npr--2020-06-02--Coronavirus Hospitalizations In New York At 'An All-Time Low,' Says Cuomo

Coronavirus Hospitalizations In New York At 'An All-Time Low , ' Says Cuomo New York Gov .
Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday that the `` number of new [ coronavirus ] cases walking in the door is at an all-time low . ''
Cuomo said that the number of new coronavirus hospitalizations reported on June 1 was 154 , which is the lowest number since the state started counting in mid-March .
New York has been the state hit hardest in the U.S. by the coronavirus .
New York City 's five boroughs have seen more than 200,000 confirmed cases of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ John 's Hopkins University .
Across the state , more than 373,000 people have tested positive for the virus and over 24,000 have died as a result , according to state data .
The state reported just 1,329 new confirmed cases of coronavirus on Monday .
This Sunday , May 31 , the state reported its lowest percentage of positive test results to date .
Less than 2 % of the nearly-50,000 tests came back with positive results on that day , according to state data .
`` We 're doing very , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the COVID-19 crisis , '' Cuomo told reporters .

Coronavirus Hospitalizations In New York At 'An All-Time Low,' Says Cuomo
Enlarge this image toggle caption Mark Lennihan/AP Mark Lennihan/AP
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday that the "number of new [coronavirus] cases walking in the door is at an all-time low."
Cuomo said that the number of new coronavirus hospitalizations reported on June 1 was 154, which is the lowest number since the state started counting in mid-March.
New York has been the state hit hardest in the U.S. by the coronavirus.
New York City's five boroughs have seen more than 200,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to the dashboard from John's Hopkins University.
Across the state, more than 373,000 people have tested positive for the virus and over 24,000 have died as a result, according to state data.
The state reported just 1,329 new confirmed cases of coronavirus on Monday.
This Sunday, May 31, the state reported its lowest percentage of positive test results to date. Less than 2% of the nearly-50,000 tests came back with positive results on that day, according to state data.
"We're doing very, very well when it comes to dealing with the COVID-19 crisis," Cuomo told reporters.


npr--2020-06-02--N.C. Gov.: 'Very Unlikely' GOP Convention Can Happen Without Social Distancing, Masks

N.C .
Gov .
: 'Very Unlikely ' GOP Convention Can Happen Without Social Distancing , Masks North Carolina Gov .
Roy Cooper , a Democrat , said Tuesday that it 's `` very unlikely '' the state can permit a packed Republican National Convention in Charlotte to go forward this summer .
`` The people of North Carolina do not know what the status of COVID-19 will be in August , so planning for a scaled-down convention with fewer people , social distancing and face coverings is a necessity , '' Cooper wrote Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the convention last week , top GOP officials gave Cooper a deadline of Wednesday to specify the conditions under which the convention in the 19,000-seat Spectrum Arena could proceed .
The uncertainty over the convention 's fate comes less than three months before the gathering in a state that Trump won in 2016 and is crucial to his reelection effort .
`` We are happy to continue talking with you about what a scaled-down convention would look like and still await your proposed plan for that , '' continued Cooper , whose state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 hospitalizations .
In a statement Tuesday , McDaniel said Cooper was `` dragging his feet '' and said RNC officials would begin visiting other cities and states that have offered to host the convention .
Among the places that have been floated as potential replacements are Atlanta ; Jacksonsville , Fla. ; Orlando , Fla. ; and Nashville , Tenn .
The back-and-forth between the GOP and Cooper 's administration is the latest turn in its two-year rocky relationship with the convention .
'We would rather be incinerated than seem small-time' The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's leading financial centers — bid on the convention because it wanted to be on the world stage .
The city 's longing to be recognized goes back decades , said Bob Morgan , a former leader of the city 's Chamber of Commerce .
`` We 've long been ambitious like that , '' he said .
`` Someone once famously described us in the 1950s as saying that when the Russians launch missiles against the United States that if Charlotte 's not on the list , we would be very disappointed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than seem small-time . ''
That ambition — and insecurity — led to Charlotte hosting the Democratic National Convention in 2012 and to bid on Trump 's renomination convention for this August .
But the mostly-Democratic city was embarrassed when it realized that no other municipality submitted a formal bid .
`` I do n't know where the quote comes from , but I know somebody said , 'There 's a fool in every room and if you look around and ca n't find them , then maybe it 's you , ' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said in 2018 , when the City Council voted 6-5 in favor of hosting .
`` It 's important to ask why no other local government in America is bidding on this convention . ''
At the time , the debate over the convention focused on whether the city wanted to share the spotlight with the president 's controversial policies , such as the separation of families at the U.S.-Mexican border .
Now the city 's relationship with the GOP is further strained by the coronavirus pandemic and the sometimes-violent protests over the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Charlotte has had three nights of demonstrations that have resulted in at least 75 arrests and property damage to stores and offices .
For much of April and May , top Republicans , including McDaniel , said they were willing to hold a convention in line with Cooper 's health mandates .
`` Obviously we 're going to put the safety of the attendees and the president and the vice president first and foremost , '' McDaniel said in May .
`` And if that means people wear masks , we 're @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' But Trump has expressed a desire for something different : a packed house with no face coverings or social distancing .
McDaniel shifted her position quickly , sending letters last week to the state 's top health official two letters saying the GOP wanted a more-or-less normal convention , even though the state 's current limit on indoor gatherings is 10 people .
The RNC has proposed that convention attendees pass a pre-convention health screening and have their temperature checked before entering the arena .
It also proposed having hand sanitizer available @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mandy Cohen , the state 's top health official , indicated on Monday that the state will not green light a normal convention .
`` What we know about the spread of this virus is if you are indoors , close together , without 6 feet apart and without face covering , then the virus spreads , '' she said .
While the Republican National Committee has threatened to move the convention , a spokesperson for the committee , Rick Gorka , said last week that Charlotte will still be the host site @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arena or 100 .
Republican Charlotte City Council member Ed Driggs , who supports bringing the convention here , said the two sides are far apart .
`` I saw that letter from the RNC and I thought there is still a big gap , '' Driggs said .
`` It really is a tough situation .
You talk about a rock and a hard place .
I do n't see any satisfactory way out . ''
The city has already started buying police equipment to prepare for the RNC .
The Justice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ city from a $ 50 million security grant , but , as a businessman , Trump has a history of unpaid bills , while the Trump campaign has refused to pay police security costs in some cities where it has held rallies .
Driggs said the city would go to court if it 's not paid back .
The uncertainty around the convention comes as the city 's tourism and hospitality industries are suffering .
Last month 's revenue at the downtown DoubleTree hotel was $ 125,000 , compared with $ 800,000 a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ DeLoache .
He wants the RNC to come but is worried the two sides are too far apart .
`` It was very disheartening , and I finally quit listening to the news because neither side really seemed to want to make it want to work , '' he said .
Democratic city council member Malcolm Graham says most emails and phone calls he receives from constituents are against hosting .
`` People are now voicing concerns not only about the public health , but they 're voicing concerns about the public safety @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the president over the past couple of days , rioting in the streets Charlotte , '' Graham said .

