00:00While we were sleeping, President Trump had a full day in Beijing with bilateral meetings about
00:04things like trade and AI. And this morning, the first day of his visit is being capped off with
00:09a big state banquet hosted by China's leader Xi Jinping. I spoke with the Post's White House
00:14reporter Emily Gooden late last night before the meetings got underway. She is with the president
00:19in Beijing. President Trump is getting ready for a busy day here in Beijing, starting with a formal
00:24welcome ceremony here at the Great Hall across the street in the Tiananmen Square. You can hear the
00:31band back here practicing the American National Anthem, and schoolchildren are lining up getting
00:36ready to wave flags of China and America and greet the two presidents. After this ceremony, the
00:42president will meet with President Xi for a bilateral meeting. He's going to take a little tourist nap at
00:48the Temple of Heaven, and they'll cap off the day with a state dinner. A CIA whistleblower showed
00:54his face in public for the first time to testify in front of a Senate panel on Wednesday. He was
00:58there to talk about COVID-19 and, more specifically, about claims Dr. Anthony Fauci improperly influenced
01:04intelligence analysis in 2020 and 2021 about the origins of the pandemic. The special operations
01:10officer, James Erdman, suggested Fauci was trying to downplay findings that COVID most likely resulted
01:16from a laboratory accident in China. Dr. Fauci's role in the cover-up was intentional.
01:21Dr. Fauci influenced the analytical process and findings by leveraging his position to ensure the IC
01:29consulted with a conflicted list of curated subject matter experts, public health officials, and scientists.
01:38Erdman went on to allege that Fauci minimizing the lab leak theory skewed intelligence community
01:43investigations into the origins of the pandemic. For the last year, the special ops officer was part of
01:48Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard's Director's Initiatives Group, or DIG, which investigated
01:53those probes from 2020 and 21. And get this, he says the CIA illegally monitored the phones and computers
02:01of DIG investigators. The CIA was not happy about the hearing. A spokesperson slammed the committee for
02:07engaging in, quote, political theater by compelling Erdman's testimony since the agency already determined
02:13and made public that a lab leak is the most likely explanation for the COVID pandemic.
02:19Kevin Warsh is now our big money guy. He has officially been confirmed by the Senate as the next chairman
02:25of the
02:25Federal Reserve. And boy, does he have his work cut out for him.
02:30The dual mandate of the Fed, as outlined by Congress, is to promote maximum employment and keep inflation in check.
02:36It's that second one that's going to prove tricky right now. Inflation is heating up. Data out this week
02:42show that consumer prices popped 3.8% in April compared to the same time last year. That's the
02:48biggest jump since the middle of 2023. Now, typically, the Fed would counter rising prices by raising interest
02:54rates. That usually cools off the economy just enough to bring prices back in line. The problem?
03:00President Trump has been railing against the outgoing Fed chair, Jerome Powell, for not cutting rates.
03:06Yes, economic news can be a bit dry sometimes, but you're going to want to circle June 17th on your
03:11calendars and get your popcorn ready. That's the next time we'll get news from the Fed about an
03:16interest rate decision. For more on these stories and everything else you could possibly want to know,
03:22check out the New York Post in print or online. And don't forget, like and subscribe to the New York
03:26Postcast wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube. I promise you'll be glad you did.
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