--:-- [Sound of a news theme]
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: Hurricane Milton is closing in on Florida's west coast. State officials have a clear message to residents, get out now.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: We've lost people to storm surge in previous hurricanes who are trying to get out at the last minute and they drown in their cars.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: I'm Leila Fadel with A Martinez and this is Up First from NPR News.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: People who use TikTok already know how addictive the app can be.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: Now 14 state officials are suing the app's creators saying they knowingly endangered young people's mental health.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: They deployed a suite of manipulative features that exploited young people's psychological vulnerabilities.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: And if you live in an old house, your running water might flow through lead pipes.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: Now the EPA says those pipes must go.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: A new rule requires most lead pipes to be replaced within 10 years.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.
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--:-- Host Leila Fadel: Millions of people who live on Florida's west coast are preparing and waiting anxiously for Hurricane Milton.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: Yeah, Milton is one of the most powerful hurricanes ever in the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to hit Florida late tonight.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: The hurricane has 160 mph winds and could bring a storm surge as high as 15 feet to parts of Florida's coast between Fort Myers and Tampa.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: NPR's Greg Allen is in Florida and he joins us now from Brandon just outside Tampa.
--:-- Greg Allen: Hi, Lily.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: Okay, so Florida was just really battered by Hurricane Helene.
--:-- Greg Allen: Has that motivated people to take evacuation order seriously now?
--:-- Greg Allen: It appears so.
--:-- Greg Allen: People are still cleaning up here from Helene, and there are still piles of debris everywhere when you drive around here.
--:-- Greg Allen: But another factor, though, is that meteorologists and emergency managers are warning that the impacts of Milton will be worse than Helene.
--:-- Greg Allen: And this is an area that's very susceptible to storm surge.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: Here's National Hurricane Center Director Mike Brennan.
--:-- Mike Brennan: And you're going to have structural damage to buildings. Some buildings will wash away. Evacuation routes will be quickly cut off.
--:-- Mike Brennan: We've lost people to storm surge in previous hurricanes who are trying to get out at the last minute, and they drown in their cars.
--:-- Greg Allen: Wow. So are people in the storm surge areas leaving?
--:-- Greg Allen: Yes, many are.
--:-- Greg Allen: We have reports of some of the riskiest areas, the beach communities out on the barrier islands, that they've really emptied out.
--:-- Greg Allen: But there will always be some who decide to stay, of course.
--:-- Greg Allen: I ran into one yesterday.
--:-- Greg Allen: Edward Vilmetti was gassing up his vehicle and heading out to his home in Tarpon Springs.
--:-- Greg Allen: He lives near the Gulf and is in an evacuation zone but he said he was planning to stay.
--:-- Greg Allen: I survived Hurricane Charlie I survived Hurricane Irma
--:-- Greg Allen: You know we lost power for two three weeks at a time for both Irma and Charlie
--:-- Greg Allen: For me it just something I used to
--:-- Greg Allen: This one, of course, they're saying could be the worst one in a century, right?
--:-- Greg Allen: Right, absolutely.
--:-- Greg Allen: 15-foot storm surge in some areas. Terrifying, definitely.
--:-- Greg Allen: You know, Villmelle said he thought he might see as much as 10 feet of water in his home, but he said he definitely was not leaving.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: Now, Milton is a monster of a storm now, and it hasn't made landfall yet.
--:-- Greg Allen: How powerful could it get when it does reach land?
--:-- Greg Allen: Well, the National Hurricane Center expects that Milton will weaken some as it approaches the coast, but it's still projected to be a major Category 4 hurricane with 130 mile-per-hour winds when it makes landfall.
--:-- Greg Allen: And Milton will remain at hurricane strength as it crosses west-east across the Florida Peninsula before exiting out onto the Atlantic.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: Governor Ron DeSantis is warning residents of Orlando and other parts of central Florida that they have to be ready.