Trump Suggests GOP Move Convention After N.C. Gov. Refuses To Allow Packed Arenas
Enlarge this image toggle caption Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images
Updated at 10:24 p.m. ET
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, said Tuesday that it's "very unlikely" the state can permit a packed Republican National Convention in Charlotte to go forward this summer.
"The people of North Carolina do not know what the status of COVID-19 will be in August, so planning for a scaled-down convention with fewer people, social distancing and face coverings is a necessity," Cooper wrote Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.
President Trump shot back Tuesday evening on Twitter, saying Cooper is "still in Shelter-In-Place Mode," and "we are now forced to seek another State to host the 2020 Republican National Convention."
An RNC official said Tuesday that it still hopes to conduct the official business of the convention in Charlotte but that President Trump may make his acceptance speech in a different city.
After Trump threatened to move the convention last week, top GOP officials gave Cooper a deadline of Wednesday to specify the conditions under which the convention in the 19,000-seat Spectrum Arena could proceed.
The uncertainty over the convention's fate comes less than three months before the gathering in a state that Trump won in 2016 and is crucial to his reelection effort.
"We are happy to continue talking with you about what a scaled-down convention would look like and still await your proposed plan for that," continued Cooper, whose state is continuing to see an increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations.
In a statement Tuesday, McDaniel said Cooper was "dragging his feet" and said RNC officials would begin visiting other cities and states that have offered to host the convention. Among the places that have been floated as potential replacements are Atlanta; Jacksonsville, Fla.; Orlando, Fla.; and Nashville, Tenn.
The back-and-forth between the GOP and Cooper's administration is the latest turn in its two-year rocky relationship with the convention.
'We would rather be incinerated than seem small-time'
The fast-growing city — one of the nation's leading financial centers — bid on the convention because it wanted to be on the world stage.
The city's longing to be recognized goes back decades, said Bob Morgan, a former leader of the city's Chamber of Commerce.
"We've long been ambitious like that," he said. "Someone once famously described us in the 1950s as saying that when the Russians launch missiles against the United States that if Charlotte's not on the list, we would be very disappointed. Because we would rather be incinerated than seem small-time."
That ambition — and insecurity — led to Charlotte hosting the Democratic National Convention in 2012 and to bid on Trump's renomination convention for this August.
But the mostly-Democratic city was embarrassed when it realized that no other municipality submitted a formal bid.
"I don't know where the quote comes from, but I know somebody said, 'There's a fool in every room and if you look around and can't find them, then maybe it's you,' " former City Council member Justin Harlow said in 2018, when the City Council voted 6-5 in favor of hosting. "It's important to ask why no other local government in America is bidding on this convention."
At the time, the debate over the convention focused on whether the city wanted to share the spotlight with the president's controversial policies, such as the separation of families at the U.S.-Mexican border.
Now the city's relationship with the GOP is further strained by the coronavirus pandemic and the sometimes-violent protests over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Charlotte has had three nights of demonstrations that have resulted in at least 75 arrests and property damage to stores and offices.
For much of April and May, top Republicans, including McDaniel, said they were willing to hold a convention in line with Cooper's health mandates.
"Obviously we're going to put the safety of the attendees and the president and the vice president first and foremost," McDaniel said in May. "And if that means people wear masks, we're going to have people wear masks."
But Trump has expressed a desire for something different: a packed house with no face coverings or social distancing.
McDaniel shifted her position quickly, sending letters last week to the state's top health official two letters saying the GOP wanted a more-or-less normal convention, even though the state's current limit on indoor gatherings is 10 people.
The RNC has proposed that convention attendees pass a pre-convention health screening and have their temperature checked before entering the arena. It also proposed having hand sanitizer available and cleaning areas where people gather.
Mandy Cohen, the state's top health official, indicated on Monday that the state will not green light a normal convention.
"What we know about the spread of this virus is if you are indoors, close together, without 6 feet apart and without face covering, then the virus spreads," she said.
While the Republican National Committee has threatened to move the convention, a spokesperson for the committee, Rick Gorka, said last week that Charlotte will still be the host site – either with 19,000 people inside the arena or 100.
Republican Charlotte City Council member Ed Driggs, who supports bringing the convention here, said the two sides are far apart.
"I saw that letter from the RNC and I thought there is still a big gap," Driggs said. "It really is a tough situation. You talk about a rock and a hard place. I don't see any satisfactory way out."
The city has already started buying police equipment to prepare for the RNC. The Justice Department is contractually obligated to reimburse the city from a $50 million security grant, but, as a businessman, Trump has a history of unpaid bills, while the Trump campaign has refused to pay police security costs in some cities where it has held rallies.
Driggs said the city would go to court if it's not paid back.
Economic pain
The uncertainty around the convention comes as the city's tourism and hospitality industries are suffering.
Last month's revenue at the downtown DoubleTree hotel was $125,000, compared with $800,000 a year ago, said general manager Bill DeLoache.
He wants the RNC to come but is worried the two sides are too far apart.
"It was very disheartening, and I finally quit listening to the news because neither side really seemed to want to make it want to work," he said.
Democratic city council member Malcolm Graham says most emails and phone calls he receives from constituents are against hosting.
"People are now voicing concerns not only about the public health, but they're voicing concerns about the public safety — some of the inflammatory comments from the president over the past couple of days, rioting in the streets Charlotte," Graham said.


npr--2020-06-02--New Book Argues Migration Isn't A Crisis — It's The Solution

New Book Argues Migration Is n't A Crisis — It 's The Solution Climate change has put organisms on the move .
In her new book , The Next Great Migration , Science writer Sonia Shah writes about migration — and the ways in which outmoded notions of `` belonging '' have been used throughout history to curb what she sees as a biological imperative .
There is a tendency to view plants , animals and people who cross into a new territory as a threat to the current habitat .
But Shah says there 's another way to think @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` thrive in such widely variable places — from the Tibetan plateau to the middle of rainforests , '' she says .
`` You have to think about the whole picture of , why did we evolve this way ?
It 's because its benefits outweighed its risks over the long term . ''
Ultimately , Shah wants to challenge the idea of migration as a problem : `` It seems to me that it could be just the opposite : That migration is n't the crisis .
Migration is the solution .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ that human migration was problematic I traced most of these ideas back to Carl Linnaeus , who 's considered the father of modern taxonomy .
He 's this 18th-century Swedish naturalist , and he kind of decided for all of us : Where does everything belong ?
He named everything .
He came from a very Christian household , and like most naturalists of the time , he was very religious .
He thought of nature as an expression of God 's perfection .
So everything was in its rightful place for him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that 's where they `` belonged , '' and that extended to his human taxonomy .
So he decided that the people in Africa belong in Africa , that people in America , they belong in America , etc.
, to such an extent that he decided that all of these different peoples on different continents did n't have a shared ancestry , a shared migration history , but were actually separate subspecies of humans .
And , in fact , he called Africans even less than human , that they were sort @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this other archaic , mythical human that he called `` troglodytes . ''
But those ideas were incredibly influential because we see them today in our ideas about race and about where people belong and where wild species belong .
When a wild creature crosses from a different place into a new territory , we think of it as an invasive ; we call it an alien .
We see hints of all of that in the way we make policy around immigration and newcomers in places around the world .
On how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ junk `` race science '' within the scientific community [ The `` race '' scientists ] really felt like immigration would cause a biological catastrophe , because they thought that people from Africa or Polynesia or elsewhere in the world were biologically distinct .
And so if they came into our country and started to partner with `` native '' people , with local people , that they would have these hybrid children that would be like deformed , essentially degenerated and deformed .
They did all this science to try to prove @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is not scientific , as we understand it at all .
But they were scientists .
So they had that kind of authority of being people who are looking into this really deeply .
But even leading people in the American Public Health Association and President Calvin Coolidge actually wrote about what he called `` biological laws , '' according to which divergent people could not mix or blend .
And the Public Health Association said that if we allowed immigrants in , and these are people who are of different subspecies to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lead to hybrid generations that would lead to , I think the quote , was `` absolute ruin '' for American society .
On what we 've learned from tracking the migrations of animals With solar technology and GPS , we can track animals 24/7 over the course of their lifetimes , sort of continuously .
So you can see the full picture of the way they move .
And what they 're finding is that these creatures are moving farther and faster and in more complex and responsive ways , dynamic ways @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's funny is we 've created all these parks and reservations to kind of protect animals , and when we 've actually now studied well , where do they actually go ?
It turns out the giraffes , they 're supposed to stay in the park in Ethiopia that we set aside for them , in fact , they 're crossing borders and going much farther than that .
The turtles are swimming well beyond the boundaries of the marine protected-zones we 've made up for them .
We see animals are moving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the climate crisis .
On rethinking invasive species like `` murder hornets '' and lanternflies I do n't deny that those disruptions are occurring , but I dispute what the reason is behind it .
There 's so many species that are moving around , and to think that every newcomer who comes into your territory is sort of alien to it as opposed to the natives who belong there , I think that 's where we go wrong .
I mean , it 's interesting with the hornets .
This is very @ @ @ @ @ @ @ novel creatures that we think are out of place .
I mean , we were calling these hornets , `` murder hornets , '' which is a very pejorative way to talk about anything , really .
Lions also are predators , we do n't call them `` murder cats . ''
... What they 're really threatening is honeybees and stuff , which are also not native either .
They 're from Europe .
So , I 'm not saying the disruption does n't exist — but it 's the way we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is that only 10 percent of species that move into new places are able to establish themselves .
And then only 10 percent of those become sort of pests , cause disruptions , unwanted effects on either human health or our economies or on already resident species .
So we 're talking about one percent of all the species that are moving around actually causing these problems of what we call invasiveness .
And yet we have this approach that 's embedded in our conservation policies , like the Convention on Biological Diversity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that are new in our environments early , that we repel them and that we eradicate them before they are able to establish themselves .
And the idea there is that you get rid of them because you 're presuming that they 're going to cause problems .
And so that presumption , I think , is what is problematic , because especially right now , because the climate is changing , and we need species to move into new places and we do n't want to repel them as invaders or aliens @ @ @ @ @ @ @ places , which is what 's going to allow them to survive .
On going to borders to report on human migration Right now , we have more borders around the world ... fortified with walls and other barriers than ever before .
And ... it has n't repelled movement .
It has n't made people stay home .
It 's just made migration a lot more deadly .
So people are risking their lives now to find refuge from bombs and beheadings and poverty and the rest of it .
So that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And the thing about reporting on migration is you basically can go anywhere because there 's migration happening sort of behind-the-scenes everywhere you go .
So what I wanted to do is look at , well , where are people getting stuck ?
Whether it 's refugee camps or border checks or dying in the desert on the U.S.-Mexico border .
On the underlying biodiversity crisis behind the coronavirus and other pathogens I think we need to look more deeply at the way we 're interacting with nature .
We need to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ biodiversity , which is really the fundamental driver of all of these spillover pathogens coming into human populations .
I mean , it 's not just the novel coronavirus .
It 's also Ebola and Zika and HIV in the 1980s and West Nile Virus and new kinds of Lyme disease , a tick-borne disease .
We have a whole host of these pathogens that are coming out of animal populations into humans because we are destroying wildlife habitat at such a huge rate .
We 're losing 150 species every day .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ driver .
So we need to , I think , look at that more deeply and consider human health to be connected to the health of our livestock , our wildlife and our ecosystems more generally .
Sam Briger and Seth Kelley produced and edited this interview for broadcast .
Bridget Bentz , Molly Seavy-Nesper and Meghan Sullivan adapted it for the Web .

