Transcript of Trump-Xi Meeting, Head Start Funding, Surgeon General Nominee

Hey. Hello.

Why do you sound so depressed?

I'm debuting a new personality now.

Okay.

No more self-deprecating A.

Okay. So what does that mean?

That means I'm not going to make fun of myself anymore.

So you're just not going to talk?

I know. It's hard because that's all I got to talk about.

President Trump says Trade Talks went well with Chinese President Xi in South Korea.

I thought It was an amazing meeting.

He's a great leader. Some tariffs are going away, but is there an agreement on a formal trade deal?

I'm Leila Fadel. That's A. Martinez, and this is Up First from NPR News. Tens of thousands of toddlers and preschoolers could lose access to their Head Start classrooms.

They are scrambling and trying to figure out how long they can keep the doors open.

Funding runs out this weekend for the federal program providing childcare and early learning for low-income families.

And a Senate confirmation hearing for President Trump's nominee for Surgeon General was delayed after she went into labor.

What we are dealing with here is so much more than a physical health crisis. This is a spiritual crisis.

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President Trump met with China's leader Xi Jinping today, and afterwards, seemed very happy.

No Overall, I guess on the scale from zero to 10, with 10 being the best, I would say the meeting was a 12.

President spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One about his first meeting with Xi since 2019. Trump said as a result of talks. He was going to cut some tariffs on Chinese products, though most of his tariffs from the Trade War will stay in place. He also said the two sides are scheduling visits to each other's countries next year.

Npr's Anthony Kuhn joins us from South Korea. Anthony, tell us about the trade details.

Okay. Well, basically what Trump and Xi did was to confirm what economic officials from the US and China had already ironed out last weekend in Malaysia. Xi Jinping said to Trump that that ironing out was basically a precondition for their meeting. The key details are that, first of all, China will defer export controls on rare earths. China will resume buying US soybeans, and China will do more to curb exports of the ingredients for the drug fentanyl. President Trump responded by saying that the US will lower the 20% tariffs that are on China because of the fentanyl issue down to 10%, and both countries will suspend collecting port fees on each other's ships.

Okay. Now, China and the US met in South Korea. Why did they meet there?

Well, they met on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit here in Gyeungju, South Korea. President Trump said the main point of his coming to South Korea was to speak to Xi Jinping, not to come to this APEC meeting. So both of them were guests of South Korea, and that setting was not right for a big deal or an announcement. Trump said also that he did not have time to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on this trip, but he'd return for that another time.

Now, President Trump seemed to be saying that he made a deal with Xi. I mean, is it a real deal?

Well, what the Chinese state news agency, Shinwa, said is that Xi Jinping called it a consensus on solutions to problems. In other In other words, this is not a broad framework deal. It is a temporary fix for specific issues. Trump said a deal could be signed pretty soon. Perhaps a fuller agreement could be reached during a state visit, which he says he will visit China in April. I asked Qi Jay Wu is an expert on Chinese foreign policy at Kyunghi University outside Seoul, and here's his take. He said, It was difficult to reach a final agreement this time. Instead, I anticipated that The two leaders would confirm their differences and be satisfied with building a common understanding. And that's what seems to have happened. And he added that President Xi appeared to be eager to prevent trade tensions from impacting China's economy, especially its high tech sector.

One more thing, Anthony, because an hour before the meeting, President Trump posted on social media that the US would conduct testing on nuclear weapons, on an equal basis with Russia and China. How did that announcement go over?

Well, we didn't hear a response from Xi Xi Jinping, but he can't have liked Trump's statement very much. Trump said that the US will resume nuclear testing because other countries are doing it. Now, it's true that Russia and China are upgrading and expanding their nuclear arsenals, but neither of them have tested any atomic bombs since the 1990s. For decades, China maintained a minimum nuclear deterrent, but it apparently decided that the US was trying to cancel out that deterrent so that it could hit China with nuclear weapons and not be hit back. So Trump's announcement We confirm those fears, and if Trump was trying to pressure China into arms control talks, it may have had the opposite result and just sped up an arms race.

That's NPR's Anthony Kuhn speaking to us from South Korea. Thanks.

You're welcome.

More than 65,000 infants, toddlers, and preschoolers may soon be at risk of losing access to Head Start.

That's the federal program program that provides childcare and early learning for low-income families. Because of the government shutdown, a wave of local Head Start centers across the US could be forced to close beginning November first.

For more, we're joined by NPR's Cory Turner. Good morning, Cori.

Good morning, Waela.

So, 65,000 children. I mean, help us understand why this is happening.

Yeah, so local Head Start programs all over the country run on different federal funding cycles. And the National Head Start Association says 134 of these programs, are supposed to be getting their next round of federal funding, November first. They can't do that if the government is still shut down. Without those federal dollars, these centers are now rushing to find alternative funding. Here's Tommy Sheridan of the National Head Start Association. They are scrambling and trying to figure out how long they can keep the doors open. There is a ton of hard work, a ton of goodwill, a ton of dedication, but hardware goodwill and dedication, don't keep your open. For now, Leila, these unfunded programs serve nearly one in 10 children in Head Start. If they have to close, many working families may have to choose between taking care of their kids and going to work.

