Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles says the president 'has an alcoholic's personality' and much more in candid interviews; Mainers brace for health-care premium spike as GOP dismantles system; Candlelight vigil to memorialize Denver homeless deaths in 2025; Chilling effect of immigration enforcement on Arizona child care.

TRANSCRIPT

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, December the 17th, 2025.

I'm Mike Clifford.

White House Chief of Staff, Suzy Walls, delivered a series of unusually candid and at times unflattering assessments, his second term agenda, and some of his closest allies in a series of wide-ranging interviews with Vanity Fair, published Tuesday.

That from CNN.

They report across more than 10 interviews, Walls spoke frankly about working for Trump, saying the president has an alcoholic personality despite being known as a teetotaler.

She acknowledged the president's appetite for revenge, conceding many of his second term actions were driven by a desire for retribution.

CNN adds that Wiles suggested Trump was pursuing regime change in Venezuela through his boat bombing campaign, contradicting official justifications for the strikes.

We head next to New England where Maine healthcare providers warn unprecedented cuts to Medicaid and the loss of the Affordable Care Act, subsidies will harm all families, no matter their insurance status.

More than 30,000 Mainers are expected to lose their health insurance coverage after congressional Republicans slashed more than $1 trillion in Medicaid spending, and they've chosen not to extend those subsidies into next year.

President of the main chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Brian Youth, says hospitals already struggling to stay afloat could close.

Medicaid helps support children's hospitals, practices that see pediatric patients, the specialists that see our kids that have complex healthcare needs.

Medicaid cuts are devastating for all children.

The average ACA insurance premium is expected to more than double, which could exacerbate the uninsured rate and drive up prices in the private insurance market.

Republicans say the subsidies are too expensive, fraud prone, and primarily benefit insurance companies.

I'm Catherine Carley.

And a vigil will be held this Sunday, the longest night of the year, to remember the deaths of Denver residents, experiencing homelessness in 2025.

The annual We Will Remember Homeless Persons Memorial Vigil spotlights the high stakes of living without shelter, especially in winter.

Heather Beck with The Gathering Place, which helps people access meals, shelter, and mental health care, says it can be easy to forget the life or death challenges faced by our unhoused neighbors.

But I do think it's really important for people to remember these are human beings that we've lost, parents, veterans, sons, daughters, people who really had hopes and dreams and stability before tragedy or circumstances took that away.

The 36th annual vigil will also feature the homeless remembrance blanket project, a candlelit display of handmade blankets and quilts donated by volunteers in Colorado and across the U.S.

All blankets will be distributed to individuals and families in need.

At last year's event hosted by the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, nearly 300 names of people who died in 2024 were read aloud.

The vigil begins this Sunday outside the Denver City and County Building.

I'm Eric Galatas.

This is Public News Service.

A new report from the Better Life Lab at North America shows that an uptick in immigration and customs enforcement actions is prompting anxiety among Arizona mothers and their childcare providers.

With one in five providers and early childhood educators foreign born, ICE raids are having a chilling effect on migrants who do this work.

Arizona State University's Chris Herbst says the sharp uptick in ICE raids is having a negative effect on this sector of the labor market because mothers who can't find care for their kids are forced to quit their jobs.

Essentially what's happening is that because parents, in particular mothers, rely on having stable child care available in order to work, anytime there's a disruption in the child care market, it obviously disrupts mothers' ability to go to work and do their job.

The Trump administration contends that deporting undocumented immigrants opens up the labor market for more U.S. born workers to find jobs.

I'm Mark Moran.

And extreme heat is an intensifying issue in North Carolina.

A report could help guide lawmakers toward solutions in next year's session.

Clean Air NC and the North Carolina Public Health Association spoke with people in Charlotte over the summer about the challenges they face from excessive heat.

Kennedy Williams with Clean Air NC says people across communities are experiencing heat in similar ways and also struggling to reach resources that could protect them.

Everybody experiences extreme heat, but most people are like, "Okay, but where's the closest cooling station?

Okay, if I don't have a cooling station, what can I do?

Do I need to stay at home?

Do I need to hydrate?"

The report focuses on a few key themes, such as providing more shade and tree canopy to neighborhoods, access to cooling and hydration centers, and assistance with energy costs and air conditioners.

It received positive responses from focus groups this summer, including community members, faith-based participants, emergency responders, and health care providers.

I'm Eric Tegethoff reporting.

Finally, record-breaking floodwaters continue to wreak havoc on communities across Washington state.

Farm workers are some of the hardest hit.

Governor Bob Ferguson has declared a statewide emergency and estimates 100,000 residents could face evacuation orders.

Rosalinda Guillen of Community to Community Development explains that migrant farm workers face a difficult choice.

They risk dangerous flooding if they stay at work, yet many cannot afford to lose even a single day's pay.

Guillen quotes one worker she spoke with recently.

She said, "I'm a single mom.

I'm not going to be able to make the rent because I'm missing these two days of work.

Our communities are living paycheck to paycheck.

So there's a huge impact when they can't work."

Guillen says migrant workers need to be eligible to receive paid hazard leave for extreme weather events in Washington, and her organization will be pushing for that in the upcoming legislative session.

I'm Isabel Charlay.

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

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