--:-- Greg Allen: They may see wind strong enough to destroy mobile homes and other structures, as well as tornadoes.
--:-- Greg Allen: And there could be as much as 18 inches of rain in some areas likely to bring flash flooding.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: Here's the governor.
--:-- Governor Ron DeSantis: So this is not just an event about the west coast of Florida.
--:-- Governor Ron DeSantis: That will be where the initial impacts and probably the most significant, but the impacts will not be limited there.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: OK, so Milton is expected to hit tonight.
--:-- Greg Allen: How much can you tell us about precisely when and what parts of Florida could be hit hardest?
--:-- Greg Allen: Right. Yeah.
--:-- Greg Allen: Well, it looks like Milton will hit Florida's west coast either late tonight or early tomorrow morning.
--:-- Greg Allen: The speed is varied as it's come through the Gulf.
--:-- Greg Allen: As to where it hits, that's an important question, but one the National Hurricane Center warns us that we should not focus on.
--:-- Greg Allen: Because Milton has grown in size as it's approached the coast, its storm surge winds and rain will affect a very large area.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: NPR's Greg Allen in Brandon, Florida.
--:-- Greg Allen: Thank you, Greg, and stay safe.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: Okay, thank you.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: Was TikTok designed to make young people addicted to it? 14 state attorneys general think so.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: They are suing the popular video app, claiming it harms young people and misled the public about that.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: NPR tech correspondent Bobby Allen has been following this story.
--:-- Bobby Allen: So, Bobby, states have been investigating child safety on TikTok for more than two years now.
--:-- Bobby Allen: What do they find?
--:-- Bobby Allen: Yeah, you know, quite a bit.
--:-- Bobby Allen: I mean, they say all sorts of features on TikTok are intended to draw in young people and keep them hooked on the app's endless feed, right?
--:-- Bobby Allen: this infinite scroll that we hear so much about.
--:-- Bobby Allen: And the states actually obtained a internal communication from TikTok employees.
--:-- Bobby Allen: And one TikTok staffer said the app's algorithm had a slot machine effect on young people.
--:-- Bobby Allen: And I actually talked to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, and he described some of the other internal emails they obtained.
--:-- Bobby Allen: One TikTok executive referred to American teens as a golden audience.
--:-- Bobby Allen: Also stated, quote, it's better to have young people as an early adopter.
--:-- Bobby Allen: They deployed a suite of manipulative features that exploited young people's psychological vulnerabilities.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: All right. So that's how TikTok discussed young people internally.
--:-- Bobby Allen: But how did the company present itself publicly?
--:-- Bobby Allen: Yeah, you know, very differently.
--:-- Bobby Allen: This really gets at the heart of the case, right?
--:-- Bobby Allen: I mean, what the states are arguing here is that TikTok violated consumer protection laws by knowing the app was addicting teens and in some cases causing harm, but, you know, was telling the world publicly that it was keeping teens safe.
--:-- Bobby Allen: And, you know, when I asked TikTok for a response to these allegations, a spokesman referred to privacy settings and parental controls and screen time reminders the app has.
--:-- Bobby Allen: But California's sponsor said, yeah, yeah, we know about those things, right?
--:-- Bobby Allen: We looked into them in our investigation and those tools.
--:-- Bobby Allen: Yeah, we just weren't very impressed by them.
--:-- Bobby Allen: They are essentially empty gestures with very little to no effect
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: And you know a TikTok will be fighting back in 14 separate state courts here because there was 14 state lawsuits filed as part of this action
--:-- Bobby Allen: And a major question is going to be, are TikTok safeguards effective?
--:-- Bobby Allen: And if not, did the company lie to the public about what it knew about some of the dangers of the app?
--:-- Bobby Allen: And what do those attorneys general say those dangers are?
--:-- Bobby Allen: Yeah, the states point to features like TikTok's beauty filters.
