The Pacifica Evening News Weekdays – August 19, 2026

Good evening. It's Wednesday, August 19th. I'm Andre Jimenez. In tonight's news, Trump threatens new Iran sanctions and scales back U.S.-S.-South Korea military drills. I said, would you like to help us? He said, no, thank you. He said, that's nice. Please, thank you. He made us a lot of money. I didn't like that. So I felt that to do a massive, we were doing a massive war exercise. I thought that was very insulting to somebody that, frankly, has been... During my term, at least, very well behaved. Primary election results trickle in to fill U.S. seats. Brought to the courtesy of the red, white, and blue. Woo! All right. Hello, Alaska! And we air part three of a four-part report on the California health care crisis. Kaiser has begun replacing therapists with technology to triage patients seeking care. These stories and more are coming up. From the studios of KPFA in Berkeley, this is Pacifica Evening News. I'm Andrea Jimenez.

The Trump administration is reshaping U.S. military strategy across two regions, threatening to intensify economic pressure on Iran or reducing joint exercises on the Korean Peninsula. The decisions are straining relationships with South Korea and have failed to draw North Korea back to negotiations. KPFA's Lauren Schmidt reports. With the war in Iran now stretching beyond a hundred days with little to no sign of ending, President Donald Trump said Wednesday that his administration may impose additional sanctions on Tehran. Well, we have things that we could sanction. We have very draconian sanctions, and we'll see what happens right now. The strait is open. A lot of boats are coming through. People aren't reporting that. And that may slow down a little bit at some point. But right now, a lot of boats are coming through. The naval blockade has been extremely effective. Zero. I mean, literally, while it's up, and it's been for quite a while, you know, except for a couple of little pauses where we opened it purposely with a deal. But the deal didn't turn out to be what they said, you know, when they... tell us one thing and they do another. But the blockade has been 100% successful. No boats have gotten into Iran, but they are getting in for other places. But we'll see. A months-long ceasefire between Iran and the United States expired Monday. But Trump continues to describe the war and the U.S. blockade of the Strait as a success. Despite the ongoing stalemate and the reportedly deteriorating conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has now been deployed for more than 250 days, with sailors aboard the aircraft carrier reporting mental health crises, shortages of food, hygiene products, and other essential supplies. President has also downplayed persistently high oil prices and claimed that disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz has pushed the world to seek alternative energy sources and argued that that shift has benefited Americans. People have found other alternatives, which they never thought about, Texas, Alaska, Louisiana, and other places. In addition, a lot of pipelines, record numbers of pipelines are being built. Harmo Strait's not going to be quite as important as it was in the past. Before the war, roughly one-fifth of the world's traded oil and natural gas passed through the strait. Trump was also asked about his decision to scale back the joint U.S. South Korean military exercises. He said he was unhappy with South Korea's refusal to support the U.S. War of Choice against Iran and efforts to reopen the strait. I said, would you like to help us? He said, no, thank you. I said, that's nice. Please, thank you. He made us a lot of money. I didn't like that. So I felt that to do a massive, we were doing a massive war exercise, I thought that was very insulting to somebody that, frankly, has been, during my term, at least, very well behaved.

Trump was referring to North Korea's Kim Jong-un, with whom he said he had a great relationship. Yesterday, Trump was asked if he had been in talks with the Supreme Leader and made this comment from the White House Tuesday. Why hasn't Kim Jong-un responded to your request to have a conversation? How do you know he has it responded? Has he? Yeah, he is. Did you speak? Where are you in conversation? Very positive. North Korea, however, shared a rebuke on state media. Calling the decision to scale back military exercises with its southern neighbor does not change what Pyongyang considers hostile. Kim Yo-Jong, the influential sister of Kim Jong-un, issued her country's response. On Wednesday, stating, quote, the provocative, aggressive nature of the drills won't change, even though their duration and size were reduced, close quote. She also denied that her brother and Trump are currently communicating. But asked Wednesday about the conflicting accounts, Trump criticized reporters for pressing him on the matter. The fact that I get him along with him, that's a good thing, not a bad thing. He has 57 very powerful nuclear weapons. Should have never allowed it to happen. They should have never allowed it. If I were president, I wouldn't have allowed it. But he's got him. I know Kim Jong-un very well, and he's going to be fine. As long as we have a smart president, he's going to be fine. If we have a dumb president, then he's probably not going to be so funny. Are you expecting to meet with him to wait on this? Yeah, I will be. South Korean foreign minister, Cho Hong, said neither South Korea nor U.S. officials received advance notice of Trump's decision. We've been continuing very close consultations on the floor. That's the first point I want to mention. Secondly, the content that President Donald Trump posted on true social was not known in advance by our government or by officials from the U.S. government. Therefore, we were not notified in advance either. Regarding the third point about the reduction of the training period, our defense minister, Angu Bok, had closed consultations with the U.S. after the social media post. Scaling down the joint military exercises was decided through discussions between the U.S. and South Korean militaries, but I have not yet been informed of the details by the defense minister. Cho made the comments during a parliamentary hearing in Seoul, and Trump's abrupt announcement has raised concerns. With the president saying he ordered the exercise scale back. partly because South Korea refused to support his war with Iran. At the same time, the U.S. is shifting its military resources away from the Western Pacific. As the USS George Washington, the Navy's only aircraft carrier permanently based overseas will leave Japan for the Arabian Sea to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has been deployed for more than 250 days.

