The gaijin of a Democratic rival as efforts to block government officials from cooperation with the investigation they are a peon Union is bracing for the United Kingdom's exit now that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party has done well the national elections as Teri Schultz reports Bracks it was one of the top issues raised at a 2 day summit hosted by the e.u. Which Johnson did not attend e.u. Leaders were not in favor of Britain leaving the block and the years of negotiating a Breck's it deal and delaying its implementation have been frustrating for both sides now that Johnson has been reelected with a pledge to get Bracks it done the e.u. Says it expects that to happen sooner rather than later the E.U.'s current president and his prime minister's son a modern welcome which he calls the clarity brought by the British vote we have all been waiting for a solution and a step forward to get out of this mess and I think now is a real chance to do this European Council president Sean Michel says he expects the u.k. To meet the BRICs a deadline of January 31st for n.p.r. News I'm Terry silts in Brussels at least 8 of the Democratic presidential hopefuls are expected to take part in a forum in Pittsburgh this weekend where the answer questions about their plans for public education organizers include labor unions in the n.w.c. Pay topics expected to include school investment student services special education student debt in teaching conditions stocks closed higher the Dow is up $3.00 points today the Nasdaq gained 17 points you're listening to n.p.r. . Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador now says he expects the u.s. Congress to approve a new North American trade deal with his country and with Canada by December 20th Opas Obrador saying today Mexico's Senate has approved modifications to the agreement by nearly unanimous vote and said there appears to be support it on the part of u.s. Lawmakers as well the latest changes to the deal were designed to convince us Democrats to drop their opposition to the plan which is designed to replace NAFTA the Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of a high dose prescription fish oil drug to reduce the risk of heart disease N.P.R.'s Allison Aubrey reports the drug will be made available to patients who have diabetes and other risk factors the drug the c.p.i. Was 1st recommended for people with very elevated triglyceride levels which can increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes now the drug will be made available to people who are already taking Staten medications to reduce their cholesterol but can still benefit from the triglyceride lowering effects of the drug the f.d.a. Says the drug safety and efficacy were established in a study of about 8000 people the amount of fish oil in the daily recommended dose of the pill is equivalent of eating about 8 to 10 servings of salmon a day Allison Aubrey n.p.r. News little agency say they've signed off on more than $200000000.00 for 18 different projects will be working to restore the Gulf of Mexico after the 2010 b.p. Oil spill projects described in a report released this week the biggest involves 50 $2000000.00 to study deep sea habitats money comes from a $26000.00 settlement for damages from the oil spill I'm Jack Speer n.p.r. News in Washington support for n.p.r. Comes from Fidelity Investments taking a personalized approach to helping clients grow preserve and manage their wealth learn more at fidelity dot com slash wealth fidelity brokerage services l.l.c. And Americans for the Arts at Americans for the Arts dot org. Good evening fresh air was up next with local support provided by the Durango all of oil company announcing their fresh off the press monthly newsletter featuring new recipes products specials and more Ok did at 640 main avenue in Durango with a wide variety of all of oils balsamic vinegar and gourmet foods more information is online at Durango all of oil dot com This is Fresh Air I'm David Bianculli editor of the website t.v. Worth Watching sitting in for Terry Gross Today's guest is comic actor and writer Wanda Sykes her latest Netflix comedy special not normal was nominated for 2 Emmy Awards not normal is the expression she uses to describe the Trump presidency which she talks about a lot in the special. During the Obama presidency Sykes became the 1st African-American woman to perform at the White House correspondents' dinner she came out right after Obama was elected which was the same time California's Proposition 8 made gay marriage illegal in that state she's now married and she talks about race and her family in the special race means a lot. I think about a lot just because of the makeup of my family I'm there to a white French woman and we have 2 white kids. And they're all white supremacy is on the rise. And I'm a little what a houseful of white people. In her special Sikes also talks about being diagnosed with breast cancer and having a double mastectomy and now going through menopause dealing with hot flashes and belly fat and being afraid she's starting to grow a beard but you don't think there's still you know there's a solution like a lot of women they just take the estrogen just to just take the hormones but see I can't take the estrogen I can't take the hormone because of the type of breast cancer I am in but the irony of it all is it's like when you know because I curse the stuff and when people say to me Hey Wanda you know really would it kill you to be a little more lady like I go yes. One dislikes costarred this year in an a.b.c. Special which will be repeated next Wednesday performing a live episode of the Jefferson's opposite Jamie Fox and she has a recurring role on blackish Terry Gross interviewed Wanda Sykes in August shortly after her Emmy nominations were announced Wanda Sykes welcome to Fresh Air and congratulations on your Emmy nominations Thank you you've been a comic during the Clinton administration and has a. Pietschmann you were a comic during 2 terms of America's 1st African-American president and now you're a comic during the presidency of Donald Trump who some people describe as racially divisive and others describe as just plain racist is being a comic no different than being a comic during the Clinton years or the Obama years Oh it's totally different it's much much harder actually and you would think oh boy there's so much to make fun of but really I can't write anything funnier or more ridiculous than what actually says what he says its sales like a joke. So it's basically you're just repeating what he says I don't want to parody of a parody. You