The Daily - Year in Sound

Episode Date: December 23, 2019

Our first episode of 2019 opened the year with a question: “What will Democrats do with their new power?” One of our last offered the answer: “impeach the president.” This audio time capsule captures the weeks in between — a crescendo of controversy and culture wars to wrap up the decade. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.Here’s some nostalgia as we head into 2020:Our photo editors pored over ten years of images to bring you: The decade in pictures.And if you’re looking for a longer read over the holidays, check out our editors’ picks for the 10 best books of 2019.

The President of the United States, President Trump, and President Obama have been in the White House for a long time. But they're not going to be there. The President of the United States, President Trump, and President Obama have been in the White House for a long time. The President of the United States,

President Trump, and President Obama have been in the White House for a long time. The President of the United States, President Trump, and President Obama have been in the White House for a long time. The President of the United States, Happy New Year! Here we go, New Year, same old shutdown in Washington. And I just want to wish you a very, very happy New Year. It's going to be a great year. The New Year is starting the same way as 2018,

ended with a partial government shutdown and no end in sight. Complicated, but great. People make it overly complicated, actually. But I will tell you, there has never been an administration, and I'm very proud of this, that's done more than the Trump administration in the first two years of office. For now, no deal. That leaves some 800,000 federal workers wondering when they'll get paid, with pain starting to spread faster across shutdown nations.

Our economy is doing great. The pain starting to spread faster across shutdown nations. Our economy is doing great. The president is demanding Congress allocate billions to build a wall along the U.S. southern border. Wages are rising for the first time in many, many years. On January 3rd, the new Congress comes in and Democrats take control of the House. Also, we're working on new trade deals. The Congress is new, but the stalemate is the same. We're doing so well as a country.

President Trump announcing this afternoon he and Democrats have reached a temporary three-week deal to reopen the government. It ends the longest shutdown. And everything is going to be so beautiful. Thank you very much. Have a fantastic new year. Isn't that interesting? Well, another interesting thing, the other big legal story that's going to dominate headlines in the new year, as it did in 2018, Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe.

This afternoon, Democratic committee chairs, newly vested with subpoena power, began to lay out their plans to investigate President Trump and his administration. Despite no attention, despite no... Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib. Despite all those things, we won. Four outspoken newly elected progressive lawmakers. We don't need to be protected from immigrants.

We need to be protected from this president. Make up the so-called squad. Just hours after being sworn in, Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib became the talk of the town. And when your son looks at you and says, mama, look, you won, bullies don't win. And I said, baby, they don't. Because we're going to go in there and we're going to impeach the motherfucker. I said, baby, they don't, because we're going to go in there and we're going to impeach the motherfucker. House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler is trying to put the brakes on all this impeachment talk.

I don't really like that kind of language, but more to the point, I disagree with what she said. We have to wait and see what happens with the Mueller report. We shouldn't be impeaching for a political reason, and we shouldn't avoid impeachment for a political reason and we shouldn't avoid impeachment for a political reason. It's one of the first and perhaps most consequential tests for Democrats in the new era of divided government. This is one of New Zealand's darkest days. Clearly what has happened here is an extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence. Disbelief in Christchurch, New Zealand. It's March 2019 and a white supremacist has just shot dead 51 people

in consecutive attacks at a mosque and an Islamic centre in the city. in consecutive attacks at a mosque and an Islamic centre in the city. When shooting started, it started from the hallway. So I could hear, so... Andot toot toot toot toot toot toot toot. And my wife started instructing several ladies and children to get out. Then she was shot. The rise of white supremacy and right-wing extremism is a great global threat to mankind. And this must end now. is a great global threat to mankind.

And this must end now. And back home at the White House late today, President Trump, who was mentioned in that gunman's apparent manifesto, said he does not see white nationalism as a rising global threat. Anti-Semitism or racism or white supremacy, xenophobia, these things always existed. But only now are we in a moment in a political climate where people feel emboldened to give voice to these ideas that previously would have been considered taboo, that previously would have been considered unacceptable. And I think when you look through the manifesto... What do you think is sort of the main issue where you would like Mateo to really act? I mean, the problem of... I don't know how to say it in English.

The problem of? People from other countries coming into ours. Yeah, migration. It's a big problem. A record number of voters across Europe have dealt a blow to traditional centrist politics, with far-right parties making significant gains in the EU parliament elections. An increasing number of people seem to think that their lives are being controlled by elites that don't care about them, that their lives are being controlled by elites that don't care about them, by huge globalized digital companies, by corrupt politicians, by...

