npr--2020-10-29--Philadelphia Police Vow To Release Body Camera Footage In Walter Wallace Shooting

Philadelphia , still on edge following days of protests and unrest that engulfed the city in response to the police killing of a 27-year-old Black man , Walter Wallace Jr. , experienced a relatively quiet night Wednesday .
Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw vowed on Wednesday that the department would release `` in the near future '' 911 tapes and body camera footage worn by the officers involved with the killing .
While she did not provide a timeline , Outlaw said the materials would be made public after meeting with members of the Wallace family `` to ensure they get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ''
If and when the release happens , it will be an extraordinary and rare step for the Philadelphia Police Department to take .
`` Although previous police shootings of Black men in Philadelphia have sparked protests , the department has never before released police footage of an officer 's shooting , '' The Philadelphia Inquirer reported .
Releasing the footage and tapes is a move supported by John McNesby , the president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge # 5 .
In a video posted to Twitter on Wednesday , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what you have . ''
`` We 're calling on the city leadership to release the facts of this case .
It 's not hard , '' McNesby said .
`` It 's cut and dry .
Release what you have .
Support your officers , back your officers and let 's get a handle on this thing . ''
Police said Wallace 'advanced toward officers ' with a knife Police said earlier this week that Walter Wallace was armed with a knife and `` advanced toward officers . ''
When he did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fired at him several times , according to law enforcement .
Wallace was experiencing a psychological episode on Monday , according to a family attorney .
His mother attempted to calm him , the lawyer said , but was unable to and called 911 for an ambulance .
But the police arrived first .
The incident was captured on graphic cellphone video , which was posted to social media and quickly went viral .
There is also new video capturing an encounter between Philadelphia police officers in riot gear and three people in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer , said Instagram user Aapril Rice , 30 , livestreamed the video early Tuesday from her rooftop .
The video shows a slow-moving SUV traveling along a street before being surrounded by several helmeted police officers with riot shields .
The officers use batons to shatter the vehicle 's windows , then forcibly removes the driver and a passenger .
One officer then reaches into the back of the vehicle and lifts a toddler out .
Police confirm to NPR that an internal investigation into the matter has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ details .
The Philadelphia City Council on Thursday approved a measure that would bar the use of non-lethal crowd dispersal tactics , including the use of rubber bullets , tear gas and pepper spray on those peacefully protesting .
It affirms `` Philadelphians ' First Amendment rights to protest and peaceful assembly '' according to the resolution .
The council added the timing of the bill 's passage – in the wake of the Wallace shooting and on the eve of the upcoming election – was in part to preempt excessive force from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As Black Lives Matter protests demanding justice for Walter Wallace Jr. will likely converge with demonstrations related to the elections , Philadelphia 's history of using tear gas , rubber bullets , and pepper spray against its own citizens also looms large , '' according to a statement from the council .
`` This resolution indicates Council 's desire not to repeat the same mistakes , '' the statement continued .
A city spokesperson tells NPR the Philadelphia 's Law Department will review the measure , adding the `` we support the intent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says officers are 'being vilified' Hours after the shooting Monday , McNesby , the FOP president , issued a statement supporting the officers involved , saying they were `` being vilified for doing their job and keeping the community safe . ''
Following the Wallace shooting , parts of the city saw violent clashes between law enforcement in helmets and shields and protesters , some of them hurling objects at police .
There were also reports of looting .
Police said 30 officers were hurt during clashes late Monday and early Tuesday .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , police said 81 people were arrested , including 53 for burglary .
Earlier in the day , Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney issued an emergency order placing the city under a curfew from Wednesday , 9 p.m. to Tuesday , 6 a.m .
While there were some reports of looting and confrontations , the tense confrontations that gripped Philadelphia for two nights never fully materialized , USA Today reported .
At one point , the newspaper added , just 15 people gathered for a `` Justice for Walter Wallace Jr. '' protest in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their separate ways .

Philadelphia Police Vow To Release Body Camera Footage In Walter Wallace Shooting
Enlarge this image toggle caption Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Updated 4:45 p.m. ET
Philadelphia, still on edge following days of protests and unrest that engulfed the city in response to the police killing of a 27-year-old Black man, Walter Wallace Jr., experienced a relatively quiet night Wednesday.
Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw vowed on Wednesday that the department would release "in the near future" 911 tapes and body camera footage worn by the officers involved with the killing.
While she did not provide a timeline, Outlaw said the materials would be made public after meeting with members of the Wallace family "to ensure they get an opportunity to view the materials first."
If and when the release happens, it will be an extraordinary and rare step for the Philadelphia Police Department to take.
"Although previous police shootings of Black men in Philadelphia have sparked protests, the department has never before released police footage of an officer's shooting," The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Releasing the footage and tapes is a move supported by John McNesby, the president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #5. In a video posted to Twitter on Wednesday, he urged city officials to "release what you have."
"We're calling on the city leadership to release the facts of this case. It's not hard," McNesby said. "It's cut and dry. Release what you have. Support your officers, back your officers and let's get a handle on this thing."
Police said Wallace 'advanced toward officers' with a knife
Police said earlier this week that Walter Wallace was armed with a knife and "advanced toward officers." When he did not drop the weapon, two officers fired at him several times, according to law enforcement.
Wallace was experiencing a psychological episode on Monday, according to a family attorney. His mother attempted to calm him, the lawyer said, but was unable to and called 911 for an ambulance. But the police arrived first.
The incident was captured on graphic cellphone video, which was posted to social media and quickly went viral.
An Internal Affairs investigation launched
There is also new video capturing an encounter between Philadelphia police officers in riot gear and three people in an SUV.
The video, first reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer, said Instagram user Aapril Rice, 30, livestreamed the video early Tuesday from her rooftop.
The video shows a slow-moving SUV traveling along a street before being surrounded by several helmeted police officers with riot shields. The officers use batons to shatter the vehicle's windows, then forcibly removes the driver and a passenger.
One officer then reaches into the back of the vehicle and lifts a toddler out.
Police confirm to NPR that an internal investigation into the matter has been launched, but provided no other details.
Resolution affirming peaceful protests
The Philadelphia City Council on Thursday approved a measure that would bar the use of non-lethal crowd dispersal tactics, including the use of rubber bullets, tear gas and pepper spray on those peacefully protesting.
It affirms "Philadelphians' First Amendment rights to protest and peaceful assembly" according to the resolution.
The council added the timing of the bill's passage – in the wake of the Wallace shooting and on the eve of the upcoming election – was in part to preempt excessive force from being used on future protests.
"As Black Lives Matter protests demanding justice for Walter Wallace Jr. will likely converge with demonstrations related to the elections, Philadelphia's history of using tear gas, rubber bullets, and pepper spray against its own citizens also looms large," according to a statement from the council.
"This resolution indicates Council's desire not to repeat the same mistakes," the statement continued.
A city spokesperson tells NPR the Philadelphia's Law Department will review the measure, adding the "we support the intent of the bill."
Police Union says officers are 'being vilified'
Hours after the shooting Monday, McNesby, the FOP president, issued a statement supporting the officers involved, saying they were "being vilified for doing their job and keeping the community safe."
Following the Wallace shooting, parts of the city saw violent clashes between law enforcement in helmets and shields and protesters, some of them hurling objects at police. There were also reports of looting. Police said 30 officers were hurt during clashes late Monday and early Tuesday.
During confrontations Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, police said 81 people were arrested, including 53 for burglary.
Wednesday evening was different.
Earlier in the day, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney issued an emergency order placing the city under a curfew from Wednesday, 9 p.m. to Tuesday, 6 a.m.
While there were some reports of looting and confrontations, the tense confrontations that gripped Philadelphia for two nights never fully materialized, USA Today reported.
At one point, the newspaper added, just 15 people gathered for a "Justice for Walter Wallace Jr." protest in City Center, but attendees quickly went their separate ways.


npr--2020-10-29--Why Some Memories Seem Like Movies: 'Time Cells' Discovered In Human Brains

Why Some Memories Seem Like Movies : 'Time Cells ' Discovered In Human Brains If you fall off a bike , you 'll probably end up with a cinematic memory of the experience : the wind in your hair , the pebble on the road , then the pain .
That 's known as an episodic memory .
And now researchers have identified cells in the human brain that make this sort of memory possible , a team reports in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .
The cells are called time cells , and they place @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as they are being formed .
That allows us to recall sequences of events or experiences in the right order .
`` By having time cells create this indexing across time , you can put everything together in a way that makes sense , '' says Dr. Bradley Lega , the study 's senior author and a neurosurgeon at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas .
Time cells were discovered in rodents decades ago .
But the new study is critical because `` the final arbitrator is always the human @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Biggs Professor of Neuroscience at New York University .
Buzsáki is not an author of the study but did edit the manuscript .
Lega and his team found the time cells by studying the brains of 27 people who were awaiting surgery for severe epilepsy .
As part of their pre-surgical preparation , these patients had electrodes placed in the hippocampus and another area of the brain involved in navigation , memory and time perception .
In the experiment , the patients studied sequences of 12 or 15 words that appeared on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about 30 seconds .
Then , after a break , they were asked to recall the words they had seen .
Meanwhile , the researchers were measuring the activity of individual brain cells .
And they found a small number that that would fire at specific times during each sequence of words .
`` The time cells that we found , they are marking out discrete segments of time within this approximately 30-second window , '' Lega says .
These time stamps seemed to help people recall when they had seen each word @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says .
And the brain probably uses the same approach when we 're reliving an experience like falling off a bike .
The results help explain why people who have damage to the hippocampus may experience odd memory problems , Buzsáki says .
In one experiment , he says , scientists compared the memories of a group of people who had just finished a tour at the University of California , San Diego – a tour that included several staged events .
All of the participants remembered most of the things they had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and getting a drink from a water fountain .
But people with damage to the hippocampus were unable put these events in the right order .
`` These sequences are completely and absolutely gone in people with hippocampal lesions , '' Buzsáki says .
The new study suggests that 's because their brains do n't have time cells , which would allow them to re-create the entire tour in their minds .
But even though time cells are critical in creating sequences , Buzsáki says , they really are n't like clocks , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Instead , the ticks and tocks of time cells are constantly speeding up or slowing down , depending on factors like mood .
`` When you have to wait for the elections , then every day is a long day , '' Buzsáki says .
`` The same thing is true when we are asking when is COVID over .
It 's very , very slow .
But when you are having a good time , time flies . ''

