npr--2020-08-13--With More Transparency On Election Security, A Question Looms: What Don't We Know?

With More Transparency On Election Security , A Question Looms : What Do n't We Know ?
Americans have the most detailed accounting they 've ever received in real time about foreign efforts to interfere in a U.S. election — but , for the public at least , there are still as many questions as answers .
The U.S. intelligence community has made good on earlier promises to release some findings and assessments on foreign interference , including with an historic report last week from the nation 's top boss of counterintelligence .
The latest word came Wednesday , when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Demers described what he called the need for the United States to order the closure of the Chinese government 's consulate in Houston .
Not only was it involved in what officials have called a tidal wave of espionage efforts directed by China toward the U.S. , it also played a role in Beijing 's covert influence operations , Demers said — without giving more detail .
It was was playing a role `` on the covert foreign influence side of things , which we , at least at this point , can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I hope one day we 'll be able to talk more about .
So that 's why Houston was not chosen at random out of the consulates out there . ''
Demers talked via video conference in a session streamed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies .
William Evanina , director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center , promised earlier he would be `` providing updates to the American public , consistent with our national security obligations .
The steps we have taken thus far to inform the public and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ''
Intelligence is a business of many metaphors , however : not only the discipline of assembling a `` mosaic '' from many different bits of information , but often also an iceberg , of which only different portions are visible to different people .
So one big question in the remaining weeks before Election Day is : What else is below the water ?
Here 's yet another metaphor for this aspect of the spy game : a layer cake .
There 's a layer of activity that is visible to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public figures , or statements made via official channels .
Then there 's a clandestine layer that is usually visible only to another clandestine service : the work of spies being watched by other spies .
Counterintelligence officials watching Chinese intelligence activities in Houston , for example , knew the consulate was a base for efforts to steal intellectual property or recruit potential agents , Demers said — likely in the energy sector , or biomedical research .
Most nations use their diplomatic posts partly for this kind of intelligence work .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about which the official statements raised questions : The work of spies who are operating without being detected .
What , in short , do Demers , Evanina and their compatriots not know about what 's targeting the United States ?
The challenges of election security include its incredible breadth — every county in the United States is a potential target — and vast depth , from the prospect of cyberattacks on voter systems , to the theft of information that can then be released to embarrass a target , to the ongoing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disinformation and political agitation .
Is there more ?
From illicit financing to fraudulent documents to the presence of human provocateurs , the playbook for foreign interference has been developed over decades .
In the case of China , national security officials at every level never tire of warning about what they call the huge quantity of spying now underway .
Much of it , however , is old-fashioned espionage that seeks to steal intellectual property or government secrets .
The latest example : the National Counterintelligence and Security Center announced on Wednesday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contracting officials about the risks associated with doing business with Chinese technology companies .
If Beijing is engaged in election interference too , the question is what it may be doing outside the view of the public and unbeknownst to security officials .
The state of play has changed in response to countermeasures imposed by the U.S. government , states , counties and social media platforms since 2016 .
Social media agitation , for example , became much more organic-seeming and more difficult to detect , according to one study .
And the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ messages have shifted too , according to U.S. officials and the Big Tech platforms .
Witnesses have told Congress that when Facebook and Twitter made it more difficult to create and use fake accounts to spread disinformation and amplify controversy , Russia and China began to rely more on open channels .
They use self-styled news organizations such as Russia 's RT or Sputnik , or they use open accounts linked with government officials , such as representatives for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs .
China 's use of English-language messaging in particular @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , according to specialists , especially in response to American rhetoric about the coronavirus pandemic .
In 2016 , Russian influence-mongers posed as fake Americans and engaged with them as though they were responding to the same election alongside one other .
Russian operatives even used Facebook to organize real-world campaign events around the United States .
But RT 's account on Twitter , or China 's foreign ministry representatives , are n't pretending to do anything but serve as voices for Moscow or Beijing .
If that work has become more overt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ happening covertly — as Demers suggested about the Chinese government in Texas ?
Detecting election interference relies heavily on foreign intelligence work , which means Evanina , Demers , Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe and their colleagues hold nearly all the cards when talking about it .
The members of Congress who see more of what the intelligence community collects on these subjects are circumscribed in what they can discuss openly because so much of the information is secret .
But lawmakers also complicate Americans ' impressions about what is truly taking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the ways they discuss secret material while seldom delving into its substance .
Democrats , for example , demanded a briefing from the FBI about the prospect that Congress might be the target of foreign efforts .
Republicans responded with complaints that the rhetoric surrounding those demands was overblown .
The point is to defend the U.S. and inform voters , they argued .
`` Your use of this issue to knowingly and recklessly promote false narratives for political purposes is completely contrary to that goal , '' wrote Sens .
Ron Johnson @ @ @ @ @ @ @ R-Iowa , to Democrats after their initial announcement .
The divergence did n't end after Evanina 's statement , which described the election-interference ambitions of China , Russia and Iran .
Democrats called that a distortion , arguing that the importance of the work by Russia far outweighs the other two powers .
`` Unfortunately , today 's statement still treats three actors of differing intent and capability as equal threats to our democratic elections , '' said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif. , and Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff , D-Calif @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public `` to be provided with specific information that would allow voters to appraise for themselves the respective threats posed by these foreign actors , and distinguish these actors ' different and unequal aims , current actions , and capabilities . ''
So far the intelligence community has n't complied , but the government has sought to send the message that it 's taking the issue seriously in another way — with the offer of a $ 10 million bounty for information about threats to the election .

With More Transparency On Election Security, A Question Looms: What Don't We Know?
Enlarge this image toggle caption Jon Elswick/AP Jon Elswick/AP
Americans have the most detailed accounting they've ever received in real time about foreign efforts to interfere in a U.S. election — but, for the public at least, there are still as many questions as answers.
The U.S. intelligence community has made good on earlier promises to release some findings and assessments on foreign interference, including with a historic report last week from the nation's top boss of counterintelligence.
The latest word came Wednesday, when Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers described what he called the need for the United States to order the closure of the Chinese government's consulate in Houston.
Not only was it involved in what officials have called a tidal wave of espionage efforts directed by China toward the U.S., but it also played a role in Beijing's covert influence operations, Demers said — without giving more detail.
It was was playing a role "on the covert foreign influence side of things, which we, at least at this point, can talk at lot less about — but I hope one day we'll be able to talk more about. So that's why Houston was not chosen at random out of the consulates out there."
Enlarge this image toggle caption Zach Gibson/Getty Images Zach Gibson/Getty Images
Demers talked via videoconference in a session streamed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
William Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, promised earlier he would be "providing updates to the American public, consistent with our national security obligations. The steps we have taken thus far to inform the public and other stakeholders on election threats are unprecedented."
Intelligence is a business of many metaphors, however: It is not only the discipline of assembling a "mosaic" from many different bits of information, but often also an iceberg, of which only different portions are visible to different people.
So one big question in the remaining weeks before Election Day is: What else is below the water?
Layer cake
Here's yet another metaphor for this aspect of the spy game: a layer cake.
There's a layer of activity that is visible to all — the actions or comments of public figures, or statements made via official channels.
Then there's a clandestine layer that is usually visible only to another clandestine service: the work of spies being watched by other spies.
Counterintelligence officials watching Chinese intelligence activities in Houston, for example, knew the consulate was a base for efforts to steal intellectual property or recruit potential agents, Demers said — likely in the energy sector or biomedical research. Most nations use their diplomatic posts partly for this kind of intelligence work.
And there's at least a third layer about which the official statements raised questions: the work of spies who are operating without being detected. What, in short, do Demers, Evanina and their compatriots not know about what's targeting the United States?
The challenges of election security include its incredible breadth — every county in the United States is a potential target — and vast depth, from the prospect of cyberattacks on voter systems, to the theft of information that can then be released to embarrass a target, to the ongoing and messy war on social media over disinformation and political agitation.
Is there more? From illicit financing to fraudulent documents to the presence of human provocateurs, the playbook for foreign interference has been developed over decades.
In the case of China, national security officials at every level never tire of warning about what they call the huge quantity of spying underway. Much of it, however, is old-fashioned espionage that seeks to steal intellectual property or government secrets.
The latest example: The National Counterintelligence and Security Center announced on Wednesday that it has been briefing U.S. government contracting officials about the risks associated with doing business with Chinese technology companies.
If Beijing is engaged in election interference, too, the question is what it may be doing outside the view of the public and unbeknownst to security officials.
Shifting battlespace
The state of play has changed in response to countermeasures imposed by the U.S. government, states, counties and social media platforms since 2016. Social media agitation, for example, became much more organic-seeming and more difficult to detect, according to one study.
And the avenues that attacking nations use for their messages have shifted, too, according to U.S. officials and the Big Tech platforms.
Witnesses have told Congress that when Facebook and Twitter made it more difficult to create and use fake accounts to spread disinformation and amplify controversy, Russia and China began to rely more on open channels.
They use self-styled news organizations such as Russia's RT or Sputnik, or they use open accounts linked with government officials, such as representatives for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
China's use of English-language messaging in particular has evolved significantly over the past year, according to specialists, especially in response to American rhetoric about the coronavirus pandemic.
In 2016, Russian influencemongers posed as fake Americans and engaged with them as though they were responding to the same election alongside one another. Russian operatives even used Facebook to organize real-world campaign events across the United States.
But RT's account on Twitter or China's foreign ministry representatives aren't pretending to do anything but serve as voices for Moscow or Beijing. If that work has become more overt, though, what else is still happening covertly — as Demers suggested about the Chinese government in Texas?
Critics: false equivalence
Detecting election interference relies heavily on foreign intelligence work, which means Evanina, Demers, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe and their colleagues hold nearly all the cards when talking about it.
The members of Congress who see more of what the intelligence community collects on these subjects are circumscribed in what they can discuss openly because so much of the information is secret.
But lawmakers also complicate Americans' impressions about what is truly taking place because they attack one another over the ways they discuss secret material while seldom delving into its substance.
Democrats, for example, demanded a briefing from the FBI about the prospect that Congress might be the target of foreign efforts. Republicans responded with complaints that the rhetoric surrounding those demands was overblown. The point is to defend the U.S. and inform voters, they argued.
"Your use of this issue to knowingly and recklessly promote false narratives for political purposes is completely contrary to that goal," wrote Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, to Democrats after their initial announcement.
The divergence didn't end after Evanina's statement, which described the election-interference ambitions of China, Russia and Iran. Democrats called that a distortion, arguing that the importance of the work by Russia far outweighs the other two powers.
"Unfortunately, today's statement still treats three actors of differing intent and capability as equal threats to our democratic elections," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
The Democrats said they wanted the public "to be provided with specific information that would allow voters to appraise for themselves the respective threats posed by these foreign actors, and distinguish these actors' different and unequal aims, current actions, and capabilities."
So far the intelligence community hasn't complied, but the government has sought to send the message that it's taking the issue seriously in another way — with the offer of a $10 million bounty for information about threats to the election.