were booed by an audience in Boston telling tell Thanks Terry. I mean he's telling jokes about Trump Oh every regulation is on your enemies Oh it's you. And you know you've been caught I'm racist sexist and homophobic Were you surprised to get booed I mean these are people coming who are paying money to come here you I would imagine most people who come here you aren't surprised to hear what you think of President but you know well you know what that was my fault that was my fault because. It wasn't my show you know and when I say fault I don't mean that you know that I take responsibility for be in boot I take responsibility as being a comic and not reading the room you know it's like I'm in Boston and. It was a benefit for the Cam Neely foundation and you know my friend Dennis Leary asked me to do it and I've performed there before and it's a it's a great charity and it's usually a fun night at the garden but this was right after the election so Dennis goes up and she does some trump jokes and people laugh and then another comic goes up and he does a couple jokes whatever you know some some Trump stuff and people laugh another white guy and so then I go up and I do a you know the 1st joke is you know I get some laughs There's a trump joke and then the 2nd joke was the hey you know this isn't the 1st time we've had a president who's you know races homophobic sexes but this is just the 1st one that we can confirm. And the crowd just turned then and it was like All it did I got it I was like oh shoot that's right I forgot I'm a black lesbian female and they aren't ready for this yet you know it's like white guys sure go ahead come on now you can make fun of because we see it every night on Late Night t.v. White guys making fun of the the president Ok yeah and especially this president fine but they weren't ready for to see a black woman who's happen to be a lesbian also making fun of the president and the in the room it was it was $5050.00 I mean like fist fights broke out in the audience it was serious i'm serious Boston Come on yeah I mean really it was it was nuts it was nuts it was people were doing the you know the how Hitler move they were hurt in words I heard you know then you were here other people you know telling them to you know set up and all that it was it was crazy so what did you do on stage. I I have to try to somehow diffuse this so I pulled out my cancer card you know I was like hey we're here for if but. Is that a cancer and. Well yeah so it's a tight it's a form of yeah is the fight a form of cancer yes and I was like Ok Hey guess what we're here for good cause you know I had cancer and. Then people kind of like settle Dale and then I got him back . I got him back in you know. There was still some rumblings going on in the audience but I. I wrapped up my set and you know and then as I say thank you bye and as I won't was walking off the stage my wife was there and she runs out on the stage and grabs me and you know just gives me. A big kiss and so again half the audience is going nuts you know like applauding and the other half is like wait a minute what was what's going on what happened who was as a white woman kissing her now what is going on. And my wife she's you know smarter than I am so relieved she she throws up the piece on and me still bitter I gave the finger. And that was so awful enough phage for the on a globe or something the next morning pretty pretty pretty funny very much on the finest moments Yeah so yeah Marlon as it were my wife and I had to talk about I like wait a minute you know we were both going to faint or she might. Be I would peacetime. Filleted thing or I couldn't get that index to get that and they think. Oh it's really funny it's like for you personally different under President Trump than it was under President Obama. Yes absolutely. I have to you know you have to think about things now you know when you even like something simple as going into a restaurant you know you go when you see is kind of crowded and you try to get you say Ok we want to table I have to repeat the host I have to read those to see how this is going to go down like boy if this person is you know a truck person we might as well just go to another restaurant Are you concerned because you're black because you're a lesbian because you're a famous comic like me and you eat you can check all the all boxes Yeah yeah so on the scale of annoyed to afraid where are you now Wow Ok I'm more on the in of annoyed because it's not a live in fear is just like you said it's just another annoyance is just you know something that you just got to deal with like Oh really this again so I'm like 10 on the you know annoyance level and annoyance in part because you feel like you have to repeat pull more carefully than you did before because it's such a divisive time right it was so funny people. Who are not from supporters especially white people. Feel like like they want you to know that where they stay in which is hilarious because it's like it's like they're being racially profiled nail you know. So I don't know I don't know why people are quick to tell me all that from that what a piece of water I'm like I wish we weren't even talking about politics I just meant you know it's just so funny 5 where they just feel like Ok let me just get this out right away. So I well I want to play something from an earlier special this is from a 2009 comedy special on h.b.o. That was called to be me and this is something you recorded about how you felt after Obama was elected. 1st Black President I'm so happy because now I can relax a little bit you know I can loosen up I don't have to be so black all the time. To it don't have to be so dignified you know as we did black holes we always got to be dignified because we know we we just said everybody else back a couple of years right well we sure they killed fable flavor like to new was told to end you don't hold us back. But we did it to relax a little bit I can Akon I can dance on camera I could thing I saw on camera for when I was growing up my mother she wouldn't even let us dance in the car you know sit in the car good song come on radio we. Have a love like it was stop a car. Do you want to dance or do you want to rob. You like they sit in my car white people are looking at you was the in my pocket white people I look at and see you like. Oh Dale. That's Wanda Sykes from her 2009 special So did your mother tell you that that why people are looking at you so you got to be dignified Oh absolutely yeah my parents . I don't know. You know another black person my age who didn't hear that. How different is a to