Why Some Memories Seem Like Movies: 'Time Cells' Discovered In Human Brains
Enlarge this image toggle caption Peter Cade/Getty Images Peter Cade/Getty Images
If you fall off a bike, you'll probably end up with a cinematic memory of the experience: the wind in your hair, the pebble on the road, then the pain.
That's known as an episodic memory. And now researchers have identified cells in the human brain that make this sort of memory possible, a team reports in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The cells are called time cells, and they place a sort of time stamp on memories as they are being formed. That allows us to recall sequences of events or experiences in the right order.
"By having time cells create this indexing across time, you can put everything together in a way that makes sense," says Dr. Bradley Lega, the study's senior author and a neurosurgeon at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
Time cells were discovered in rodents decades ago. But the new study is critical because "the final arbitrator is always the human brain," says Dr. György Buzsáki, Biggs Professor of Neuroscience at New York University. Buzsáki is not an author of the study but did edit the manuscript.
Lega and his team found the time cells by studying the brains of 27 people who were awaiting surgery for severe epilepsy. As part of their pre-surgical preparation, these patients had electrodes placed in the hippocampus and another area of the brain involved in navigation, memory and time perception.
In the experiment, the patients studied sequences of 12 or 15 words that appeared on a laptop screen during a period of about 30 seconds. Then, after a break, they were asked to recall the words they had seen.
Meanwhile, the researchers were measuring the activity of individual brain cells. And they found a small number that that would fire at specific times during each sequence of words.
"The time cells that we found, they are marking out discrete segments of time within this approximately 30-second window," Lega says.
These time stamps seemed to help people recall when they had seen each word, and in what order, he says. And the brain probably uses the same approach when we're reliving an experience like falling off a bike.
The results help explain why people who have damage to the hippocampus may experience odd memory problems, Buzsáki says.
In one experiment, he says, scientists compared the memories of a group of people who had just finished a tour at the University of California, San Diego – a tour that included several staged events.
All of the participants remembered most of the things they had done, including locking up a bike and getting a drink from a water fountain.
But people with damage to the hippocampus were unable put these events in the right order. "These sequences are completely and absolutely gone in people with hippocampal lesions," Buzsáki says.
The new study suggests that's because their brains don't have time cells, which would allow them to re-create the entire tour in their minds.
But even though time cells are critical in creating sequences, Buzsáki says, they really aren't like clocks, which tick at a steady pace. Instead, the ticks and tocks of time cells are constantly speeding up or slowing down, depending on factors like mood.
"When you have to wait for the elections, then every day is a long day," Buzsáki says. "The same thing is true when we are asking when is COVID over. It's very, very slow. But when you are having a good time, time flies."


npr--2020-10-29--COVID-19 Has Robbed The World's Poorest Children Of Nearly 4 Months Of Schooling

COVID-19 Has Robbed The World 's Poorest Children Of Nearly 4 Months Of Schooling In April , 9 in 10 of the world 's children were out of school in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus .
Several months later , a new report from UNESCO , UNICEF and the World Bank finds the return to learning has been much slower in the world 's poorer countries .
Researchers looked at nearly 150 countries and found : • Schoolchildren in low- and lower-middle-income countries have lost almost four months of learning since the start of the pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ loss in high-income countries .
• One in 4 countries , most of which are low- and lower-middle-income , have either missed their planned reopening date or not yet set a date for reopening .
• Almost all countries have offered some form of remote learning during closures , whether online , by broadcast ( radio or TV ) or through paper packets .
However , while 3 out of 4 countries overall count remote learning days as school days , only 1 in 5 low-income countries do so , in recognition of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ access these resources .
• Half of low-income countries reported not having enough money to pay for things like handwashing facilities and protective equipment for students and teachers .
Only 5 % of high-income countries said the same .
These findings are in line with another recent analysis by the foundation Insights for Education , which estimated that nearly half of the world 's 1.6 billion primary and secondary students would not return to school before the end of 2020 .
According to that analysis , 84 % of the students who wo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ countries .
For decades , the development community has been working to get more children into schools .
Formal learning is seen as key to economic progress and political freedom , and the education of girls and women has even been identified as a major building block in the fight against climate change .
In recent years , according to the United Nations , the world was moving in the right direction , with more and more children in school .
Now that progress seems to have reversed , at least temporarily .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ million children were out of school just before the pandemic , a number they say is likely to jump nearly 10 percent this year .

COVID-19 Has Robbed The World's Poorest Children Of Nearly 4 Months Of Schooling
Enlarge this image toggle caption Yawar Nazir/Getty Images Yawar Nazir/Getty Images
In April, 9 in 10 of the world's children were out of school in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Several months later, a new report from UNESCO, UNICEF and the World Bank finds the return to learning has been much slower in the world's poorer countries.
Researchers looked at nearly 150 countries and found:
Schoolchildren in low- and lower-middle-income countries have lost almost four months of learning since the start of the pandemic, compared to six weeks of learning loss in high-income countries.
One in 4 countries, most of which are low- and lower-middle-income, have either missed their planned reopening date or not yet set a date for reopening.
Almost all countries have offered some form of remote learning during closures, whether online, by broadcast (radio or TV) or through paper packets. However, while 3 out of 4 countries overall count remote learning days as school days, only 1 in 5 low-income countries do so, in recognition of how few children are actually able to access these resources.
Half of low-income countries reported not having enough money to pay for things like handwashing facilities and protective equipment for students and teachers. Only 5% of high-income countries said the same.
These findings are in line with another recent analysis by the foundation Insights for Education, which estimated that nearly half of the world's 1.6 billion primary and secondary students would not return to school before the end of 2020. According to that analysis, 84% of the students who won't return to school live in low-income countries.
For decades, the development community has been working to get more children into schools. Formal learning is seen as key to economic progress and political freedom, and the education of girls and women has even been identified as a major building block in the fight against climate change.
In recent years, according to the United Nations, the world was moving in the right direction, with more and more children in school. Now that progress seems to have reversed, at least temporarily. According to UNESCO, more than 250 million children were out of school just before the pandemic, a number they say is likely to jump nearly 10 percent this year.


npr--2020-10-29--Remote Marshall Islands Record First Confirmed Coronavirus Cases

The Marshall Islands , a group of volcanic islands and atolls in the Pacific , closed its borders in March to fend off the coronavirus .
At the time , the government said the islands were already dealing with outbreaks of dengue fever and an `` Influenza-like-Illness . ''
`` A single-case of COVID-19 would be catastrophic to the health system , '' the government said at the time .
On Wednesday , the government announced that two workers arriving from the U.S. tested positive for the coronavirus at a U.S. military base on Kwajalein Atoll .
The two cases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one of the few nations in the world with zero known coronavirus cases .
The pair — a woman , 35 , and a man , 46 — arrived on a military flight Tuesday from Hawaii .
The government said the two did not interact with members of the community , and both were asymptomatic when they tested positive .
`` We can assure the public that these are strictly border cases and were discovered while these people were in quarantine , where they remain until this time , '' the government said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spread , it added .
Islands in the South Pacific were generally swift to isolate themselves during the start of the pandemic , leaving the majority of them unscathed .
The remote island nations of Kiribati , Micronesia , Nauru , Palau , Samoa , Tonga , Tuvalu and Vanuatu are believed to be still free of the virus .
The Solomon Islands recorded its first coronavirus case in early October .
In June , the Marshall Islands eased restrictions slightly , allowing U.S. military base workers to enter but requiring a three-week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ebon Atoll Mayor Marie Davis Milne has been critical of relaxing the border restrictions .
`` What we were worried about has come true , '' Milne said Wednesday on Facebook .
`` Lives are going to be put on hold because a handful of people made the decisions they did for whatever reasons they did . ''
Reese Oxner is an intern on NPR 's News Desk .

