Latest news with #LucasFinton
USA Today
08-05-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Fed chair cites 'uncertainty' as central bank holds key rate steady
Fed chair cites 'uncertainty' as central bank holds key rate steady | The Excerpt On Thursday's episode of The Excerpt podcast: The Fed left its key interest rate unchanged again Wednesday and gave no hint it plans to lower it soon. Commercial Appeal Criminal Justice Reporter Lucas Finton has the latest from Memphis after former police officers were found not guilty of murder in the beating death of Tyre Nichols. All three former officers were separately convicted in federal court and still face time in federal prison. A nonpartisan analysis said millions of Americans could lose Medicaid health insurance coverage under different Republican Congressional proposals to cut spending. Airline CEOs rally behind Trump's air traffic control plan. USA TODAY Education Reporter Zach Schermele discusses how some think China could benefit from Trump defunding university research. Today is VE Day, marking 80 years since the end of the European theater in World War II. Let us know what you think of this episode by sending an email to podcasts@ Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text. Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here Taylor Wilson: Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Thursday, May 8th, 2025. This is The Excerpt. Today, the Fed has given us our latest checkup on the economy, plus a not guilty verdict for former officers charged in the death of Tyre Nichols. And while Trump keeps defunding university research, some think China will benefit. ♦ The Federal Reserve is still in wait-and-see mode. The Fed left its key interest rate unchanged again yesterday and gave no hint that it plans to lower it soon. That comes as President Donald Trump's tariffs raise the risks of both another inflation spike and recession. Officials signal they're growing increasingly concerned about both. The decision leaves the Fed's benchmark short-term rate at a range of 4-and-a-quarter to 4.5% for a third straight meeting. The central bank lowered the rate by a percentage point late last year as a pandemic-related price surge eased, but has paused since as it gauges the impact of Trump's duties. ♦ A jury returned a not guilty verdict on all counts in the state case for three of the former Memphis police officers charged in the beating death of Tyre Nichols. Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Justin Smith Jr. have been charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. I spoke with Commercial Appeal criminal justice reporter Lucas Finton for more from Memphis. And a warning, some of the details in this story are graphic. Lucas, hello. Thank you so much for giving me some time on this. Lucas Finton: Thanks for having me, Taylor. Taylor Wilson: So, Lucas, let's just start here before we get to this verdict. Going back to the incident itself, what happened to Tyre Nichols? Lucas Finton: So going back to January 7th, 2023, we were looking at Tyre Nichols getting pulled over by three officers with Memphis Police Department's Scorpion Unit. It was an elite task force basically sent to catch the most violent offenders in Memphis. Tyre Nichols is very aggressively pulled over at the start of that interaction. After a brief struggle, Tyre Nichols is running away from these officers. There was pepper spray, there was a taser, very unclear which hit and which didn't. But we do know that Tyre Nichols was able to get away at least momentarily, and he was running back to his mother's house when he got tackled by more officers from that same unit. And as more officers started to converge, you see him start to take punches, take kicks, more pepper spray at almost a point-blank range. And then, ultimately when they handcuff him and drag him to the side of a squad car, you see him start to slump over before medical professionals are able to get to the scene. Taylor Wilson: So, fast-forward to yesterday, Lucas, what verdict did the jury return here? And can you just remind us what led up to this point in court? What had we heard from the legal teams? Lucas Finton: Yesterday we heard a blanket not guilty verdict for the three defendants that saw trial. Looking back to yesterday and what led up to that verdict, we saw prosecution start and stop its case with two days, and they called five witnesses, including Tyre Nichols's mother, RowVaughn Wells. They called no use-of-force experts and closed their case after only two days, which came as quite a shock to most of the people in the courtroom. Since then, it was all up to the defense and the defense went on to call each defendant. All three of them called their own use-of-force expert that said their client did nothing wrong, and the jury at the end agreed there was not enough evidence to convict these three officers for killing Tyre Nichols. At the end of the proof, the judge did read jury instructions, and in addition to those seven charged offenses, there were 36 lesser offenses that the jury also could have convicted on. And essentially that required during deliberations the jury to say, "We are not convicting on the charged offense of," for example, "count one, second degree murder." And then they went down a litany of other charges and after about eight-and-a-half hours of deliberations, about four hours on Monday, and then four-and-a-half hours Tuesday, and brought back blanket not guilty verdicts for all defendants on all counts. Taylor Wilson: So, we should note Lucas, that we're