Macron is a dictator. I vote for the National Front and then we'll join Italy. Long live the French people! Long live France! Prima di Italia! Nationalism and fears over immigration fueled gains for populist parties in France, Hungary and Italy, where Matteo Salvini's far-right party won more than 30% of the vote. And Britain took part in the EU elections. Nigel Farage's new Brexit party came out on top.

He says that should send a message that Britain wants to leave Europe now. Thank you, everybody. And why don't you resign? We're here today to announce charges in the largest college admissions scam ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice. Investigators say that wealthy parents paid the accused ringleader $25 million to get their children into top colleges. The alleged scheme involved bribes, cheating on entrance exams, and bogus athletic profiles. Authorities say that college... I don't know how much of school I'm going to attend, but I'm going to go in and talk to my deans and everyone and hope that I can try and balance it all. But I do want the experience of like game days, partying.

I don't really care about school. A group of teenagers, some Catholic high school students, seen wearing Make America Great Again hats, appearing to face off with Nathan Phillips, a 65-year-old Native American, as he pounds his drum near the Lincoln Memorial during an indigenous people's march. It's a kid with a red hat who looks like he has a smirk on his face, so he must be a racist.

Overnight, new video calling into question just how this encounter began. The number of possible cases of vaping-related lung illnesses has more than doubled in a month. I just freaked out, and they said, your lung has collapsed. You have to go to surgery right now. The Notre Dame Cathedral is on fire. It's in flames as we speak. People have gathered in the streets to hold a vigil for the Notre Dame Cathedral. Let's listen in. We begin tonight with the mystery swirling around a deadly plane crash overseas. The new Boeing 737 crashing just minutes after takeoff in Ethiopia.

This is the second air disaster involving this model of a Boeing 737 in less than six months. Scandal erupting over the Democratic governor of Virginia. The picture shows two people. You can see it right there. One in blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan robe and a hood. -♪ Older and bold, proud and wild, like a little boy,

children in need, we journeyed fast, and the world was our home. Good morning, Lawrence! I am running. Announce my candidacy for President of the United States of America. I'm running for President. And I'm running for President. Presidente de los Estados Unidos.

The President of the United States. And I am running for President of the United States. I stand before you to officially launch my campaign for a second term as President of the United States. Thank you. Thank you. Mike Schmidt, when is the Mueller report going to come out? And what is it going to say? I don't know. And I don't know.

No, but seriously, best guess. Best guess? Sometime in the next month or so. The Mueller report on Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election is finally finished and in the hands of the Attorney General William Barr. It is front page news across the country. A summary of Robert Mueller's report to Congress in the form of a four-page letter outlining the so-called principal conclusions of Mueller's report. The four-page letter reads, the special counsel's investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with the Russian

government in its election interference activities. There was no collusion with Russia, the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. But Mueller did not draw a conclusion one way or the other about whether President Trump obstructed justice. His report, quote, does not conclude that the president committed a crime. It also does not exonerate him. And it was a complete and total exoneration. Democrats want to know why Mueller did not say whether he believes the president obstructed justice. And the demands to see special counsel Robert Mueller's report on the almost two-year investigation are growing.

It's up. All right, it's up. The report's up. Sorry. Yes, download, please. Democrats are vowing to accelerate a host of investigations aimed at President Trump, even as frictions within the party intensified. What you saw today, did it change whether or not you think the House of Representatives should launch impeachment proceedings?

My position has always been whatever decision we made in that regard would have to be done with our strongest possible hand. And we still have some outstanding matters in the courts. The Democrats had nothing. And now they have less than nothing. And I think they're going to lose the 2020 election very big, including congressional seats, because of the path that they chose. Now, who knows where it goes? Okay, so we are going to talk about the debate.

I was actually here for Brexit. The race for the Democratic presidential nomination is now in full swing. More than two dozen Democrats are battling to take on President Trump in the 2020 election. We need to have a campaign of energy and excitement and of vision. Let's get real. Tonight we debate, but ultimately we have to beat Donald Trump. With bad policies like Medicare for all, free everything, and impossible promises that'll turn off independent voters and get Trump reelected. You're wrong.