Remote Marshall Islands Record First Confirmed Coronavirus Cases
Enlarge this image toggle caption Nicole Evatt/AP Nicole Evatt/AP
The Marshall Islands, a group of volcanic islands and atolls in the Pacific, closed its borders in March to fend off the coronavirus.
At the time, the government said the islands were already dealing with outbreaks of dengue fever and an "Influenza-like-Illness."
"A single-case of COVID-19 would be catastrophic to the health system," the government said at the time.
On Wednesday, the government announced that two workers arriving from the U.S. tested positive for the coronavirus at a U.S. military base on Kwajalein Atoll. The two cases ended the Marshall Islands' run as one of the few nations in the world with zero known coronavirus cases.
The pair — a woman, 35, and a man, 46 — arrived on a military flight Tuesday from Hawaii. The government said the two did not interact with members of the community, and both were asymptomatic when they tested positive.
"We can assure the public that these are strictly border cases and were discovered while these people were in quarantine, where they remain until this time," the government said.
There is no immediate risk of spread, it added.
Islands in the South Pacific were generally swift to isolate themselves during the start of the pandemic, leaving the majority of them unscathed.
The remote island nations of Kiribati, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu are believed to be still free of the virus.
The Solomon Islands recorded its first coronavirus case in early October.
In June, the Marshall Islands eased restrictions slightly, allowing U.S. military base workers to enter but requiring a three-week quarantine, according to The Guardian.
Ebon Atoll Mayor Marie Davis Milne has been critical of relaxing the border restrictions.
"What we were worried about has come true," Milne said Wednesday on Facebook. "Lives are going to be put on hold because a handful of people made the decisions they did for whatever reasons they did."
Reese Oxner is an intern on NPR's News Desk.


npr--2020-10-29--How The Coronavirus Has Affected Individual Members Of Congress

How The Coronavirus Has Affected Individual Members Of Congress Updated on October 29 at 11 a.m .
ET The coronavirus pandemic continues to upend the daily work of Congress , which has seen a series of outbreaks .
Most recently , President Trump , First Lady Melania Trump and several others tested positive following a White House Rose Garden ceremony to announce his nominee , Judge Amy Coney Barrett , as Supreme Court justice .
At least nine Republican members of Congress attended , and several individuals tested positive for the coronavirus infection or were sidelined in quarantines in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sens .
Mike Lee of Utah and Thom Tillis of North Carolina , who had attended Senate business the week after the ceremony , then tested positive .
Soon after , Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson , who was n't at the Rose Garden event , also tested positive .
Several more members tested negative , but entered quarantines after exposure at the event , including Sens .
Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Ted Cruz of Texas and Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson .
The new outbreak forced the Senate to recess for two weeks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ full chamber vote to allow Republicans to confirm Barrett .
The House was already slated to be away .
This is n't the first spread of the illness for Capitol Hill .
The pandemic sidelined Congress since its March beginnings , as House and Senate leaders delayed bringing back members for several weeks in light of public health guidelines recommending social distancing .
The Senate returned in May , but the much larger House still stayed mostly away as a result of advice from the attending physician to Congress .
That same month @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allowing remote voting and hearings .
So far , the virus has infected about 20 lawmakers and forced dozens more to self-quarantine .
More than 100 members of their staffs and Capitol Hill workers have tested positive .
The initial rash of cases began March 8 , when two Republican lawmakers , Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona , were the first members of Congress to announce self-quarantines .
Both had attended the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor , Md.
, where an attendee at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ week , the first two members of Congress said they tested positive for the coronavirus .
Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida and Democratic Rep. Ben McAdams of Utah both said they developed symptoms after a March 14 vote on a coronavirus relief package .
By October , more than 120 Capitol workers reported a positive test or were presumed so , including more than 40 members of the U.S. Capitol Police .
Earlier this summer , Gary Tibbetts , a longtime staffer for Republican Rep. Vern Buchanan of Florida , died from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lawmakers have taken antibody tests to see if they were previously ill .
Among them , Democratic Sens .
Tim Kaine of Virginia and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania both said they tested positive months after experiencing symptoms in the spring .
To stem the flow of new cases , both chambers issued new social distancing guidance .
Also , the U.S. Capitol remains closed to public tours and open only to members , staff , press and official business visitors .
In late July , House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also issued a new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ R-Texas , who has often rejected mask protocols , tested positive for the coronavirus .
Gohmert had attended several hearings a day before testing and returned to the Capitol following a White House screening that caught his infection .
Gohmert 's case triggered quarantines for five House members , including Arizona Democratic Rep. Raúl Grijalva .
Days later , Grijalva tested positive , but fully recovered symptom free .
Now , members can be forcibly removed by Capitol Police from House hearings and the floor if they are not wearing masks .
This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , 2020 .

Congress and COVID-19: members' cases and quarantines
Enlarge this image toggle caption Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Editor's note: This page is no longer updating as of Dec. 31, 2021.
A number of congressional lawmakers experienced breakthrough COVID-19 infections as coronavirus cases rose nationwide with the spread of the omicron variant.
Earlier in 2021, Congress went months with no coronavirus cases among its members. That came a halt amid a national surge driven by the delta variant, when Republican Reps. Vern Buchanan of Florida and Clay Higgins of Louisiana reported infections in July. Buchanan says he was fully vaccinated, but that was less clear for Higgins.
At least another dozen members followed throughout the fall with news they had also tested positive for coronavirus; many of those infections involving vaccinated Senate and House members.
Before these latest waves, Congress' nearly six-month case pause came after a majority of more than 500 lawmakers were fully vaccinated by January. The Capitol's attending physician then lifted much of the mask mandates that dominated the past year. However, a minority of House Republican members have refused to seek vaccination.
Lawmakers impact by the coronavirus
This new threat arrives after the coronavirus already exacted a large toll on the Capitol.
Last year, the pandemic upended daily work for months, sickening dozens of members and hundreds of workers. A sitting congressman, a member-elect and an aide died.
By February 2021, more than 60 lawmakers and 360 Capitol Hill workers had tested positive, or were presumed so, for the coronavirus, according to NPR's tracker and congressional aides.
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See a list of all members who tested positive or quarantined.
That same month, Rep. Ron Wright, R-Texas, became the first sitting member of Congress to die after a more than two-week battle with COVID-19. In December, Rep.-elect Luke Letlow of Louisiana died days before he was due to be sworn in for a seat that was later filled in April by his widow, Rep. Julia Letlow, following a special election.
And last summer, an aide to Buchanan died from COVID-19.
The rash of infections among members continued at a consistent pace since the pandemic began, with the longest stretch without any such cases lasting about three weeks during recess periods away from Washington, D.C.
But this past March, Capitol Hill began its first month-long stretch without any reported cases or quarantines among members. The most recent positive case before July was reported by Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., on Jan. 29, despite his having received his second dose of the vaccine days earlier.
Another member, House Oversight Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., reported that she quarantined on Feb. 1. It ended Feb. 8 without a report of a positive test.
January 6 insurrection caused spike in cases on Capitol Hill
Up until this summer, the most recent outbreak of cases on Capitol Hill for members was triggered by the Jan. 6 insurrection, which forced members to cluster together in rooms for several hours. Some House Republicans were seen refusing to wear masks during the ordeal.
Later, Monahan told Congress that at least one of these holding rooms for House members included a lawmaker who was already positive.
More than a half-dozen members quarantined as a result, and several tested positive, including Democratic Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey and Brad Schneider of Illinois.
In all, January proved to be one of members' worst month for the coronavirus, with at least 16 lawmakers testing positive. Before the insurrection, the House met to launch a new session before reinstating rules allowing proxy voting.
This, as congressional leaders and lawmakers received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, which became available to members in December. The doses were provided to meet long-standing requirements for continuity of government operations, Monahan told members in a Dec. 17 note.
Pandemic impacted congressional operations
Ahead of the vaccinations, both chambers of Congress recessed multiple times last year as the Capitol went largely without a widespread testing program.
The Democratic-controlled House installed emergency proxy voting and remote hearings in May 2020, and Pelosi extended the covered period several times due to the pandemic. It remains in place until at least until mid-August.
In November, Pelosi triggered a broader coronavirus testing program for Congress following new requirement for travelers to the Washington, D.C., area.
Pelosi has previously said with about 75% of House members vaccinated, and several Republicans who refuse to do so, she's unclear when Congress will fully get back to normal.
"One of the most substantial steps that can be taken is that everybody should be vaccinated," Pelosi told reporters in March, later adding, "We need 100% of the members vaccinated, because it just takes one to endanger others."
The pandemic delayed other rituals, such as President Biden's first address before a joint session of Congress, which was held with only 200 socially distanced guests on April 28.
Last year remains a reminder of how quickly outbreaks spiraled out of control among lawmakers.
In December, at least nine House members, including six Republicans, tested positive for the coronavirus. And November proved to be another one of the worst months of the pandemic for Congress, when at least 15 lawmakers said they were infected, including two of the oldest, Republicans Rep. Don Young of Alaska and Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa.
A previous outbreak in September was tied to a White House Rose Garden ceremony to announce Amy Coney Barrett as then-President Donald Trump's Supreme Court justice nominee. Trump, then-first lady Melania Trump and dozens of others in attendance tested positive, including Republican Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.
It was one of several instances forcing leaders to change the congressional schedule.
Starting in the first month of the pandemic, in March 2020, House and Senate leaders delayed bringing back members in light of public health guidelines recommending social distancing.
The Senate returned in May 2020, but the much larger House remained mostly away under the advice of Monahan, the Capitol's attending physician. That same month, the House approved its historic rule changes to allow remote voting and hearings.
The first spate of cases began March 8, 2020, when two Republican lawmakers, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, were the first members of Congress to announce self-quarantines. Both attended the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md., where another guest fell ill.
The following week, the first two members of Congress said they tested positive for the coronavirus. Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida and then-Democratic Rep. Ben McAdams of Utah both said they developed symptoms after a March 14 floor vote on a coronavirus relief package.
By last summer, dozens of Capitol workers reported a positive test or were presumed so, and Gary Tibbetts, a longtime staffer for Buchanan died from COVID-19 on July 24.
Some lawmakers also took antibody tests to see if they were previously infected. They include Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, who both said they tested positive months after experiencing symptoms in the spring.
To stem the flow of new cases, both chambers early on issued new social distancing guidance. Also, the U.S. Capitol closed to public tours and remained open only to members, staff, the press and official business visitors, and aside from the Jan. 6 breach by pro-Trump extremists, it has remained so.
In late July 2020, Pelosi also issued a temporary, new mask mandate after Texas GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert, who often rejected such protocols, tested positive. Gohmert had attended several hearings a day earlier and returned to the Capitol following a White House screening that caught his infection.
Gohmert's case triggered quarantines for five House members, including Arizona Democratic Rep. Raúl Grijalva. Days later, Grijalva tested positive but fully recovered symptom free. Until recent changes lifting the mask mandates, members could be fined or be forcibly removed by Capitol Police if they are not wearing masks.


npr--2020-10-29--India Surpasses 8 Million Coronavirus Cases; 2nd Only To U.S.