--:-- Bobby Allen: They enhance someone's image to look, you know, younger, skinnier, or apply makeup using AI.
--:-- Bobby Allen: And the lawsuit says TikTok knew its beauty filter could increase the risk of body image issues, anxiety, depression.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: And look, this isn't unique to TikTok, right?
--:-- Bobby Allen: We all know that many social media apps have beauty filters and other features that can be described as addictive.
--:-- Bobby Allen: But the states here are concerned with TikTok because of just how popular the app is with young people, right?
--:-- Bobby Allen: The suit also puts the spotlight on TikTok's live streaming feature.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: Authorities found that it actually can be used among underage kids in pretty inappropriate ways.
--:-- Bobby Allen: They compared the live stream here to a virtual strip club.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: So Bobby, we know a new federal law will require TikTok to be sold to a non-Chinese buyer by early next year or be banned all over the United States.
--:-- Bobby Allen: TikTok is going to challenge this law in court, a ruling maybe by December.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: But isn't TikTok in the attention grabbing biz?
--:-- Bobby Allen: Are they being penalized for doing their job well?
--:-- Bobby Allen: I mean, at what point do parents need to be held responsible.
--:-- Bobby Allen: I think TikTok, like all social media apps, are engaged in a very competitive world, which is the attention economy.
--:-- Bobby Allen: All these social media apps are trying to grab young people's attention and keep it retained.
--:-- Bobby Allen: It's a fair point that maybe parents should have some kind of role there.
--:-- Bobby Allen: But parents say it's a really complicated world of trying to keep your kids accountable on social media.
--:-- Bobby Allen: TikTok says they're doing what they can.
--:-- Bobby Allen: The AG is saying they know a lot more and They're not revealing it.
--:-- Bobby Allen: And it's just really messy.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: All right. That's NPR's Bobby Allen.
--:-- Bobby Allen: Thanks, A.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: Thanks, Bobby.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: There are some 9 million homes across the U.S. getting water through lead pipes.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: And now the Environmental Protection Agency says those pipes need to come out.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: The science has been clear for decades.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: There is no safe level of lead in our drinking water.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: That's EPA Administrator Michael Regan.
--:-- Michael Regan: NPR's Ping Huang has been following the story, and she joins us now.
--:-- Ping Huang: Hi, Leila.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: Okay, so I gotta admit, I was kind of surprised this wasn't already a rule.
--:-- Ping Huang: Yeah, you would think, right?
--:-- Ping Huang: I mean, it's definitely something that water advocates have been fighting for for many, many years now.
--:-- Ping Huang: And the main thing about this rule is that for the first time on the federal level, it requires most water systems to replace all their lead pipes within 10 years.
--:-- Ping Huang: Now, Laila, this is a problem with a long history, but it got a lot of attention 10 years ago with the Flint water crisis in Michigan.
--:-- Ping Huang: And there, there was a change in the water chemistry that caused old pipes to leach high amounts of lead into the drinking water.
--:-- Ping Huang: And since then, some cities and states have actually already been swapping out those lead pipes for copper.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: It was clear even back then that it wasn't just a problem in Flint.
--:-- Ping Huang: Are there parts of the country that are more likely to rely on lead pipes?
--:-- Ping Huang: Yeah, places with homes that were built before 1986.
--:-- Ping Huang: That's the year that Congress banned lead pipes, but the ones that were already in the ground were allowed to stay there until now.
--:-- Ping Huang: So there are lead pipes in every state, but some have more than others.
--:-- Ping Huang: Those include Illinois, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York and New Jersey.
--:-- Ping Huang: All of those states have over half a million lead pipes.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: Wow. So that's a lot of pipes.
--:-- Ping Huang: They're going to have to replace all those in 10 years?
--:-- Ping Huang: Yeah, it is a lot of pipes.
--:-- Ping Huang: And for the most part, they will have to, but there are some interesting exceptions.
