Shownotes Transcript
Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. Thousands of Christian nationalists were rallying at the National Mall on Washington, D.C. on Saturday. Many of them prayed and fasted to atone for what they call the nation's sins. NPR's Odette Youssef reports. The gathering called for a million women, but numbered more in the tens of thousands.
Anna Freeman drove 17 hours from northern Wisconsin. "I just knew the Lord, he wanted me out here." The rally focused on several, sometimes unrelated, issues that have galvanized the far right since 2020: gender identity, sex trafficking and pornography. For Freeman, the key one is getting a national ban on abortion. She says she sees the 2024 election as critical to bringing the country back to her idea of Christian ideals. "We don't battle the flesh, it's a spiritual battle.
And so it's, yeah, it's a really powerful movement. Before the 2020 election, similar rallies brought thousands of Christian nationalists to D.C. After Trump's loss, that energy was channeled into Stop the Steal efforts. Odette Youssef, NPR News.
Utility crews are working to restore power in Florida after Hurricane Milton hit the region on Wednesday. And in St. Lucie County, residents are assessing the damage after tornadoes touched down hours before Milton made landfall.
NPR's Sergio Martinez Beltran has more. St. Lucie County officials say more than 100 homes were damaged or destroyed by the tornadoes. Shane Ostrander was one of the people who had to take cover in his Fort Pierce, Florida home. The only place that the roof stayed was where we were in
in a closet in that back room. Ostrander's home was destroyed, but he and his wife Nicole were left unscathed. In a neighboring senior living community called Spanish Lakes Country Club Village, at least six people were killed by the tornadoes. Recovery efforts for Hurricane Milton are along the way across the state, according to the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
Sergio Martinez Beltran, NPR News, Fort Pierce, Florida. Avian influenza was first detected in California's dairy cattle a little more than a month ago. Now, bird flu has been confirmed in more than 80 of the state's dairy herds and in three dairy workers. Carrie Klein from Member Station KVPR reports. Dairy workers are being equipped with more PPE like face shields and disposable booties. Farms are also restricting people and vehicles on site.
Tricia Stever Blattler is with the Farm Bureau in Tulare County, the country's largest milk producer. She says the costs of these precautions are trickling down beyond farms. She cites a cattle hauler whose job is to transport the livestock from place to place. She's currently seeing two-thirds less income for his employees, the drivers, and yet he still has all that overhead and payroll that he's trying to meet.
Another hit to California's dairy industry? Even those cattle that fully recover from the virus may produce less milk. For NPR News, I'm Keri Klein in Fresno. And you're listening to NPR News.
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