's looking like highs will be in the upper fifty's to low sixty's for most of the case should be listening area with the high country around Silverton topping our low forty's under sunny skies the extended forecast is calling for no real changes in the static weather pattern of sunny dry and relatively mild conditions at least through the end of next week the exception of slightly cooler temperature ranges next week mainly in the upper fifty's back to npr's Morning Edition It's Morning Edition from n.p.r. News good morning I'm David Greene in Culver City California and I'm Rachel Martin in Washington d.c. When it comes to the impeachment inquiry Republicans on Capitol Hill have grounded their criticism in the process oversight is not being done. And we now have a full fledged Pietschmann committee in the basement of the Capitol trying to put a ribbon on the sham process does it make it any less of a sham those are the voices of Republican Congressman Devin Nunez and Jim Jordan thus far all the proceedings have been carried out behind closed doors next week though that changes 2 key witnesses will appear under oath and in open session Bill Taylor the top u.s. Diplomat in Ukraine and former ambassador to Ukraine Marie you have on of it so what's that mean for congressional Republicans defending the president long time Republican strategist Scott Jennings is with us again Scott thanks for being here thank you good morning how does this how does this change the Republicans concerns now that the hearings are going to be held in the so-called light of day does that satisfy the critique Well it will finally allow Republicans to make their case that some of these complaints against the president are partisan in nature but I don't think it's going to change the ultimate outcome I think the House has already essentially determined it is going to impeach the president so while it will satisfy some Republicans that they get to question the president's accusers on television I think we're headed for impeachment no matter what so brace for a Senate trial no matter what happens in these hearings in my opinion may I ask the Republicans have argued as we just heard there that they haven't been given oversight I don't understand that claim because Republicans have been in every one of these depositions and have been able to ask them questions you know the Republican complaint is that because these are happening behind closed doors the only thing we know about what is being said is what is being selectively leaked by the committees to the news media of so none of the hands are on the committees right but none of the Republicans questioning of the witnesses is being leaked in the context of the full context of the testimony so the essential complaint is you see what the Democrats want you to see but you don't get to see what we. Say to them or what they say to us now that will change when you have a public hearing Republicans going to ask questions but heretofore that's been the complaint and which is why in part Democrats release those transcripts of those key testimonies I want to ask about Senator Lindsey Graham he's now saying he won't be reading any of these transcripts that have been released and he's quote written the whole process off here's what he said to reporters yesterday what I can tell you about the trump policy toward Ukraine it was incoherent It depends on who you talk to they seem to be incapable of forming a quid pro quo so no I find the whole process to be a sham and I'm not only gentlemen I mean the g.o.p. Response has evolved over time right 1st it was there was no quid pro quo then it was maybe there was a request but it was never executed then there was the fact that or the argument that it's not an impeachable offense we've got Lindsey Graham now saying the administration's policy was so incoherent there could have been one. Yeah look as information has come out it's become clear that something happened now whether you consider that to be an impeachable quid pro quo whether you consider that to be a ham handed you know something else that the reality is something happened it strikes me that the correct Republican posture here would be to say yes something happened in Republican senators may consider that varying degrees of bad judgment but I doubt any of them are going to are going to conclude that this was an impeachable offense so I think the correct posture is just to say yes something dumb happened here this should have happened or whatever you want to call it however they're comfortable calling it but they're all going to land on no impeachment and so it strikes me have to just acknowledge the facts and also acknowledge your position which is I just don't agree with Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff and the Democrats in the house that we should throw out a president over this issue the president's lawyer Rudy Giuliani is has become a central figure he tweeted yesterday the investigation he did into Ukraine was quote done solely as a defense attorney to defend my client doesn't that undercut the administration's claim that the work Giuliani was doing there was was about advancing u.s. Foreign policy interests in rooting out. Enrile Ukrainian corruption not benefiting Trump. Yeah this is having Giuliani inserted into the middle of this has been problematic from the beginning you know when you have a lawyer he's supposed to get you out of trouble and I get into trouble and the president's lawyer in this particular case has not done him any favors and so I think hopefully the president the White House learned a lesson not to insert unelected unappointed ambassadors at large into complicated foreign policy this is not good to have him in the middle of this that has not helped the president one bit Republican strategist Scott Jennings thanks your time Scott thank you. Let's turn now to the president's push to save coal behind that push you will find Bob Murray he heads Murray Energy the country's largest privately owned coal mining company he's been a major supporter and financial backer of the president but now he's the latest to reckon with this industry's decline and declare bankruptcy N.P.R.'s Jeff Brady has this profile walking into Bob Murray's corner office in St Clairsville Ohio feels like stepping back in time so Mr Brady is here Murray wears a dark suit jacket with a silk handkerchief poking out of the pocket he sits behind a large dark wood desk nice to me too merciless to go Oh Marie turns 80 years old in January and is less steady on his feet than he used to be he suffers from a lung disease but says it's not related to years of working underground in coal mines there's a constant hissing sound in his office that's the oxygen Murray needs to breathe he says 3 hospitals have rejected him for a