India Surpasses 8 Million Coronavirus Cases ; 2nd Only To U.S. India has surpassed 8 million confirmed coronavirus cases , making it the second country to reach that milestone after the United States .
Daily new cases in India are continuing to drop after a record high in September , and a government-appointed panel of scientists has said that the country is past its peak .
But the Hindu festival season , local elections and seasonal air pollution are raising concerns that the virus could surge again .
For weeks during the fall , India was the country where the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mid-September , it was recording close to 100,000 new daily cases and was expected to surpass the United States in total caseload .
But for more than a month now , India has been seeing a sustained decline in infections , even as it conducts about a million tests every day .
On Thursday , India 's health ministry reported 49,881 new cases .
Earlier this week , India recorded its lowest daily caseload in more than three months .
Coronavirus-related deaths are also down .
India ranks third behind the U.S. and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 120,527 deaths since the pandemic began .
But scientists and authorities are cautioning against complacency as public places reopen across the country .
`` This is not the time to think that corona has gone away or that corona is n't dangerous anymore , '' Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned Indians in a televised address last week as the Hindu festival season began .
People typically crowd markets and gather shoulder-to-shoulder to offer prayers and participate in festivities .
That could cause coronavirus cases to go up again .
Even though new cases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New Delhi is seeing a jump in infections .
It recorded 5,673 new cases over the past 24 hours — its largest number so far .
The latest wave of infections in Delhi coincides with poor air quality during the colder months , when a thick smog descends over the capital .
It 's a combination of fumes from vehicles , factories and smoke from crops being burned in neighboring states .
Studies show that air pollution may contribute to COVID-19 mortality .
There are also fears that the virus could surge in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ polling takes place there into early November .
Politicians in Bihar have been holding large public rallies drawing thousands of people with little social distancing .
Modi himself has been addressing rallies there this week .
Many of those campaigning in Bihar , including politicians from Modi 's ruling party , have tested positive for the coronavirus .
Bihar is the country 's third most populous state , with a population of about 122 million .
It also has one of the weakest health care systems in the country .
With more than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Bihar is among the largest in the world since the pandemic began .

India Surpasses 8 Million Coronavirus Cases; 2nd Only To U.S.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Ashwini Bhatia/AP Ashwini Bhatia/AP
India has surpassed 8 million confirmed coronavirus cases, making it the second country to reach that milestone after the United States.
Daily new cases in India are continuing to drop after a record high in September, and a government-appointed panel of scientists has said that the country is past its peak.
But the Hindu festival season, local elections and seasonal air pollution are raising concerns that the virus could surge again.
For weeks during the fall, India was the country where the virus was spreading the fastest. In mid-September, it was recording close to 100,000 new daily cases and was expected to surpass the United States in total caseload. But for more than a month now, India has been seeing a sustained decline in infections, even as it conducts about a million tests every day.
On Thursday, India's health ministry reported 49,881 new cases. Earlier this week, India recorded its lowest daily caseload in more than three months. Coronavirus-related deaths are also down. India ranks third behind the U.S. and Brazil in coronavirus fatalities and has recorded 120,527 deaths since the pandemic began.
But scientists and authorities are cautioning against complacency as public places reopen across the country.
"This is not the time to think that corona has gone away or that corona isn't dangerous anymore," Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned Indians in a televised address last week as the Hindu festival season began. People typically crowd markets and gather shoulder-to-shoulder to offer prayers and participate in festivities. That could cause coronavirus cases to go up again.
Even though new cases are declining nationally, India's capital New Delhi is seeing a jump in infections. It recorded 5,673 new cases over the past 24 hours — its largest number so far.
The latest wave of infections in Delhi coincides with poor air quality during the colder months, when a thick smog descends over the capital. It's a combination of fumes from vehicles, factories and smoke from crops being burned in neighboring states. Studies show that air pollution may contribute to COVID-19 mortality.
There are also fears that the virus could surge in the eastern state of Bihar, as polling takes place there into early November. Politicians in Bihar have been holding large public rallies drawing thousands of people with little social distancing. Modi himself has been addressing rallies there this week. Many of those campaigning in Bihar, including politicians from Modi's ruling party, have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Bihar is the country's third most populous state, with a population of about 122 million. It also has one of the weakest health care systems in the country. With more than 70 million eligible voters, the election in Bihar is among the largest in the world since the pandemic began.


npr--2020-10-30--Black And Latino Voters Flooded With Disinformation In Election's Final Days

Black And Latino Voters Flooded With Disinformation In Election 's Final Days Murphy Bannerman first noticed the posts this summer , in a Facebook group called Being Black in Arizona .
Someone started posting memes full of false claims that seemed designed to discourage people from voting .
The memes were `` trying to push this narrative of , 'The system is a mess and there 's no point in you participating , ' '' Bannerman said .
She recalled statements like , `` 'Democrats and Republicans are the same .
There 's no point in voting . '
'Obama @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his term , why should you vote for a Democrat this time around ? '
'' Bannerman was alarmed .
She had already been on high alert for these kinds of messages , because of her job as deputy director of Election Protection Arizona , a nonpartisan group that helps people vote .
Black and Latino voters are being flooded with similar messages in the final days of the election , according to voting rights activists and experts that track disinformation .
These tactics echo Russian election interference on social media four years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kremlin-backed Internet Research Agency focused heavily on America 's racial divisions , according to a Senate Intelligence Committee report on Russian interference .
`` No single group of Americans was targeted by IRA information operatives more than African-Americans .
By far , race and related issues were the preferred target of the information warfare campaign designed to divide the country in 2016 , '' the report said .
This year , these campaigns are even more widespread , voting rights activists say .
And while in most cases , it 's not clear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ intent is unmistakable : to depress turnout among people of color by fueling cynicism and distrust in the political process .
What makes these hoaxes so powerful is not where they come from , but how successfully they tap into voters ' worries .
`` When you think about the 2016 Russian influence , especially among Black voters , it was basically bringing up internal discussions that Black people have been having for decades , '' said Dwight Bullard , political director for the New Florida Majority , a progressive voting rights group @ @ @ @ @ @ @ really matters , or whether politicians truly have Black people 's best interests at heart are `` a discussion at the barbershop , '' he said .
`` That 's a discussion that happens around kitchen tables every weekend . ''
Activist Andre Banks said these unwelcome suggestions that Black Americans sit out the election are the latest chapter in a long history of voter suppression .
`` We are now talking about this misinformation as a part of the same trajectory as a poll tax , as a literacy test , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ targeted at Black Americans — and often brown Americans as well — to limit our political power , to limit our ability to shape the decisions that are made in this country . ''
Those concerns spurred Banks to co-found Win Black , a campaign to guard against the kind of disinformation that spread online four years ago .
One of the Russian efforts that got the most online engagement was a Facebook group called `` Blacktivist '' .
Their strategy , Banks said , was `` masquerading as black Americans , drawing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conversation toward bad information and often toward a sort of deep cynicism that made people sort of less inspired to participate . ''
It 's hard to measure the precise impact of these efforts at the polls .
Black voter turnout in 2016 was lower than in 2008 and 2012 — when President Barack Obama was on the ticket — but still high compared to earlier election cycles .
The U.K. 's Channel 4 News and the Miami Herald have reported that President Trump 's campaign intentionally targeted Black voters in swing states @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from voting , citing internal data from the Trump campaign .
The Trump campaign called the reporting `` nonsense . ''
This year , Win Black and other groups say suppression efforts are being pushed widely , both online and offline , and by sources within the U.S. '' We see a lot of these efforts happening all over the country , everything from robocalls to paid networks of trolls ... popularizing untrue information , '' Banks said .
Last week , Win Black and a partner group in Texas put up billboards @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their ballots by mail .
That was in response to flyers that appeared in some majority Latino neighborhoods claiming , falsely , that the Postal Service would collect voters ' information from ballots and put it in a government database .
( Election officials in many states say it is now too late for voters to return absentee ballots by mail and are encouraging them instead to deliver their ballots by hand or vote in person . )
Groups tracking disinformation have also noted attacks on Sen. Kamala Harris , the Democratic vice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about her racial identity and her history as a prosecutor in California .
`` There 's been rampant misinformation about her record , who she is , what she 's about , '' Bullard said .
Not all of the online disinformation campaigns targeting Black and Latino Americans are trying to suppress their vote .
Twitter this month suspended accounts that were pretending to be Black supporters of President Trump — some of which had gained thousands of followers .
Separately , a photo of rappers Ice Cube and 50 Cent that had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they were wearing `` Trump 2020 '' hats was shared widely on Facebook and Twitter , including by Eric Trump , the president 's son .
Trump later deleted his tweet , but it contributed to the spread of the manipulated photo , according to Zignal Labs , a company that tracks social media .
With Election Day looming and the volume of false claims rising , activists themselves are turning to social media to get the facts out .
Win Black has launched a campaign with More Than A Vote , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ LeBron James , to help young Black and Latino voters resist attempts to silence their votes .
One video , from the comedy duo Desus and Mero , offers tips on spotting bad information .
`` That wild meme your uncle sent you , with a conspiracy about COVID and mail-in voting ?
It might be from Moscow , '' it says .
`` No joke . ''