New Book Argues Migration Isn't A Crisis — It's The Solution
Enlarge this image toggle caption Winfried Wisniewski/Getty Images Winfried Wisniewski/Getty Images
Climate change has put organisms on the move. In her new book, The Next Great Migration, Science writer Sonia Shah writes about migration — and the ways in which outmoded notions of "belonging" have been used throughout history to curb what she sees as a biological imperative.
There is a tendency to view plants, animals and people who cross into a new territory as a threat to the current habitat. But Shah says there's another way to think about these "invaders."
Humans "thrive in such widely variable places — from the Tibetan plateau to the middle of rainforests," she says. "You have to think about the whole picture of, why did we evolve this way? It's because its benefits outweighed its risks over the long term."
Ultimately, Shah wants to challenge the idea of migration as a problem: "It seems to me that it could be just the opposite: That migration isn't the crisis. Migration is the solution."
Shah's 2016 book, Pandemic, explored the increasing threat of viral outbreaks.
Interview Highlights
On the origins of the idea that human migration was problematic
I traced most of these ideas back to Carl Linnaeus, who's considered the father of modern taxonomy. He's this 18th-century Swedish naturalist, and he kind of decided for all of us: Where does everything belong? He named everything. He came from a very Christian household, and like most naturalists of the time, he was very religious. He thought of nature as an expression of God's perfection. So everything was in its rightful place for him. ...
Wherever he found things, that's where they "belonged," and that extended to his human taxonomy. So he decided that the people in Africa belong in Africa, that people in America, they belong in America, etc., to such an extent that he decided that all of these different peoples on different continents didn't have a shared ancestry, a shared migration history, but were actually separate subspecies of humans. And, in fact, he called Africans even less than human, that they were sort of a hybrid between real humans and this other archaic, mythical human that he called "troglodytes."
When a wild creature crosses from a different place into a new territory, we think of it as an invasive; we call it an alien. We see hints of all of that in the way we make policy around immigration and newcomers in places around the world.
But those ideas were incredibly influential because we see them today in our ideas about race and about where people belong and where wild species belong. When a wild creature crosses from a different place into a new territory, we think of it as an invasive; we call it an alien. We see hints of all of that in the way we make policy around immigration and newcomers in places around the world.
On how Linnaeus' ideas opened the door for junk "race science" within the scientific community
[The "race" scientists] really felt like immigration would cause a biological catastrophe, because they thought that people from Africa or Polynesia or elsewhere in the world were biologically distinct. And so if they came into our country and started to partner with "native" people, with local people, that they would have these hybrid children that would be like deformed, essentially degenerated and deformed. They did all this science to try to prove that, which, by modern standards is not scientific, as we understand it at all. But they were scientists. So they had that kind of authority of being people who are looking into this really deeply.
But even leading people in the American Public Health Association and President Calvin Coolidge actually wrote about what he called "biological laws," according to which divergent people could not mix or blend. And the Public Health Association said that if we allowed immigrants in, and these are people who are of different subspecies to mix with native people, that would lead to hybrid generations that would lead to, I think the quote, was "absolute ruin" for American society.
On what we've learned from tracking the migrations of animals
The Next Great Migration The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move by Sonia Shah Hardcover, 384 pages | purchase close overlay Buy Featured Book Your purchase helps support NPR programming. How?
With solar technology and GPS, we can track animals 24/7 over the course of their lifetimes, sort of continuously. So you can see the full picture of the way they move. And what they're finding is that these creatures are moving farther and faster and in more complex and responsive ways, dynamic ways than anyone ever thought before. What's funny is we've created all these parks and reservations to kind of protect animals, and when we've actually now studied well, where do they actually go? It turns out the giraffes, they're supposed to stay in the park in Ethiopia that we set aside for them, in fact, they're crossing borders and going much farther than that. The turtles are swimming well beyond the boundaries of the marine protected-zones we've made up for them. We see animals are moving sort of en masse now because of the climate crisis.
On rethinking invasive species like "murder hornets" and lanternflies
I don't deny that those disruptions are occurring, but I dispute what the reason is behind it. There's so many species that are moving around, and to think that every newcomer who comes into your territory is sort of alien to it as opposed to the natives who belong there, I think that's where we go wrong. I mean, it's interesting with the hornets. This is very typical of how we respond to new novel creatures that we think are out of place. I mean, we were calling these hornets, "murder hornets," which is a very pejorative way to talk about anything, really. Lions also are predators, we don't call them "murder cats." ...
The climate is changing, and we need species to move into new places and we don't want to repel them as invaders or aliens just because they're moving into new places, which is what's going to allow them to survive
What they're really threatening is honeybees and stuff, which are also not native either. They're from Europe. So, I'm not saying the disruption doesn't exist — but it's the way we think about it. What we know is that only 10 percent of species that move into new places are able to establish themselves. And then only 10 percent of those become sort of pests, cause disruptions, unwanted effects on either human health or our economies or on already resident species. So we're talking about one percent of all the species that are moving around actually causing these problems of what we call invasiveness. And yet we have this approach that's embedded in our conservation policies, like the Convention on Biological Diversity, which recommends that we detect species that are new in our environments early, that we repel them and that we eradicate them before they are able to establish themselves. And the idea there is that you get rid of them because you're presuming that they're going to cause problems. And so that presumption, I think, is what is problematic, because especially right now, because the climate is changing, and we need species to move into new places and we don't want to repel them as invaders or aliens just because they're moving into new places, which is what's going to allow them to survive.
On going to borders to report on human migration
Right now, we have more borders around the world ... fortified with walls and other barriers than ever before. And ... it hasn't repelled movement. It hasn't made people stay home. It's just made migration a lot more deadly. So people are risking their lives now to find refuge from bombs and beheadings and poverty and the rest of it. So that was what was most striking to me. And the thing about reporting on migration is you basically can go anywhere because there's migration happening sort of behind-the-scenes everywhere you go. So what I wanted to do is look at, well, where are people getting stuck? Whether it's refugee camps or border checks or dying in the desert on the U.S.-Mexico border.
On the underlying biodiversity crisis behind the coronavirus and other pathogens
I think we need to look more deeply at the way we're interacting with nature. We need to look more deeply at the crisis of biodiversity, which is really the fundamental driver of all of these spillover pathogens coming into human populations. I mean, it's not just the novel coronavirus. It's also Ebola and Zika and HIV in the 1980s and West Nile Virus and new kinds of Lyme disease, a tick-borne disease. We have a whole host of these pathogens that are coming out of animal populations into humans because we are destroying wildlife habitat at such a huge rate. We're losing 150 species every day. So this biodiversity crisis is the fundamental driver. So we need to, I think, look at that more deeply and consider human health to be connected to the health of our livestock, our wildlife and our ecosystems more generally.
Sam Briger and Seth Kelley produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Meghan Sullivan adapted it for the Web.