For KPFA News, I'm Lauren Schmidt. Stars and Stripes, which reported on worsening conditions for sailors board, the USS Abraham Lincoln, says its longtime publisher, Max D. Letterer, Jr., is retiring in Pentagon efforts to expand oversight of the military newspaper's operations and editorial content. The editor, who has led Stars and Stripes since 2007 and worked there since 1992, announced his retirement Tuesday, effective September 30th. In a staff memo, he wrote that it was, quote, become clear that my philosophy of leadership and my understanding of the value and mission of stars and stripes differ in fundamental ways from the direction of leadership of the Department of Defense has for the organization. End quote. Stars and Stripes has recently been at the forefront of some of the reporting on conditions for sailors on the USS, Abraham Lincoln, and concerns for their mental health during the aircraft carrier's long deployment. Concerns that President Donald Trump has downplayed. Letters' departure follows the Pentagon's firing of the paper's ombudsman in April, a role created by Congress specifically to protect the outlet's editorial independence. In an interview, he said he did not feel the modernization efforts the Pentagon announced in March were the right ones. Letterer especially opposed a Pentagon plan to eliminate the paper's print editions, warning it could limit access for troops overseas. Roughly half the outlet's budget comes from the Pentagon. Though its mission statement says it operates under First Amendment principles, free from outside editorial interference, leaders said he doesn't yet know whether the Pentagon will keep him on until his departure, date, or name an acting publisher sooner. August 19th is World Humanitarian Day, a United Nations observance honoring humanitarian workers in standing in solidarity with people affected by crisis around the world. Ahead of this year's observance, the UN reported that more than 37,000 civilians were killed across 20 armed conflicts in 2025. Roughly, one recorded civilian death every 14 minutes. The UN says that figure is likely an undercount. By the end of May of this year, more than 252 million people worldwide were in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and protection. For the third consecutive year, Gaza remained the world's deadliest place for aid workers. Drop site news reports that a Palestinian girl died Tuesday from severe malnutrition as Israel continues to restrict food and other essential supplies entering Gaza. Since the ceasefire began, Israel has allowed in just over 35% of the minimum agreed-upon aid deliveries, an average of about 212 trucks per day, compared with the require 600. The world's leading hunger monitor, the IPC, warns that more than 74,000 children in Gaza will require treatment for acute malnutrition through April 27. Without sustained aid,

Nearly 1.9 million Palestinians could face acute food insecurity by December. KPFAs Rami Almagari reports from the besieged Gaza Strip. On World Humanitarian Day, the people of Gaza continue to endure a severe humanitarian crisis. Securing food and clean water remains a daily struggle, as President Donald Trump's peace plan has stalled and has yet to be implemented on the ground. At a shelter in a school in Western Gaza City, displaced Palestinians describe the hardships they continue to face. Gadir Jabber is a mother of seven from Bay to Noon in the northern Gaza Strip. She has been forcibly displaced 11 times during the war and now lives in the UNRWA-Rimal Elementary School for girls in Western Gaza City. We cannot find food or even bread. My husband doesn't have a job. There may be goods in the market, but we cannot afford them. The organizations providing hot meals stopped doing so two months ago. Around the end of Ramadan, my children are always crying from hunger. As I speak to you, my chest hurts from the smoke caused by burning wood, and I am now becoming ill. I often burn wood to boil water to make powdered soup for my children, especially my 10-month-old son. I cannot even find a biscuit or a piece of chocolate to give them. We are deprived of everything. She is not the only person struggling at the school turned shelter. Sixty-year-old Nahed Nasar has also been displaced multiple times, told Pacifica that conditions have worsened over the past six months.

I cannot even get clean drinking water, which should be readily available. I have to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at my son's home because I cannot afford food. My son earns only about 10 shekels a day, roughly 3 U.S. dollars. I also have health problems, including heart and artery conditions. When I seek treatment, doctors prescribe medications, but half of them are unavailable. And even when they are available, I cannot afford them. Conditions are no better for the more than 1 million displaced Palestinians across Gaza. Local authorities have also expressed concern that the amount of aid entering the territory has fallen far short of expectations since last October's ceasefire agreement. Esmail El Thawapta, director of Gaza's government media office, told Pacifica that despite promises of improvement, living conditions have not improved since the ceasefire agreement took effect. Sala'a'a alaqa. People across the Gaza Strip continues to live under catastrophic conditions. The humanitarian situation has not improved since the ceasefire. The Israeli occupation continues to restrict truckloads of essential foods and other supplies from entering, allowing only 36% of the aid trucks that were supposed to reach Gaza.