Black And Latino Voters Flooded With Disinformation In Election's Final Days
Enlarge this image toggle caption Jon Cherry/Getty Images Jon Cherry/Getty Images
Murphy Bannerman first noticed the posts this summer in a Facebook group called Being Black in Arizona.
Someone started posting memes full of false claims that seemed designed to discourage people from voting.
The memes were "trying to push this narrative of, 'The system is a mess and there's no point in you participating,' " Bannerman said. She recalled statements such as, " 'Democrats and Republicans are the same. There's no point in voting.' 'Obama didn't do anything for you during his term, why should you vote for a Democrat this time around?' "
Bannerman was alarmed. She had already been on high alert for these kinds of messages, because of her job as deputy director of Election Protection Arizona, a nonpartisan group that helps people vote.
Black and Latino voters are being flooded with similar messages in the final days of the election, according to voting rights activists and experts who track disinformation.
These tactics echo Russian election interference on social media four years ago when operatives working for the Kremlin-backed Internet Research Agency focused heavily on America's racial divisions, according to a Senate Intelligence Committee report on Russian interference.
"No single group of Americans was targeted by IRA information operatives more than African Americans. By far, race and related issues were the preferred target of the information warfare campaign designed to divide the country in 2016," the report said.
This year, these campaigns are even more widespread, voting rights activists say. And while in most cases, it's not clear who is behind the disinformation, the intent is unmistakable: to depress turnout among people of color by fueling cynicism and distrust in the political process.
What makes these hoaxes so powerful is not where they come from, but how successfully they tap into voters' worries.
"When you think about the 2016 Russian influence, especially among Black voters, it was basically bringing up internal discussions that Black people have been having for decades," said Dwight Bullard, political director for the New Florida Majority, a progressive voting rights group.
Doubts about whether anyone's vote really matters, or whether politicians truly have Black people's best interests at heart are "a discussion at the barbershop," he said. "That's a discussion that happens around kitchen tables every weekend."
Activist Andre Banks said these unwelcome suggestions that Black Americans sit out the election are the latest chapter in a long history of voter suppression.
"We are now talking about this misinformation as a part of the same trajectory as a poll tax, as a literacy test," he said. "A sustained campaign targeted at Black Americans — and often brown Americans as well — to limit our political power, to limit our ability to shape the decisions that are made in this country."
Those concerns spurred Banks to co-found Win Black, a campaign to guard against the kind of disinformation that spread online four years ago. One of the Russian efforts that got the most online engagement was a Facebook group called "Blacktivist."
Their strategy, Banks said, was "masquerading as black Americans, drawing people into conversation and ultimately turning that conversation toward bad information and often toward a sort of deep cynicism that made people sort of less inspired to participate."
It's hard to measure the precise impact of these efforts at the polls. Black voter turnout in 2016 was lower than in 2008 and 2012 — when President Barack Obama was on the ticket — but still high compared with earlier election cycles.
The U.K.'s Channel 4 News and the Miami Herald have reported that President Trump's campaign intentionally targeted Black voters in swing states with Facebook ads intended to deter them from voting, citing internal data from the Trump campaign. The Trump campaign called the reporting "nonsense."
This year, Win Black and other groups say suppression efforts are being pushed widely, both online and offline, and by sources within the United States.
"We see a lot of these efforts happening all over the country, everything from robocalls to paid networks of trolls ... popularizing untrue information," Banks said.
Last week, Win Black and a partner group in Texas put up billboards assuring voters it's safe to return their ballots by mail. That was in response to flyers that appeared in some majority-Latino neighborhoods claiming, falsely, that the U.S. Postal Service would collect voters' information from ballots and put it in a government database. (Election officials in many states say it is now too late for voters to return absentee ballots by mail and are encouraging them instead to deliver their ballots by hand or vote in person.)
Groups tracking disinformation have also noted attacks on Sen. Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, such as false claims about her racial identity and her history as a prosecutor in California.
"There's been rampant misinformation about her record, who she is, what she's about," the New Florida Majority's Bullard said.
Not all of the online disinformation campaigns targeting Black and Latino Americans are trying to suppress their vote. Twitter this month suspended accounts that were pretending to be Black supporters of Trump — some of which had gained thousands of followers.
Separately, a photo of rappers Ice Cube and 50 Cent that had been doctored to make it look like they were wearing "Trump 2020" hats was shared widely on Facebook and Twitter, including by Eric Trump, the president's son. Trump later deleted his tweet, but it contributed to the spread of the manipulated photo, according to Zignal Labs, a company that tracks social media.
With Election Day looming and the volume of false claims rising, activists are turning to social media to get the facts out.
Win Black has launched a campaign with More Than a Vote, a voting rights group started by basketball star LeBron James, to help young Black and Latino voters resist attempts to silence their votes.
One video, from the comedy duo Desus and Mero, offers tips on spotting bad information.
"That wild meme your uncle sent you, with a conspiracy about COVID and mail-in voting? It might be from Moscow," it says. "No joke."


npr--2020-10-30--With Many Campuses Closed, Will College Students Turn Out To Vote?

With Many Campuses Closed , Will College Students Turn Out To Vote ?
Despite a legacy of low turnout , college students — and young people in general — could be a decisive voting bloc in this election .
Already , nearly 5 million Americans , ages 18 to 29 , have cast early votes , a far higher number than at this point in 2016 .
But will this fall 's pandemic campus experience upend optimistic projections for a college student turnout ?
`` This election year is just incredibly important , '' says Annie Rosenow , a senior @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rochester , who 's been working on campus voter outreach .
`` For me and many of my peers , it 's our first time voting in a presidential election . ''
She 's part of a broad upward trend in college students and young voters in recent years : College students more than doubled their rate of voting between the 2014 and 2018 midterm elections , according to research from Tufts University .
In the 2016 presidential election , 48 % of college students voted .
Experts predict that percentage will grow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from Harvard University 's Institute of Politics found that 63 % of 18- to 29-year-olds said they would `` definitely '' vote in the election .
In 2016 , that number was 47 % .
Rosenow requested an absentee ballot from her home state of Pennsylvania ; it was sent to her childhood home , so her father drove the three hours to her campus in New York state so she could fill it out .
He took the sealed ballot back home to turn it in .
Despite voting early , she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ polling place to campus on Election Day , encouraging her classmates , too : `` No matter who you 're voting for , you should express your civic duty and vote . ''
If Rosenow and many of her college-age peers turn out , they could have an important impact : Young people make up 37 % of eligible voters , according to census data analyzed by the Brookings Institution .
And in some states , the number of college students can affect a tight race : The state university system in Wisconsin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2016 , Hillary Clinton lost that state by 22,177 votes .
The unknown variable , of course , is the coronavirus pandemic and how it has disrupted the academic year .
More than 40 % of U.S. colleges are fully or primarily online for the fall semester , and that could have a big impact on turnout , says Nancy Thomas , director of the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education at Tufts .
She says campus closures , plus the attempts to suppress the college vote by limiting polling places , could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were expecting .
While total registration of young people has exceeded 2016 levels , in more than a dozen states registration among first-time voters — 18- and 19-year-olds — is lower than in 2016 .
That does n't surprise Rosenow at the University of Rochester .
`` COVID changed our whole mindset in terms of getting out the vote and trying to get students to register , '' she says .
Usually her organization sets up tables in common spaces or on the quad , `` and then I just pretty much scream @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vote . ''
This year , `` tabling is one of those things we definitely ca n't do .
So we had to really focus our efforts on social media . ''
At Rochester , they 've transitioned their outreach online — inviting clubs and athletic teams to make social media commitments to vote , helping students request mail-in and absentee ballots , and using the platform TurboVote to keep students informed about the election process .
Rosenow says there 's been a lot of confusion about mail-in voting since students live all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be hard to navigate .
Thomas , the Tufts researcher , agrees .
`` The fact that students are online is problematic , '' she says .
`` Voting is a very social act , and we know that convenience matters and that people , not just students , vote at higher rates if they can walk to a polling location or they have a short distance to drive . ''
This is likely to be felt more strongly in local or U.S. House races , where an infusion of college students can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Thomas is still optimistic : College students thrive on social media , she notes , and have become adept at creating communities online .
Following protests this summer , Thomas also expects that many young voters are fired up : `` Activism is so high right now that it may actually be counteracting some of the downside of COVID , '' she says , `` This generation really cares , and if they can be told the many reasons why they do need to vote , I think they will . ''

