McConnell Health, Idalia Aftermath, Gabon Coup Fallout
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Are which mcconnell's health troubles turning into political ones.

I'm ready for him. The open center republican leader has frozen twice in five weeks. What's that mean for his political future?

I am a shark. That's a Martina. And this is up first from N. P. R. news. hurray. E itala snapped trees, blew the roof of buildings and downed power lines across the southeast.

Prety crazy.

Prety shocking. How are people in the hurry? Es per have coping with .

the damage and a cooling gabon is Sparking concerns of more destabilization across the region. So who exactly in control of the oil rich central african countries stay with us? We've got the news. You need to start your day.

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for the second time in five weeks, the top republican in the senate abruptly went silent at a news conference. This time.

minority leader mitch mcconnell appeared red to freeze briefly after a border in northern kentucky asked whether he would run for reelection. He never answered that question. But these episodes, which have been largely unexplained, have raised concerns about an age in congress.

including in my cons home state move public media. Silvia good is to tell us more, sylvia. So what happened yesterday?

So senator mich. Mcconnell spoke an event up in cover tink, kentucky, which is red across the river, from since anadi, for about twenty minutes. And right afterwards, he went to speak to a group of reporters.

They were asking questions. And as he was about to answer, he suddenly went silent. He seemed unable to speak.

An aides stepped in, tried repeating questions for him, trying to keep things as moving along. All told, the senator was silent for about thirty seconds. He eventually did tell his aides that he was fine. He answered a couple more questions before he was LED away. Mcconnell's office said later that he was feeling like headed um but that he'll be seeing a doctor before his next event, but this is the second time this has happened publicly at the end of july。 Hit a really similar kind of scary moment on capital hill while answering reporter questions.

And that was five weeks ago. Now other senators have also struggled with their health recently. I know her dian fine dine ninety years old, or there had been calls for heard to step down after he was absent for month.

Mister, dozens of votes. What's the mood like in kentucky? america?

So earlier this month, I went to the annual fancy farming political picnic, which is out in rural western kentucky. E, and this was right after that first episode, and many of the people I spoke with did bring up term limits. For example, catia Smith willis said he thought I might be the only way to see more Young people in congress.

We are the future. We are the next generation. If we don't get in these seats and take these seats, we're not going to have a good state to be in.

And so definitely we've deadly need harm limits. We need them expensive ously. And actually our other U. S. Senator, rand paul, has proposed a constitutional amendment for congressional term limits. Before a few years ago, he signed a pledge calling for no more than three terms for representatives and two terms for senators, although, of course, brand paul has just started his third senate term.

Now do macon's constituents and other political figures in the tucky see his his long years of service has a benefit.

So mccan was first elected to the senate in one nine hundred and eighty four, and he is the longest serving party leader in senate history. Many of the people I spoke with at that political picnic did thank mcconnell a service and said he did a lot of great things for context I, but some of them were ready for a change. Here's john hindle power, uh, who is there to support the republican cuban ettore al candidate.

Appreciate some of things he's done in his rear, but we need somebody knew. So yeah, i'm ready for him the right off in the sunset.

And this is Jerry Morris who usually vote for democrats.

You know, a, wow, you have changed car at forty thousand, and they've been in our forty years. So you know, for whatever reason.

the conal were VC to see that that changes already decided to some extent. Soon after he wins reelection, maco advocated for a new state law, which took away a lot of the appointment power from the governor I gave IT to the party of the vacating senator. Although some democrats are expecting legal chAllenges to that system.

Reminds, we're going to go check the treat of my tire. So will be a good thing from leval public media civil.

Ths, thank you.

Across southeast.

hundreds of thousands of people lack power, roads are littered with storm debris, and fears remain over the possibility of future flooding.

All of this after hurting ane idalia tour a path from florida to south CarOlina, tearing off roofs, snapping trees and turning cars into boats. And the full toll is still being calculated.

Npr Bobby Allen has been following adalia from lake city, fla. Bob, what can you tell us about to the damage left in a yeah.

you know, IT was pretty a destructive vy. The storm came assure along the northern gulf coast of florida with one hundred and twenty five mile prior wins. As IT turns, the storms submerged.

Small fishing communities under water. Literally, roads with heaths of fAllen trees knocked out power for hundreds of thousands. You know, many of those people and businesses are still in the dark today. And you know, while many evacuated, others rode IT out like rock and wealth. SHE watched the storm inside her brick home and lufa account and SHE described IT this way.

pretty crazy, pretty shocking. We were watching from the front door and watching some things fall down, and then also heard a crashing on our .

roof and they crash on the roof. Was a tree driving around the role with the area the storms tore through. There were so many snapped, knocked over the trees everywhere. And um IT made getting around this wind background of this community nearly impossible, but clean up crews have been working hard to clear debris, and tens of thousands of utility workers have making repairs to restore power to the region. But still.

a is going to take some time. Okay, how deadly has a diet?