--:-- Ping Huang: So Chicago, for instance, has the most lead pipes out of any city, around 400,000 in Chicago alone.
--:-- Ping Huang: And that's because they actually required lead pipes there until they were banned
--:-- Ping Huang: So when this rule was first proposed Chicago got a pretty big exemption something like 40 to 50 years to replace all their pipes because they just had too many of them
--:-- Ping Huang: And a lot of advocates pushed back on that
--:-- Ping Huang: They said it's way too long.
--:-- Ping Huang: That's generations more people growing up with lead pipes.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: So in the final rule, the EPA has tightened that up.
--:-- Ping Huang: Now, instead of 40 years, they have more like 20 to 25.
--:-- Ping Huang: I talked with Brenda Santoyo, and she's a water justice advocate in Chicago.
--:-- Ping Huang: It's definitely progress.
--:-- Ping Huang: I think that the city, the state should take their own measures to try to speed up that process as much as they can.
--:-- Ping Huang: We also don't want our water systems to be set up for failure for them to take shortcuts.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: Yeah, she says that the timeline seems reasonable so long as families are able to protect themselves in the meantime.
--:-- Ping Huang: Yeah, I mean, even 10 more years seems like a long time to be drinking water that might have lead in it.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: So what can families do to protect themselves?
--:-- Ping Huang: Yeah, well, step one is figuring out whether they have a lead service line.
--:-- Ping Huang: The service line is the pipe that brings tap water into your house, and that would be the most likely culprit.
--:-- Ping Huang: If you can see that line, you can scratch it with a coin, try a magnet on it.
--:-- Ping Huang: There's some guidance online that can help you figure out if it's made of lead, copper, or coated steel.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: And in case you're wondering if it's easy to scratch and a magnet does not stick to it, those are some of the signs that it could be lead.
--:-- Ping Huang: They can also test their water for lead.
--:-- Ping Huang: There are some water districts out there that offer free water testing, so they can check for that.
--:-- Ping Huang: And here's the thing.
--:-- Ping Huang: Even if there is lead in the water, common home filters can take them out.
--:-- Ping Huang: So pitcher filters, faucet filters that are certified to remove lead.
--:-- Ping Huang: All these are really great solutions until the lead pipes themselves get eliminated.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: That's NPR health correspondent Ping Wong.
--:-- Ping Huang: Thank you.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: Thank you.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: And that's up first for Wednesday, October 9th.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: I'm Leila Fadel.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: And I'm Amy Martinez.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: Thanks for listening to Up First.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: You can find more in-depth coverage of the stories that we talked about today and a lot more on NPR's Morning Edition.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: That's the radio show that Leila and I host with Steve Inskeep and Michelle Martin.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: You can find Morning Edition on your local NPR station at stations.npr.org.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: Today's episode of Up First was edited by Scott Hensley, Russell Lewis, Cara Platoni, Ali Schweitzer, and Alice Wolfley.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: It was produced by Paige Waterhouse, Nia Dumas, and Ana Perez.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: We get engineering support from Carly Strange, and our technical director is Zach Coleman.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: Join us again tomorrow.
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--:-- Host Leila Fadel: This message comes from Lisa.
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--:-- Host Leila Fadel: This message comes from MidiHealth.
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--:-- [Sound of a news theme]
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: Thanks for listening to Up First.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: You can find more in-depth coverage of the stories that we talked about today and a lot more on NPR's Morning Edition.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: That's the radio show that Leila and I host with Steve Inskeep and Michelle Martin.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: You can find Morning Edition on your local NPR station at stations.npr.org.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: Today's episode of Up First was edited by Scott Hensley, Russell Lewis, Cara Platoni, Ali Schweitzer, and Alice Wolfley.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: It was produced by Paige Waterhouse, Nia Dumas, and Ana Perez.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: We get engineering support from Carly Strange, and our technical director is Zach Coleman.
--:-- Host Leila Fadel: Join us again tomorrow.
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