npr--2020-06-02--Senate Republicans Set Summer Of Investigations Involving Biden

Senate Republicans have launched politically loaded investigations into the Obama administration and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden that are expected to carry on into the fall .
On Wednesday , the Senate Judiciary Committee begins the first of a planned series of hearings on the origins of the FBI 's 2016 Russia investigation into possible ties with the Trump campaign .
Republicans are particularly interested in the decision-making inside the Obama-Biden administration .
Further , the Senate Homeland Security Committee late last month approved a subpoena along party lines for Blue Star Strategies , a consulting firm that worked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's son Hunter served on the board .
`` The public deserves to know how a guy who was vice president of the U.S. who is currently trying to be president got away with using the U.S. government to force a foreign country to stop investigating a company that was paying his son over $ 80,000 a month , '' said Sen. Rick Scott , R-Fla. Andrew Bates , a spokesman for the Biden campaign , accused the committee 's chairman , Sen. Ron Johnson , R-Wis. , of abusing his power to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the middle of the worst public health and economic crisis in a century , '' he said , `` and what is Senator Johnson focused on ?
Running a political errand for Donald Trump by wasting Homeland Security Committee time and resources attempting to resurrect a craven , previously-debunked smear against Vice President Biden . ''
It is the allegation at the heart of Trump 's impeachment — the president wanted Ukraine to investigate alleged corruption and conspiracy theories about the Biden family .
Ukraine did not , and in December 2019 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the House of Representatives for making the ask .
The Senate acquitted the president in February after a contentious trial .
Senate Democrats are howling over what they say is Republicans using the Senate to try to help get Trump reelected .
`` There are literally matters of life and death waiting for our committee 's attention but instead this committee is doing the president 's personal bidding , '' said Sen. Kamala Harris , D-Calif. , a potential contender to be Biden 's running mate .
During the first Judiciary Committee @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein .
Chairman Lindsey Graham , R-S.C. , plans to subpoena 53 individuals , including former FBI Director James Comey , former Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former director of national intelligence James Clapper — all frequent Trump political targets .
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , R-Ky. , had generally avoided weighing in on these investigations , but he fully embraced them in a recent Senate floor speech .
`` No matter what some Washington Democrats may try to claim , you are not crazy or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pattern of institutional unfairness towards this president .
You would have to be blind not to see one , '' he said .
Constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley , who testified against Trump 's impeachment in the House , said investigations can be political and still have merit .
`` I certainly believe that the oversight interests are stronger when you 're looking at things like the Russia investigation .
The Burisma controversy presents a more challenging question , however , I tend to favor some inquiry . ''
As vulnerable House Democrats @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can spark political backlash when voters have more urgent concerns — like the pandemic , the economy and social unrest .
Graham was quick to announce last Friday that the Senate Judiciary Committee would also hold a hearing on police use of force .
Democratic strategist Scott Mulhauser is a former Biden aide , and a former Senate aide .
He said Senate Republicans — who are fighting to hold their majority this November — could be making a political blunder .
`` It 's an overreach here , an overplay of your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eye off the ball is a mistake that could cost careers . ''
Graham says he would like to issue a committee report by October , ahead of Election Day .

Senate Republicans Set Summer Of Investigations Involving Biden
Enlarge this image toggle caption Susan Walsh/AP Susan Walsh/AP
Senate Republicans have launched politically loaded investigations into the Obama administration and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden that are expected to carry on into the fall.
On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee begins the first of a planned series of hearings on the origins of the FBI's 2016 Russia investigation into possible ties with the Trump campaign. Republicans are particularly interested in the decision-making inside the Obama-Biden administration.
Further, the Senate Homeland Security Committee late last month approved a subpoena along party lines for Blue Star Strategies, a consulting firm that worked for Ukrainian energy company Burisma when Biden's son Hunter served on the board.
"The public deserves to know how a guy who was vice president of the U.S. who is currently trying to be president got away with using the U.S. government to force a foreign country to stop investigating a company that was paying his son over $80,000 a month," said Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla.
Andrew Bates, a spokesman for the Biden campaign, accused the committee's chairman, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., of abusing his power to aid Trump.
"We're in the middle of the worst public health and economic crisis in a century," he said, "and what is Senator Johnson focused on? Running a political errand for Donald Trump by wasting Homeland Security Committee time and resources attempting to resurrect a craven, previously-debunked smear against Vice President Biden."
It is the allegation at the heart of Trump's impeachment — the president wanted Ukraine to investigate alleged corruption and conspiracy theories about the Biden family. Ukraine did not, and in December 2019, Trump was impeached for abuse of power by the House of Representatives for making the ask. The Senate acquitted the president in February after a contentious trial.
Senate Democrats are howling over what they say is Republicans using the Senate to try to help get Trump reelected. "There are literally matters of life and death waiting for our committee's attention but instead this committee is doing the president's personal bidding," said Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., a potential contender to be Biden's running mate.
During the first Judiciary Committee oversight hearing, senators will hear testimony from former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., plans to subpoena 53 individuals, including former FBI Director James Comey, former Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former director of national intelligence James Clapper — all frequent Trump political targets.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had generally avoided weighing in on these investigations, but he fully embraced them in a recent Senate floor speech. "No matter what some Washington Democrats may try to claim, you are not crazy or a conspiracy theorist if you see a pattern of institutional unfairness towards this president. You would have to be blind not to see one," he said.
Constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley, who testified against Trump's impeachment in the House, said investigations can be political and still have merit. "I certainly believe that the oversight interests are stronger when you're looking at things like the Russia investigation. The Burisma controversy presents a more challenging question, however, I tend to favor some inquiry."
As vulnerable House Democrats experienced during impeachment, high-profile partisan inquiries can spark political backlash when voters have more urgent concerns — like the pandemic, the economy and social unrest.
Graham was quick to announce last Friday that the Senate Judiciary Committee would also hold a hearing on police use of force.
Democratic strategist Scott Mulhauser is a former Biden aide, and a former Senate aide. He said Senate Republicans — who are fighting to hold their majority this November — could be making a political blunder. "It's an overreach here, an overplay of your hand with these hearings. Taking your eye off the ball is a mistake that could cost careers."
Graham says he would like to issue a committee report by October, ahead of Election Day.


npr--2020-06-02--Confederate Monument Being Removed After Birmingham Mayor Vows To 'Finish The Job'

Confederate Monument Being Removed After Birmingham Mayor Vows To 'Finish The Job' Piece by piece , authorities overnight began pulling down a five-story-tall monument to Confederate troops that has stood for more than a century in Birmingham , Ala. By the time the workers paused Tuesday morning , little was left of a spire that had become a lightning rod for controversy in recent years and a focal point for local protesters outraged by George Floyd 's death last week in Minneapolis .
On Sunday , the obelisk — known formally as the Confederate Sailors and Soldiers Monument — was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mayor Randall Woodfin , who pleaded with the crowd .
Some protesters had already vandalized the monument and toppled another statue in the park , that one of former Confederate officer Charles Linn .
Woodfin asked that demonstrators refrain from trying to tear down the much larger monument — so that his government could do it instead .
`` Allow me to finish the job for you , '' the mayor told a crowd behind his mask and a megaphone .
And he persuaded them to give him until midday Tuesday to pull @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you to hear it directly from me .
But I need you to stand down . ''
On Monday , Woodfin declared a state of emergency and implemented a curfew for the city , citing the previous night 's protests during which police arrested at least two dozen people .
Birmingham is n't the only city reckoning with its Confederate past in the aftermath of Floyd 's death .
Since the release of a video showing the black man 's arrest in Minneapolis , during which a white officer plants a knee on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cities and towns below the Mason-Dixon Line have directed their frustration — and sometimes vandalism — toward local Confederate monuments .
In Alexandria , Va. , a statue commemorating Confederate soldiers came down Tuesday morning .
It was removed a month earlier than scheduled by the United Daughters of the Confederacy due to fears of vandalism , according to The Washington Post .
This week 's move likely is n't the final chapter in the Birmingham monument 's story , which was knotty well before the latest spasm of unrest trained attention back @ @ @ @ @ @ @ William Bell , ordered the memorial partly hidden with plywood screens in 2017 following the deadly violence in Charlottesville , Va .
But Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall sued the city , citing a violation of a state law , the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act of 2017 , which protects against the relocation or alteration of Confederate symbols that have been up for more than four decades .
A unanimous state Supreme Court decision last fall sided with the monument 's supporters , bringing the plywood down and assessing a fine of $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Now Marshall has threatened another lawsuit over the city 's move .
`` Should the City of Birmingham proceed with the removal of the monument in question , based upon multiple conversations I have had today , '' the attorney general said in a statement issued Monday , `` city leaders understand I will perform the duties assigned to me by the [ Alabama Memorial Preservation ] Act to pursue a new civil complaint against the City . ''