And anytime someone tells you you're going to get something good in 10 years, you should wonder why it takes 10 years. You know, I don't understand why anybody goes to all the trouble of running for president of the United States just to talk about what we really can't do and shouldn't fight for. The moderate candidates taking on progressives, warning that their policies are too extreme and could deliver President Trump a second term. So, Mr. President, if you're listening,

I'm going to harness love for political purposes. I will meet you on that field. There is still a long, long time before the election to go. We'll be right back. I'm here in the main arrivals hall of the Hong Kong airport and there's a crowd of people just sitting here. They break into cheers. Today Hong Kongers protested in record-breaking numbers, a sea of humanity. Organizers say nearly two million marching across the city

to voice their anger at their Beijing-backed leader, Carrie Lam, and her controversial bill that would allow suspected criminals to be extradited from Hong Kong to mainland China. A meeting with North Korea dictator Kim Jong-un at the Demilitarized Zone that separates North and South Korea. You're looking at live pictures right now from the pool.

It is good to see you again. I've never expected to meet you at this place. He is now the first sitting U.S. President ever to set foot in North Korean territory. President Trump has sparked a storm of outrage after a series of racist tweets targeting members of Congress who are women of color. The president Sunday called out progressive Democrat Congresswomen. Quote, so interesting to see progressive Democrat Congresswomen who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe,

the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world if they have a function in government at all. Now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful nation on earth, how our government is to be run. Why don't they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came? They came from here.

This is our country. And no amount of hate-filled bullying from the White House is going to change that. We're going to fight back together, and we're going to become stronger for it. I mean, I look at the one, I look at Omar, I don't know, I never met her. I hear the way she talks about Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda has killed many Americans. She said, you can hold your chest out, you can...

When I think of America, when I think of Al-Qaeda, they're not happy here. They can leave. They can leave. And you know what? I'm sure that there'll be many people that won't miss them. But they have to love... They have to love our country.

Why are we having these discussions in 2019 that race, racial issues, bias, race-related violence has all cropped up now? Why are we at this point, do you think? Well, I mean, I don't think it's only just cropped up now. And I know people like to look at the White House.

So I'm here to provide an update for what you are well aware is an active shooter in the early morning hours of today. My name is Sergeant Robert Gomez. I'm the public information officer with the El Paso Police Department. The estimates of the shoppers at Walmart were between 1 and 3,000 with 100 employees present. It is back to school and Walmart was at capacity when the shootings occurred. The Walmart was at capacity when the shootings occurred. 20 minutes before the El Paso killing spree, the accused shooter announced his grim intentions on social media. He spells out his racist motive, telling officers, in his words, he was targeting Mexicans. Good morning. I'm Jeff Berman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Today, we announce the unsealing of sex trafficking charges against Jeffrey Epstein.

Jeffrey Epstein preyed upon me. He put me in a vulnerable, independent situation and took advantage of me. And while the charge conduct is from a number of years ago. I was only 17. I was on my own and I needed help. It is still profoundly important to the many alleged victims, now young women. They deserve their day in court, and we are proud to be standing up for them by bringing this indictment. Only by taking away the freedom of Jeffrey Epstein can we restore the freedom of these victims. We start this hour with breaking news. Convicted sex offender

Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide overnight in a Manhattan jail cell. New developments now in a story with many twists and turns, and it started with a whistleblower's complaint about President Trump's contact with a foreign leader. Tonight, allegations of a White House cover-up as details of a whistleblower's complaint are revealed. I had a perfect phone call with the president of Ukraine. Like, I mean, perfect. In that call, the president asked for an investigation of Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Today, I'm announcing the House of Representatives moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry.

Now the burden is on the Democrats, really, to tell Americans the story of what happened and why it's impeachable. Good morning, everyone. This is the first in a series of public hearings the committee will be holding as part of the House's impeachment inquiry. You confirmed to President Trump that President Zelensky, quote, loves your ass, unquote. Do you recall saying that? Yeah, it sounds like something I would say.

Was there a quid pro quo? As I testified previously, with regard to the requested White House call and the White House meeting, the answer is yes. We have the call transcript, no quid pro quo. We have the two guys on the call, excuse me, who've repeatedly said there was no pressure, there was no pushing.

But Democrats don't care. They don't care about the facts and they sure don't care about the process. President Trump has ordered around a thousand U.S. troops to withdraw from northern Syria. The announcement is. This evening, the streaks of artillery lit the sky of this border town, the Turkish army hitting Kurdish targets just inside Syria. Now, the Kurds, of course, were key to the collapse of the ISIS caliphate. We never agreed to, you know, protect the Kurds. I just spoke to a Kurdish official. He said the Americans have betrayed us.