npr--2020-08-13--Coronavirus World Map: Tracking The Spread Of The Outbreak

Coronavirus World Map : Tracking The Spread Of The Outbreak Since the new coronavirus was first reported in Wuhan , China , in December , the infectious respiratory disease COVID-19 has spread rapidly within China and to neighboring countries and beyond .
The first confirmed coronavirus cases outside China occurred on Jan. 20 , in Japan , Thailand and South Korea .
On Jan. 21 , the first case in the U.S. was identified in Washington state .
On Jan. 24 , the first two European cases were confirmed in France .
By Feb. 1 , eight European nations had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ month later that count had risen to 24 countries with at least 2,200 cases , most of them in Italy .
On March 11 , Italy eclipsed 10,000 cases and the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a pandemic — the first since H1N1 in 2009 .
That 's also when China , the original epicenter , began seeing drops in daily counts of new cases .
March also saw exponential spread of the virus throughout the U.S. , with all 50 states reporting cases by March 17 .
This particular virus , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the third strain of coronavirus known to frequently cause severe symptoms in humans .
The other two strains cause Middle East respiratory syndrome and severe acute respiratory syndrome .
Click here to see the state-by-state breakdown of cases in the United States .
This story was originally published on March 30 , 2020 .

Coronavirus world map: We've now passed the 600 million mark for infections
Editor's note: This page is no longer being updated. The last update was Sept. 5, 2022. For current data about COVID-19 cases and deaths around the world, Johns Hopkins University and Our World in Data are useful resources.
In late January 2020 only a few dozen COVID-19 infections had been identified outside of China. A year later, the world tallied its first 100 million cases. It took the globe just 7 more months to pass the 200 million mark— then another 5 months to hit 300 million, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. Now the virus has spread to every corner of the globe and has been blamed for more than 6 million deaths.
The United States, India and Brazil in that order have had the most COVID cases and the three nations collectively account for almost half of all recorded infections so far in the pandemic.
Explore the chart below to find a country-by-country breakdown of new and total cases since January 2020.
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Explore how the number of coronavirus cases have shifted in different parts of the world over time. The first chart compares each continent to each other, while the next charts highlight the number of cases in select countries by region.
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This story was originally published on March 30, 2020.


npr--2020-08-13--Coronavirus Maps: How Severe Is Your State's Outbreak?

Coronavirus Maps : How Severe Is Your State 's Outbreak ?
More than 5 million people in the U.S. have tested positive for the coronavirus and more than 160,000 have died .
Tens of thousands of new cases are confirmed daily .
State by state , the picture is varied .
In the graphics below , explore the trends in your state .
View the data via a heat map ( immediately below ) , curve charts , a table of state-by-state trends over four weeks , or a map of total cases and deaths .
The map above shows @ @ @ @ @ @ @ based on new daily cases per capita .
These color-coded risk levels were developed by a consortium of researchers and public health experts .
The group advises states in the red category to issue stay-home orders .
Orange states may need to consider stay-home orders , along with increased testing and contact tracing .
Yellow states need to keep up social distancing and mask usage , and both yellow and green states should continue testing and contact tracing .
To compare state outbreaks , the chart above graphs trend lines for average new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's totals to date .
This type of visualization highlights a state 's daily growth or decline relative to the overall size of its outbreak .
When both new and total case and death counts grow quickly , the curves bend upward .
As new cases and deaths slow , the curves level or bend down .
In New York , the curve rose sharply before reaching over 170,000 total cases in April .
Since then , new cases have fallen from about 10,000 per day in mid-April to under 600 per day @ @ @ @ @ @ @ above to see totals and per capita figures around the country for both new confirmed cases and reported deaths from COVID-19 .
New York was the original epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S. As of mid August , California , Florida and Texas have surpassed New York for total cases to date , though New York still has the highest death total .
Click here to see a global map of confirmed cases and deaths .
To show trends state by state , the table below shows the change in average new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ week over week for the last 28 days .
States marked in shades of red are showing growth , those in shades of green , are showing declines .
The graphics on this page pull from data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University from several sources , including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ; the World Health Organization ; national , state and local government health departments ; 1point3acres ; and local media reports .
The JHU team automates its data uploads and regularly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ result in occasional data discrepancies on this page as the JHU team resolves anomalies and updates its feeds .
State-by-state recovery data are unavailable at this time .
There may be discrepancies between what you see here and what you see on your local health department 's website .
Figures shown do not include cases on cruise ships .
In early June , Michigan health authorities started including probable cases in its totals .
This resulted in a brief spike in the state 's daily numbers until the JHU team was able to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 25 , New Jersey included 1,854 previously-unreported probable deaths in its totals , resulting in a spike in the state 's daily death numbers .
This story was originally published on March 16 , 2020 .
Elena Renken was a co-author on that version .
Sean McMinn contributed to and Carmel Wroth edited this story .

Tracking the coronavirus around the U.S.: See how your state is doing
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Note: This page was last updated on Feb. 1, 2023. It will no longer be updated. For current data on COVID cases and deaths, demographics, and hospitalizations, consult the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As of Feb. 1, there have been more than 101 million confirmed coronavirus infections in the U.S. and more than 1 million people have died of COVID-19. In the graphics below, explore the trends in your state.
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The above charts show average new cases per 100,000 people for each state over the last 12 months.
Note: Actual cases may be substantially higher, since many who test positive with at-home tests don't report their cases.
For additional data about COVID-19 in the U.S, including cases and deaths, demographics, and hospitalizations, consult the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
To show trends, the table below shows the change in average new cases per day in each state, week over week for the last 28 days. States marked in shades of red have growing outbreaks; those in shades of green, are declining.
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Methodology
The graphics on this page pull from data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University from several sources, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the World Health Organization; national, state and local government health departments; 1point3acres; and local media reports.
The JHU team automates its data uploads and regularly checks them for anomalies. This may result in occasional data discrepancies on this page as the JHU team resolves anomalies and updates its feeds. There may be discrepancies between what you see here and what you see on your local health department's website. Figures shown do not include cases on cruise ships.
Fluctuations in the numbers may happen as health authorities review old cases, process testing backlogs or update their methodologies. The JHU team maintains a list of such changes.
This story was originally published on March 16, 2020. Elena Renken was a co-author on that version. Sean McMinn and Audrey Carlsen contributed to this story. Carmel Wroth edited this story.


