SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
President Biden made a major disaster declaration in response to the California wildfires. President-elect Donald Trump blamed the state's democratic governor - his environmental policies - for their response. NPR's Ron Elving joins us. Ron, thanks for being with us.
RON ELVING, BYLINE: Good to be with you, Scott.
SIMON: Trump said on Truth Social that Governor Newsom had refused to sign a water declaration that would have sent water from Northern California to other parts of the state in order to protect species of a fish. There was not such a water declaration. Why start a public quarrel with the governor of California in this moment of crisis?
ELVING: Why, indeed. And why refer to that Governor Newsom - online, at least -as Governor New Scum? But first, we should say these catastrophic fires we've just been hearing about have gripped the country as few stories do. What we are seeing on TV features some of the most recognizable, even legendary, terrain in the country - the land of dreams, for many Americans. As for the politics, it's notable first that the outgoing president got so little attention for sending aid to the victims. But the incoming president got a lot of attention accusing California Democrats of failing to provide water, saying they were instead focused on policy goals unrelated to firefighting.
Now, we know there was a problem on the fire line for a time on Tuesday night - hydrants ran dry in some areas. Water pressure was down. Newsom himself has called for an investigation of that, and the governor has also invited Trump to California to see for himself. But the idea of a fish or a diversity program being responsible, that may be fanciful, but it's a compelling narrative for some audiences. It gets people excited. It gets clicks.
SIMON: Yesterday Donald Trump sentenced in New York for the hush-money trial - no jail time, no other punishment. There is the notoriety, of course, of being the first convicted felon to be inaugurated as president. What do you make of the split in the Supreme Court - 5-4 split - refusal to stop the sentencing?
ELVING: There are still some chances for shape-shifting in the current majority. There are times the three Trump appointees and the three justices appointed by presidents named Bush who are still there, that adds up to six and forms a real phalanx, but that's, Scott, all the time. And in this particular instance, Chief Justice John Roberts, appointed by George W. Bush, did not seem impressed by Trump's lawyers insisting there would be great damage to Trump or to the presidency. That's what they were contending. This sentencing did not seem to have that impression on John Roberts. Perhaps more surprising was the vote of Justice Barrett, the last of Trump's own additions to the court. We should add there is also an ongoing fight over releasing the special counsel report on Trump's role in the January 6 effort to overturn the 2020 election results. This week, a federal appeals court refused to block the report's public release, so we may see that very soon.
SIMON: State funeral for President Jimmy Carter at the National Cathedral on Thursday - all former presidents in attendance and a eulogy delivered by President Biden. What stood out to you, Ron?
ELVING: It was a moving ceremony, wonderful music. There was so much said about Carter's personal characteristics - his doggedness and his drive - his big and even impossible goals, in contrast with his personal choice to live quite humbly back home in rural Georgia; also, the affection of his peers - allies, such as Walter Mondale, his vice president, but also rivals, such as former President Gerald Ford, the Republican that Carter defeated to take the White House in 1976. Both Mondale and Ford died years ago, but they left eulogies to be read by their sons at Carter's funeral.
And then in the eulogy, at the end by President Biden, it was impossible to miss the sense of shared sadness - the bond between these two Democratic one-term presidents who knew each other for more than half a century and saw so much history together and who knew how likely they are to be linked in popular memory.
SIMON: NPR's Ron Elving. Thanks so much.
ELVING: Thank you, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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