Why Xi Is Coming to Washington, and White House TV Feeds Go Dark

From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Tuesday, September 22, here's what we're covering. Preparations are underway for Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit Washington this week. He set to land tomorrow outside D.C. and President Trump's expected to personally meet his plane. The White House will then hold a state dinner for Xi and his wife, returning the favor after China put on an elaborate welcome ceremony for Trump when he visited Beijing this spring. I think Xi has calculated that having these high level meetings with Trump helps sort of placate him, that he thinks that he has good relations with one of the most powerful people in the world. We've seen sort of Trump respond well to this when he's around other strongman leaders like Vladimir Putin. David Pearson covers China for the Times. He says Xi is coming to the U.S. hoping to keep a kind of status quo to extend the trade truce the countries have settled into. And David says China's got an edge there. She knows that Trump's party is about to face a difficult election and Trump may not want to risk stirring up a new trade fight that would hit voters right now. David says Xi also sees this as a moment for China to continue to polish its image on the global stage. When China is sort of standing in the world, this has been quite a good time, quite the opportunity for Beijing. And that's namely because the United States has been distracted. They're distracted with this war in Iran right now. They've had to draw down resources in Asia to fill gaps in the Middle East. And not only is that favorable to China, but also it sends a signal to U.S. allies in Asia that the United States is not going to be a reliable security partner. And that's a signal that China has been trying to send to Asia for years, trying to cast itself as a reliable, predictable global power that other countries can work with. So it's just been a real moment of opportunity for China. And Xi Jinping's main goal is to extend this window as long as he can. Meanwhile, at the same time as Xi is headed to the U.S., leaders from all over the world have been gathering in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly. Some of the big speeches will include Iranian President Masood Pasezhkian, as well as Venezuela's leader Delsey Rodriguez. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will also speak, as will the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who will address the UN Assembly virtually since the U.S. denied the Palestinian delegation visas. President Xi of China is skipping the General Assembly, even though he'll be in the country, but President Trump is going to speak. Last year, Trump lectured the audience and aired a list of grievances, telling the assembled world leaders that, quote, "your countries are going to hell." Trump's speech at the UN is set for this morning. In Washington, we are asking a federal judge to get our access restored. The three news organizations that President Trump barred from the White House are now suing the administration over the ban. In a joint lawsuit, CNN, MSNOW, and Politico argue that President Trump is violating the First Amendment. Trump said that he pushed the networks out because he was fed up with what he described as "negative coverage." Yesterday, other major TV networks said that, in response, they would boycott their pool coverage of Trump. The pool is a small group of correspondence, camera operators and photographers who follow the President wherever he travels. For decades, that has given American presidents almost non-stop coverage. But yesterday, the cameras around Trump were all but gone. As the President unveiled a new helipad on the South Lawn of the White House, one of the only TV cameras there was from the pro-Trump outlet Newsmax, and it barely captured Trump's voice as he shouted into the wind. OK, so there is no microphone because the pool cameras aren't there. So maybe Tim, this is one example of it backfiring just a little bit. An expert on the history of the White House press corps called the whole situation, with the press ban and the boycott, unprecedented. The White House has responded by promoting its own video feed online, branding it "Trump TV." The White House described it as, quote, "no noise, just the news that matters most, straight from the Trump administration." Now, another big development with consequences for what Americans will see on TV. Yesterday, Paramount resolved the last major obstacle in its push to buy Warner Brothers Discovery, clearing the way for a merger that would create one of the largest entertainment and media companies in the world. A number of states had sued to block it, citing fears that the company would have too much power over the news and entertainment industry, since it would include everything from big Hollywood studios to major streaming services like HBO Max, as well as legacy media outlets, including CBS News and CNN. But the states have now settled, with Paramount agreeing to make some concessions. First, to address concerns that the sale could hurt Hollywood by reducing competition, the company agreed to film more movies in the US and release them in theaters, rather than just putting them on streaming platforms. The settlement also tried to address concerns about editorial independence for the news networks that will be included. Critics of the merger have pointed to the fact that Paramount's chief executive, David Ellison, is friendly with the Trump administration. He recently hosted a dinner, quote, "honoring the Trump White House, fueling concerns that he could interfere with political coverage, especially after Ellison's pick to lead CBS News purged the leadership of 60 minutes." As part of the settlement, Paramount says it will be setting up a new independent editorial board for CNN and CBS, though details of what kind of power it will have were not immediately clear. If a court approves these concessions, the merger could be finalized as soon as next month. And finally, for years, David George Gordon was a regular fixture on TV, waging an uphill battle, a very, very steep one, to get Americans to eat bugs. Gordon, a science writer, who became known as The Bug Chef, has died at 76. His passion for insect gastronomy was first sparked when he was writing a book all about cockroaches. When he came across a description of how they taste, apparently, if you shell them, they're just like shrimp. As he read more, he realized that insects were in ordinary food in many non-American cultures, at one point, saying in an interview that, quote, "we're really the weirdos because we don't eat bugs." He started testing and developing recipes, tarantula tempura, anyone, and eventually published the "Eat a Bug" cookbook with tips on how to make everything from fried green tomato horn worm to curried termite stew. It was not a bestseller, but it did get a mention in a United Nations report promoting insects as an important resource in addressing food insecurity. After all, Gordon knew he likely wasn't going to win everyone over. He just wanted to share his enthusiasm, saying, quote, "I'm not trying to get the whole world to eat bugs. I'm actually just trying to get people to look at bugs in a different way." Those are the headlines. If you are not a time-subscriber yet, you can get a full month of free access to all of the journalism we publish when you download the Times app now. I'm Tracy Mumford, we'll be back tomorrow.