With Many Campuses Closed, Will College Students Turn Out To Vote?
Enlarge this image toggle caption Elissa Nadworny/NPR Elissa Nadworny/NPR
Despite a legacy of low turnout, college students — and young people in general — could be a decisive voting bloc in this election. Already, nearly 5 million Americans, ages 18 to 29, have cast early votes, a far higher number than at this point in 2016.
But will this fall's pandemic campus experience upend optimistic projections for a college student turnout?
"This election year is just incredibly important," says Annie Rosenow, a junior political science major at the University of Rochester, who's been working on campus voter outreach. "For me and many of my peers, it's our first time voting in a presidential election."
She's part of a broad upward trend in college students and young voters in recent years: College students more than doubled their rate of voting between the 2014 and 2018 midterm elections, according to research from Tufts University.
Loading...
In the 2016 presidential election, 48% of college students voted. Experts predict that percentage will grow this year. A poll on Monday from Harvard University's Institute of Politics found that 63% of 18- to 29-year-olds said they would "definitely" vote in the election. In 2016, that number was 47%.
Rosenow requested an absentee ballot from her home state of Pennsylvania; it was sent to her childhood home, so her father drove the three hours to her campus in New York state so she could fill it out. He took the sealed ballot back home to turn it in.
Despite voting early, she's planning on being at the closest polling place to campus on Election Day, encouraging her classmates, too: "No matter who you're voting for, you should express your civic duty and vote."
If Rosenow and many of her college-age peers turn out, they could have an important impact: Young people make up 37% of eligible voters, according to census data analyzed by the Brookings Institution.
And in some states, the number of college students can affect a tight race: The state university system in Wisconsin enrolls about 170,000 students, and in 2016, Hillary Clinton lost that state by 22,177 votes.
Worries about campus closure
The unknown variable, of course, is the coronavirus pandemic and how it has disrupted the academic year. More than 40% of U.S. colleges are fully or primarily online for the fall semester, and that could have a big impact on turnout, says Nancy Thomas, director of the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education at Tufts. She says campus closures, plus the attempts to suppress the college vote by limiting polling places, could dampen the growth in voting rates researchers were expecting.
While total registration of young people has exceeded 2016 levels, in more than a dozen states registration among first-time voters — 18- and 19-year-olds — is lower than in 2016.
That doesn't surprise Rosenow at the University of Rochester. "COVID changed our whole mindset in terms of getting out the vote and trying to get students to register," she says. Usually her organization sets up tables in common spaces or on the quad, "and then I just pretty much scream at other students to get them to vote."
This year, "tabling is one of those things we definitely can't do. So we had to really focus our efforts on social media."
At Rochester, they've transitioned their outreach online — inviting clubs and athletic teams to make social media commitments to vote, helping students request mail-in and absentee ballots, and using the platform TurboVote to keep students informed about the election process. Rosenow says there's been a lot of confusion about mail-in voting since students live all over the country and the process can be hard to navigate.
Thomas, the Tufts researcher, agrees. "The fact that students are online is problematic," she says. "Voting is a very social act, and we know that convenience matters and that people, not just students, vote at higher rates if they can walk to a polling location or they have a short distance to drive."
This is likely to be felt more strongly in local or U.S. House races, where an infusion of college students can help swing an area Democratic.
But Thomas is still optimistic: College students thrive on social media, she notes, and have become adept at creating communities online.
Following protests this summer, Thomas also expects that many young voters are fired up: "Activism is so high right now that it may actually be counteracting some of the downside of COVID," she says, "This generation really cares, and if they can be told the many reasons why they do need to vote, I think they will."


npr--2020-10-30--Who Can Vote In The U.S? The Answer Has Changed A Lot Throughout History

Who Can Vote In The U.S ?
The Answer Has Changed A Lot Throughout History NPR 's history podcast Throughline @ @ @ @ @ ongoing battle for the right to vote .

Who Can Vote In The U.S? The Answer Has Changed A Lot Throughout History
NPR's history podcast Throughline gives us insight onto the ongoing battle for the right to vote.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Who has a say in American democracy? The answer has changed many times since this country's founding. People of all races and genders can now vote. But over time, barriers have been put in their way. Here are the hosts of NPR's history podcast Throughline, Rund Abdelfatah and Ramtin Arablouei.
RUND ABDELFATAH, BYLINE: On February 26, 1870, just a few years after the Civil War had ended, the 15th Amendment to the Constitution was passed, granting all Black men the right to vote. It was a moment of hope, of progress. But it was soon met with intense resistance, especially in the South.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Chanting, unintelligible).
DAVID BLIGHT: This counterrevolution by the white South was wrecked upon Black America. It was wrecked upon free people.
RAMTIN ARABLOUEI, BYLINE: This is David Blight, author of "Frederick Douglass: Prophet Of Freedom."
BLIGHT: The emergence of the Ku Klux Klan and many other imitators who will wage a informal, largely vigilante terror war against Black politics and the Black right to vote using intimidation and using virulent, you know, white supremacy.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: I remember my mother taking us to the back of the house and pulling down the blinds and closing the curtains because the Klan was marching.
BLIGHT: And by and large, it succeeded by the end of Reconstruction and the beginning of that era we tend to call the Jim Crow era.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
ABDELFATAH: The Jim Crow era would last almost a hundred years and would be defined by the violent, systematic oppression of Black Americans across the South.
BLIGHT: Some of the most pernicious forms of voter suppression - I mean, blatant discriminations - poll taxes, you know, literacy tests. And there were all kinds of weird machinations that the Southern states went to to prevent Blacks from voting.
CAROL ANDERSON: By the time the U.S. is getting ready to fight Nazis, only 3% of African American adults were registered to vote in the South.
ARABLOUEI: This is Carol Anderson, author of "One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy."
ANDERSON: And the federal government, even if it wanted to, didn't quite have the mechanism to intervene.
(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Warnings of arrest, threats of jail terms and violence all failed to put out what burns in the hearts and minds of the youngsters.
PRESIDENT LYNDON B JOHNSON: The command of the Constitution is plain. It is wrong - deadly wrong to deny any of your fellow Americans the right to vote in this country.
(APPLAUSE)
ABDELFATAH: On August 6, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, which outlawed the discriminatory voting practices of the Jim Crow era. This was a big deal. The federal government was finally taking a firm stance against voter suppression.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JOHNSON: At times, history and fate meet at a single time in a single place to shape a turning point in man's unending search for freedom.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: We'll hear argument first this morning in case 12-96, Shelby County v. Holder. Mr. Rein...
ARABLOUEI: Fast-forward to 2013. The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, decided that crucial parts of the Voting Rights Act were unconstitutional. Chief Justice John Roberts explained the court's decision.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JOHN ROBERTS: I think what we're talking about here is that Congress looks and says, well, we did solve that problem, as everyone agrees. It's been very effective. Section 5 has...
ANDERSON: Roberts ruled that racism wasn't like it was back in the '60s. I mean, I - we have overcome.
ARABLOUEI: Of course, racial discrimination is still a grim reality of voting in America. And Shelby v. Holder only made things worse.
BLIGHT: Voter ID laws have been passed in so many states, you can't count them now. I mean, all these methods the Republicans are using in many, many states - reducing hours of voting, reducing days of early voting, reducing numbers of polls, fighting now over mail-in ballots.
ANDERSON: I mean, we like to treat this kind of disenfranchisement as some kind of relic of the past. No. In the 2018 election, I voted early so that I could drive folk to and from the polls because here in Georgia, they had shut down over 200 polling places and the majority of those in minority and poor communities.
And one of the women that I drove - she was, like, 90. And we go to the polls. And they're, like, how are you doing, Ms. - you know, and they name her - call her name. And she's like, I'm fine. They're, like, we got to see your ID. And she's trying to get, with these 90-year-old fingers, this ID out of her wallet when they know her.
She's able to get it out, and she votes. And we get back in the car. And she's like, mm hmm. I remember when I had to read something when I first tried to vote here in Georgia. And they were asking me all these questions - literacy tests.
And so this woman who had to come through Georgia's literacy tests is now having to deal with Georgia's voter ID laws with a powerful civil rights movement and a Voting Rights Act in between those two moments. We live on the plane of aspiration of what this nation could be, but we're also so aware of how fragile, how tenuous progress is. And that's why we fight.
INSKEEP: A history of barriers to voting from Rund Abdelfatah and Ramtin Arablouei of NPR's history podcast Throughline.
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npr--2020-10-30--How More Women Than Men Are Being Impacted By The Recession

How More Women Than Men Are Being Impacted By The Recession Of the 1.1 million people who left the job @ @ @ @ @ than 860,000 were women .
We examine why women are dropping out of the workforce @ @ @ @ @ mean for the economy .