Confederate Monument Being Removed After Birmingham Mayor Vows To 'Finish The Job'
Enlarge this image toggle caption Jay Reeves/AP Jay Reeves/AP
Piece by piece, authorities overnight began pulling down a five-story-tall monument to Confederate troops that has stood for more than a century in Birmingham, Ala.
By the time the workers paused Tuesday morning, little was left of a spire that had become a lightning rod for controversy in recent years and a focal point for local protesters outraged by George Floyd's death last week in Minneapolis.
On Sunday, the obelisk — known formally as the Confederate Sailors and Soldiers Monument — was the site of a speech from Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, who pleaded with the crowd.
Some protesters had already vandalized the monument and toppled another statue in the park, that one of former Confederate officer Charles Linn.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Jay Reeves/AP Jay Reeves/AP
Woodfin asked that demonstrators refrain from trying to tear down the much larger monument — so that his government could do it instead.
"Allow me to finish the job for you," the mayor told a crowd behind his mask and a megaphone. And he persuaded them to give him until midday Tuesday to pull the monument down.
"I wanted you to hear it directly from me. But I need you to stand down."
On Monday, Woodfin declared a state of emergency and implemented a curfew for the city, citing the previous night's protests during which police arrested at least two dozen people.
Birmingham isn't the only city reckoning with its Confederate past in the aftermath of Floyd's death.
Since the release of a video showing the black man's arrest in Minneapolis, during which a white officer plants a knee on Floyd's neck, protesters in several cities and towns below the Mason-Dixon Line have directed their frustration — and sometimes vandalism — toward local Confederate monuments.
In Alexandria, Va., a statue commemorating Confederate soldiers came down Tuesday morning. It was removed a month earlier than scheduled by the United Daughters of the Confederacy due to fears of vandalism, according to The Washington Post.
This week's move likely isn't the final chapter in the Birmingham monument's story, which was knotty well before the latest spasm of unrest trained attention back on it.
Woodfin's predecessor, William Bell, ordered the memorial partly hidden with plywood screens in 2017 following the deadly violence in Charlottesville, Va.
But Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall sued the city, citing a violation of a state law, the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act of 2017, which protects against the relocation or alteration of Confederate symbols that have been up for more than four decades.
A unanimous state Supreme Court decision last fall sided with the monument's supporters, bringing the plywood down and assessing a fine of $25,000 against the city of Birmingham.
Now Marshall has threatened another lawsuit over the city's move.
"Should the City of Birmingham proceed with the removal of the monument in question, based upon multiple conversations I have had today," the attorney general said in a statement issued Monday, "city leaders understand I will perform the duties assigned to me by the [Alabama Memorial Preservation] Act to pursue a new civil complaint against the City."


npr--2020-06-02--Indonesia Cancels Hajj Pilgrimage, Citing Risks Of Travel During Pandemic

Indonesia , home to more Muslims than any country in the world , is canceling this year 's hajj pilgrimage to holy sites in Saudi Arabia , saying the health and safety of travelers would be at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic .
`` Our religion teaches us that saving lives is an obligation .
That is the consideration in this policy , '' Minister of Religious Affairs Fachrul Razi said Tuesday during a news conference in Jakarta .
The decision comes weeks before the first group of pilgrims was slated to leave Indonesia to begin their journey to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But Mecca , Islam 's holiest city , is currently under a 24-hour curfew because of the coronavirus , and it 's expected to remain so until at least June 21 .
Saudi Arabia currently has nearly 90,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 , while Indonesia has just over 27,500 , according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University .
In a normal year , Saudi Arabia sets quotas for millions of pilgrims based on their country of origin .
But the kingdom has not yet announced whether it will allow visitors for this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most international travel in March because of the coronavirus .
`` Indonesia , which has the largest quota of haj pilgrims in the world , initially planned to send up to 221,000 people for the annual Muslim tradition , '' The Jakarta Post reports .
With uncertainty lingering over this year 's hajj , there would n't be enough time to process visas , coordinate flights and also enforce mandatory 14-day quarantines for pilgrims , the Ministry of Religious Affairs says .
Indonesia 's decision to cancel the pilgrimage applies to all Indonesian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ planning to travel for the hajj under the government 's official quota , Razi said .

Indonesia Cancels Hajj Pilgrimage, Citing Risks Of Travel During Pandemic
Enlarge this image toggle caption Ashraf Amra/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Ashraf Amra/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Indonesia, home to more Muslims than any country in the world, is canceling this year's hajj pilgrimage to holy sites in Saudi Arabia, saying the health and safety of travelers would be at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Our religion teaches us that saving lives is an obligation. That is the consideration in this policy," Minister of Religious Affairs Fachrul Razi said Tuesday during a news conference in Jakarta.
The decision comes weeks before the first group of pilgrims was slated to leave Indonesia to begin their journey to the Saudi cities of Mecca and Medina.
But Mecca, Islam's holiest city, is currently under a 24-hour curfew because of the coronavirus, and it's expected to remain so until at least June 21.
Saudi Arabia currently has nearly 90,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, while Indonesia has just over 27,500, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
In a normal year, Saudi Arabia sets quotas for millions of pilgrims based on their country of origin. But the kingdom has not yet announced whether it will allow visitors for this year's hajj, and it canceled most international travel in March because of the coronavirus.
"Indonesia, which has the largest quota of haj pilgrims in the world, initially planned to send up to 221,000 people for the annual Muslim tradition," The Jakarta Post reports.
With uncertainty lingering over this year's hajj, there wouldn't be enough time to process visas, coordinate flights and also enforce mandatory 14-day quarantines for pilgrims, the Ministry of Religious Affairs says.
Indonesia's decision to cancel the pilgrimage applies to all Indonesian citizens, whether or not they were planning to travel for the hajj under the government's official quota, Razi said.


npr--2020-06-02--'Barely Holding It Together': Stresses Of An Early Child Care Center That Stayed Open

'Barely Holding It Together ' : Stresses Of An Early Child Care Center That Stayed Open When Luc Jasmin III took over Parkview Early Learning Center six years ago , he wanted to create a safe space where young children could not only be cared for but also get an educational foundation to prepare them for a lifetime of learning .
During normal times , the center in Spokane , Wash. , serves about 100 children who range in age from 4 weeks old to 13 years .
The center did n't close down during the coronavirus pandemic , except @ @ @ @ @ @ @ staff on social distancing and cleaning guidelines .
However , since mid-March , it has been operating at one-third capacity under the guidelines .
Because the center serves families in need , it has been a tough decision .
Jasmin says he gets calls every week from parents asking about enrollment , but he has had to turn them away .
It 's tough , he says , `` because so many essential workers rely on us to be consistent and reliable .
And we 're really unable to offer that right now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at his center come from low-income families — about 90 % of them get some kind of subsidy and some are homeless .
At a time when routine and structure have changed drastically , Jasmin says some children are having more outbursts and challenging behaviors than usual .
The stresses under the coronavirus have been tough — not just on the kids but also on his staff , many of whom experienced trauma as children .
`` They can relate to the kids we have here , but the increased behaviors are triggering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ There are kids swearing at them and punching them in the face , '' Jasmin says .
`` They 're trying to be bigger , kinder , stronger , wiser for these kids , but inside they 're barely holding it together . ''
Most of the kids who have continued to come in are children of essential workers — those in front-line emergency services and health care , grocery and food delivery .
Jasmin especially understands the need for child care for families with working parents and their role in reopening the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' he says .
`` Unless we as a nation ... decide to fund early learning , I do n't know how we 're going to get back to normal . ''
Read more stories in Faces Of The Coronavirus Recession .