Inform so far not very, which is a huge difference from the last time a major hurricane pounded florida, hurricane e and last year, more than one hundred and fifty people died in that storm. This time with adult, there have been three deaths linked to the hurricane. But what really spared so many was the path of the storm and moved through what's known as florida nature coast.

The region called the big band where florida's panhandle turns into the peninsula, is a sprawling agricultural part of the statement of wet lands and cattle farms. It's millions of acres of undeveloped. And so while the storm did buzz d's way through deep forests, IT avoided heavily populated areas.

At a brief in governor ani, santis said IT appears as if those who were in impacted areas really did heat officials warnings to evacuate, the santa said. Certain rescue teams are finding that most homes they visit our empty. They're probably gone through about seventy percent of the areas that they need to, to be able to check for people that are in distress. And so far, all, all signs have been positive. okay?

So they're starting to clean up and they're continuing rescue efforts. What else officials keep in an iron flooding.

the storm dumped a tremendous amount of rain from florida, the CarOlinas. Some rain bands behind the diet are expected today. So peak flood levels may yet to be realized, and IT will take time for some of the rain that already fAllen to make its way to rivers and the hurricanes coinciding with a rare super moon, which is expected to further race tides.

So a mix of storm surge and high tide could prove deadly, so officials are urging residents to stay inside or to be extra careful. On top of that, the big focus is bringing power back. Of course, driving on these major roads and in finding many non working traffic signals is chAllenging and dangerous. So that lack of power is making everything here pretty chaotic right now.

Npr s Bobby island in lake city floor.

the boy things. thanks.

Are we going out to africa where political appeal, al, for the moment, takes a back seat to a deadly fire in jo haney's berg? More than seventy people have died in a fire in a run down apartment block. Or authorities say people who are unsheltered had tried to find refugee to the north in the central african country of carbon. The latest coup on the continent has set off alarm bells in the region and beyond.

The script has become a familiar one after eight military takeover vers in just three years, sporadic ban on a gunfire and address one national TV by military leaders, the house arrest of a deposed president after the coup in the jar last month, this time it's go bone.

That was the sound of celebrations on the streets of the capital they revealed when the news broke yesterday. Until then, the same political dynasty had been in control of the oil rich central african country for more than half a century.

N, P, R, S, west africa corresponded in manual. I can vote to a following events from lagos, nigeria. Is IT likely that we're seeing a real change of the guard in gabon or just a change of uniforms?

Yes, for now, the military is being healed, but mainly because it's the end of the regime. You know, carbon is an all rich about diverse country, is been governed by single family since nineteen and sixty seven, but with allegations of looting and this appropriation under ally bongo's government, you know, this is a figure who has several properties in the U. S.

And france, he is in the north of the country. Before he was in government, he was a ja singer, actually. And he released an album in the one thousand nine hundred and seventy.

They entered politics, basically the family business. He took over power when his dad died. When his father died and people in gabon, fiel, they've had far from the leadership they deserve.

But at the same time, soldiers who launched the coup, they're implicated in the country's problems. You know, the military general and each of the transition government is actually a relative of alibis s. And he is acquired properties in maryland paid in cash, according to corruption investigators.

How this stabilizing? Has this latest coup been for the region and ambition? Ond.

well, right from the atlantic to the red sea, there's now continuous belt of countries that are run by military governments. And now with this latest cue, there's goban regional leaders, especially in western central africa.

They're talked about contagion and and this spreading, but they've not talked as much about the conditions that let us here, you know, carbon had in the election last weekend, condemned by the opposition and many people in the country as forgeron. And carbon is not the only kind of dynastic regime in the region. All the only country that have questions of legitimacy or in recent elections, you know, cameroon has been made by korea, is ninety years old, and he's govern for forty years, over forty years. And and yesterday they had a military reshuffle, le, that you might interpret as trying to prevent this sort of thing from happening.

Status, that the situation is a deeply concerning. And they're watching developments closely. What are other countries saying?

Well, there's been a lot of condemnation, the african union said, is strongly condemned IT and that aren't a way out of post election crisis. China have called for a bongo's release and of course, former colonial ruler france. But it's awkward for different reasons. Firstly, it's clear that the contamination that follows these crews is to some extent to shows how powerless these countries are to actually reverse them and is also awkward because on the one hand, this undermines stability as they see IT, you know, on the other hand, ali bongo was a controversial figure, and he was elected in very floor pause. So it's really hard to cost him or to cost this situation as a great injustice, even though the future for governments .

people is still very uncertain. Or west africa correspondent ed in manual okwu in. And that's the first for thursday, August thirty first .

in Martina Martin. Today's episode of up first was edited by pa rama Russell Lewis, tara neel, Michael Sullivan and Olivia hampton. IT was produced by monthly corona.

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