How More Women Than Men Are Being Impacted By The Recession
Of the 1.1 million people who left the job market in September, more than 860,000 were women. We examine why women are dropping out of the workforce, and what it will mean for the economy.
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
Over 1 million people left the job market in September. More than 860,000 of them were women. Stacey Vanek Smith and Cardiff Garcia from Planet Money's Indicator podcast examined how this recession is impacting women more than men.
STACEY VANEK SMITH, BYLINE: Cassie Gafford (ph) knew she wanted to be a dentist from a young age. It wasn't an easy path. The training was really intense.
CASSIE GAFFORD: Dental school is very grueling. It feels like it's never going to end. And then, all of a sudden, it does. And you're a dentist.
CARDIFF GARCIA, BYLINE: Cassie joined a private practice in Philadelphia. And she loved the job.
GAFFORD: And then the pandemic hit.
GARCIA: Cassie's dental practice closed as part of the mandated shutdown. And her daughter's daycare also closed.
VANEK SMITH: The dental practice remained closed for months. But over the summer, the economic lockdown relaxed. The practice reopened. And Cassie's boss gave her a call.
GAFFORD: He said, can you start back up in two weeks? And I had to take care of my family.
GARCIA: Cassie Gafford says that when her boss asked her to come back to work, it started off a long series of conversations with her husband.
GAFFORD: We'd talk about it over and over again, which is one of the more stressful things in our marriage, with me on the one hand worrying about my future as a dentist, him on the other hand worrying about our daughter being alive next year. It was just easiest for me to stay - continue to stay home.
GARCIA: This is the exact situation that millions of women across the U.S. are experiencing right now. That's according to Martha Gimbel, an economist at Schmidt Futures who studies the labor market.
MARTHA GIMBEL: The problem is is that right now a lot of women don't really have choices, right? They can't send their kids to school. Someone has to supervise the learning. Someone has to deal with the cooking. Someone has to deal with the cleaning. And it's falling onto them. And so they can't make choices that they want to make.
GARCIA: Martha says that women are experiencing this more than men are. And there are a few reasons for this. For one thing, cultural precedent - Martha says that although things have changed tremendously for women, in heterosexual couples, at least, childcare and housework still tend to fall more on women.
VANEK SMITH: Also because women generally get paid less than men do, if a couple is making an economic decision, it often makes more sense for the woman to stop working. As a result, the share of women in the workforce is the lowest it's been in decades.
GIMBEL: The problem is is that we have a lot of evidence that when you take time out of the labor force, it can be very difficult to get back in. And the other aspect of this is you are not then making progress in your career. You are not getting promoted. You are not building out skills and experience that will cause future employers to pay you more money.
GAFFORD: I am constantly worried about my career and the trajectory of my career. I've always wanted to be a dentist. And I was a dentist. I still am a dentist. But I'm not practicing in the way that I always thought I would. And that's a little demoralizing. And yet, I know it's the right decision for my family.
GARCIA: In the meantime, Cassie Gafford has started doing a little teaching. And she hopes to return to her dentistry practice as soon as it is safe for her family.
VANEK SMITH: Stacey Vanek Smith.
GARCIA: Cardiff Garcia, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF WHITNEY'S "RHODODENDRON")
Copyright © 2020 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.


npr--2020-10-30--Rural Idaho Hospitals Are Feeling The Pressure As Coronavirus Cases Fill Up Beds

Rural Idaho Hospitals Are Feeling The Pressure As Coronavirus Cases Fill Up Beds In the Rockies , small hospitals have @ @ @ @ @ when city hospitals are filling up .
They report having to hold critical patients longer @ @ @ @ @ , often out of state .

Rural Idaho Hospitals Are Feeling The Pressure As Coronavirus Cases Fill Up Beds
In the Rockies, small hospitals have no place to send patients when city hospitals are filling up. They report having to hold critical patients longer or transfer them far away, often out of state.
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
Small rural hospitals are growing anxious about bed capacity right now. They usually send their most serious patients to bigger hospitals, but now those bigger facilities are overwhelmed. Rachel Cohen of Boise State Public Radio has been taking a look at the impact of COVID-19 hospitalizations on the Rocky Mountain states.
RACHEL COHEN, BYLINE: Most rural hospitals are used to sending people to bigger facilities in cities in serious situations.
JOHN MCCARTHY: They're just not designed for 24/7 care.
COHEN: That's Dr. John McCarthy, dean of the University of Washington medical school's rural programs. McCarthy says doctors at these tiny hospitals are used to thinking on their feet, but they rely on being able to transfer patients to city hospitals.
MCCARTHY: You can't transfer your patient who's going to need neonatal intubation, and you don't have the care team to deal with that. The patient will suffer as a result of that.
COHEN: Normally, things work out OK. Patients get where they need to go. But now hospitals in many Mountain West cities which typically take them are filling up because of COVID-19, cutting off that lifeline - and not just for COVID patients. This week, the 17-bed Minidoka Memorial Hospital in Rupert, Idaho, a city of 6,000 outside Twin Falls, had a car crash victim.
TOM MURPHY: We realized that they had maybe a tear or some sort of internal injury that needed a higher level of care.
COHEN: Tom Murphy, the hospital's CEO, says it was a challenge to get that patient into the University of Utah hospital about 180 miles away. Last week, University's ICU was at 99% capacity with COVID patients. Utah's health department has warned nearby states to prepare for the possibility that nearly all out-of-state transfers could soon be cut off. And Minidoka is getting slammed by coronavirus, too. Murphy describes what one of his ER doctors faced last week.
MURPHY: He had, in the span of 12 hours, four COVID-positive patients that needed to be admitted to a higher level of care.
COHEN: His three-bed COVID unit was full, so the emergency department spent hours on the phone before they finally found space at a scattering of local hospitals. One in Twin Falls could only accept a patient after they discharged one of their own.
MURPHY: It is a critical situation. Our staff are worn out. We're tired. And we care. And that's why we're hanging in there.
COHEN: University of Washington rural specialist John McCarthy says hospitals like Minidoka might need to hold on to people for longer or send them further away.
MCCARTHY: And that works for some diseases, and it's not a problem. And that doesn't work for other diseases, and it's a very significant problem. So patient care suffers as a result of that.
COHEN: Hospitalizations are at record levels in five of seven Rocky Mountain states. Three are reporting serious hospital capacity issues. Minidoka Memorial Hospital CEO Tom Murphy.
MURPHY: If we don't have the capacity - we don't have a bed here, we don't have a bed in Twin or Pocatello or Idaho Falls and we can't transfer to Utah, what do those folks do that need more than just oxygen treatment? I don't know. I'm very fearful for the future and what lies ahead.
COHEN: Idaho hospital leaders say to come up with extra capacity within the state, they'll progressively turn the hospitals into COVID wards, unit by unit, delaying procedures like heart surgeries. And Murphy says if hospitalizations increase by just 10%, his facility could start rationing care and deciding who gets a bed and who doesn't.
For NPR News, I'm Rachel Cohen in Twin Falls.
(SOUNDBITE OF AMERICAN FOOTBALL SONG, "FOR SURE")
Copyright © 2020 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.


npr--2020-10-30--How The Election Might Affect Stock Prices

How The Election Might Affect Stock Prices Trump says a Democratic victory next week will send stock prices plummeting .
@ @ @ @ @ the prospect of a Biden presidency .
Mainly investors are worried about COVID-19 .

How The Election Might Affect Stock Prices
Trump says a Democratic victory next week will send stock prices plummeting. But Wall Street ambivalent about the prospect of a Biden presidency. Mainly investors are worried about COVID-19.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The stock market has done very well under President Trump. It hit record highs before the pandemic. The market crashed as the pandemic arrived, but then recovered. And it has only lost some of those gains in the last couple of days. Needless to say, the president promotes this and makes baseless predictions about the market's future if Joe Biden is elected.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You're going to have a depression. And your 401(k)s - does anybody have a 401(k)?
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: Throw them away. They're not going to be worth it.
INSKEEP: There is no basis to predict a depression under either president. But the market now may offer clues to what investors think about the future. So NPR's Jim Zarroli has been talking with investors. Hey there, Jim.
JIM ZARROLI, BYLINE: Good morning.
INSKEEP: What do people with money in the market say about the possibility of a Biden presidency?
ZARROLI: I think Wall Street's kind of ambivalent about it. I mean, you know, on the one hand, Biden is a Democrat. He's talking about raising taxes on corporations and rich people. He wants to see more regulation on businesses. These are things Wall Street doesn't like. On the other hand, you know, you have this pandemic that's just ripped a big hole in the economy. And Biden has made clear that if he's president, he's going to - he wants to see strong, immediate action to try to stop the bleeding.
He's talked about, you know, a lot of government spending to aid - to schools and city budgets and small businesses. I spoke yesterday with Mark Zandi, who is chief economist at Moody's Analytics. And he says a lot of people now think this is really necessary what Biden's talking about. Now, of course, President Trump also wants to see the government spend money to get the economy moving, just not so much. So Zandi says Wall Street sees good and bad in both.
MARK ZANDI: Biden is, you know, a lot of growth, but higher taxes. Trump is a lot less taxes, but slower growth.
ZARROLI: So I have to say here that all bets are off if we have a contested election. I mean, the markets - stock market just hates uncertainty. That would be a lot of uncertainty on the table.
INSKEEP: Is this maybe the strongest card the president has to play for reelection - the stock market is still doing well even if the economy is not doing so well.
ZARROLI: Yeah. I mean, I think he would - Trump would love to see this become a big issue. He's talked about how if Biden becomes president, the stock market's going to crash. You know, but the truth really is that Biden has been leading in the polls basically throughout this campaign pretty steadily. The odds have favored him winning for a while. And more recently, it's looked like the Senate could be controlled by Democrats.
I mean, we could be looking at a Democratic sweep next week, and yet the stock market hasn't really flinched. Even after the pandemic hit and the economy just fell off a cliff, you had stocks hitting record highs this summer. So the stock market, you know, it's always a bet on the future. Right now, there doesn't seem to be evidence that investors are especially worried about the election. Wall Street just seems to be shrugging off this idea of a Biden presidency.
INSKEEP: Oh, interesting. So the strong market this summer and fall suggests investors are not that worried. However, the market has plunged more than 900 points just on Wednesday. What's that about?
ZARROLI: Yeah. I think that's more about the pandemic. We've seen a surge in new cases in the U.S. and Europe. Lockdowns are getting reimposed in some places. People aren't going to restaurants and bars. You know, I think there was a lot of optimism that things would get back to normal before. I think investors aren't so sure right now. And that goes back to how important this pandemic is. It's absolutely the most important challenge the economy faces right now.
INSKEEP: NPR's Jim Zarroli. Thanks.
ZARROLI: You're welcome.
Copyright © 2020 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.


