Pluto Afternoon N2K

need2know-afternoon-edition-0816022

Let's start with the latest from Ukraine explosions at a military base in Crimea suggesting the country is fighting back against Russia. Smoke and fire was seen rising over an ammunition depot in the Russian occupied territory in the second suspected Ukrainian attack and just over a week forcing the evacuation of more than 3000 people for more. On this, we're joined by correspondent David McKenzie, who is on the ground in Kiev. David, thank you so much for joining us. Can you talk about the explosions in Crimea? What does this mean for the state of the war currently? Well, it's certainly significant and it is the early morning blast. Several of them on the horizon, you can probably see them that shocked those residents of Crimea, some of them filming it with their cellphones exclaiming what exactly is going on now that's in the northern part of Russian occupied Crimea. Now these very large blasts, damaged infrastructure, power lines, transportation routes, the Russians say that it is a sabotage of some kind. The Ukrainians haven't said much about it at all, but it's part of circumstantial evidence, certainly that the Ukrainians are impacting this conflict in Russian occupied Crimea, both there in the north and in the west of that zone earlier last week. They had these strikes that hit a major airfield. They're shocking tourists just going to the beach. Now the impact of this is hard to tell from the battle. The overall battle point of view, but it certainly is an impact possibly on the supply lines of Russians and also on the psychological impact because men thought that that part of Crimea was safe and that the Ukrainians couldn't strike that deep into that territory. But now it seems potentially they can I want to ask you about Russia's defense Minister and his comments saying there's no need to use nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine. Can you elaborate a bit on that? Well, certainly there were some fears at the very start of this conflict that the very worst case scenario would be that Putin or his generals would dip into their nuclear arsenal. That was always a long shot, worst case, sum of all fears kind of situation. It is interesting though, that this senior Russian war. The command of the forces mentioned this at a conference saying that their nuclear arsenal is just there as a deterrent in a way to be defensive against potential nuclear strikes from other countries. We of course nowhere near that kind of scenario in the campaign in Ukraine. And they said that they would depend on the conventional weapons in this conflict which are devastating even those conventional weapons. So, it is interesting though, that he mentioned it, but I don't think it has significant impact on the battle, as it is. Thank you for that clarification. And Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is calling for tougher sanctions against Russia for nuclear blackmail. Can you talk to us about that? Well, that's relating to a nuclear facility, a civilian civility to the south of where I'm standing, The Pepperidge a nuclear power plant. Now, the Ukrainians say that the Russians have been striking in and around that site, giving the chance at least giving the potential chance for some kind of damage of these nuclear reactors. That could of course lead to a fallout. Two leak, a very scary situation indeed. The Russians have blamed the Ukrainians for that. It's very murky. But ultimately the threat there remains. It's right on the front lines of this fight between Russians and Ukrainians. Now, what Zelensky is talking about is saying that because the Russians occupied that site early in the war, they basically blackmailing the Ukrainians by raising the stakes of that conflict. That's the Ukrainian point of view. The U. N. And the Atomic Energy Agency has tried to get inspectors in there to make sure it's safe right now. They say there's no immediate threat of any kind of fallout. But the threat remains and you really have a situation that they are just not able to get those inspectors in until they can do that or demilitarized zone. It is a tense situation to say the least in that part of the country, correspondent. David McKenzie and key please you and your crew continue to stay safe out there. We appreciate your reporting. David, Thank you. Now for a wraparound of today's news cycle, let's start with First Lady Jill biden, she has tested positive for Covid 19, according to the White House, she started showing cold like symptoms last night and while she initially tested negative on a rapid test, her PcR test came back positive. The first lady is taking packs love it and will be isolating for at least five days. She's fully vaccinated and double boosted and is only seeing mild symptoms. Her husband, President joe biden is continuing to test negative after coming down with the virus last month. The US is ramping up its supply of monkey pox vaccines. As many at risk americans struggle with a lack of availability. Health officials saying as of this week, there are 442,000 doses for local health departments. Despite comes after the government implemented a new vaccine strategy that only requires 1/5 of the original dose size. About 1.7 million people are eligible for the monkey pox vaccine cases are continuing to rise, especially in hotspots like new york and California. Hearing aids will soon be much easier to get Thanks to new action from the FDA. The agency will allow hearing aids to be sold online and over the counter to adults without a prescription. It's welcome news for millions of americans with mild to moderate hearing loss who have long been frustrated by the required and often expensive exams. The FDA says roughly 30 million americans experience hearing loss but only about 1/5 get the help. They need new ruling is set to officially begin in about two months. The son of the man suspected in the killings of at least two Muslim men in New Mexico is in federal custody, Shaheen say it is facing a federal charge of lying to investigators about the murders connected to his father, Mohammed. Sayid Mohammed is possibly linked to four tar. It'd killings total one theory for a motive is personal grudges fueled by intra muslim conflicts. Cellphone records show Shaheen was close to the scene of one of those murders. His lawyer is calling the case against him quote exceedingly thin and speculative. More than two million baby rockers are being recalled over the risk of strangling young Children. The rocker sold under the brand name. Four moms have restraint straps that can hang down when they're not being used. Children who can crawl, can get tangled in those straps and 1 10 month old died after getting caught. People who own the products can now get free strap fasteners to keep the restraints away from the Children. Another product recall could be sitting in your fridge or maybe in your child's lunch box Kraft Heinz announcing a recall of more than 5000 cases of Wild Cherry Capri Sun, The company believes a diluted cleaning solution used on its food processing equipment could have contaminated the drink. It says the issue was discovered after receiving several consumer complaints about the taste retailers should be removing the products from stores, but if you have Capri Sun. Wild Cherry in your home with the best when used by date of june 25th 2023 do not drink it. Instead return it to the store where you bought it nearly 50 years after suffering discrimination for protesting native american mistreatment. At the 1973 Oscars activist Sacheen Little feather is finally receiving an overdue apology at the Academy. Little feather took the stage on Marlon Brando's behalf, who declined the Best Actor award for his role in the Godfather. Now, during the speech, she addressed the treatment of indigenous people in the film industry and received a mix of applause and boos. Former Academy President David Rubin reportedly wrote in a letter quote, the emotional burden you have lived through and the cost to your own career in your industry are irreparable. Little feather says she never expected to hear an apology. Some upcoming American airline flights are being grounded with the airline cutting 31,000 trips from its November schedule. That adds up to 16% of its line up with the largest cuts affecting routes between Chicago and Dallas and Boston and Philadelphia. Earlier this month, American cut 2% of its flights in September and October. The airline has called the cuts proactive adjustments. Other major airlines have also been trimming their schedules of its staffing issues and demand predictions