npr--2020-08-13--How Live Music Is Coping, And What The Near Future Will Bring

How Live Music Is Coping , And What The Near Future Will Bring Colin Pate was toiling away at his North Philadelphia recording studio in late June when he received an unbelievable text message : `` Secret show at Johnny Brenda 's tonight , 6:30 . ''
Like so many places , the beloved Philly music venue has been shuttered since the Covid-19 pandemic first flared up in March .
The 250-person venue , a staple of the local music scene that served as an early stage for Philly acts like Kurt Vile and The War on Drugs , used @ @ @ @ @ @ @ While locals can still order take-out food and drinks from the bar , nobody expected a band to play there — or anywhere else for that matter — until sometime next year .
`` At first , I thought it was a joke , '' says Pate , a local musician and recording engineer who has spent the pandemic bouncing between at-home isolation , recording solo in the studio and working at local bars to cover his rent .
Like every other musician in town , Pate 's hopes of playing any shows @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
By late June , the prospect of attending one seemed just as unlikely .
But this show was different .
Rather than switch the upstairs stage lights back on , the venue 's staff hauled a PA system onto the roof of the building .
Pat Finnerty and the Full Band , an impromptu group of local musicians led by guitarist and singer Pat Finnerty , set up their gear , did a sound check , and proceeded to tear through covers of David Bowie , Marvin Gaye , Neil Young and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , The Beatles .
As music filled the streets below , so too did a gathering of mask-wearing locals , eager to experience their first concert in months .
Some watched from apartment balconies .
Others honked their car horns as they drove by .
Most stood on the sidewalks and trolley platform below , maintaining a cautious , pandemic-friendly distance from one another .
`` We were n't sure what to expect , but we really pulled it off , '' says Marley McNamara , a talent buyer at Johnny Brenda 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I was happy with the way people were all masked up and being respectful of those around them .
It even sounded good , which I was surprised about . ''
For residents of the city 's Fishtown neighborhood , the surprise performance seemed to offer a much-needed distraction after months of social isolation , followed by citywide protests and racial tension that had boiled over in front of the police precinct down the street from Johnny Brenda 's just a few weeks earlier .
The vibe on the street was decidedly less @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out with the `` Ghostbusters '' theme song against a multi-colored sunset .
Shows like this are a rare , if imperfect , bright spot for the independent live music industry , which currently sits , like so many , on the brink of catastrophe .
Since March , thousands of independent venues across the U.S. have remained closed in response to the coronavirus outbreak .
As the pandemic drags on , it has created an existential crisis for these venues and the critical role they play in music scenes and communities across @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , The Satellite in Los Angeles and Portland 's Port City Music Hall are just a few of the venues that have closed for good in recent weeks , with many more at risk of going under .
`` It 's a really surreal and scary time for everyone , but especially for the music industry , '' says McNamara .
`` We ca n't lose places like Johnny Brenda 's . ''
Without federal intervention , as many as 90 % of indie music venues could disappear , according to the National @ @ @ @ @ @ @ To that end , the newly formed advocacy organization is lobbying hard for legislation like the Restart Act or Save Our Stages Act , which would provide large-scale financial assistance to these endangered institutions .
For venues , the clock is ticking .
If Congress does n't pass one of the music industry aid bills circulating in its halls before the legislature 's August recess , NIVA fears it may be too late .
`` It would be like needing a kidney transplant , but not getting the new kidney until after you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Schaefer , a spokesperson for NIVA who also heads communications for the 9:30 Club and other Washington D.C. music venues .
`` It 's not going to revive the cadaver . ''
The impact of such a collapse could be culturally devastating .
Unlike restaurants or shops , a small or medium-sized music venue is more than just a business serving its customers .
They are living , breathing mini-institutions in their own right , each one with its own unique capacity to incubate local bands and artists , host touring ones , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of like-minded show attendees that these spaces attract .
For artists , who tend to make the bulk of their income performing live , this could jeopardize their ability to plan successful tours once the pandemic is over .
`` You ca n't get on a bus and play at a boarded-up building , '' Schaefer points out .
As the live music industry awaits an economic lifeline and an eventual vaccine , some are using the standstill to creatively rethink the functionality and economics of live music .
While nobody expects new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shows to address the industry 's bigger , more systemic threat , the experimentation may yield clues as to how to safely experience live shows before a full reopening is possible .
Crucially , it 's also a chance to build more future-proof models for live entertainment .
Philadelphia is not the only place experimenting with pandemic-appropriate shows .
Across the U.S. , drive-in concerts have become a new summertime trend for bigger , typically Live Nation-affiliated acts like Brad Paisley , Nelly , the Avett Brothers and , notoriously , The Chainsmokers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remain scrappier and more experimental .
In late March , LA-based musicians like Booker Stardrum , Celia Hollander and Angel Olsen collaborator Ben Babbit performed live from their cars in the parking lot of an Echo Park grocery store , broadcasting it to attendees ' vehicles over an FM radio frequency .
A Sun Kil Moon show in Big Sur , Calif. , held in July by the boutique music event curator FolkYEAH !
, employed social distancing , temperature checks and limited venue capacity to offer fans an escape from the months-long @ @ @ @ @ @ @ live music has played a more complicated role in pandemic life .
While most venues in Music City have been dead silent for months , some are happy to test the lockdown 's limits .
Summertime crowds of often mask-less people packing the honky-tonks and bars of Lower Broadway have turned the downtown entertainment district into the epicenter of Nashville 's current coronavirus surge .
In mid-June , Kid Rock 's Big Honky Tonk and Steak House was among 13 Nashville establishments cited by the city 's health department for ignoring social distancing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crowds packed shoulder-to-shoulder .
Two weeks later , country star Chris Rice came under fire for playing a concert in nearby Petros , Tenn. to a crowd of hundreds of fans who seemed to think physical distancing and masks were optional .
Some in Nashville are at least trying to do things responsibly .
City Winery , a restaurant and venue in downtown , has kept much of its music programming going throughout the pandemic by moving its shows outdoors and implementing a rigorous set of safety protocols for attendees , artists , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mask and social distancing requirements , City Winery gives every attendee a temperature check and health questionnaire when they arrive .
To limit crowds and social interaction , the venue requires reservations , staggers the groups entering and leaving , and has attendees pre-order their food and drinks to a pre-selected table in a `` pod '' set eight feet apart from other parties .
From start to finish , the entire experience of each show is carefully designed to limit the risk of spreading the virus .
`` If everyone would follow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , we would n't be in this mess , '' says City Winery CEO Michael Dorf .
As bulletproof as City Winery 's approach may sound , it has its limitations .
For one thing , the economics of limited capacity shows are inherently challenging for venues , and even moreso for the artists who perform there .
Fewer attendees means a smaller pie of ticket revenue to be sliced up between the venue , its staff and the artists .
`` We have less money to pay our vendors and artists , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ typically hosting 1,500 ticket holders are now seating just a few hundred .
`` There 's this great recalibration that needs to happen if live music is going to continue . ''
Then there 's the unpredictable nature of the pandemic itself .
Even the most buttoned-up and flawlessly executed approach to pandemic-safe shows can be thwarted by a sudden change in rules as state and local governments react to the latest coronavirus infection trends , which continue to surge in many U.S. states .
Tennessee , which Dr. Anthony Fauci warned was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ June , is now seeing infections rise in nearly every county .
`` It 's changing week to week , '' says Dorf .
`` In our virtual office , we have a chart that breaks down the positivity rate in each market and looks at the trends , just like the scientists .
We need to try and predict what 's going to happen in each place . ''
The constant fluctuation can send business owners back to the drawing board when they least expect it .
On June 22 , Nashville @ @ @ @ @ @ @ third phase of its reopening plan .
But by the beginning of July , the surging infections forced officials to roll back to a `` modified phase two '' and put new restrictions on restaurants and bars , the latter of which were ordered to close for 14 days .
If safely operating shows during a pandemic is tricky in one city , scaling the model across locales is practically impossible .
Outside Nashville , City Winery also operates in seven other U.S. markets , most of which remain quiet for now .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the company announced in mid-June that it would launch a new socially distant outdoor music series called Concerts in the Vineyard at its location in New York 's Hudson Valley .
The next day , New York State authorities told Dorf that the concerts were forbidden , and that moving ahead with them could cost the venue its liquor license .
Dorf has spent the last several weeks trying to convince New York authorities , including Governor Andrew Cuomo himself , that his company 's approach to outdoor shows is not only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ potential model for bringing live music back to life before a vaccine is ready .
Finally , in early August , Cuomo agreed to let City Winery 's Hudson Valley concert series proceed beginning in September .
That is , assuming nothing changes .
When 'New Normal ' Is A Moving Target For City Winery , this dizzying ping-pong of changes and discrepancies over time and across different locations has made it especially challenging to keep the music playing at even one of its locations , let alone the other seven .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ issue that plagues the live music industry and plenty other aspects of life amidst the pandemic : Perpetual uncertainty .
As the virus surges and the state of the pandemic evolves , it becomes difficult for people and businesses to adapt .
Just when a reopening plan , city health regulation , or state-issued mandate seems set , something changes .
Sudden shifts in reality are now the norm everywhere .
Back in Philadelphia , the owners of Johnny Brenda 's are n't planning any more rooftop shows .
It 's not that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after the first one , McNamara said they got messages from agents for bigger national acts interested in playing on the roof .
Ideas quickly started brewing .
Then , like clockwork , everything changed again : On Jul .
14 , Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney announced a citywide ban on any events consisting of more than 50 people , which will remain in effect until at least Feb. 2021 .
`` Everything is so fluid that it 's really hard for us to ever plan anything like this again , even secretly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ feels like a different environment now . ''
Meanwhile , Pat Finnerty and his friends are wondering when and where they might be able to play another socially distanced pop-up show .
Finnerty says he 's thinking about doing something along the city 's waterfront , or at Philly landmarks that might be safe places for people to distantly congregate .
Eventually , he wants to park two socially-distanced boats in New York Harbor in front of the Statue of Liberty , where his band will play a set of Neil Young covers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and constant changes , Finnerty is content to wait things out a bit longer .
`` Me and my buddies have all said no to a million gigs , '' he says .
`` Personally , my own conscience says we need to slow down .
There are too many ass****s out there right now . ''
Can The Live Music Industry Future-Proof Itself ?
Ric Leichtung is heartened to learn about the Philly rooftop gig .
`` Those are the stories that keep people going , '' he says .
But his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ road in Brooklyn where he runs the indie concert promoter AdHoc , only allows for so much optimism .
For Leichtung , it 's hard to envision a rooftop DIY show series atop the warehouses of Bushwick anytime soon .
As the first major epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S. , New York has been locked down and under especially strict restrictions since the beginning .
The city 's music venues are likely to remain silent until a vaccine is introduced , if not months later .
`` That means , what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2022 ? ''
he wonders .
`` It 's insanely scary , honestly . ''
Liechtung agrees with the industry consensus that a federal stimulus is the only way for the independent venues in New York and beyond to survive long enough to see the end of the pandemic .
`` The consolation prize of online events or limited gatherings simply is not enough , '' he says .
While such an intervention would prevent an imminent cultural catastrophe , it may only be the first step toward ensuring a sustainable future @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just as the pandemic exposes systemic weaknesses in the industry , many believe it also presents an opportunity to start building something more resilient .
Mat Dryhurst , a musician and Berlin-based professor at NYU 's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music , has spent a lot of time thinking about alternative models for how venues could be owned , interlinked , supported , and even defined in the future .
`` There are ways to develop economies around the thing that people really do cherish about music , which is ultimately a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' says Dryhurst .
Of course , it 's the `` coming together '' part of grassroots music culture that has been rendered physically impossible by the pandemic .
But , given the recent rise in crowdfunding drives , Bandcamp Fridays and other digital expressions of support for independent music , Dryhurst ca n't help but wonder if stronger connections could be built between digital communities and physical spaces .
Rather than waiting for an emergency to solicit donations , DIY music spaces and medium-sized venues could build deeper digital communities and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ subscriptions .
Something like Patreon , but for places .
A membership-supported music club model might not work for every venue , but spaces that offer enough value to people in the community may well find a sustainable source of revenue .
In some places , this model of community-based support could even be taken a few steps further , into a shared community ownership of spaces .
`` There are also other possibilities for venues beyond music , '' Dryhurst points out .
Plenty of small DIY music venues already serve other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ educational workshops , creative workspaces , and providing various community services .
In doing so , those spaces become more essential to the community around them .
And ultimately , Dryhurst hopes , less prone to the kind of existential threat posed by pandemics or future climate catastrophes .
`` My hope is that over the next year , we 'll start moving away from a reactive space into that more generative space , '' Dryhurst says .
`` What could be built that would be more resilient in case something like this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Dryhurst recognizes the inherent privilege of being able to toss around big ideas at a safe distance from the industry trenches .
As a musician , he hopes something sticks , because he ca n't wait to crawl back in .