Is there anything these communities can do short of waiting for the shutdown to end?

I mean, for many programs, the answer is a pretty clear no. They are going to have to close after Friday. Some may be able to stay open at least a little longer. A year ago, I spent some time in Michigan's remote Upper Peninsula, where Cori Holcom runs a Head Start program, and it turns out it is one of these places that is going to run out of money in early November. Holcom told me her agency and board of directors have found a way to keep the doors open two more weeks. Here's how. Making use of some reserve funds, pulling in other resources with the hopes that we will be reimbursed. We've asked for deferments on rent payments and some utility bills during that time to still provide services. I should say, Leila, by services, Holcim doesn't just mean childcare. Head Start provides high-quality early learning, backed by research, plus free health screening, care for kids with disabilities, not to mention multiple nutritious meals every day, which is extra important right now, with federal food benefits for low-income families also set to expire at the exact same time.

Wow. So, Cory, do we know where these closures might hit hardest.

Yeah, according to a map put together by the National Head Start Association, programs will be at risk in more than 40 states, but the places hit hardest first will likely be Florida, Georgia, Missouri, and Ohio. Keep in mind, though, Head Start serves about 750,000 children. If this shutdown keeps going, more and more of those centers are going to run out of money. It's also worth stepping back here for a quick second, Leila, because Head Start celebrated its 60th anniversary this year. While it still enjoys strong bipartisan support, the Trump administration actually considered trying to cut the program from its budget proposal. And in the spring, they temporarily withheld funding from Head Start. So this shutdown is just the latest crisis and what's been a pretty tough year for Head Start and the families who depend on it.

Npr Education Correspondent, Cori Turner. Thank you, Cori.

You're welcome.

President Trump's pick to be Surgeon General was scheduled to appear in front of a Senate committee later this morning for her confirmation hearing. Dr. Casey Means is a wellness influencer, an entrepreneur, and author. But as we just learned, the hearing was postponed at the last minute. Npr's Will Stone joins us to tell us why and who Casey Means is. I mentioned a few things, Will, that Casey Means is, but she's got a new title, right?

Yeah, she's soon to be a mother. It turns out Casey Means, who is pregnant, just went to labor. The hearing was already scheduled to be virtual, so she did not have to travel so late in her pregnancy. She's currently in Hawaii. The committee was set to do this, but clearly this changed the plans. At this point, we don't know when the hearing will be rescheduled.

All right, so tell us more exactly about who she is.

Yeah, Casey Means is in her late 30s. She went to Stanford Medical School and was pretty far along in her training to be a head and neck surgeon, but she dropped out of residency before finishing, and then she pivoted to what's known as functional medicine, briefly had a practice in Oregon, but really made her name on social media and through a book she published on diet and metabolic health. I'll note that her brother is a close advisor to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. So Casey Means and her brother did the rounds on big podcasts in the wellness space. And her message tends to echo what you hear from Kennedy and his allies in the Make America Healthy Again movement, especially when they talk about high rates of chronic illness. Here's how she talked about that at a Congressional roundtable led by Republicans last What we are dealing with here is so much more than a physical health crisis. This is a spiritual crisis. And she often talks about our food supply, environmental toxins. She criticizes the reliance on the pharmaceutical industry. Kennedy has said she will be the greatest surgeon general ever.

Yeah, but there's been some pushback, though.

Yeah, there has on several fronts. Certainly a lot of opposition from folks in the medical and public health establishment who argue she doesn't have the qualifications. She doesn't have the leadership or clinical experience you'd expect from the surgeon general who's considered the nation's top doctor. Dr. Jerome Adams, who was surgeon general during Trump's first term, told me confirming means would set a, quote, disastrous precedent. And she has made statements casting doubt on the safety of the childhood vaccine schedule, also about oral contraceptives. She's endorsed raw milk, similar to Kennedy. Now, interestingly, when Trump announced he'd pick means, you also saw some opposition emerge amongst some supporters of Kennedy. And part of that was some in that camp seemed to worry she wasn't critical enough of vaccines. So there were questions about whether this fracture in the Maha base would sink her confirmation. But it's unlikely the administration would have set up this hearing if she didn't have the votes to get confirmed.

Well, Trump announced that she was his pick back in the spring, and now the confirmation is delayed. So what does it mean for the country not to have an acting surgeon general?

Yeah, we've been months and months without a surgeon general under this administration administration. And some of that delay was because Trump had first picked a Fox News contributor for the role. She dropped out, then they went to Casey means. As for the job itself, surgeon general is not about making big policy decisions. The person is really a community communicator-in-chief for the nation's health. They take up causes, they issue reports. You can remember Biden's surgeon general did a lot on loneliness and social media. So that's not happening, obviously, since she's not confirmed. But I will point out as Secretary Kennedy himself has certainly taken up a lot of the communication work, as we've seen, and he uses his platform to promote his views on health.

That's NPR's Will Stone. Will, thanks. Thank you. That's Up First for Thursday, October 30th. I'm A. Martinez.

I'm Leila Faldin. We here at Up First give you the three big stories of the day. Our Consider This colleagues take a different approach. They dive into a single news story and what it means to you. In less than 15 minutes. Listen now on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcast.

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