Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Trump confronts South Africa's president in Oval Office, pushes false claims of white genocide; Ahead of George Floyd anniversary, feds try to scrap police oversight plans; Three Montana counties top U.S. list for moms' reliance on Medicaid; Duke Energy bill could harm 'anyone breathing air' in NC.

Transcript

The Public News Service daily newscast for May the 22nd, 2025.

I'm Mike Clifford.

President Trump confronted his South African counterpart at the White House Wednesday with a video Trump said supported his claim that white farmers were being persecuted in the country.

That from the BBC.

They report the footage played during a news conference with Cyril Ramaphosa showed thousands of crosses lining a road that Trump claimed marked burial spots for murdered white farmers.

Trump said he did not know where in South Africa it was filmed, and the footage has not been verified by the BBC.

They note Ramaphosa, who appeared to weigh his response carefully, disputed Trump's allegation.

He said black people were far more likely to be victims of violence in South Africa than white people.

And just days before the fifth anniversary of George Floyd's murder, the Trump administration announced it'll try to end federal reform efforts involving Minneapolis police.

When a handful of Minneapolis police officers were convicted on charges related to Floyd's murder, it capped off a global wave of heightened activism about confronting systemic racism.

University of Minnesota sociologist Michelle Phelps last year released a book on the local push to challenge police violence.

She says it's a complex topic, acknowledging the broader mood today has changed somewhat.

But Phelps points to lasting impacts.

The expansion of unarmed mental and behavioral health crisis response units which have actually developed in cities across the country.

A flurry of accountability laws surfaced around the U.S. after Floyd's murder but some are being scaled back.

Minneapolis officials say they're still committed to long-term changes but beyond law enforcement new data show continued disparities in Minnesota that includes a widening home ownership gap for the state's black population.

I'm Mike Moen.

Next to Montana where mothers and would-be moms more on Medicaid than in other states and would be harder hit by proposed cuts to the program.

More than 30 percent of Montana women of childbearing age are covered by Medicaid, the seventh highest rate in the nation and about seven percent higher than the national average.

That's according to a new report from Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families, which also shows Montana is home to three of the nation's 20 most dependent counties, Glacier, Prairie and Bighorn.

The center's executive director Joan Alker notes all 20 counties are in states that adopted Medicaid expansion.

"Rural communities tend to have lower income than metro areas.

So Medicaid, as important as it is for moms and babies nationwide, is even more important in rural areas and small towns."

House Republicans have proposed cutting more than $600 billion in Medicaid to pay for Trump administration priorities, including mass deportations and tax cuts.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the proposed cuts would drop more than 8 million Americans from Medicaid benefits.

I'm Kathleen Shannon.

In 2022, more than half of hospitals in rural America did not offer obstetric care.

This is Public News Service.

A bill of North Carolina's General Assembly would roll back carbon reduction deadlines for Duke Energy and allow the company to charge customers for projects even if they are not completed.

Senate Bill 261 removes 2030 goals for the utility to reduce carbon by 70 percent.

It also allows Duke Energy to charge for construction works in progress.

North Carolina Chapter Director of Sierra Club Chris Herndon says the utility could charge for non-renewable energy projects and that other states like South Carolina have seen higher rates for projects that were never finished.

So this has the potential to be very harmful for anyone who is paying for energy in North Carolina and anyone who is breathing air in North Carolina.

Carolina ratepayers are still paying off a nine billion dollar nuclear power plant that was canceled during construction.

Supporters of the legislation say North Carolina is growing rapidly and must keep all energy options open.

The legislation has passed in the Senate and moved to the House.

I'm Eric Tegethoff reporting.

Next to Wisconsin where a group of Pierce County residents is awaiting a response to a petition for a contested case hearing for the expansion of the Ridge Breeze dairy to grow four times its size.

Local owner Larry Brenner says his home land and business is about a mile below the hill the dairy sits on.

He says that makes him and tributaries like the Rush River that runs next to his property especially vulnerable to things like manure runoff and accidents.

That river is where my grandpa's land flowed through so the fact that I now have a piece of that river flowing through my property it's very special and boy it's threatened.

Brenner says the expansion could result in almost 80 million gallons of untreated manure annually, potentially affecting water sources and causing increased odor issues and noise from hundreds of manure trucks.

I'm Judith Ruiz Branch reporting.

Finally as Memorial Day kicks off the summer, Hoosiers will flock to lakes, rivers and pools and safety should be on everyone's mind.

That includes attentive supervision, knowing CPR, using life jackets, not inflatables, and securing barriers like fences or locked doors around home pools.

Ramos encourages families to assign one person to watch the water.

One that we like to mention is designating a water watcher and this is a person almost to the level of a lifeguard who has no other duty than to watch the water and has the skills and knowledge to act if necessary.

He says the highest risk for unintentional drowning is among Children between the ages of one and four and teen boys and adults.

He adds safety around home pools should be treated as seriously as public water parks by planning, staying alert and making sure everyone leaves the area together.

I'm Joe Ulari, Public News Service.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service, member and listener supported.

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