npr--2020-10-30--With Lil Wayne, Ice Cube And 50 Cent, Trump Makes Final Push For Black Voters

With Lil Wayne , Ice Cube And 50 Cent , Trump Makes Final Push For Black Voters Before President Trump left Miami on Thursday for another long day on the campaign trail , he had a private meeting with a supporter with a big following among a group of voters his campaign has been courting all year : rapper Lil Wayne .
Later , Lil Wayne revealed the meeting to nearly 35 million fans on Twitter .
The Trump campaign , delighted with the endorsement , promoted it to its outreach list for Black voters .
It 's still a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a reliable source of strong support for Democratic presidential candidates , and no rapper is going to make a big dent in that .
But after getting only 8 percent of the Black vote in 2016 , Trump is hoping to make at least some gains this time .
It 's been a two-prong strategy .
On the one hand , the campaign is promoting his track record on criminal justice reform , funding for historically Black colleges , and other issues important to Black voters .
But time and time again , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one clear message to Black voters : do n't vote for Joe Biden .
Trump has blamed Biden for nearly every policy that has negatively impacted Black Americans over the past 40 years .
Even when Trump unveiled his second term agenda for Black voters called `` The Platinum Plan , '' he spent most of his time bashing Joe Biden , name-checking him more than 20 times .
Critics say this strategy is aimed more at discouraging Black people from participating in the process at all than it is at winning them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has denied that this is their intent .
Campaign adviser Katrina Pierson says the goal is to draw a contrast and to push back against the notion that Trump 's presidency has not been good for Black people .
`` It is a very conscious argument to make , considering that America has to make a choice on who they want to lead our country for the next four years , '' Pierson said in an interview .
Attempting to convert Black voters into Trump supporters was always a tall order .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into outreach to African Americans , and advisers say they believe they have made some inroads .
The campaign spent $ 20 million on radio and TV ads — including a Super Bowl spot — as well as door-knocking operations and opening 17 field offices in Black neighborhoods in swing states .
Polls have shown some growth in support in certain parts of the Black electorate , but experts are skeptical about how much impact it will have .
The website FiveThirtyEight.com did an analysis earlier this month that found that Trump was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ His support was at 21 percent in 2020 with voters under 44 , up from 10 percent in 2016 .
More recent surveys have since showed Trump 's support among young Black voters dropping , but he remains slightly more popular with them than with older Black voters .
The problem for Trump is that younger voters are n't as committed as older ones to getting out to vote , although there are some signs that the youth voting rate will higher than usual this year .
`` To the extent Donald Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voters , they are more likely those voters who are already going to vote Republican or those voters who traditionally do n't vote at all and they 're sort of disengaged , '' said Theodore Johnson , of the Brennan Center for Justice .
Johnson , who studies the role of race in elections , points to the 2012 presidential election as a prime example of how young people do not always show up .
Turnout for African American voters under 30 dropped that year , but former President Barack Obama benefited from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ age of 45 .
Even with the drop in young voters , Black voter participation still surpassed white participation for the first time ever .
`` Older individuals are willing not only to turn out , but they 're willing to put up with the crap that is required for turning out , '' said Chryl Laird , who co-authored a book on Black political behavior .
There is one other part of the Black voting bloc that has shown some openness to Trump : Black men .
While most Black men are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ likely to back the president than Black women .
The campaign has tried to appeal to Black men by highlighting former athletes who back Trump — and more recently , some big-name rap stars .
Rapper 50 Cent briefly expressed support for Trump in an expletive-ridden post on Instagram after complaining that Biden would raise his taxes .
He later walked back his statements .
50 Cent represents the type of Black male voter more likely to find Trump appealing , Laird said .
`` Clearly , his monetary gains and his monetary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Black community is or what Black people even think of him .
And he said so , '' Laird said .
Another rapper , Ice Cube , also announced that he worked with the Trump campaign on its `` Platinum Plan '' for Black economic empowerment .
Ice Cube told Fox News Sunday that he still had not decided who would get his vote , but he was willing to work with whoever will help African Americans .
Trump adviser Pierson says she thinks the strategy will work .
She believes Trump will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voters this time .
But Johnson said an increase of a few points would not represent a historic level of support for a Republican president .
The only Republicans in recent decades who did worse than Trump with Black voters were on the ballot against the first Black president .
`` What we 're seeing today is not Donald Trump converting Black voters to the Republican Party .
We are seeing Black Republicans coming back home , '' Johnson said .

With Lil Wayne, Ice Cube And 50 Cent, Trump Makes Final Push For Black Voters
Enlarge this image toggle caption Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
Updated 5:30 p.m. ET
Before President Trump left Miami on Thursday for another long day on the campaign trail, he had a private meeting with a supporter with a big following among a group of voters his campaign has been courting all year: rapper Lil Wayne.
Later, Lil Wayne revealed the meeting to nearly 35 million fans on Twitter.
The Trump campaign, delighted with the endorsement, promoted it to its outreach list for Black voters. The effort is still a very long shot. Black voters are a reliable source of strong support for Democratic presidential candidates, and no rapper is going to make a big dent in that.
But after getting only 8% of the Black vote in 2016, Trump is hoping to make at least some gains this time.
It has been a two-prong strategy. On the one hand, the campaign is promoting his track record on criminal justice reform, funding for historically Black colleges and other issues important to Black voters.
But time and time again, Trump has also tried to drive home one clear message to Black voters: Don't vote for Joe Biden. Trump has blamed Biden for nearly every policy that has negatively impacted Black Americans over the past 40 years.
At a rally in Green Bay, Wis., on Friday, Trump linked his negative messaging on Biden to what he said was low Black voter turnout. "You know, the Black vote is not turning out for him," Trump said, repeating an inaccurate attack line he has often used against the former senator, saying that he had used the term "super predators" to describe African American men. (Biden had not.) "That's a term that nobody would like. But they're not showing up to vote and others aren't either," Trump said.
Even when Trump unveiled his second-term agenda for Black voters called "The Platinum Plan," he spent most of his time bashing Biden, name-checking him more than 20 times.
Critics say this strategy is aimed more at discouraging Black people from participating in the process than it is at winning them over. But, the Trump campaign has denied that this is its intent.
Campaign adviser Katrina Pierson says the goal is to draw a contrast and to push back against the notion that Trump's presidency has not been good for Black people.
"It is a very conscious argument to make, considering that America has to make a choice on who they want to lead our country for the next four years," Pierson said in an interview.
Attempting to convert Black voters into Trump supporters was always a tall order. But the Trump campaign has poured money into outreach to African Americans, and advisers say they believe they have made some inroads.
The campaign spent $20 million on radio and TV ads — including a Super Bowl spot — as well as door-knocking operations and opening 17 field offices in Black neighborhoods in swing states.
Polls have shown some growth in support in certain parts of the Black electorate, but experts are skeptical about how much impact it will have.
The website FiveThirtyEight.com did an analysis earlier this month that found that Trump was doing better with younger African Americans. His support was at 21 percent in 2020 with voters under 44, up from 10 percent in 2016. More recent surveys have since showed Trump's support among young Black voters dropping, but he remains slightly more popular with them than with older Black voters.
The problem for Trump is that younger voters aren't as committed as older ones to getting out to vote, although there are some signs that the youth voting rate will be higher than usual this year.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
"To the extent Donald Trump is making inroads with the younger black voters, they are more likely those voters who are already going to vote Republican or those voters who traditionally don't vote at all and they're sort of disengaged," said Theodore Johnson of the Brennan Center for Justice.
Johnson, who studies the role of race in elections, points to the 2012 presidential election as a prime example of how young people do not always show up.
"Older individuals are willing not only to turn out, but they're willing to put up with the crap that is required for turning out."
Turnout for African American voters under 30 dropped that year, but President Barack Obama benefited from a surge in Black voters over the age of 45. Even with the drop in young voters, Black voter participation still surpassed white participation for the first time.
"Older individuals are willing not only to turn out, but they're willing to put up with the crap that is required for turning out," said Chryl Laird, who co-authored a book on Black political behavior.
There is one other part of the Black voting bloc that has shown some openness to Trump: Black men. While most Black men are not Trump supporters, they are more likely to back the president than Black women are.
The campaign has tried to appeal to Black men by highlighting former athletes who back Trump — and more recently, some big-name rap stars.
Rapper 50 Cent briefly expressed support for Trump in an expletive-ridden post on Instagram after complaining that Biden would raise his taxes. He later walked back his statements.
50 Cent represents the type of Black male voter more likely to find Trump appealing, Laird said.
"Clearly, his monetary gains and his monetary goals outweigh his views on where the Black community is or what Black people even think of him. And he said so," Laird said.
Watch the latest video at foxnews.com
Another rapper, Ice Cube, also announced that he worked with the Trump campaign on its Platinum Plan for Black economic empowerment. Ice Cube told Fox News Sunday that he still had not decided who would get his vote, but he was willing to work with whoever will help African Americans.
Trump adviser Pierson says she thinks the strategy will work. She believes Trump will reach into the double digits among Black voters this time.
But Johnson said an increase of a few points would not represent a historic level of support for a Republican president. The only Republicans in recent decades who did worse than Trump with Black voters were on the ballot against the first Black president.
"What we're seeing today is not Donald Trump converting Black voters to the Republican Party. We are seeing Black Republicans coming back home," Johnson said.