How Live Music Is Coping, And What The Near Future Will Bring
Enlarge this image toggle caption Mikkel Berg Pedersen/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images Mikkel Berg Pedersen/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images
Colin Pate was toiling away at his North Philadelphia recording studio in late June when he received an unbelievable text message: "Secret show at Johnny Brenda's tonight, 6:30."
Like so many places, the beloved Philly music venue has been shuttered since the Covid-19 pandemic first flared up in March. The 250-person venue, a staple of the local music scene that served as an early stage for Philly acts like Kurt Vile and The War on Drugs, used to host shows almost every night. While locals can still order take-out food and drinks from the bar, nobody expected a band to play there — or anywhere else for that matter — until sometime next year.
"At first, I thought it was a joke," says Pate, a local musician and recording engineer who has spent the pandemic bouncing between at-home isolation, recording solo in the studio and working at local bars to cover his rent. Like every other musician in town, Pate's hopes of playing any shows were dashed by the outbreak months earlier. By late June, the prospect of attending one seemed just as unlikely.
But this show was different. Rather than switch the upstairs stage lights back on, the venue's staff hauled a PA system onto the roof of the building. Pat Finnerty and the Full Band, an impromptu group of local musicians led by guitarist and singer Pat Finnerty, set up their gear, did a sound check, and proceeded to tear through covers of David Bowie, Marvin Gaye, Neil Young and, appropriately enough given the rooftop perch, The Beatles.
As music filled the streets below, so too did a gathering of mask-wearing locals, eager to experience their first concert in months. Some watched from apartment balconies. Others honked their car horns as they drove by. Most stood on the sidewalks and trolley platform below, maintaining a cautious, pandemic-friendly distance from one another.
"We weren't sure what to expect, but we really pulled it off," says Marley McNamara, a talent buyer at Johnny Brenda's who helped organize the show. "I was happy with the way people were all masked up and being respectful of those around them. It even sounded good, which I was surprised about."
For residents of the city's Fishtown neighborhood, the surprise performance seemed to offer a much-needed distraction after months of social isolation, followed by citywide protests and racial tension that had boiled over in front of the police precinct down the street from Johnny Brenda's just a few weeks earlier. The vibe on the street was decidedly less intense as Finnerty and his friends closed out with the "Ghostbusters" theme song against a multi-colored sunset.
Shows like this are a rare, if imperfect, bright spot for the independent live music industry, which currently sits, like so many, on the brink of catastrophe. Since March, thousands of independent venues across the U.S. have remained closed in response to the coronavirus outbreak. As the pandemic drags on, it has created an existential crisis for these venues and the critical role they play in music scenes and communities across the U.S. The Barracuda in Austin, The Satellite in Los Angeles and Portland's Port City Music Hall are just a few of the venues that have closed for good in recent weeks, with many more at risk of going under.
"It's a really surreal and scary time for everyone, but especially for the music industry," says McNamara. "We can't lose places like Johnny Brenda's."
Without federal intervention, as many as 90% of indie music venues could disappear, according to the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA). To that end, the newly formed advocacy organization is lobbying hard for legislation like the Restart Act or Save Our Stages Act, which would provide large-scale financial assistance to these endangered institutions.
For venues, the clock is ticking. If Congress doesn't pass one of the music industry aid bills circulating in its halls before the legislature's August recess, NIVA fears it may be too late.
"It would be like needing a kidney transplant, but not getting the new kidney until after you've expired." says Audrey Fix Schaefer, a spokesperson for NIVA who also heads communications for the 9:30 Club and other Washington D.C. music venues. "It's not going to revive the cadaver."
Enlarge this image toggle caption Frazer Harrison/Getty Images Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
The impact of such a collapse could be culturally devastating. Unlike restaurants or shops, a small or medium-sized music venue is more than just a business serving its customers. They are living, breathing mini-institutions in their own right, each one with its own unique capacity to incubate local bands and artists, host touring ones, and connect them all to the communities of like-minded show attendees that these spaces attract.
For artists, who tend to make the bulk of their income performing live, this could jeopardize their ability to plan successful tours once the pandemic is over. "You can't get on a bus and play at a boarded-up building," Schaefer points out.
As the live music industry awaits an economic lifeline and an eventual vaccine, some are using the standstill to creatively rethink the functionality and economics of live music. While nobody expects new formats like socially distanced, limited capacity shows to address the industry's bigger, more systemic threat, the experimentation may yield clues as to how to safely experience live shows before a full reopening is possible. Crucially, it's also a chance to build more future-proof models for live entertainment.
The Complicated Promise of Socially-Distant Concerts
Philadelphia is not the only place experimenting with pandemic-appropriate shows. Across the U.S., drive-in concerts have become a new summertime trend for bigger, typically Live Nation-affiliated acts like Brad Paisley, Nelly, the Avett Brothers and, notoriously, The Chainsmokers.
For independent artists, the options remain scrappier and more experimental. In late March, LA-based musicians like Booker Stardrum, Celia Hollander and Angel Olsen collaborator Ben Babbit performed live from their cars in the parking lot of an Echo Park grocery store, broadcasting it to attendees' vehicles over an FM radio frequency. A Sun Kil Moon show in Big Sur, Calif., held in July by the boutique music event curator FolkYEAH!, employed social distancing, temperature checks and limited venue capacity to offer fans an escape from the months-long live music drought.
In Nashville, live music has played a more complicated role in pandemic life. While most venues in Music City have been dead silent for months, some are happy to test the lockdown's limits. Summertime crowds of often mask-less people packing the honky-tonks and bars of Lower Broadway have turned the downtown entertainment district into the epicenter of Nashville's current coronavirus surge.
In mid-June, Kid Rock's Big Honky Tonk and Steak House was among 13 Nashville establishments cited by the city's health department for ignoring social distancing rules, hosting country music shows to crowds packed shoulder-to-shoulder. Two weeks later, country star Chris Rice came under fire for playing a concert in nearby Petros, Tenn. to a crowd of hundreds of fans who seemed to think physical distancing and masks were optional.
Some in Nashville are at least trying to do things responsibly. City Winery, a restaurant and venue in downtown, has kept much of its music programming going throughout the pandemic by moving its shows outdoors and implementing a rigorous set of safety protocols for attendees, artists, and staff.
In addition to strictly-enforced mask and social distancing requirements, City Winery gives every attendee a temperature check and health questionnaire when they arrive. To limit crowds and social interaction, the venue requires reservations, staggers the groups entering and leaving, and has attendees pre-order their food and drinks to a pre-selected table in a "pod" set eight feet apart from other parties. From start to finish, the entire experience of each show is carefully designed to limit the risk of spreading the virus.
"If everyone would follow these types of procedures across the country, we wouldn't be in this mess," says City Winery CEO Michael Dorf.
As bulletproof as City Winery's approach may sound, it has its limitations. For one thing, the economics of limited capacity shows are inherently challenging for venues, and even moreso for the artists who perform there. Fewer attendees means a smaller pie of ticket revenue to be sliced up between the venue, its staff and the artists.
"We have less money to pay our vendors and artists," says Dorf, noting that shows typically hosting 1,500 ticket holders are now seating just a few hundred. "There's this great recalibration that needs to happen if live music is going to continue."
Jason Kempin/Getty Images
Then there's the unpredictable nature of the pandemic itself. Even the most buttoned-up and flawlessly executed approach to pandemic-safe shows can be thwarted by a sudden change in rules as state and local governments react to the latest coronavirus infection trends, which continue to surge in many U.S. states. Tennessee, which Dr. Anthony Fauci warned was at risk of a surge in late June, is now seeing infections rise in nearly every county.
"It's changing week to week," says Dorf. "In our virtual office, we have a chart that breaks down the positivity rate in each market and looks at the trends, just like the scientists. We need to try and predict what's going to happen in each place."
The constant fluctuation can send business owners back to the drawing board when they least expect it. On June 22, Nashville began its transition into the less restrictive third phase of its reopening plan. But by the beginning of July, the surging infections forced officials to roll back to a "modified phase two" and put new restrictions on restaurants and bars, the latter of which were ordered to close for 14 days.
If safely operating shows during a pandemic is tricky in one city, scaling the model across locales is practically impossible. Outside Nashville, City Winery also operates in seven other U.S. markets, most of which remain quiet for now. After outdoor concerts proved successful in Nashville, the company announced in mid-June that it would launch a new socially distant outdoor music series called Concerts in the Vineyard at its location in New York's Hudson Valley. The next day, New York State authorities told Dorf that the concerts were forbidden, and that moving ahead with them could cost the venue its liquor license.
Dorf has spent the last several weeks trying to convince New York authorities, including Governor Andrew Cuomo himself, that his company's approach to outdoor shows is not only safe, but could serve as a potential model for bringing live music back to life before a vaccine is ready.
Finally, in early August, Cuomo agreed to let City Winery's Hudson Valley concert series proceed beginning in September. That is, assuming nothing changes.
When 'New Normal' Is A Moving Target
For City Winery, this dizzying ping-pong of changes and discrepancies over time and across different locations has made it especially challenging to keep the music playing at even one of its locations, let alone the other seven.
The team's frustration speaks to a wider issue that plagues the live music industry and plenty other aspects of life amidst the pandemic: Perpetual uncertainty. As the virus surges and the state of the pandemic evolves, it becomes difficult for people and businesses to adapt. Just when a reopening plan, city health regulation, or state-issued mandate seems set, something changes.
Sudden shifts in reality are now the norm everywhere. Back in Philadelphia, the owners of Johnny Brenda's aren't planning any more rooftop shows. It's not that there's a lack of interest; after the first one, McNamara said they got messages from agents for bigger national acts interested in playing on the roof. Ideas quickly started brewing. Then, like clockwork, everything changed again: On Jul. 14, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney announced a citywide ban on any events consisting of more than 50 people, which will remain in effect until at least Feb. 2021.
"Everything is so fluid that it's really hard for us to ever plan anything like this again, even secretly," says McNamara. "it feels like a different environment now."
Meanwhile, Pat Finnerty and his friends are wondering when and where they might be able to play another socially distanced pop-up show. Finnerty says he's thinking about doing something along the city's waterfront, or at Philly landmarks that might be safe places for people to distantly congregate. Eventually, he wants to park two socially-distanced boats in New York Harbor in front of the Statue of Liberty, where his band will play a set of Neil Young covers.
For now, given the surges and constant changes, Finnerty is content to wait things out a bit longer. "Me and my buddies have all said no to a million gigs," he says. "Personally, my own conscience says we need to slow down. There are too many ass****s out there right now."
Can The Live Music Industry Future-Proof Itself?
Ric Leichtung is heartened to learn about the Philly rooftop gig. "Those are the stories that keep people going," he says.
But his vantage point, from just up the road in Brooklyn where he runs the indie concert promoter AdHoc, only allows for so much optimism. For Leichtung, it's hard to envision a rooftop DIY show series atop the warehouses of Bushwick anytime soon. As the first major epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S., New York has been locked down and under especially strict restrictions since the beginning. The city's music venues are likely to remain silent until a vaccine is introduced, if not months later. "That means, what, next April? June? Sometime in 2022?" he wonders. "It's insanely scary, honestly."
Liechtung agrees with the industry consensus that a federal stimulus is the only way for the independent venues in New York and beyond to survive long enough to see the end of the pandemic. "The consolation prize of online events or limited gatherings simply is not enough," he says.
While such an intervention would prevent an imminent cultural catastrophe, it may only be the first step toward ensuring a sustainable future for independent artists and spaces. But just as the pandemic exposes systemic weaknesses in the industry, many believe it also presents an opportunity to start building something more resilient.
Mat Dryhurst, a musician and Berlin-based professor at NYU's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, has spent a lot of time thinking about alternative models for how venues could be owned, interlinked, supported, and even defined in the future.
"There are ways to develop economies around the thing that people really do cherish about music, which is ultimately a sense of belonging and of coming together," says Dryhurst.
Of course, it's the "coming together" part of grassroots music culture that has been rendered physically impossible by the pandemic. But, given the recent rise in crowdfunding drives, Bandcamp Fridays and other digital expressions of support for independent music, Dryhurst can't help but wonder if stronger connections could be built between digital communities and physical spaces.
Rather than waiting for an emergency to solicit donations, DIY music spaces and medium-sized venues could build deeper digital communities and experiment with support models like memberships and subscriptions. Something like Patreon, but for places.
A membership-supported music club model might not work for every venue, but spaces that offer enough value to people in the community may well find a sustainable source of revenue. In some places, this model of community-based support could even be taken a few steps further, into a shared community ownership of spaces.
"There are also other possibilities for venues beyond music," Dryhurst points out. Plenty of small DIY music venues already serve other functions during daytime hours, such as educational workshops, creative workspaces, and providing various community services. In doing so, those spaces become more essential to the community around them. And ultimately, Dryhurst hopes, less prone to the kind of existential threat posed by pandemics or future climate catastrophes.
"My hope is that over the next year, we'll start moving away from a reactive space into that more generative space," Dryhurst says. "What could be built that would be more resilient in case something like this happens again? "
As an academic, Dryhurst recognizes the inherent privilege of being able to toss around big ideas at a safe distance from the industry trenches. As a musician, he hopes something sticks, because he can't wait to crawl back in.