talking here shortly after the verdict came in. What's the reaction been either around the court, in Memphis, or I guess, nationally? I mean, how is this landing with Americans? Lucas Finton: It's still kind of new to a lot of people. There was the federal trial last fall, and for a lot of people it's one trial and it's done. In this case, there were two criminal trials that had to happen before anything else could happen. So, we just wrapped up the second criminal trial yesterday with that verdict. Inside the courtroom, Tyre Nichols's family was very, very stoic, but as they got up and were hurried out, some of them had tears in their eyes. There were a couple of activists in the courtroom that have become very close with the family who were very teary-eyed. And of course, the three former officers also had family in the courtroom. That family, also very, very teary-eyed themselves. Taylor Wilson: Well, as you mentioned, Lucas, there's still a separate federal case. What's next for that? Where do we go from here? Lucas Finton: The federal case still has sentencing and that'll see all of the five original officers be sentenced. We had Desmond Mills and Emmitt Martin, both of them entered plea deals and it's not clear what their sentences will be on that front. As for Demetrius Haley, Tadarrius Bean, and Justin Smith, the three officers that were on trial both federally and in state court, they have their own federal convictions. Demetrius Haley was convicted on all four charged counts, and so he could face up to life in federal prison. And if that's the sentence the judge decides for him, he could spend it all there. There is no parole in the federal system. Justin Smith and Tadarrius Bean, they were only found guilty on the witness tampering charge. They were acquitted of the other counts having to do with violating Tyre Nichols's civil rights. And so, that charge could see them sentenced up to 20 years. We don't know which sentence they'll receive, but that'll be coming down in the next couple of weeks. Taylor Wilson: We'll keep an eye out there. Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, part of the USA TODAY network. Thank you, Lucas. Lucas Finton: Thanks, Taylor. ♦ Taylor Wilson: Millions of Americans could lose Medicaid health insurance coverage under different Republican congressional proposals to cut spending to support President Trump's tax cuts and domestic policy agenda. The estimates of people who could lose Medicaid coverage range from 2.3 million to 8.6 million under different proposals floated by congressional Republicans according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Congressional Democrats asked the CBO to analyze five scenarios that Republicans have reportedly discussed as the House Energy and Commerce Committee seeks $880 billion in savings and spending reductions from Medicaid and other programs under its jurisdiction. It's still unclear what Medicaid cuts Republicans might pursue. House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters earlier this week that Republicans have ruled out reducing federal payments to states that have expanded Medicaid. Johnson also appeared to be leaning against per capita caps on states that have expanded Medicaid. You can read more with the link in today's show notes. ♦ The CEOs of the five largest US airlines today plan to back the Trump administration's proposal to spend tens of billions of dollars to reform the aging air traffic control system and to boost hiring. They'll speak at an event where Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will detail its proposal to Congress. Other aviation industry companies will also attend, as will some relatives of the 67 people killed in the January collision of an American Airlines regional jet and a US Army helicopter near Reagan National Airport. ♦ The White House has cut off billions in federal funding from major American research universities and some think China could benefit. I spoke with USA TODAY education reporter Zach Schermele to learn more. Hey there, Zach. Zach Schermele: Hey, Taylor. Taylor Wilson: So, before we get to this moment that we're in now, Zach, let's just go back to the Higher Education Act of 1965 and just give us a refresher if you would. What did this establish back then? Zach Schermele: So, the Higher Education Act, what nerds like me call the HEA, was a landmark federal law that Lyndon B. Johnson signed. It established the college financial aid system and rules that colleges have to follow if they want to participate in that system, among lots of other things, everything from Pell Grants to student loans to funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities is in there. And it was signed kind of right at the beginning of really a turning point in the federal government's relationship with universities. In the decades since it was signed, billions of dollars in federal investment in research has largely kept growing because maintaining US competitiveness by investing in universities and in higher education was really a bipartisan issue for quite a while. Taylor Wilson: All right. So, it seems like China might be able to benefit here, Zach, how so? Zach Schermele: So, a former president at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently wrote an interesting article in Foreign Affairs Magazine and he said that China could fill the void of a looming brain drain, he called it, of scientific talent from the US. He said that the Trump administration risks draining a crucial source of new ideas for industry and the military, even as geopolitical