'Barely Holding It Together': Stresses Of An Early Child Care Center That Stayed Open
Enlarge this image toggle caption Kathryn Garras Kathryn Garras
When Luc Jasmin III took over Parkview Early Learning Center six years ago, he wanted to create a safe space where young children could not only be cared for but also get an educational foundation to prepare them for a lifetime of learning.
During normal times, the center in Spokane, Wash., serves about 100 children who range in age from 4 weeks old to 13 years. The center didn't close down during the coronavirus pandemic, except for a couple of days to retrain staff on social distancing and cleaning guidelines.
FACES OF THE CORONAVIRUS RECESSION Jobs lost. Businesses in peril. Meetings gone virtual. Faces Of The Coronavirus Recession offers snapshots of working lives upended by the pandemic.
However, since mid-March, it has been operating at one-third capacity under the guidelines. Because the center serves families in need, it has been a tough decision. Jasmin says he gets calls every week from parents asking about enrollment, but he has had to turn them away.
It's tough, he says, "because so many essential workers rely on us to be consistent and reliable. And we're really unable to offer that right now."
A majority of the children at his center come from low-income families — about 90% of them get some kind of subsidy and some are homeless.
At a time when routine and structure have changed drastically, Jasmin says some children are having more outbursts and challenging behaviors than usual. The stresses under the coronavirus have been tough — not just on the kids but also on his staff, many of whom experienced trauma as children.
"They can relate to the kids we have here, but the increased behaviors are triggering the traumas of my own employees. There are kids swearing at them and punching them in the face," Jasmin says. "They're trying to be bigger, kinder, stronger, wiser for these kids, but inside they're barely holding it together."
Most of the kids who have continued to come in are children of essential workers — those in front-line emergency services and health care, grocery and food delivery. Jasmin especially understands the need for child care for families with working parents and their role in reopening the economy.
"I'm really worried," he says. "Unless we as a nation ... decide to fund early learning, I don't know how we're going to get back to normal."
Read more stories in Faces Of The Coronavirus Recession.


npr--2020-06-02--'He Did Not Pray': Fallout Grows From Trump's Photo-Op At St. John's Church

'He Did Not Pray ' : Fallout Grows From Trump 's Photo-Op At St. John 's Church President Trump 's controversial foray to St. John 's Church on Monday is generating widespread criticism , after police and National Guard troops physically cleared out demonstrators , using tear gas , to allow a photo opportunity outside the church .
The bishop who oversees St. John 's is among the critics .
`` He used violent means to ask to be escorted across the park into the courtyard of the church , '' Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` He held up his Bible after speaking [ an ] inflammatory militarized approach to the wounds of our nation . ''
`` He did not pray , '' the bishop continued .
`` He did not offer a word of balm or condolence to those who are grieving .
He did not seek to unify the country , but rather he used our symbols and our sacred space as a way to reinforce a message that is antithetical to everything that the person of Jesus , whom we follow , and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ... represent . ''
Every president since James Madison has visited St. John 's Church , which opened in 1816 and sits across the park from the White House .
Despite that longstanding relationship , Budde says her diocese had no warning of Monday 's visit .
`` There was no reaching out , no sense that it would require some sort of authorization before using the church as a backdrop in that way , '' Budde told NPR 's Tom Gjelten hours after the incident .
The president had used the Bible @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prop , she said .
`` I was outraged that he felt that he had the license to do that , and that he would abuse our sacred symbols and our sacred space in that way , '' the bishop told Gjelten .
Within hours , the White House had assembled footage of the brief outing into a triumphant video that shows the president pumping his fist as he strides past a row of riot police , culminating in him standing in front of the church .
Set to swelling orchestral music , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the destruction and debris that days of intense protests have wrought near the White House .
The president , accompanied by his daughter Ivanka , several Cabinet members and Secret Service agents , walked to St. John 's a few minutes after Washington 's just-installed 7 p.m. curfew began .
The federal force used against the demonstrators nearly 30 minutes before the curfew began incensed Mayor Muriel Bowser .
`` Shameful ! ''
Bowser said via Twitter , saying that after `` federal police used munitions on peaceful protestors in front of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ police force 's job of keeping the peace would be made more difficult .
When the federal force rushed at protesters outside the White House , journalists were also pushed out .
Officers attacked Australian reporter Amelia Brace and also hit cameraman Tim Myers , prompting Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to call for an investigation .
The scene played out on live TV , during Australia 's breakfast-time Sunrise show .
`` While live on air , Myers was struck in the chest by a riot shield and Brace was clubbed with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 7NEWS reports .
Brace tells Australia 's ABC that she repeatedly identified herself as a journalist as officers quickly closed in on them during the rush to clear a path for Trump .
`` Despite that as I ran away , clearly stating that we were media , with my cameraman with a camera on his shoulders , I was hit across the back with the baton , '' she says .
`` We were then fired upon by the National Guard with those rubber bullets , who are the exact people I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and then we ended up getting tear-gassed . ''
The situation , she said , was `` absolutely terrifying . ''
`` I also managed to get a rubber bullet to the backside , and Tim got one in the back of the neck , so we 'll have a few bruises tomorrow — but we 're feeling perfectly safe , '' Brace says .
Shock and anger over the incident led U.S .
Ambassador to Australia Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr. to issue a statement saying , `` Freedom of the press is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
We take mistreatment of journalists seriously , as do all who take democracy seriously . ''
Trump 's use of force to allow him to walk across the park has also prompted Arlington County , Va. , to pull its police officers out of the nation 's capital .
The county had sent a police contingent to help keep peace in Washington .
But it says the officers were put in a dangerous position that exposed them and others to risk `` for a purpose not worthy of our mutual aid obligations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the District of Columbia at 8:30 p.m. Monday , '' Arlington County says .
The church has suffered damage during the unrest in Washington against police violence , including a fire that was lit in its basement .
While Budde is thankful to first responders who put out that fire , she says she wants the focus remain on the death of George Floyd and others who have died at the hands of police .
`` I want to acknowledge the loss of property , but in no way equate it with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
`` I want to be a church that stands in solidarity with those who are making peaceful protest . ''

'He Did Not Pray': Fallout Grows From Trump's Photo-Op At St. John's Church
Enlarge this image toggle caption Tom Brenner/Reuters Tom Brenner/Reuters
President Trump's controversial foray to St. John's Church on Monday is generating widespread criticism, after police and National Guard troops physically cleared out demonstrators, using tear gas, to allow a photo opportunity outside the church. The bishop who oversees St. John's is among the critics.
"He used violent means to ask to be escorted across the park into the courtyard of the church," Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington tells NPR's Morning Edition. "He held up his Bible after speaking [an] inflammatory militarized approach to the wounds of our nation."
"He did not pray," the bishop continued.
"He did not offer a word of balm or condolence to those who are grieving. He did not seek to unify the country, but rather he used our symbols and our sacred space as a way to reinforce a message that is antithetical to everything that the person of Jesus, whom we follow, and the gospel texts that we strive to emulate ... represent."
Every president since James Madison has visited St. John's Church, which opened in 1816 and sits across the park from the White House. Despite that longstanding relationship, Budde says her diocese had no warning of Monday's visit.
"There was no reaching out, no sense that it would require some sort of authorization before using the church as a backdrop in that way," Budde told NPR's Tom Gjelten hours after the incident.
The president had used the Bible, and her church, as a prop, she said.
"I was outraged that he felt that he had the license to do that, and that he would abuse our sacred symbols and our sacred space in that way," the bishop told Gjelten.
Within hours, the White House had assembled footage of the brief outing into a triumphant video that shows the president pumping his fist as he strides past a row of riot police, culminating in him standing in front of the church. Set to swelling orchestral music, the video shows nearly no sign of the destruction and debris that days of intense protests have wrought near the White House.
The president, accompanied by his daughter Ivanka, several Cabinet members and Secret Service agents, walked to St. John's a few minutes after Washington's just-installed 7 p.m. curfew began.
The federal force used against the demonstrators nearly 30 minutes before the curfew began incensed Mayor Muriel Bowser. "Shameful!" Bowser said via Twitter, saying that after "federal police used munitions on peaceful protestors in front of the White House," the city's police force's job of keeping the peace would be made more difficult.
When the federal force rushed at protesters outside the White House, journalists were also pushed out. Officers attacked Australian reporter Amelia Brace and also hit cameraman Tim Myers, prompting Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to call for an investigation. The scene played out on live TV, during Australia's breakfast-time Sunrise show.
"While live on air, Myers was struck in the chest by a riot shield and Brace was clubbed with a police baton," Australia's 7NEWS reports.
Brace tells Australia's ABC that she repeatedly identified herself as a journalist as officers quickly closed in on them during the rush to clear a path for Trump.
"Despite that as I ran away, clearly stating that we were media, with my cameraman with a camera on his shoulders, I was hit across the back with the baton," she says. "We were then fired upon by the National Guard with those rubber bullets, who are the exact people I had shown my media pass to ... and then we ended up getting tear-gassed."
The situation, she said, was "absolutely terrifying."
"I also managed to get a rubber bullet to the backside, and Tim got one in the back of the neck, so we'll have a few bruises tomorrow — but we're feeling perfectly safe," Brace says.
Shock and anger over the incident led U.S. Ambassador to Australia Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr. to issue a statement saying, "Freedom of the press is a right Australians and Americans hold dear. We take mistreatment of journalists seriously, as do all who take democracy seriously."
Trump's use of force to allow him to walk across the park has also prompted Arlington County, Va., to pull its police officers out of the nation's capital.
The county had sent a police contingent to help keep peace in Washington. But it says the officers were put in a dangerous position that exposed them and others to risk "for a purpose not worthy of our mutual aid obligations."
"All ACPD officers left the District of Columbia at 8:30 p.m. Monday," Arlington County says.
The church has suffered damage during the unrest in Washington against police violence, including a fire that was lit in its basement. While Budde is thankful to first responders who put out that fire, she says she wants the focus to remain on the death of George Floyd and others who have died at the hands of police.
"I want to acknowledge the loss of property, but in no way equate it with the loss of life," she said. "I want to be a church that stands in solidarity with those who are making peaceful protest."