npr--2020-08-13--One Tough Question For DOJ If Biden Is Elected: Whether To Prosecute Trump

One Tough Question For DOJ If Biden Is Elected : Whether To Prosecute Trump If Joe Biden wins the presidency , his Justice Department will face a decision with huge legal and political implications : whether to investigate and prosecute President Trump .
So far , the candidate is approaching that question very carefully .
In a recent interview with NPR 's Lulu Garcia-Navarro , Biden said : `` I will not interfere with the Justice Department 's judgment of whether or not they think they should pursue a prosecution . ''
But he hastened to add that an administration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be `` a very , very unusual thing and probably not very , how can I say it ?
good for democracy — to be talking about prosecuting former presidents . ''
Based on those remarks , Biden seems to be on the way to adopting the position of former President Barack Obama .
Back in 2009 , the newly elected Obama said he did n't want to get hung up on prosecuting wrongdoers .
He was referring to people who had engaged in torture and warrantless wiretapping during the previous administration .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the time , his instinct was to make sure those practices never happened again .
`` I do n't believe that anybody is above the law , '' he said , `` On the other hand , I also have a belief that we need to look forward , as opposed to looking backwards . ''
A presidential desire to `` look forward '' and move ahead is what prompted President Gerald Ford to pardon his predecessor , President Richard Nixon , after the revelations about Nixon 's abuse of power in Watergate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Justice Department ultimately convicted only one person , a government contractor , for abusing a detainee who later died .
But Biden could have a harder time drawing those kinds of lines today .
`` It 's not at all clear that looking forward and not looking backward is an available option , '' Harvard Law School Professor Jack Goldsmith said .
Goldsmith said most people are n't talking about how a Biden Justice Department might handle Trump but said he thinks they should be .
Congress and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his company .
Federal prosecutors have looked at his campaign payments in 2016 and his inaugural committee .
Former Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller made clear that his investigation did not clear Trump of potential lawbreaking in connection with the president 's attempts to quash the Russia investigation .
Democrats and some former prosecutors hostile to Trump called his actions obstruction of justice .
But the Justice Department twice has opined that prosecutors ca n't seek an indictment against a sitting president .
That 's left open the question about whether he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It 's never happened before , and it 's a political time bomb .
Bringing a criminal case against a former president could widen the divide in the country .
`` Whether that 's good for the country is a very hard question that 's going to be very messy , '' Goldsmith said .
`` Whether it 's good for the Biden administration , whether it wants to be , you know , absorbed in being the first administration to ever prosecute a prior president — those are very hard questions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of political pressure .
Trump is deeply unpopular with Democrats .
If Biden wins , and Democrats increase their control in Congress , the calls for Trump to be charged could intensify .
Democrats impeached Trump in a process that ran from 2019 into this year over the Ukraine affair , but Republicans used their majority in the Senate to protect the president .
Some of Biden 's rivals for the Democratic nomination did n't seem to think a Trump case would be a hard call .
Sen. Kamala Harris of California , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pointed to what she called evidence of obstruction of justice uncovered by Mueller .
Harris told The NPR Politics Podcast last year that the next Department of Justice would have `` no choice '' but to act .
`` I do believe that we should believe Bob Mueller when he tells us , essentially , that the only reason an indictment was not returned is because of a memo in the Department of Justice that suggests you can not indict a sitting president , '' Harris said .
`` But I 've seen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ evidence . ''
The prospect for post-election prosecutions has become part of campaign politicking .
Trump , when he ran in 2016 , called his opponent , Hillary Clinton , `` crooked '' and ate it up when crowds called for Clinton to be incarcerated .
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn joined the audience in cheers onstage four years ago at the Republican National Convention .
`` Lock her up , '' Flynn exclaimed after the crowd began to chant .
`` That 's right .
Yeah , that 's right .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Trump administration has brought no charges against Clinton .
But it has launched investigations into former FBI Director Jim Comey , his deputy Andrew McCabe and the intelligence gathering process in 2016 .
And the president has extended the theme to Biden and Obama , including with an attempt to brand what he calls a scandal `` Obamagate . ''
Trump frequently mentions those investigations on Twitter or in public comments .
In a recent interview on Fox News , Trump 's attorney general , William Barr , lamented how the justice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` I think all political sides have gotten into the habit in this country of just sort of saying that their political opponents have done something terrible , '' Barr said .
`` They think it 's terrible .
You know , 'It 's enough for me to conclude he is terrible .
Why is n't he in prison ? '
``