The worsening humanitarian conditions come amid delays in implementing President Trump's peace plan for Gaza. This week, Trump's envoy and son-in-law Gerard Jared Kushner met separately with the mass and Israeli officials. Meanwhile, mediators, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, publicly accused Israel of a obstructing peace and the proposed roadmap by refusing to withdraw its forces or accept a path toward Palestinian statehood. In a joint statement, their foreign ministers called on the U.S. and the Trump-led board of peace. to take immediate and concrete measures to prevent any party from obstructing the plan's implementation. Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his objections to Jared Kushner, a long-time family friend who once stayed at the Jared Kushner's home and slept in Durant's childhood bed. Also this week, Israeli air strikes killed around 20 Palestinians, most of them members of Hamas' police, force or armed wing. Israel told American mediators it would continue targeting Hamas until the group disarms. Hamas says those killed were meeting to discuss steps toward disarmament when Israeli drones struck them. For Pacific Radio, KPFA. I am Ramiel Migeri in Gaza. Settler violence in the Occupied West Bank continues. This week, a Palestinian-American man named Louis Ritty left his home in Toledo, Ohio, to protect his family home from settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Ritty said his and neighbor's homes in Kuzra have been sieged by settlers for over a week. Ritty and his family are among 15 Palestinians who have been trapped inside their homes without running water or electricity. In response to the heightened settlement activity in the West Bank, U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said their actions meet the definition of terror. When you engage an activity that is intended to change the behavior and to create fear in an individual, an entire society, or a community, that is the definition, the... historic dictionary definition of terror. So I don't know what else to call it.

Mike Huckabee's comments come as settler violence escalates in the West Bank. The Palestinian Prime Minister's Office said on Wednesday that Israeli forces and settlers have launched at least 467 attacks on Palestinian communities across the occupied West Bank this week alone. In a video posted on X, the office said at least 75 Palestinian homes and structures were demolished by settlers. The West Bank has been occupied by Israel since 1967. Nearly 3 million Palestinians and 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank. Under international law, settlements in the West Bank are illegal. However, they have been encouraged under the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's friarite government. Last month, Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel would be expanding West Bank settlements despite deadly clashes between settlers and Palestinians. Settler violence towards Palestinians in the West Bank has only worsened since the October 7, 2023 attack. In the X video, heavy machinery can be seen destroying homes in the community as helpless families Stand by, shout, and watch. In another clip, Israeli settler teenagers can be seen throwing rocks at a Palestinian ambulance. In the same post, the Prime Minister's Office wrote, this is a, quote, relentless escalation of violence, dispossession, and destruction, end quote. On Wednesday, Israel took responsibility for a February 24 attack that killed five-year-old Hind Rahab and her six family members. Israel initially denied having any involvement with the killing, despite overwhelming evidence that Israeli tanks had been in the area. Following Israel's evacuation orders, Hind's aunt and uncle attempted to flee Gaza City with Hind and four of her cousins. As the family tried to leave Israeli troops opened fire on their vehicle, killing five people, leaving Hind and her 15-year-old cousin, Leon Hamada, alive. Lyon called the Palestine Red Crescent, where she said a tank was approaching the vehicle. In the call recording, gunfire and the screams of Lyon could be heard before the call went silent. Hind was the last remaining survivor. She stayed on the phone with the Red Crescent for over three hours, while she remained trapped in the vehicle with her family's bodies. The five-year-old pleaded to be saved.

The ballroom is so much a military component with the drones and the bomb shelters and everything else that we have in there. So it's really, you know, that started off as a ballroom. And before we started work, the military came to see me and they say, sir, we have an opportunity to do something incredible here. And we've been trying to do it for a hundred years. But we've never had an opportunity like that. So I had to make that decision. And I said, look, go ahead, design what you want. And that goes down five stories. It goes down almost 65 feet. What's in those five? Well, I'm not allowed to discuss that, but a lot of very details stuff. That's why bringing the lawsuit was very unfortunate because most people... Didn't know that. Now they do know that. They shouldn't have done that. Trump says the ballroom will add security to the White House, including things like anti-dron technology. A drone-proof roof, and you're going to have on top of the roof, you're going to have drones, many drones, which will protect Washington, D.C., and will protect the White House. The Trump administration unsuccessfully sought $1 billion in congressional funding to make military improvements on the ballroom. He also scoffed at court orders seeking to block its construction without congressional approval, saying work is continuing regardless and predicting the Supreme Court will eventually side with him and allow the project to be completed. The person had no standing. It was a person that said she walked along and she didn't like the view, even though nothing was built. a person that didn't like it and never even saw a rendering of it. We've gotten tremendous architectural reviews. It's beautiful. The woman has absolutely no standing according to virtually every, according to every analyst that I've seen, legal analyst, and it's a lawsuit that should have never been even allowed to be brought. A lower appeals court panel had upheld an order to pause above ground construction. Watchdogs say a ruling in favor of Trump could have long-term implications because legal precedent has long allowed standing by the public to challenge changes to national public property. The appeals court that upheld the suit wrote that Trump's standing theory would leave no one able to defend the raising of the Statue of Liberty, the Vietnam War Memorial, or prevent a political billboard atop Mount Rushmore. The court also ruled Trump's claim could mean preventing lawsuits against a company that dumps foul-smelling chemicals on public land. At the White House today, Trump suggested his building spree will be his legacy, saying they'll be here long after we're gone. But that is also yet to be seen. Trump once suggested refurbishing the Lincoln Memorial reflecting poll would last a century. But the paint faded. and its liner began to peel away in chunks just days after it was laid out. I'm Christina Onestead, reporting for Pacifica Radio, KPFA. A federal judge in Oakland held a case management conference this morning in the multi-state lawsuit seeking to block the merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery.