They're not angels. They're not angels. If you take a look, you have to go back and take a look. But they fought with us. Meanwhile, hundreds of ISIS supporters have escaped captivity as the chaos escalates. There's growing fears that the terror group could regain strength.

This is the most screwed up decision I've seen since I've been in Congress. We are no longer able to fight against ISIS. So I view the situation on the Turkish border with Syria to be, for the United States, strategically brilliant. It's the lungs of our planet, the Amazon rainforest. And right now, it is burning. We start with the heat wave that continues to batter India. Extreme temperatures across the north and the east of the country have caused hundreds of deaths. Three weeks of raging fires setting off alarm bells around the world.

Images emerged on Monday of Sao Paulo in the afternoon, blackened by smoke. Nearly a million species are at risk of extinction because of humans. Venice waiting for relief from days of what forecasters call exceptional flooding. The Missouri River crested to its third highest flood level on record. The Missouri River's flooding has been repeated. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction,

and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you? In Hong Kong, protests continue. The 10th week in, after violent protests. Bolivia's political unrest turned deadly. By voting Lebanon for a third day. Iranians have taken to the streets by...

...across Egypt, calling on... ...controversial Ecuador to protest the president. Algeria has been rocked by... Across the world, in dozens of countries, protesters have taken to the streets. Demonstrators are united in frustration with economic disparity and unrealized economic expectations. Dear Ellie and James, This is a moment that you will read about in your history books.

Today, I will vote to impeach the President of the United States. I believe this is the most unfair, politically biased, rigged process that I have seen in my entire life. If a president undermining our national security and using the federal government for his own selfish personal gain is not impeachable conduct, then Madam Speaker, I don't know what is. I believe that Democrats are tearing this country apart. They're tearing families apart. President Trump's behavior is exactly what our founders feared most. They knew that with the awesome power of the presidency

came the risk of a president abusing that power for personal gain. This day is about one thing and one thing only. They hate this president. This is about protecting the future of our nation and our democracy from corruption, abuse of power, criminal cover-ups, and bribery. It's a sham, a witch hunt, and it's tantamount to a coup. With that, Madam Speaker, I yield. Our time for general debate has expired. The question now occurs on the adoption of Article 1. All in favor, say aye. Opposed, no. Oh, I think we have a vote coming in. The yeas are 230. The nays are 197.

The nays are 197, present is one, article one is adopted. So we got every single Republican voted for us. Whoa. Wow. The question is on adoption of article two. On this vote, the yeas are 229, the nays are 198, present is 1, Article 2 is adopted. This lawless partisan impeachment is a political suicide march for the Democrat Party. Have you seen my polls in the last four weeks. We'll be right back.

Will President Donald Trump be convicted and removed from office for high crimes and misdemeanors in the coming Senate trial? Or will he be acquitted and become the first president in modern American history to stand for re-election, having been impeached by the House of Representatives? From what we know about Donald Trump's call with the Ukrainian president, what's on the calls with other world leaders? In 2019, we saw climate change become a crisis in the daily lives of many more people who did not expect it. What will that look like in 2020? In just the past year, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was treated for both lung and pancreatic cancer. Will she still be on the Supreme Court

at the end of President Trump's first term? How are these major changes in American immigration policy going to start rippling throughout the rest of the world? Will global nationalism continue to sweep the globe or will we see it begin to reach its nadir? How will the Democratic Party resolve the battle between moderates and progressives? Will 2020 be the year that I finally become a TikTok star. When will international regulators clear Boeing 737 MAX and will people actually fly on it? Will Democrats suffer in 2020 because they impeached President Trump? Do any of the candidates have a strategy to deal with China and to deal with its

rise in the 21st century? How will the Me Too movement play out in the presidential race? Will a fractious group of Democrats who are unified only in their agreement that President Trump must go, manage to bridge the divide between the left and the middle and come up with a strategy that will not strike such fear in the hearts of American voters that they don't simply stick with what they've got. People around me and folks in the media have said we have never been this divided. So in this moment, are we more divided than at any other time in American history.

That's it for The Daily. For the rest of the week, we'll revisit our favorite episodes of the year, listen back, and then hear what's happened since the stories first ran. I'm Michael Barbaro. See you tomorrow.