One Tough Question For DOJ If Biden Is Elected: Whether To Prosecute Trump
Enlarge this image toggle caption Andrew Harnik/AP Andrew Harnik/AP
If Joe Biden wins the presidency, his Justice Department will face a decision with huge legal and political implications: whether to investigate and prosecute President Trump.
So far, the candidate is approaching that question very carefully.
In a recent interview with NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro, Biden said: "I will not interfere with the Justice Department's judgment of whether or not they think they should pursue a prosecution."
But he hastened to add that an administration pursuing criminal charges against its predecessor would be "a very, very unusual thing and probably not very, how can I say it? good for democracy — to be talking about prosecuting former presidents."
Based on those remarks, Biden seems to be on the way to adopting the position of former President Barack Obama. Back in 2009, the newly elected Obama said he didn't want to get hung up on prosecuting wrongdoers. He was referring to people who had engaged in torture and warrantless wiretapping during the previous administration.
Instead, Obama told ABC News at the time, his instinct was to make sure those practices never happened again.
"I don't believe that anybody is above the law," he said, "On the other hand, I also have a belief that we need to look forward, as opposed to looking backwards."
A presidential desire to "look forward" and move ahead is what prompted President Gerald Ford to pardon his predecessor, President Richard Nixon, after the revelations about Nixon's abuse of power in Watergate.
In Obama's case, the Justice Department ultimately convicted only one person, a government contractor, for abusing a detainee who later died. But Biden could have a harder time drawing those kinds of lines today.
Trump is an unusual case
"It's not at all clear that looking forward and not looking backward is an available option," Harvard Law School professor Jack Goldsmith said.
Goldsmith said most people aren't talking about how a Biden Justice Department might handle Trump but said he thinks they should be.
Congress and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. have open investigations into Trump and his company. Federal prosecutors have looked at his campaign payments in 2016 and his inaugural committee.
Former Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller made clear that his investigation did not clear Trump of potential lawbreaking in connection with the president's attempts to quash the Russia investigation. Democrats and some former prosecutors hostile to Trump called his actions obstruction of justice.
But the Justice Department twice has opined that prosecutors can't seek an indictment against a sitting president. That's left open the question about whether he might face prosecution once he leaves office.
It's never happened before, and it's a political time bomb. Bringing a criminal case against a former president could widen the divide in the country.
"Whether that's good for the country is a very hard question that's going to be very messy," Goldsmith said. "Whether it's good for the Biden administration, whether it wants to be, you know, absorbed in being the first administration to ever prosecute a prior president — those are very hard questions."
The political dimensions
Enlarge this image toggle caption Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Pool via AP Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Pool via AP
There could be a lot of political pressure. Trump is deeply unpopular with Democrats. If Biden wins, and Democrats increase their control in Congress, the calls for Trump to be charged could intensify.
Democrats impeached Trump in a process that ran from 2019 into this year over the Ukraine affair, but Republicans used their majority in the Senate to protect the president.
Some of Biden's rivals for the Democratic nomination didn't seem to think a Trump case would be a hard call. Sen. Kamala Harris of California, Biden's newly minted running mate, pointed to what she called evidence of obstruction of justice uncovered by Mueller.
Harris told The NPR Politics Podcast last year that the next Department of Justice would have "no choice" but to act.
"I do believe that we should believe Bob Mueller when he tells us, essentially, that the only reason an indictment was not returned is because of a memo in the Department of Justice that suggests you cannot indict a sitting president," Harris said. "But I've seen prosecution of cases based on much less evidence."
The prospect for post-election prosecutions has become part of campaign politicking.
Trump, when he ran in 2016, called his opponent, Hillary Clinton, "crooked" and ate it up when crowds called for Clinton to be incarcerated. Retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn joined the audience in cheers onstage four years ago at the Republican National Convention.
"Lock her up," Flynn exclaimed after the crowd began to chant. "That's right. Yeah, that's right. Lock her up."
Ultimately, the Trump administration has brought no charges against Clinton. But it has launched investigations into former FBI Director Jim Comey, his deputy Andrew McCabe and the intelligence gathering process in 2016. And the president has extended the theme to Biden and Obama, including with an attempt to brand what he calls a scandal "Obamagate."
Trump frequently mentions those investigations on Twitter or in public comments.
In a recent interview on Fox News, Trump's attorney general, William Barr, lamented how the justice system has become a political weapon.
"I think all political sides have gotten into the habit in this country of just sort of saying that their political opponents have done something terrible," Barr said. "They think it's terrible. You know, 'It's enough for me to conclude he is terrible. Why isn't he in prison?' "


npr--2020-08-13--Lives Cut Short: Remembering Health Care Workers In Their 20s Killed By COVID-19