Twelve states, led by California, argue the deal would extinguish competition and lead to fewer choices and higher prices for consumers. United States District Judge Araseli Martinez-Alguin had already issued a temporary injunction blocking the companies from closing the deal while the case proceeds. Scott Baba reports. A federal judge in Oakland has delayed ruling on Paramount's request for a $1.88 billion bond in its antitrust battle over the Warner Brothers Discovery merger. United States District Judge Arselli Martinez-Ogwin ruled today that nothing will happen on the bond request until September 24th. That's just days before a $7 million a day fee to Warner Brothers Discovery shareholders kicks in on October 1st under the terms of the merger agreement. Paramount is seeking the bond to offset what it calls the, quote, extraordinary losses it could face from the state's lawsuit. In an earlier ruling last month, the judge appeared skeptical of the need for any bond at all, saying the states, quote, brings suit to enforce important public interests. Paramount also faces a $7 billion termination fee if the deal collapses by a June 4th deadline. The ruling comes as Los Angeles County released an updated economic report warning the merger could cost the region thousands of jobs. The report from the county's Department of Economic Opportunity found the deal could eliminate nearly 4,500 film and television jobs in L.A. County over three years, along with more than 5,800 additional jobs that supporting businesses and in the broader local economy. The total economic impact is estimated at $2.8 billion, including $547 million in lost tax revenue. A Paramount spokesperson pushed back, saying, quote, L.A. County's own economic report underscores what we have been saying all along. Our industry is in decline, production is down, and jobs are being lost, and lost for good if we don't act. California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who's leading this suit to block the deal alongside 11 other states and the Writers Guild of America said on social media, quote, The proposed unlawful Paramount Warner Brothers merger will lead to significant job loss and massive damage to the economy. Today's ruling comes after Paramount Skydance CEO David Larry Ellison last week threatened to relocate the company out of California starting October 1st unless the state agrees to negotiate a settlement in the antitrust lawsuit. Larry Ellison told senior executives earlier this month that Paramount would begin relocating if Rob Bonta doesn't come to the table by September 30th. Rob Bonta fired back on social media, accusing Larry Ellison of trying to, quote, blackmail the state into letting an illegal deal through. If the merger does cross the finish line, Larry Ellison and his team are expected to slash thousands of jobs at the combined company to achieve cost savings and streamline operations.

Paramount hasn't chosen a new headquarters location, but is reportedly considering Georgia, Texas, and Tennessee. Company insiders say a full relocation could take up to five years. Meanwhile, California's Democratic gubernatorial nominee Xavier Becerra said he'd rather see the Paramount Warner Brothers Discovery antitrust dispute settled than go to trial. Speaking at a Politico conference, Xavier Becerra said, quote, conference room, not courtroom. Arguing settlements typically accomplish more than litigation. It's his first public comments on the case. Xavier Becerra, a former California Attorney General and Biden administration health secretary, didn't take a position on the merits of the lawsuit, but he said the entertainment industry is vital to California, and any deal should be judged by whether it benefits the industry and working families. Asked about Larry Ellison's threat to leave California if no settlement is reached, Xavier Becerra said losing a major industry player would not be good for the state, but neither would rubber-stamping a bad deal. But their Republican rival, Steve Hilton, has called the state's lawsuit, quote, totally politically motivated. The $11 billion deal remains on hold with a trial set for March. I'm Scott Baba, Pacific Radio, KPFA. This is the Pacifica evening news. I'm your guest host, Andrea Jimenez. We'll be right back.