be on stage when your job is truth telling and everybody is looking at you and comics aren't famous for being dignified per say they're famous for being like comic truth tellers sometimes harsh comic truth tellers so it's like kind of the opposite in a way and you know what I mean yeah you know maybe that's why I love doing stand up maybe that's it maybe it's that's where I can I feel like I can be free. But but then again there is my mom's voice in the back of my head when I'm on stage and I know there's a line I do think about that so you were the 1st African-American woman to host the White House Correspondents Dinner which used to have a comic. Right a couple hours ago and you were the 1st comic to be there at the White House current correspondents dinner during the 1st year of the 1st African-American president and in one of your. In one of your comedy specials you talk about an hour before you went on stage to perform with President Obama and Michelle Obama in the audience your publicist or manager came to you with a note saying Please do not use the f. Word or the n. Word during your time could at the note come from the White House. That's a good question I didn't I don't know if it came from the White House or if it came from the from the other correspondents kind of yeah I think you have a correspondence I don't. Pretty sure the White House would know better so did you have to change your com or to. Absolutely not I mean there was no intentions on. That room and using the f. Word absolutely not in word Come on. That's nonsense. So you actually got some grief for that dinner because you were making jokes about Rush Limbaugh who was at the time one of the most famous ultra conservative media personalities and he had said he wanted Obama to fail and you said that's like saying he wants America to fail and you hope Rush Limbaugh's kidneys fail so what was your response to that kind of response did you get I'm ahead of my time really I mean I called it all I called it no regrets no regrets nail it was it was a very. Christian think of me to wish that may as kidneys fail No but it was just a funny joke. But that's how you know that's how I felt about the whole thing where he was hoping America fails just because there was a black president so there is no longer a comic performing at the White House correspondents' dinner because a couple of years ago when Michelle Wolfe was the comic and she made a joke about Sarah Sanders and about how Sarah Sanders Burns lies and used for eye makeup to create her smoky eyes. And decided this is just like too much of comics have gone too far we're ending the the whole thing of having a comic we're going to have a historian instead. What was your reaction to that. It was just ridiculous. It's a funny joke and it is based on what you said in truth Sarah Sarah's bees stairs and as others she gets up there and and she lives every single day to the American public she lied and their reaction to this to say no more comics I'm like Well thank you now you know you don't want to favor because because really except in that job and doing you know and going into that room as a comic it's like hosting the Oscars but without all the glam and the red carpet and the nice way it bag and all that stuff you know. We're doing God's work. That's comic writer and actress Wanda Sykes speaking to Terry Gross earlier this year more after a break this is Fresh Air. Smooth. Jazz and Pop are all part reduces but often overlooked because history. Joins me from Barbados and from soon. Next on live from p.r.i. Radio. Stay tuned for awful pop worldwide coming up later this evening at 9 tonight right after 2 hours of ethno trauma transfusion on Cooney Nashua fresh air continues with support provided by Oxford financial planners where Steve Pease and Dave Smiley specialize in helping families and individuals in the 4 Corners achieve financial independence for retirement at their new location now at Sweet 323 in the West building in Durango and online at Oxford f p dot net This is Fresh Air Let's get back to Terry's conversation from earlier this year with writer actress and standup comic Wanda Sykes her latest t.v. Comedy special titled not normal is now streaming on Netflix. So I want to play another clip and this is from your 2900 be me which sounds kind of funny coming from my mouth doesn't it but you've nailed it that only the aisle is very unfriendly. Dale that I will be so this is this this is a clip about how it's getting harder to be black and a lesbian and this is from 2009. It's harder it's heart of being gay then is being a black it is exist some things that I had there were yes some things that I had to do was gay that I didn't have to do is black I don't have to come out black. Was it my parents Dan tell them about my. I had to sit them down Mom Dad I gotta tell ya son. Hope you still love me. Just go see. Mom dad. I'm black. And White he just said oh no Jesus didn't say black no did you say black on black. Was. Funny but not season. Yeah Ok that's a low I get it. But been like you know it. Let's her is how do you think about that I mean how to how did you come up with that. I guess it was the the realization I had to have just as conversation with my parents about being being a lesbian and. I was like Wow Ok this is this is kind of ridiculous and and it was very difficult. And you know what this is after that we have we have Barack Obama as president and I thought about it that I had more rights. As African-American then I did as being a you know a gay American because that night when he won it was very it was bittersweet you know I was so super excited and happy and proud of our country and in the direction we were go and and I'm living in California so in the same time Prop 8 passed so I'm probably says that the only marriage the state would recognize a marriage between a man and woman Exactly exactly so then that passen is like Ok so we move forward but then they take away my right to to be you know to be married so yeah I felt like wow now I can't believe now it's actually harder to to be gay than you know than to be African-American and that just was you know and for that time especially They all that we do have marriage equality but there's still a lot of things that we need protection from you know like jobs and housing. So it is it is still you know a fight out there but I don't know right now no I don't think it is harder today. That's Wanda Sykes speaking with Terry Gross earlier this year not normal the latest comedy special from Wanda Sykes is on Netflix after a break Wanda Sykes will talk about coming out publicly and h