Lives Cut Short : Remembering Health Care Workers In Their 20s Killed By COVID-19 Jasmine Obra believed that if it was n't for her brother Joshua , she would n't exist .
When 7-year-old Josh realized that his parents were n't going to live forever , he asked for a sibling so he would never be alone .
By spring 2020 , at ages 29 and 21 , Josh and Jasmine shared a condo in Anaheim , Calif. , not far from Disneyland , which they both loved .
Both worked at a 147-bed locked nursing facility that specialized in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ such as Alzheimer 's and where Jasmine , a nursing student , was mentored by Josh , a registered nurse .
Both got tested for the coronavirus on the same day in June .
Only one of them survived .
While COVID-19 takes a far deadlier toll on elderly people than on young adults , an investigation of front-line health care worker deaths by Kaiser Health News and The Guardian has uncovered numerous instances in which staff members under age 30 were exposed on the job and also succumbed .
Among 167 confirmed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 21 medical staffers , or 13 % of the total , were under 40 , and eight ( 5 % ) fatalities were under 30 .
The median age of a COVID-19 death in the general population is 78 , while the median age of health care worker deaths in the database is 57 .
This is in part because the reporters included only people of working age who were treating patients during the pandemic — but it is also because , as health workers , they are exposed to the virus far @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at a `` stage in their career and a stage of life at which they have so much more to offer , '' says Andrew Chan , a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School .
`` Lives lost among any young people related to COVID really should be considered something that 's unacceptable to us as a society , '' he adds .
As coronavirus cases surge — and shortages of lifesaving protective gear such as N95 masks , gowns and gloves persist — the nation 's health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Chan 's research has found that health care workers of any age are at least three times more likely to become infected than the general population , and the risk is greater if they are people of color or have to work without adequate personal protective equipment .
People of color are also likelier to have inadequate access to protective gear .
In interviews , relatives and friends of these younger victims described a particular and wrenching sorrow .
Everything lay ahead for these front-line workers .
They were just embarking on their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ family home ; others were looking forward to getting married or had young children .
Several parents of victims contacted by The Guardian and Kaiser Health News said they were simply unable to talk about what had happened , so immense was their grief .
Valeria Viveros , a 20-year-old nursing assistant , was `` barely blooming , '' says her uncle , Gustavo Urrea .
She made ceviche for her patients at a nursing home in Riverside , Calif. , and Urrea could see her visibly growing in self-confidence .
When Viveros @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she went to the hospital but was sent home with Tylenol .
She returned several days later in an ambulance — her final journey .
`` We 're all destroyed , '' Urrea says .
`` I ca n't even believe it . ''
Dulce Garcia , 29 , an interpreter at a medical facility in Chapel Hill , N.C. , died in May .
`` It just does n't feel real , '' says friend Brittany Mathis .
Garcia was the one who would n't let friends drive if they 'd had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ going out to dance to bachata , merengue and reggaeton .
`` There were so many things she had unfinished , '' Mathis says .
While people of any age with underlying conditions such as diabetes and obesity are at higher risk of a severe COVID-19 infection , the particular effects of the virus on young adults are only now becoming clear .
Doctors in New York noticed that more younger patients than usual were presenting with strokes , to the point that `` the average age of our stroke patients with large-vessel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — `` has come down , '' says Thomas Oxley , a Mount Sinai medical system neurosurgeon .
COVID-19 infections cause inflammation , and often blood clots , in blood vessels as well as the lungs .
`` It 's too much to think about '' Angela Padula thought that she and Dennis Bradt had done everything right .
Padula , 27 , and Bradt , 29 , became engaged on Feb. 8 .
She was a special education teacher , and he was an addiction technician at Conifer Park , a private @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The couple wanted to save up for a few years for their wedding , but by early April , they had already purchased her engagement and wedding rings .
Bradt , who had the sweeter tooth , had chosen a raspberry-swirl wedding cake .
After the pandemic hit , Bradt started showering when he got home from work .
He and Padula wore masks when they went out , which was usually only for groceries or gas .
They stopped visiting their immunocompromised parents .
On April 5 , Bradt came down @ @ @ @ @ @ @ achiness and went to the hospital .
His test for the coronavirus came back negative .
Soon he could n't breathe .
Another test proved positive .
On April 16 he was put on a ventilator .
In the process , he choked on his own vomit , which caused his lung to collapse .
Padula assumes Bradt was infected at work and is unsure whether he had sufficient personal protective equipment .
Conifer Park did not respond to queries , but according to local health authorities , 12 employees and six patients @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus .
Padula had symptoms so severe that she was taken to the emergency room in an ambulance .
She was not allowed to visit Bradt and was quarantined alone at home , where she spent her 28th birthday , taking anxiety medication prescribed by her doctor .
On May 13 , as doctors tried to coax Bradt off the ventilator , he suffered a heart attack , Padula says .
She and Bradt 's mother were permitted to say goodbye to him .
But `` he was gone by the time we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an interview .
`` He did n't look like himself , '' swollen and festooned with tubes .
Today Padula is still sick .
Pain in her arms , legs and back wakes her at night .
She feels as though the virus has taken over her life .
`` I have my days where it 's just too much to think about , '' she says .
`` I 'll see people getting engaged on Facebook — it makes me mad .
I want to be happy for them , but it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ happy .
We were planning on having kids in a couple years . ''
`` I feel like he 's with me '' Less than two months before Josh and Jasmine Obra fell ill , Josh posted two pictures to Instagram : One was a photo of a fireworks display at Disneyland ; the other was a picture of himself in medical scrubs , wearing a face mask , and giving the peace sign .
`` Heeeeeyo !
It 's been a minute , '' he wrote in the caption .
`` It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of us . ''
He worked with a vulnerable population , he said , and `` it 's just mentally exhausting thinking each night when I come home that I may be having symptoms the next day . ''
Even so , Josh was the kind of helpful , empathetic nurse who `` makes things easier for everybody , '' says colleague Sarah Depayso .
He knew how to talk to patients and was attuned to others ' stress levels .
`` We were so busy , and it was ' I 'll @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you dinner , I 'll buy you boba . '
'' It had been about 35 days since Disneyland closed its gates , Josh noted in his post .
Josh 's photos — of the Sleeping Beauty castle framed by Tabebuia blossoms , or of himself in an attention-grabbing Little Mermaid sweater — and corny jokes endeared him to thousands of followers on Instagram .
`` He had a way of capturing magic , '' says his friend Brandon Joseph .
The pictures were joyful , like memories of childhood .
Josh 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ announcing that Disneyland planned to reopen in July .
At some point the virus had reached his nursing home , infecting 49 staff members and 120 residents and ultimately killing 14 people .
Approximately 41 % of all U.S. coronavirus deaths are linked to nursing homes , where frail people live in close quarters , according to The New York Times .
After taking a test for the virus on June 12 , Josh 's health deteriorated .
On June 15 , he messaged Joseph that he could n't take a full breath @ @ @ @ @ @ @ knifed in the chest .
On June 20 , he texted that he was at the hospital and that he had a particularly bad case .
The final time Josh spoke with his family , before he was put on a ventilator , was on June 21 .
`` On our last video call together , I was isolated in Anaheim , quarantined , and our parents were at home , '' Jasmine says .
It was Father 's Day , `` and I remembered crying and crying because this was the reality @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Josh 's family was not permitted to visit him in the hospital , and he died on July 6 .
By coincidence , Josh , like his grandparents , was buried in the same cemetery as Walt Disney — Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale .
Before the funeral , Jasmine walked over to Disney 's grave , she says .
`` I was like , 'Hi , Walt .
I hope you and my brother found each other . '
'' Every night since he died , Jasmine has watched Southern California @ @ @ @ @ @ @ yellows that Josh kept returning to in his pictures .
`` And every time I feel like he 's with me .
I look at the sky and sometimes I start talking to it , and I feel like I 'm talking to my brother and that he 's painting beautiful skies . ''
Alastair Gee is a reporter at The Guardian .
Melissa Bailey , Eli Cahan , Shoshana Dubnow and Anna Sirianni contributed to this report .
This story is part of `` Lost on the Frontline , '' an ongoing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ News that aims to document the lives of health care workers in the U.S. who die from COVID-19 , and to investigate why so many are victims of the disease .
If you have a colleague or loved one we should include , please share their story .

Lives Cut Short: Remembering Health Care Workers In Their 20s Killed By COVID-19
Enlarge this image toggle caption The Obra family The Obra family
Jasmine Obra believed that if it wasn't for her brother Joshua, she wouldn't exist. When 7-year-old Josh realized that his parents weren't going to live forever, he asked for a sibling so he would never be alone.
By spring 2020, at ages 29 and 21, Josh and Jasmine shared a condo in Anaheim, Calif., not far from Disneyland, which they both loved.
Both worked at a 147-bed locked nursing facility that specialized in caring for elderly people with cognitive issues such as Alzheimer's and where Jasmine, a nursing student, was mentored by Josh, a registered nurse.
Both got tested for the coronavirus on the same day in June.
Both tests came back positive.
Only one of them survived.
While COVID-19 takes a far deadlier toll on elderly people than on young adults, an investigation of front-line health care worker deaths by Kaiser Health News and The Guardian has uncovered numerous instances in which staff members under age 30 were exposed on the job and also succumbed.
Among 167 confirmed front-line worker deaths the reporters investigated, 21 medical staffers, or 13% of the total, were under 40, and eight (5%) fatalities were under 30. The median age of a COVID-19 death in the general population is 78, while the median age of health care worker deaths in the database is 57. This is in part because the reporters included only people of working age who were treating patients during the pandemic — but it is also because, as health workers, they are exposed to the virus far more.
Young health care workers are at a "stage in their career and a stage of life at which they have so much more to offer," says Andrew Chan, a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School. "Lives lost among any young people related to COVID really should be considered something that's unacceptable to us as a society," he adds.
As coronavirus cases surge — and shortages of lifesaving protective gear such as N95 masks, gowns and gloves persist — the nation's health care workers face a disproportionate risk. Chan's research has found that health care workers of any age are at least three times more likely to become infected than the general population, and the risk is greater if they are people of color or have to work without adequate personal protective equipment. People of color are also likelier to have inadequate access to protective gear.
In interviews, relatives and friends of these younger victims described a particular and wrenching sorrow. Everything lay ahead for these front-line workers. They were just embarking on their careers. Some still lived in the family home; others were looking forward to getting married or had young children. Several parents of victims contacted by The Guardian and Kaiser Health News said they were simply unable to talk about what had happened, so immense was their grief.
"Barely blooming"
Valeria Viveros, a 20-year-old nursing assistant, was "barely blooming," says her uncle, Gustavo Urrea. She made ceviche for her patients at a nursing home in Riverside, Calif., and Urrea could see her visibly growing in self-confidence. When Viveros first fell sick from the virus, she went to the hospital but was sent home with Tylenol. She returned several days later in an ambulance — her final journey.
"We're all destroyed," Urrea says. "I can't even believe it."
Dulce Garcia, 29, an interpreter at a medical facility in Chapel Hill, N.C., died in May. "It just doesn't feel real," says friend Brittany Mathis. Garcia was the one who wouldn't let friends drive if they'd had too many drinks, and she loved going out to dance to bachata, merengue and reggaeton. "There were so many things she had unfinished," Mathis says.
While people of any age with underlying conditions such as diabetes and obesity are at higher risk of a severe COVID-19 infection, the particular effects of the virus on young adults are only now becoming clear.
Doctors in New York noticed that more younger patients than usual were presenting with strokes, to the point that "the average age of our stroke patients with large-vessel strokes" — the most devastating kind — "has come down," says Thomas Oxley, a Mount Sinai medical system neurosurgeon. COVID-19 infections cause inflammation, and often blood clots, in blood vessels as well as the lungs.
"It's too much to think about"
Angela Padula thought that she and Dennis Bradt had done everything right.
Padula, 27, and Bradt, 29, became engaged on Feb. 8. She was a special education teacher, and he was an addiction technician at Conifer Park, a private addiction treatment facility in Glenville, N.Y.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Angela Padula Angela Padula
The couple wanted to save up for a few years for their wedding, but by early April, they had already purchased her engagement and wedding rings. Bradt, who had the sweeter tooth, had chosen a raspberry-swirl wedding cake.
After the pandemic hit, Bradt started showering when he got home from work. He and Padula wore masks when they went out, which was usually only for groceries or gas. They stopped visiting their immunocompromised parents.
On April 5, Bradt came down with a fever, stomach-bug symptoms and achiness and went to the hospital. His test for the coronavirus came back negative. Soon he couldn't breathe. Another test proved positive. On April 16 he was put on a ventilator. In the process, he choked on his own vomit, which caused his lung to collapse.
Padula assumes Bradt was infected at work and is unsure whether he had sufficient personal protective equipment. Conifer Park did not respond to queries, but according to local health authorities, 12 employees and six patients at the facility tested positive for the coronavirus. Padula had symptoms so severe that she was taken to the emergency room in an ambulance.
She was not allowed to visit Bradt and was quarantined alone at home, where she spent her 28th birthday, taking anxiety medication prescribed by her doctor.
On May 13, as doctors tried to coax Bradt off the ventilator, he suffered a heart attack, Padula says. She and Bradt's mother were permitted to say goodbye to him. But "he was gone by the time we got there," Padula said in an interview. "He didn't look like himself," swollen and festooned with tubes.
Today Padula is still sick. Pain in her arms, legs and back wakes her at night. She feels as though the virus has taken over her life.
"I have my days where it's just too much to think about," she says. "I'll see people getting engaged on Facebook — it makes me mad. I want to be happy for them, but it's very difficult for me to be happy. We were planning on having kids in a couple years."
"I feel like he's with me"
Less than two months before Josh and Jasmine Obra fell ill, Josh posted two pictures to Instagram: One was a photo of a fireworks display at Disneyland; the other was a picture of himself in medical scrubs, wearing a face mask, and giving the peace sign.
"Heeeeeyo! It's been a minute," he wrote in the caption. "It's been a tough month for all of us." He worked with a vulnerable population, he said, and "it's just mentally exhausting thinking each night when I come home that I may be having symptoms the next day."
Even so, Josh was the kind of helpful, empathetic nurse who "makes things easier for everybody," says colleague Sarah Depayso. He knew how to talk to patients and was attuned to others' stress levels. "We were so busy, and it was 'I'll buy you lunch, I'll buy you dinner, I'll buy you boba.'"
It had been about 35 days since Disneyland closed its gates, Josh noted in his post. Josh's photos — of the Sleeping Beauty castle framed by Tabebuia blossoms, or of himself in an attention-grabbing Little Mermaid sweater — and corny jokes endeared him to thousands of followers on Instagram. "He had a way of capturing magic," says his friend Brandon Joseph. The pictures were joyful, like memories of childhood.
Josh's last post was on June 10, announcing that Disneyland planned to reopen in July. At some point the virus had reached his nursing home, infecting 49 staff members and 120 residents and ultimately killing 14 people. Approximately 41% of all U.S. coronavirus deaths are linked to nursing homes, where frail people live in close quarters, according to The New York Times.
After taking a test for the virus on June 12, Josh's health deteriorated. On June 15, he messaged Joseph that he couldn't take a full breath without feeling as though he were being knifed in the chest. On June 20, he texted that he was at the hospital and that he had a particularly bad case.
The final time Josh spoke with his family, before he was put on a ventilator, was on June 21. "On our last video call together, I was isolated in Anaheim, quarantined, and our parents were at home," Jasmine says. It was Father's Day, "and I remembered crying and crying because this was the reality of what our family was."
Josh's family was not permitted to visit him in the hospital, and he died on July 6.
By coincidence, Josh, like his grandparents, was buried in the same cemetery as Walt Disney — Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale.
Before the funeral, Jasmine walked over to Disney's grave, she says. "I was like, 'Hi, Walt. I hope you and my brother found each other.'"
Every night since he died, Jasmine has watched Southern California's spectacular sunsets, the pinks and yellows that Josh kept returning to in his pictures. "And every time I feel like he's with me. I look at the sky and sometimes I start talking to it, and I feel like I'm talking to my brother and that he's painting beautiful skies."
Alastair Gee is a reporter at The Guardian.
Melissa Bailey, Eli Cahan, Shoshana Dubnow and Anna Sirianni contributed to this report. This story is part of "Lost on the Frontline," an ongoing project by The Guardian and Kaiser Health News that aims to document the lives of health care workers in the U.S. who die from COVID-19, and to investigate why so many are victims of the disease. If you have a colleague or loved one we should include, please share their story.