They won't save us. Not the politicians, not the billionaires. KPFA has never played their game. And they don't like that. Independent media is in the crosshairs. The time to stand up is now so we can still speak tomorrow. Protect KPFA at all costs. Donate now at kpFA.org. It's not freedom when they take away your right to vote. It's not freedom when they dictate what your reproductive rights are. It's not freedom when they dictate what books you can read. It's not freedom to live in fear. Join the fight for freedom. Become a KPFA member today at KPFA.org. Voters in Alaska, Florida, and Wyoming went to the polls Tuesday in the latest round of 26 primary elections, producing some surprising results, including a progressive upset in Florida and a Trump-backed candidate defeat in Wyoming. Teresa Where's Bianca has more. Primary results for this week's state primaries are in. In Florida, voters have set the stage for November. The headline is the governor's race. Republican Congressman Byron Donalds's won the GOP nomination Tuesday, taking about 48 percent of the vote. Donald's had the backing of President Donald Trump and will now face Democrat David Jolly, a former Republican congressman who switched parties, and won the Democratic nomination. Donald's will be running to secede Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who is barred from seeking a third term. If Donald wins in November, he would become Florida's first black governor. The congressman campaigned on issues including affordability, property taxes, and insurance costs, while emphasizing his ties to the Trump administration. We've been crisscrossing Florida. We've been knocking hundreds of thousands of doors, taking our message to all Floridians. And tonight, because of your sweat, because of your hard work, we have won a massive victory. Democrat David Jolly is pitching himself as a moderate, arguing that Florida voters are tired of partisan culture wars and want government focused on issues like housing, education, and the cost of living. The biggest surprise of the night came in the U.S. Senate primary Democratic State Representative Angie Nixon defeated Alex Vindman, a former Army intelligence officer and key witness in Donald Trump's first impeachment. Nixon won with about 50 percent of the vote, despite being dramatically outspent. Vindman raised more than $16 million, while Nixon raised less than $1 million.

Nixon is a progressive Democrat and member of the Democratic Socialists of America. She campaigned on policies, including universal health care, child care, and higher wages. She speaks here to CNN following her victory. We knew that we were going to win. Our campaign knew that we were going to win because we put in the work and because we went out and we centered people and the issues that concerned them and that they cared about. The fact was that folks are upset because Donald Trump and unelected Ashley Moody only care more about ensuring that their campaign donors and corporations are getting richer and richer. And meanwhile, everyday people are working harder than ever and still struggling just to they afloat. Nixon will now face Republican Senator Ashley Moody, who won the GOP primary. Moody was appointed to the Senate after Marco Rubio left the seat to become Secretary of State. If she wins, Nixon would become Florida's first black U.S. Senator. In the House, Republican Congressman Cory Mills lost his primary in Florida's 7th Congressional District to Former television news anchor Ryan Elijah, Mills had been facing a series of controversies and investigations, and in a newly redrawn district, longtime Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz won her primary. In Alaska, Alaska's U.S. Senate race is set. for November now, after Democratic former Congresswoman Mary Peltola and Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan emerged as the top two finishers in Tuesday's primary. Mary Peltola is leading Dan Sullivan with about 48% of the vote to Dan Sullivan's nearly 43% with most precincts reporting. Alaska uses an unusual top four primary system with candidates from all parties running on the same ballot. The four highest vote getters advance to the general election where voters will use ranked choice voting. Here's Mary Peltola speaking to her supporters on election night. If we were our own country, the 18th largest country in the world. And we are just so unique and special. And we have a lot of special circumstances in Alaska. We really need a champion for us in Washington, D.C., who gets us and will work hard for us. And I'm telling you, I really like Joelle's line of fireball offense. It's been one fireball offense after another. Mary Peltola, who served in the U.S. House from 2022 through 2024, is trying to return to Congress after losing her house seat to Republican Nick Begich two years ago. This time she's running for Senate and has made...

