News from around the nation.

Trump warns Iran to agree to a deal 'before there is nothing left'; 'No Kings' rallies planned across Massachusetts on Saturday; NV disability advocate alarmed by proposed cuts to Medicaid; Advocates push for economic inclusion during Pride Month in GA.

Transcript

The Public News Service Friday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

President Donald Trump told CNN on a brief phone call this morning that the United States, of course, supports Israel and called the country's strikes on Iran overnight a "very successful attack" while warning Iran to make a nuclear deal.

CNN reports, when asked about a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio Thursday that sought to put distance between the U.S. and the Israeli action, Trump told Dana Bash, "We, of course, support Israel, obviously, and supported it like nobody ever has supported it."

The president went on to urge Iran to reach a deal, telling CNN, "Iran should have listened to me when I gave them a 60-day warning, and today is Day 61."

Meantime, protests are planned for Saturday in Massachusetts and nationwide in opposition to President Trump's agenda.

The "No Kings" rallies coincide with a military parade in Washington, D.C. to mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army and Trump's birthday.

Chuck Tryon, an organizer with the Indivisible Mass Coalition, says Americans are pushing back against what they view as authoritarian tendencies.

"They're targeting students for writing things that are critical of the administration and doing these things to just place fear in the community."

More than 100 events are planned in cities across the state, including Boston, Springfield, Greenfield and Hyannis.

Trump says anyone protesting the Army's parade will be met with what he calls "very big force."

I'm Katherine Carley.

Protest organizers say the Trump administration aims to cut nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid, Medicare and SNAP benefits.

Next to Nevada, where folks with disabilities are concerned with those proposed federal cuts to Medicaid, despite claims from GOP lawmakers that the cuts target only waste, fraud and abuse.

"The U.S. Senate is currently considering a federal budget reconciliation package containing cuts to Medicaid and other social safety nets.

The bill narrowly passed the House last month with the latest version of the bill proposing cuts to Medicaid worth more than $700 million.

Ace Patrick is a Nevadan living with a disability.

They say other proposed changes in the bill, like implementing work requirements to qualify for Medicaid, would be particularly challenging for those with disabilities.

"Those of us that could work are working.

Those of us that cannot work, and there are many people with disabilities who are unable to work, who are in their homes, in apartments, in group homes, in nursing care facilities, what are they supposed to do without care?

It will be devastating and many of us will die."

I'm Alex Gonzalez reporting.

And each June, businesses roll out merchandise and public declarations of support for Pride Month.

But Martha Gomez, who leads workforce development at the non-profit Trans Can Work, says these gestures really address the deeper economic challenges facing transgender, diverse and intersex people.

"Really it's a profit for the company and it's not really a profit for the community."

She says that what's often missing is a real investment in creative, safe, stable and supportive work environments to go beyond public campaigns.

This is Public News Service.

Next to California, where a college student faces prison time after rescuing four sick chickens from a Sonoma County slaughterhouse.

The case is reigniting debate about how animal cruelty laws are enforced and against whom.

Zoe Rosenberg, a UC Berkeley senior and longtime animal advocate, entered Purdue's Petaluma poultry slaughterhouse last year and removed four chickens she says needed urgent care.

Rosenberg later published video evidence and alerted authorities, but instead of launching an investigation, police arrested her on multiple felony and misdemeanor charges.

"I documented chickens who were collapsed on the floor, too weak to stand and unable to get to food and water.

I reported it to law enforcement, didn't get any helpful response.

I personally rescued four chickens from the back of a slaughter truck."

California law bans acts causing unnecessary animal suffering, but enforcement often falls to local agencies, which Rosenberg and others say rarely investigate large-scale farms.

Petaluma Poultry is a subsidiary of Purdue Farms, one of the nation's largest poultry producers.

Farah Siddiqui reporting.

This story was produced with original reporting from Seth Milstein for Sentient.

Meantime the budget reconciliation bill being considered by the U.S. Senate proposes $863 billion in Medicaid reductions over a decade.

In Florida where 760,000 Medicaid enrollees rely on community health centers, advocates say the cuts would destabilize preventative care and overwhelm hospitals.

Austin Helton, who leads Brevard Health Alliance, says the cuts would dismantle primary care access, rupturing what he calls Florida's health care ecosystem.

"If you cut spending on Medicaid and ACA, which primarily pays for access to primary care health services at community health centers, that access is gone.

The patients are still going to need that care.

They're just going to end up sicker and they're going to end up going to more costly and more complex environments like the emergency room at the hospital."

While the Florida Policy Institute warns of clinic closures and reduced hours, supporters say the changes target inefficiencies, with House leaders claiming they'll reduce wasteful spending while protecting vulnerable patients.

I'm Trammell Gomes.

Finally, California took a big step this week toward the goal of conserving 30 percent of land and waters by 2030.

The Ocean Protection Council adopted a roadmap to decide which protected waters will count toward the goal.

Michael Esgro is the senior biodiversity program manager at the council.

We're now at 21.9 percent of coastal waters conserved, so more than three quarters of the way to our 30 by 30 goal here at the halfway point of the initiative.

We have another almost 300,000 acres to conserve by 2030.

The council refined the roadmap over the past year in a series of public workshops and consultations with tribes.

I'm Suzanne Potter.

This is Mike Clifford.

Thank you for wrapping up your week with Public News Service.

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