threats continue to grow. Also, one of the most passionate voices around the Trump administration's recent cuts to research funding at colleges has been Maura Healey, who's the Democratic governor of Massachusetts. Healey was one of the first Democrats to really start painting Trump's funding cuts to universities as a national security and an economic issue. She says that China is on college campuses in the US, recruiting scientists, and that makes America less safe, in her words, and less competitive, and she argues that it would have really big ripple effects for the economy. Taylor Wilson: Zach, you write that there are some echoes of the Space Race in this moment. Can you talk through that? Zach Schermele: Throughout the early 20th century, politicians in Washington were really conflicted about whether or not to increase federal support for higher education, and that continues today. But with the launch of Sputnik, which was the first satellite to orbit the Earth from the Soviet Union, kind of a logjam broke. So, in the ensuing decades, the federal government really massively boosted funding for university research. And then as the Cold War faded, so did some of the arguments about colleges' roles in keeping the US competitive and safe, and as Americans views of higher education soured. But that worry about needing to maintain US competitiveness seems to really be coming back now in the wake of these cuts, even from some Republicans in Congress who have really been loath to criticize the president. The one in particular is Senator Todd Young, a Republican from Indiana who co-wrote an editorial in the Washington Post in March where he urged more federal investment in scientific research. And he said that just as the US did when the Soviet Union drew ahead in the Space Race, the US needs to meet this moment by accelerating investments, not curbing them. Taylor Wilson: And just in terms of Trump's perspective or the Trump administration's perspective on all this, what do we hear from them? Zach Schermele: So, the administration really has taken a very skeptical view of American higher education. And a lot of the pressure campaign that Trump and other Republicans have engaged in against universities has come, they say, from concerns about curbing anti-Semitism on college campuses in the wake of protests related to the Israel-Hamas war. But they and other critics also say that federal spending on higher ed has just gotten out of hand and colleges have never really at any point in American history said they had enough money, even as the cost of college has risen over the last century. Taylor Wilson: All right. Another interesting piece from you, Zach. Folks can find the link in today's show notes. Zachary Schermele covers education for USA TODAY. Thanks, Zach. Zach Schermele: Thanks, Taylor. ♦ Taylor Wilson: Today is VE Day or Victory in Europe Day, marking 80 years since the close of the European Theater in World War II when Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allies. The fighting in Europe stopped when the chief of staff of the German Armed Forces High Command, Alfred Jodl, surrendered at General Dwight D. Eisenhower's Allied headquarters on May 7th, 1945. You can check out some historic photos from the moments after with a link in today's show notes. ♦ And later today, aging is often framed as something to resist or reverse, but what if our later years can be just as vibrant as the early ones? Dr. Eric Topol: We don't really want to live to 110 and be demented or have all sorts of other chronic diseases. But on the other hand, if we could live well into our 90s and have no chronic diseases, that would be the goal. Taylor Wilson: Dr. Eric Topol's research into healthy agers has revealed what is myth and what is fact when it comes to aging well. Dr. Topol shares his findings in a new book, Super Agers: An Evidence-Based Approach to Longevity. Hear that conversation with my colleague Dana Taylor today after 4:00 PM Eastern Time. ♦ Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio. And as always, if you have any comments or questions, you can email us at podcasts@usatodaycom. I'm Taylor Wilson. I'll be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA TODAY.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Two Memphis-area attractions are closed after record breaking rainfall
As the Mid-South recovers from five days of severe weather and heavy rainfall, some Memphis-area attractions are closed, dealing with floodwaters and repairs from the storms. The National Civil Right's Museum, located in the South Main area of Downtown Memphis, has closed its doors Sunday and Monday for repairs, according to a bulletin on its website. Shelby Farms Park shut its gates on Sunday, April 6 due to "extreme flooding," according to their Facebook page. The Sunday closure followed an early closure on Saturday due to "rising water levels and continued rainfall." The park announced they would have a delayed opening on Monday to "allow operation teams to assess conditions" at Shelby Farms. Between Wednesday and Sunday, NWS Memphis recorded 14.07 inches of rain in East Memphis. Here's what it recorded across the Mid-South during that time period: Memphis International Airport: 12.35 inches of rain West Memphis: 10 inches of rain Jonesboro, Arkansas: 8.75 inches of rain Blytheville, Arkansas: 8.41 inches of rain Tupelo, Mississippi: 2.66 inches of rain Commercial Appeal reporter Lucas Finton contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: National Civil Right's Museum, Shelby Farms Park closed after rain