the race a major Democratic target. A Mary Peltola victory in November could help Democrats pick up a Senate seat. Mary Peltola has campaigned as a political independent willing to work across party lines while criticizing what she calls a political system dominated by special interests. Dan Sullivan, meanwhile, is seeking a third term in the Senate. He has aligned himself closely with President Donald Trump and has emphasized Alaska's energy resources, military importance, and relations. with the federal government. Here's Dan Sullivan addressing his crowd on election. Brought to the courtesy of the red, white and blue. Woo! All right. Hello, Alaska! Okay, I know people have been here for a long time. We got about 50% of the votes coming in. We think it's looking good, actually, given that who hasn't reported yet, but we have a lot of people here who have been here a long night, so I wanted to come and say a few words, but I just want to begin by thanking everybody for being here, thanking for the great energy here. I told my team, you know, regardless... of the outcome tonight, I'm going to give the same speech, because this speech is primarily about gratitude. The race also featured an unusual twist. Another candidate named Dan J. Dan Sullivan appeared on the ballot. The challenger, a retired teacher, denied allegations that his candidacy was designed to confuse voters and siphon votes from the incumbent. The Justice Department has opened an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his candidacy. For Alaska voters, the campaign now moves from a crowded primary to a two-candidate general election, and with ranked-choiced voting, both candidates will be competing not only for first-choice votes, but for the second-choice support of voters who backed the other candidates. And in Wyoming, Republicans have chosen their nominees for governor, U.S. Senate, and the state's loan seat in the U.S. House. State Senator Eric Barlow won the Republican nomination for governor defeating Trump endorsed superintendent of public instruction, Megan Degenfelder. Barlow will face Democrat Gabriel Green in November. And in the Senate race, Congresswoman Harriet Hageman won the Republican nomination to succeed retiring Senator Cynthia Loomis. Hageman, a strong Trump ally, is heavily favored in November. And Secretary of State Chuck Gray won the GOP nomination for Wyoming's lone house seat. For Pacific Radio, KPFA, I'm Teresa Wares Bianca. According to new polling, Americans across the country are increasingly concerned about election integrity and threats to the democratic process. Nadia Romlagon reports. A new Gallup Charles F. Kettering Foundation poll finds more than 70% of Americans are worried about different parts of the election process. According to poll results, 67% of respondents worry political leaders will pressure election officials to change election outcomes, and 52% are concerned about people gathering near polling sites to intimidate voters or discourage them from casting ballots. Derek Barker, senior research initiatives program officer for the foundation.

says elected leaders must take these results seriously. If large numbers of people start to doubt this fundamental process, you could see authoritarianism, political violence become more acceptable. So we think this is a warning sign. According to Campaign Legal Center, the Department of Justice continues to pressure states to sign agreements that would require them to remove voters from the voter rolls if they're flagged as ineligible by the federal government. Barker stresses that elected officials should use momentum on election security issues to enact reforms. There could be an opening here for leaders across the spectrum to come together and reach a grand bargain on reform, and that would be supported by a very solid majority. This is Nadia Romlagan for Kentucky News Connection. East Bay voters in California's 14th congressional district went to the polls yesterday to fill the seat left vacant when Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell resigned in April amid sexual assault allegations he denies. The race is between Progressive Democratic State Senator Aisha Wahab against Melissa Hernandez, a moderate Democrat who sits on the Bay Area Rapid Transit Board. While a little over 60% of the voters were counted within hours of polls closing, final results are not expected to be announced for some time. The Alameda County Registrar of voters said results will be updated on Friday, August 21st, Wednesday, August 26, and again on Friday, August 28. Results are expected to be certified on September 25th. As of now, Wahab leads Hernandez by 2%, roughly 1,300 votes. Wahab had previously placed first in both the June 16 special primary ahead of this week's election, as well as the June 2nd primary to decide the candidates running for the full term seat starting next year. In both contests, Wahab led Hernandez by more than 20 percentage points. Outside spending has since poured into the race. Though with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or APAC, spending nearly $2.5 million through its Super PAC, United Democracy Project, paying for ads attacking Wahab's legislative record and supporting Hernandez. A separate PAC, which has received funding from APAC, Bold America, spent another $2.4 million boosting Hernandez. Meanwhile, a rival group American Priorities, has backed Wahab in response. Senator Wahab said that, regardless of how the special election turns out, she's going to keep working for the district. I'm proud of this district. I'm proud of the voters. I think our voters are very bright people. They look into things. They see where money is coming from to really kind of know the truth versus the lies. And I think for me, my goal is always to serve this community. And I've said with or without a title, I will always be in service of community.

I'm a proud daughter of this district. I grew up in the foster care system, and I know how much community means to me. This election, if elected, I will be working as hard as I can to kind of get a leg up in D.C. and do the work that I need to, but then also really making sure that we do win in November and we continue the effort forward to represent this district. Despite efforts to reach Hernandez across phone, email, and social media, Hernandez did not respond for comment. The winner of this special election will serve out Eric Swalwell's term through January. The two will separately face off again in November to compete for the district's next full term starting in January. WNBA Commissioner joined San Francisco Mayor and Golden State Valkyries team officials to announce that the Valkyries will host the 2027 WNBA All-Star Game at Chase Center. Max Pringle reports. WNBA Commissioner Engelbert said the game and the surrounding week-long activities will come to the Bay Area for the first time. I'm honored to be here to share that the Golden State Valkyries and the San Francisco Bay Area have been selected to host the 27 AT&T WMBA All-Star Game. San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said the WNBA All-Star Game is just one of the many top-flight sporting events held in San Francisco in the Bay Area in recent years. He says the events give the city and the region an opportunity to put their best foot forward. We had the NBA All-Star game last year. We had Super Bowl 60 earlier this year. We had six World Cup matches. And what we are so excited to do to show off to the WMBA fans across the world is that San Francisco is a city on the rise. We got our cable car here. But everybody gets to come experience our incredible neighborhoods. We have the best restaurants in the world. We are just, we're a city on the rise. Valkyries and Golden State Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob said the Valkyries made the playoffs in their inaugural season last year and the team has been moving from strength to strength ever since. He said getting to host a WNBA All-Star game is the culmination of all that success. And here we are, you know, first season last year, great success. This year not only... the business but also and the fans and all that, but the tremendous success on the court. And I think it's just a tremendous feeling to actually be hosting the main event for the league, the All-Star game next year. I think we intend to show out as well as we can and to put on a tremendous event for the city. I know our city will be ready. Our fans are incredible. They'll be ready. Valgary's president, Jess Smith. said the Valkyries and their Ball Hala fan base embody the best of the Bay Area spirit.