lung transplant because of a history of strokes going on my fighting for my own life but. I'm fighting for a good life for my employers my company Murray's recent bankruptcy comes after a long career he began as a miner then built his own company eventually with 7000 employees Natalie Biggs is a coal industry analyst with Wood Mackenzie So a lot of coal companies had undergone bankers in around 20152016 Maria's was one of the ones that actually kind of made it through that period and was able to purchase a lot of assets off the back of the sort of bankruptcy boom big says Murray Energy took on debt as the coal market continued to decline in bankruptcy Murray says he'll lose ownership of his company some of his unionized workers may lose health care and pension benefits and the filing is a political loss for President Trump we have ended the war on American energy and we have ended. The war on beautiful to lean call. Bob Murray has had the trumpet ministrations ear he drafted an action plan to help cold and delivered it to energy secretary Rick Perry photos from the meeting show the 2 men hugging while Trump rolled back some environmental regulations on Murray's list the administration was not able to deliver the subsidies for coal plants that Murray wanted he argues that coal with fuel stored on site is more reliable than natural gas that's piped in and renewable energy that depends on the sun and wind still coal is losing market share to these cheaper and cleaner ways of generating electricity Murray argues that makes the electric grid less reliable All of a sudden. These days. Ering about on the n.p.r. . Power grid failure. And people are going to become alarmed. They're going to forget this nonsense called Climate Change Money predicts that will come during a winter storm and that people will freeze to death frankly this is just a scare tactic Marianne hit with the Sierra Club says there are smart people running the country's power grids they take into account every coal plant closing and make sure the grid remains reliable empty promises about bailing out coal plants or reviving the fortunes of the coal industry are just distracting our country from the real work we need to be doing it says that is moving the country away from coal and toward cleaner renewable energy Murray's climate denial and coal boosterism are evidence of a key element of his personality once he's concluded he's right about something Murray doesn't give in here's another example of that 12 years ago Murray Energy made news for a tragic mine collapse in Utah the trapped 6 worker forcing my life. Obviously to my grave the men were never located and 10 days later 3 rescuers died as another section of the mine collapse a government report concluded there were flaws in the mine design Murray's company was fined more than a $1000000.00 for safety violations yet even today Murray denies responsibility a lot of blame being pointed in the end I was correct. It was an earthquake seismologists at the University of Utah say that's just not true the earthquake was the result of the mind collapsing even now as he struggles for breath just walking across the room Murray is still pushing for what he believes as his company was preparing for bankruptcy Murray delivered a speech in West Virginia calling on federal regulators to subsidize coal and keep his industry alive Jeff Brady n.p.r. News St Clairsville Ohio. The u.s. Women's soccer team the $21000.00 World Cup champion is still fighting for pay equity with their male counterparts but there's $1.00 team who just made that goal a reality the women's team from Australia known as the Matildas after years of negotiations they reached a landmark deal ensuring the women who represent Australia are paid the same as the men it's Hodson ought to be sentimental about today because it's a massive moment for football that is Sarah Walsh a former pro on the Matildas she helped lead the negotiations and the deal is I mean not only does it ensure equal pay it also gives an even split of commercial revenue and the Matildas now have access to the same training facilities as the male players Alisa calland Knight is one of the Matilda stars this new deal is enormous as a female footballer it's kind of what we've always dreamed of we've always wanted to be treated equally wanted to step out on that pitch with equal fish in the equal facilities that the men have been exposed to she says this is going to enable the next crop of Matilda's to shine at World Cups in the future the big win is for this younger generation so they're looking at this new deal now they're thinking wow I can make you go this I think is phenomenal I think it's going to attract more females to the game Australia joins New Zealand and Norway in placing female and male players on the same pay scale the world champion team USA as we said is still absent from that list mediation efforts between the u.s. Women's team and u.s. Soccer fell apart and battle is now set to head to court next year just months before the 2020 Olympics. This is n.p.r. News. On the next the fight between Congress and the Trump administration over the house's legal right to enforce subpoenas requiring senior administration aides to testify in the impeachment inquiry. A staff writer at The New York Times Magazine. A long time traditional public radio you can always catch fresh air Monday through Friday at 6 pm following 2 hours of N.P.R.'s All Things Considered and support for his youth he's provided by the 11th Street collective eatery offering food trucks with pizza sushi tacos and Indonesian cuisine Ernie's bar has 12 rotating taps from craft breweries and the 11th Street also has yoga classes and live music Wednesdays through Sundays they're at 11th Street and Main Avenue in downtown Durango. Save the day. 26 members party and silent auction is Saturday it's headquarters. 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Comes from this station and from Neon with parasite a dark comedy thriller about 2 very different families whose fates cross in a tale of class greed and deception now playing in select cities parasite dash movie for more theater info from his Cox selling business insurance tailored to fit the needs of each small business quotes and information on insurance policies are available at his cox dot com Hiscox business insurance experts and from dual lingo a language app whose mission is to make language learning fun and accessible to the world with lessons in more than 30 languages including French Spanish and Chinese available in the App Store or at dual lingo dot com. This is Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm David Greene I'm Rachel Martin and I'm Steve Inskeep how much has the world changed in 40 years we posed that question as Morning Edition marks its 1st 40 y