npr--2020-06-03--How Much Do We Need The Police?

How Much Do We Need The Police?

How Much Do We Need The Police ?
One effect of the widespread protests across U.S. cities this week has been to renew discussions of what role the police should play in society .
For many Americans , it goes without saying that the police are critical in maintaining public safety .
Have an emergency ?
Call the police .
But many others — especially black people and poor people — have long countered that the police pose more of a threat to their safety than a boon .
See a police officer ?
Walk the other direction .
So @ @ @ @ @ @ @ talk to Alex S. Vitale .
He 's the author of the 2017 book The End of Policing .
In it , he argues that rather than focus on police reform or officer retraining , the country needs to fundamentally reconsider what it is the police should be doing at all .
I spoke with Vitale about what roles police should and should n't play , what he makes of the current protests and what actual change in the way police in this country do their jobs might look like .
Our conversation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
One of the arguments you make in The End of Policing is that police are being asked to do too much .
They 're basically being tasked with addressing every social problem that we have .
So what are police asked to do ?
And what should they be asked to do ?
One of the problems that we 're encountering here is this massive expansion in the scope of policing over the last 40 years or so .
Policing is now happening in our schools .
It 's happening in relation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mental illness , youth violence and some things that we historically associate police with .
But the policing has become more intensive , more invasive , more aggressive .
So what I 'm calling for is a rethink on why we 've turned all of these social problems over to the police to manage .
And as we dial those things back , then we can think more concretely about what the rest of policing should look like and how that could be reformed .
You brought up homelessness .
In many cities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ experiencing homelessness — but they do n't have many options besides basically moving people or arresting them .
Well , we 've created this situation where our political leaders have basically abandoned the possibility of actually housing people .
Which , of course , is the real solution , supportive housing for those who need extra support .
But basically , we have a massive failure in housing markets that is unable to provide basic shelter for millions of Americans .
So instead of actually addressing that fundamental problem , we have relabeled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fault of the disorderly people who we label as morally deficient .
And then we use police to criminalize them , to control their behavior and to reduce their disorderly impact on the rest of us .
And this is perverse and unjust .
So then it places police in this completely untenable situation , because they completely lack the tools to make this problem any better .
And yet we 've told them it 's their problem to manage .
... Part of our misunderstanding about the nature of policing is we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into social workers .
That we can make them nice , friendly community outreach workers .
But police are violence workers .
That 's what distinguishes them from all other government functions , is that they have the legal capacity to use violence in situations where the average citizen would be arrested .
So when we turn a problem over to the police to manage , there will be violence , because those are ultimately the tools that they are most equipped to utilize : handcuffs , threats , guns , arrests .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ root of policing .
So if we do n't want violence , we should try to figure out how to not get the police involved .
There are obviously a lot of people who agree broadly with the notion that the way that policing happens in this country is a problem and that there needs to be some sort of change .
But they 're pretty invested in the idea that police are needed to maintain public safety .
People ask the question , without police , what do you do when someone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when someone 's house gets robbed ?
What do you say to those people who have those concerns ?
Well , I 'm certainly not talking about any kind of scenario where tomorrow someone just flips a switch and there are no police .
What I 'm talking about is the systematic questioning of the specific roles that police currently undertake , and attempting to develop evidence-based alternatives so that we can dial back our reliance on them .
And my feeling is that this encompasses actually the vast majority of what police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them .
Even if you take something like burglary — a huge amount of burglary activity is driven by drug use .
And we need to completely rethink our approach to drugs so that property crime is n't the primary way that people access drugs .
We do n't have any part of this country that has high quality medical drug treatment on demand .
But we have policing on demand everywhere .
And it 's not working .
Obviously , a big part of what is on people 's minds right now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dealing with protesters , dealing with different types of political unrest .
In your book , you talk a lot about the history of how police have been used to quell social unrest .
Can you talk about that history a little bit ?
Well , I think that one of the myths we have about policing is that it is politically neutral , and that it is always here to sort of create order in a way that benefits everyone .
But the reality is that America 's social order has never @ @ @ @ @ @ @ long history of exploitation of the indigenous population , of African Americans through slavery , Jim Crow and today .
And while we 're not using police to manage slavery or colonialism today , we are using police to manage the problems that our very unequal system has produced .
We 're invested in this kind of austerity politics that says the government ca n't afford to really do anything to lift people up .
We have to put all our resources into subsidizing the already most successful parts of the economy .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ producing this huge group of people who are homeless , unemployed , have untreated mental health and substance abuse problems .
And then we ask the police to put a lid on those problems — to manage them so they do n't interfere with the `` order '' that we 're supposedly all benefiting from .
But if you 're one of those poor people , one of those folks with a mental health problem , someone who 's involved in black market activities to survive , then you experience this as constant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ same goes for people who are political protesters ?
Political protest has always been a part of this dynamic , right ?
Political protests are a threat to the order of this system .
And so policing has always been the primary tool for managing those threats to the public order .
Just as we understand the use of police to deal with homelessness as a political failure , every time we turn a political order problem over to the police to manage , that 's also a political failure .
I think @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Jacob Frey .
He has consistently tried to frame this as a problem of a few bad apples .
And he says , `` Why are you protesting ?
We fired them . ''
But this completely misunderstands the nature of the grievances .
And instead of actually addressing those grievances , he 's throwing police at the problem .
Are the interactions that are happening right now between police and protesters something that you think is predictable ?
Or is this something new that we have n't seen before ?
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just the intensity of it compared to , let 's say , five years ago during the Eric Garner and the Mike Brown protests .
What we 're seeing is really an immediate escalation to very high levels of force , a high degree of confrontation .
And I think part of it is driven by deep frustration within policing , which is that police feel under assault , and they have no answer .
They trotted out all the possible solutions : police-community dialogue sessions , implicit bias training , community policing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ did n't work .
It did n't make any difference .
And so they ran out of excuses .
So the protests today are a much more kind of existential threat to the police .
And the police are overreacting as a result .
If we were to take serious steps toward moving in the direction of having police address fewer of our social problems and putting those problems in the hands of people who are actually more equipped to deal with them , what would be the next step ?
What is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country have to push for ?
I think this will look like a series of local budget battles .
And that 's really what 's going on across the country , is when we have these divest campaigns in places like Los Angeles and Minneapolis and New York and Durham , North Carolina and Nashville , Tennessee and Dallas , Texas .
These are folks who are saying concretely : `` We do n't want police in our schools .
We want that money spent in ways that help our children , not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more money for overtime for narcotics officers .
We want actual drug treatment programs , safe injection facilities , things that will help people . ''
So that 's what this looks like .
It 's about rallying city council members and mayors around a new vision of creating healthier communities .
When you 're looking around at what 's happening right now , what are the things that you think people need to understand to really process what is going on around the country ?
Well , I think the police are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
People started this conversation by saying policing is out of control ; they 're not making the situation better .
They have not been reformed .
Well , now all you have to do is turn on the nightly news and see how true that is .
The level of aggression and unnecessary escalation is stark evidence of how unreformed policing is , and I argue how unreformable it is .
The question is whether or not people will take it to the next step and ask the tough political questions .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the police to manage ?
Why are we using curfews instead of having conversations ?
Why are we throwing protesters in prison instead of trying to figure out what 's driving all of this anger ?