Yeah, it's emotional. You know, we don't take for granted this opportunity to have a chance to be a part of the WMBA's growth, but it's part of what we knew was possible from day one with this organization. You know, we have embodied the Bay's energy in every decision that we've made along with the community and our fans and our players. And one of the things we keep in mind is that we understand that this is where the world looks to see what comes next, whether it's technology innovation or how we treat people, how we connect, what it means to gather. And we're doing that at Ball Halle. Smith said the Valkyries have eyed this opportunity since joining the league last season and worked on the Bay Area host committee for the other major sporting events. The Valkyries clinched their second playoff appearance Monday night. For KPFA News, I'm Max Pringle. Today, we continue our coverage of California's nursing crisis with part three of the care drain, a KPFA investigation. In parts one and two, we reported on nursing strikes and the burnout nurses' experience on the job. Today, we look at how artificial intelligence is reshaping health care in California. KPFA's health and well-being reporter, Annetta Felix, reports. If you've called a hospital lately and found yourself talking to a computerized voice instead of a person to continue in English press 1, you've likely run into what technologies call an AI agent. Unlike chatbots, an AI agent can take actions, like scheduling appointments without a human involved. Automated appointments or press 2. Evan Mendenhall is founder of a company called Professional AI Agents. You could talk to ChatGPT and say, hey, I would like you to send an email to my mom that I'm going to be in town later. And then if it's an agent, then it has the tool, the program tool, to be able to take action in software. He spoke at the AI Engineer Awards Fair in San Francisco this summer, where leading tech companies, artificial intelligence engineers and startups converge to showcase their latest advancement in AI over the course of four days. One of those days had a track completely devoted to AI and healthcare. Among the companies showcasing their AI software, Sundermind, it's a platform that contracts with clinical therapists and psychiatrists and some of the largest healthcare providers in the nation. Sondermind has served over a million people across the country. We partner with some of the biggest names in mental health care, including Headspace, Aetna, Anthem, and more. That's Akely Reid, principal AI engineer at Sundermind. With that, I'd like to introduce you to Sonder. This is our clinically grounded AI coach, which has been purpose-built for mental health. Sonder is billed as turning human therapists' insights into machine-readable evaluations, moving from single-prompt agent to supervisor, executor, evaluator with human oversight.

We want Sonder to be able to help provide mental health support to individuals who are seeking support but maybe aren't ready for therapy yet or between sessions. Sundermind also contracts with Kaiser Permanente. Kaiser has begun replacing therapists with technology to triage patients seeking care. That's Benjamin Netanyahu Eikert. the policy director of the National Union of Healthcare Workers, which represents more than 19,000 healthcare workers, including nurses, mental health clinicians, therapists, and medical technicians. In recent years, Kaiser and other hospitals have increasingly incorporated AI into their hospital networks, sparking protests from nurses and therapists. In 2024, Kaiser deployed an AI documentation tool called A Bridge across all 40 of its hospitals. The AI tool records patients' conversations and automatically generates clinical notes. Kaiser called it the largest implementation of ambient listening technology in the United States. The tool, A Bridge, was integrated with Epic, the largest electronic health record company in the nation. Epic holds more than 300 million patient records, including from leading hospitals like the Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins, UCSF, University of California, San Francisco, and Kaiser. Clinicians say Kaiser has also employed a second, more controversial AI tool called e-visit. Matthew Ards is the spokesperson of the National Union of Healthcare Workers. Pryzer has begun using its e-visits, which are online questionnaires that are tied to digital algorithms, to triage patients, where patients are answering questions and an algorithm is making their determinations that a licensed therapist should be making. And that, the union says, is against the law. California Health and Safety Code defines screening and triage as a service that has to be provided by a licensed medical provider. And that's not what's happening for many Kaiser patients right now. The union filed complaints with California regulators last year and both state and federal regulators last month on July 20th. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors called a special hearing on July 21st to investigate the complaints. Supervisor Cheyenne Chen opened the hearing with a direct statement. I have heard allegations that Kaiser is using AI or machine learning to replace clinical judgment. I find this absolutely unacceptable. The idea that we would allow AI to provide clinical treatment or triage for patients is shocking. At the hearing, Dr. Jasmine Smith of the National Association of Social Workers raised another concern. Algorithmic bias impacting quality of care for clients of color. A 2022 study found that a machine learning system algorithm caused Black patients to experience 33% longer wait times because it relied on factors that were closely tied to race.