npr--2020-08-13--Trump's Methane Rollback That Big Oil Doesn't Want

Despite opposition from the oil and gas industry it aims to help , the Trump administration later Thursday is expected to roll back an Obama-era rule designed to reduce climate-warming methane emissions .
Methane is the main ingredient in natural gas .
But when it 's released before it burns , say from a leaky valve at a drilling site , it 's far more potent than carbon dioxide .
According to the Environmental Protection Agency , the oil and gas industry is the largest source of methane emissions in the United States .
The Trump administration rule would eliminate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ companies monitor and limit methane leaks from wells , compressor stations and other operations .
In announcing the proposed regulation last year , Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler said it delivered on President Trump 's 2017 executive order to promote energy independence and economic growth .
He said the rule `` removes unnecessary and duplicative regulatory burdens from the oil and gas industry . ''
At that time , the administration estimated the rollback would save the industry up to $ 19 million a year in compliance costs .
Wheeler also echoed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ methane is valuable , and the industry has an incentive to minimize leaks and maximize its use . ''
It 's expected that under the EPA 's new regulation methane will be regulated indirectly through another rule aimed at limiting volatile organic compounds from being emitted .
But some large oil companies want the Obama rules left in place .
Shell , BP and the Exxon Mobil Corp. have big natural gas portfolios .
They worry that if methane emissions are n't controlled that could undermine arguments that natural gas is a cleaner-burning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ negative impacts of leaks and fugitive emissions have been widely acknowledged for years , so it 's frustrating and disappointing to see the administration go in a different direction , '' said Gretchen Watkins , Shell 's president in the United States .
Watkins said her company will continue with its plan to reduce methane emissions .
The oil industry is split on this though , as smaller companies say the requirements are too expensive for them .
Oil and gas companies say they already are improving practices and technology to detect methane @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Still , environmental groups say methane needs to be regulated directly .
While carbon dioxide makes up most of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. , methane has 84 times the heat absorbing power of CO2 during its first two decades in the atmosphere .
Last month , scientists with the Global Methane Budget reported that global emissions had reached their highest levels on record .
`` The Trump administration 's decision to reverse course is deeply and fundamentally flawed , '' said Peter Zalzal , an attorney with the Environmental Defense Fund @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could be reversed again if Joe Biden wins November 's presidential election and Democrats gain control of the Senate .
A law called the Congressional Review Act gives lawmakers the ability to overturn agency regulations that were recently made final .
If the methane rollback remains , environmental groups are expected to challenge it in court .
That would lead to years of legal battles over how to regulate methane , even as scientists say time is running out to address climate change and avoid its worst effects .

Trump's Methane Rollback That Big Oil Doesn't Want
Enlarge this image toggle caption Charlie Riedel/AP Charlie Riedel/AP
Updated at 4:40 p.m. ET
Despite opposition from the oil and gas industry it aims to help, the Trump administration is rolling back an Obama-era rule designed to reduce climate-warming methane emissions.
Methane is the main ingredient in natural gas. But when it's released before it burns, say from a leaky valve at a drilling site, it's far more potent than carbon dioxide. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the oil and gas industry is the largest source of methane emissions in the United States.
The Trump administration rule would eliminate a 2016 requirement that oil and gas companies monitor and limit methane leaks from wells, compressor stations and other operations.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced the change in Pittsburgh, the heart of gas drilling region in Pennsylvania, a state that voted for Trump in 2016 but is leaning Democratic this year.
Wheeler said the new rules deliver on President Trump's 2017 executive order to promote energy independence and economic growth.
"EPA has been working hard to fulfill President Trump's promise to cut burdensome and ineffective regulations for our domestic energy industry," he said.
When the proposed rule was announced last year, the administration estimated the rollback would save the oil industry up to $19 million a year in compliance costs. At that time, Wheeler also echoed an oil industry talking point that "methane is valuable, and the industry has an incentive to minimize leaks and maximize its use."
Under the EPA's new regulations, methane will be regulated indirectly through another rule aimed at limiting volatile organic compounds from being emitted.
But some large oil companies want the Obama rules left in place.
Shell, BP and the Exxon Mobil Corp. have big natural gas portfolios. They worry that if methane emissions aren't controlled that could undermine arguments that natural gas is a cleaner-burning fossil fuel than coal.
"The negative impacts of leaks and fugitive emissions have been widely acknowledged for years, so it's frustrating and disappointing to see the administration go in a different direction," said Gretchen Watkins, Shell's president in the United States.
Watkins said her company will continue with its plan to reduce methane emissions. The oil industry is split on this though, as smaller companies say the requirements are too expensive for them.
Oil and gas companies say they already are improving practices and technology to detect methane leaks through industry-sponsored, voluntary programs.
Still, environmental groups say methane needs to be regulated directly.
While carbon dioxide makes up most of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., methane has 84 times the heat absorbing power of CO2 during its first two decades in the atmosphere. Last month, scientists with the Global Carbon Project reported that methane emissions had reached their highest levels on record.
"The Trump administration's decision to reverse course is deeply and fundamentally flawed," said Peter Zalzal, an attorney with the Environmental Defense Fund. His group estimates the effect will be about the same as adding greenhouse gas emissions from 100 coal-fired power plants every year.
This and other recent environmental rollbacks could be reversed again if Joe Biden wins November's presidential election and Democrats gain control of the Senate. A law called the Congressional Review Act gives lawmakers the ability to overturn agency regulations that were recently made final.
Environmental Defense Fund already has announced it will challenge the change in court. So even if the methane rollback remains, that would lead to years of legal battles over how to regulate methane, even as scientists say time is running out to address climate change and avoid its worst effects.