How Much Do We Need The Police?
Enlarge this image toggle caption Scott Olson/Getty Images Scott Olson/Getty Images
One effect of the widespread protests across U.S. cities this week has been to renew discussions of what role the police should play in society.
For many Americans, it goes without saying that the police are critical in maintaining public safety. Have an emergency? Call the police. But many others — especially black people and poor people — have long countered that the police pose more of a threat to their safety than a boon. See a police officer? Walk in the other direction.
So it seems like a good moment to talk to Alex S. Vitale. He's the author of the 2017 book The End of Policing. In it, he argues that rather than focus on police reform or officer retraining, the country needs to reconsider fundamentally what it is the police should be doing at all.
I spoke with Vitale about what roles police should and shouldn't play, what he makes of the current protests and what actual change in the way police in this country do their jobs might look like. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
One of the arguments you make in The End of Policing is that police are being asked to do too much. They're basically being tasked with addressing every social problem that we have. So what are police asked to do? And what should they be asked to do?
One of the problems that we're encountering here is this massive expansion in the scope of policing over the last 40 years or so. Policing is now happening in our schools. It's happening in relation to the problems of homelessness, untreated mental illness, youth violence and some things that we historically associate police with.
The End of Policing by Alex S. Vitale Hardcover, 266 pages | purchase close overlay Buy Featured Book Your purchase helps support NPR programming. How?
But the policing has become more intensive, more invasive, more aggressive. So what I'm calling for is a rethink on why we've turned all of these social problems over to the police to manage. And as we dial those things back, then we can think more concretely about what the rest of policing should look like and how that could be reformed.
You brought up homelessness. In many cities police are tasked with dealing with people experiencing homelessness — but they don't have many options besides basically moving people or arresting them.
Well, we've created this situation where our political leaders have basically abandoned the possibility of actually housing people. Which, of course, is the real solution, supportive housing for those who need extra support. But basically, we have a massive failure in housing markets that is unable to provide basic shelter for millions of Americans.
So instead of actually addressing that fundamental problem, we have relabeled it as a problem that is the fault of the disorderly people who we label as morally deficient. And then we use police to criminalize them, to control their behavior and to reduce their disorderly impact on the rest of us. And this is perverse and unjust. So then it places police in this completely untenable situation, because they completely lack the tools to make this problem any better. And yet we've told them it's their problem to manage. ...
Part of our misunderstanding about the nature of policing is we keep imagining that we can turn police into social workers. That we can make them nice, friendly community outreach workers. But police are violence workers. That's what distinguishes them from all other government functions. ... They have the legal capacity to use violence in situations where the average citizen would be arrested.
So when we turn a problem over to the police to manage, there will be violence, because those are ultimately the tools that they are most equipped to utilize: handcuffs, threats, guns, arrests. That's what really is at the root of policing. So if we don't want violence, we should try to figure out how to not get the police involved.
There are obviously a lot of people who agree broadly with the notion that the way that policing happens in this country is a problem and that there needs to be some sort of change. But they're pretty invested in the idea that police are needed to maintain public safety. People ask the question, without police, what do you do when someone gets murdered? What do you do when someone's house gets robbed? What do you say to those people who have those concerns?
Well, I'm certainly not talking about any kind of scenario where tomorrow someone just flips a switch and there are no police. What I'm talking about is the systematic questioning of the specific roles that police currently undertake, and attempting to develop evidence-based alternatives so that we can dial back our reliance on them. And my feeling is that this encompasses actually the vast majority of what police do. We have better alternatives for them.
Even if you take something like burglary — a huge amount of burglary activity is driven by drug use. And we need to completely rethink our approach to drugs so that property crime isn't the primary way that people access drugs. We don't have any part of this country that has high-quality medical drug treatment on demand. But we have policing on demand everywhere. And it's not working.
Obviously, a big part of what is on people's minds right now is the role that police have in dealing with protesters, dealing with different types of political unrest. In your book, you talk a lot about the history of how police have been used to quell social unrest. Can you talk about that history a little bit?
Well, I think that one of the myths we have about policing is that it is politically neutral, and that it is always here to sort of create order in a way that benefits everyone. But the reality is that America's social order has never been entirely equitable. We have a long history of exploitation of the Indigenous population, of African Americans through slavery, Jim Crow and today.
And while we're not using police to manage slavery or colonialism today, we are using police to manage the problems that our very unequal system has produced. We're invested in this kind of austerity politics that says the government can't afford to really do anything to lift people up. We have to put all our resources into subsidizing the already most successful parts of the economy. But those parts of the economy are producing this huge group of people who are homeless, unemployed, have untreated mental health and substance abuse problems. And then we ask the police to put a lid on those problems — to manage them so they don't interfere with the "order" that we're supposedly all benefiting from.
But if you're one of those poor people, one of those folks with a mental health problem, someone who's involved in black market activities to survive, then you experience this as constant criminalization.
And would you say the same goes for people who are political protesters?
Political protest has always been a part of this dynamic, right? Political protests are a threat to the order of this system. And so policing has always been the primary tool for managing those threats to the public order. Just as we understand the use of police to deal with homelessness as a political failure, every time we turn a political order problem over to the police to manage, that's also a political failure. I think the mayor of Minneapolis, for instance: Jacob Frey. He has consistently tried to frame this as a problem of a few bad apples. And he says, "Why are you protesting? We fired them." But this completely misunderstands the nature of the grievances. And instead of actually addressing those grievances, he's throwing police at the problem.
Are the interactions that are happening right now between police and protesters something that you think is predictable? Or is this something new that we haven't seen before?
It's not completely new; it's just the intensity of it compared [with], let's say, five years ago during the Eric Garner and the Mike Brown protests. What we're seeing is really an immediate escalation to very high levels of force, a high degree of confrontation.
And I think part of it is driven by deep frustration within policing, which is that police feel under assault, and they have no answer. They trotted out all the possible solutions: police-community dialogue sessions, implicit bias training, community policing, body cameras. And it just didn't work. It didn't make any difference. And so they ran out of excuses.
So the protests today are a much more kind of existential threat to the police. And the police are overreacting as a result.
If we were to take serious steps toward moving in the direction of having police address fewer of our social problems and putting those problems in the hands of people who are actually more equipped to deal with them, what would be the next step? What is the next thing that we as a country have to push for?
I think this will look like a series of local budget battles. And that's really what's going on across the country, is when we have these divest campaigns in places like Los Angeles and Minneapolis and New York and Durham, N.C., and Nashville, Tenn., and Dallas, Texas. These are folks who are saying concretely: "We don't want police in our schools. We want that money spent in ways that help our children, not criminalize them. We don't want more money for overtime for narcotics officers. We want actual drug treatment programs, safe injection facilities, things that will help people." So that's what this looks like. It's about rallying city council members and mayors around a new vision of creating healthier communities.
When you're looking around at what's happening right now, what are the things that you think people need to understand to really process what is going on around the country?
Well, I think the police are making the argument for us, right? People started this conversation by saying policing is out of control; they're not making the situation better. They have not been reformed. Well, now all you have to do is turn on the nightly news and see how true that is.
The level of aggression and unnecessary escalation is stark evidence of how unreformed policing is, and I argue how unreformable it is. The question is whether or not people will take it to the next step and ask the tough political questions. Why are our mayors turning this over to the police to manage? Why are we using curfews instead of having conversations? Why are we throwing protesters in prison instead of trying to figure out what's driving all of this anger?