Kaiser has paid more than $230 million in penalties over the past three years for failing to provide timely mental health care. That's against the backdrop of more than $9 billion in profit in 2025. The union complaint also claims Kaiser has replaced clinical triage with telephone service representatives as part of its virtual care. These TSRs only need a high school diploma. Kaiser therapist, Tiana Loy, says this eliminates patients say in who treats them. Now that Kaiser uses telephone operators and AI algorithms to screen patients, there is no method for them to request preferences in a therapist that may influence treatment such as cultural background or gender identity. I've had LGBTQ plus patients tell me they've waited forever to find a clinician with my background and that they were going to forego treatment if they did not come to someone like me. Kaiser declined an interview with KPFA and declined the Board of Supervisors' invitation to testify. In a public statement, Kaiser said its e-visit tool does not diagnose patients or decide what care patients need. The union disputes that and state regulators are now investigating. Despite the concerns and protests of nurses from New York to California, the federal government also contracts with e-visit to use in Medicare, as draws New York City Health and Hospitals Network, among other health care providers. Kaiser has also introduced remote patient monitoring technology where cameras in patient rooms are watched by a single person in another city monitoring up to 12 rooms at a time. Kaiser nurse Sidney Simpson says when something goes wrong, the distance costs precious time. That patient is monitored by a person miles and miles away, and each one of those people monitors up to 12 patients at a time, and then we'll alert the nurse if something dangerous is happening in the room. But as you can imagine, the response times are severely affected. Kaiser's growing use of AI in healthcare and the pushback has attracted the scrutiny of California lawmakers like State Senator Steve Alex Padilla. a San Diego Democrat who introduced legislation to curtail AI in mental health care, SB 903. The bill proposes a ban on the use of AI companion chatbots like Sundemind and e-visit in the provision of psychotherapy. It would also restricts therapist's use of AI on the job. SB903 has passed the state Senate and is about to pass the State Assembly. Cameron Popino is a staff nurse in the emergency departments at Contra Costa Regional Medical Center. He warns that what's happening at Kaiser could spread to any emergency room. When you come into the emergency department, the second person you're greeted with is the nurse at the front desk. You're telling the nurse what your issue is, what your medical complaint is, and their judgment is key to making sure you get a timely...

medical response. So if you come in with chest pain, a nurse is the one to make sure that you get that EKG done. If you put a program in charge of this, there's no telling if something's going to be missed. Back at the AI Engineer Awards Fair, Christian Bosniak, a senior software engineer from the Netherlands, says the disruption AI is causing is unlike anything the industry has faced before. This is the first time in human history where we are actually scaling intelligence, which creates a... very different disruption in every industry. If we are getting closer to the base level of human intelligence and we can scale it out, then eventually I think every single job is impacted. AIUs in healthcare, budget cuts, nurses burning out, then leaving the profession in record numbers, are straining nursing as a profession. And there's more. New federal loan caps are making it harder to even enter nursing. When you create loan limits, you immediately limit access to education. In our next and final in this series, we ask who will become the next generation of nurses? For KPFA Radio, I'm Annetta Felix. Forecasters are warning a new tropical system could form southeast of Hawaii by the weekend, even as the islands work to recover from tropical storm Lala, which has been blamed for two deaths. The National Hurricane Center says conditions appear favorable for a tropical depression to develop within days, and it could become a hurricane by the time it nears the island. A man's body was found yesterday in a pasture on the big island in what appears to be a storm-related death. The second fatality linked to Lala. after a 93-year-old woman's body was found Monday. Crews are still clearing debris and repairing damage roads and bridges. About 19,000 customers remain without power down from nearly 104,000 earlier this week. Bay Area Weather this evening. Increasing clouds with lows in the high 50s, mostly cloudy tomorrow, highs in the 70s. In the Central Valley, mostly cloudy this evening, lows in the 70s. Tomorrow, sunny and hot, with a high just over 100. In Los Angeles tonight, clear with lows in the high 60s, sunny tomorrow with highs in the high 80s. That's it for the news tonight. I'm Andre Jimenez. Good evening.

American historian, author, and leading scholar of racism and anti-racism. Ibram X. Kendi. People are facing real challenges in this moment, and what Great Replacement Theory convinces people that the source of your challenges are those other people, or those people who are strangers, or those people you already don't like. And I think that's what makes this theory so dangerous, because people's livelihoods are suffering right now at the hands of the super rich. And some of those people within the super rich are heavily financing politicians to tell people that they're suffering because of people who are suffering even more than they are. Storytelling for social change. Only on KPFA. This is 94.1 KPFA and 89.3 KPFB in Berkeley. 88.1 KFCF in Fresno everywhere at kpFA.org.org.