npr--2020-07-28--Twitter Restricts Donald Trump Jr.'s Account Over COVID-19 Misinformation

Twitter put a 12-hour restriction on Donald Trump Jr. 's account , saying the president 's son put out a tweet that contained `` misleading and potentially harmful '' information about the coronavirus .
The news emerged after a person close to Trump Jr. — Republican political strategist Andrew Surabian — posted a screenshot showing what appeared to be a message to Trump Jr. alerting him of a temporary limit on his account based on the company 's policy on spreading misinformation on COVID-19 .
The message said the president 's eldest son would n't be able to tweet or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lifted .
However , Trump Jr. did retain his ability to send direct messages to his followers , the message said .
Twitter confirmed the restriction in a subsequent tweet , emphasizing the action was a temporary limit on some of his account 's features and not a permanent suspension .
Twitter confirmed to NPR that the tweet contained video of a press conference , disseminated by Breitbart News , of a group calling itself America 's Frontline Doctors that had spread throughout social media .
The video questions the efficacy of mask @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the contrary .
It also promotes giving the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to coronavirus patients .
Trump has touted this idea despite a lack of scientific evidence .
The National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration have said the drug is not likely to be effective .
Tweets sharing the video were deleted , the company confirmed .
In addition to removing the video , the social media giant placed temporary restrictions on Breitbart News .
President Trump also reportedly shared the video and retweeted others promoting the use of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's timeline have been deleted .
Other social media companies reacted similarly , with YouTube telling NPR that it removed the video for violating its policies on spreading misinformation about COVID-19 .
Multiple media outlets reported that Facebook took down the video down as well .
Social media companies have struggled to combat false and misleading information about the pandemic posted on their platforms .
Twitter , Facebook and Google all introduced policies to better identify and remove false and dubious information about the coronavirus pandemic .
Editor 's note : Google and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

Twitter Restricts Donald Trump Jr.'s Account Over COVID-19 Misinformation
Enlarge this image toggle caption Evan Vucci/AP Evan Vucci/AP
Updated at 6:45 p.m. ET
Twitter put a 12-hour restriction on Donald Trump Jr.'s account, saying the president's son put out a tweet that contained "misleading and potentially harmful" information about the coronavirus.
The news emerged after a person close to Trump Jr. — Republican political strategist Andrew Surabian — posted a screenshot showing what appeared to be a message to Trump Jr. alerting him of a temporary limit on his account based on the company's policy on spreading misinformation on COVID-19.
The message said the president's eldest son wouldn't be able to tweet or follow new accounts until the restrictions were lifted. However, Trump Jr. did retain his ability to send direct messages to his followers, the message said.
Twitter confirmed the restriction in a subsequent tweet, emphasizing the action was a temporary limit on some of his account's features and not a permanent suspension.
Twitter confirmed to NPR that the tweet contained video of a press conference, disseminated by Breitbart News, of a group calling itself America's Frontline Doctors that had spread throughout social media.
The video questions the efficacy of mask usage despite widespread and clear evidence to the contrary. It also promotes giving the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to coronavirus patients. Trump has touted this idea despite a lack of scientific evidence. The National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration have said the drug is not likely to be effective.
Tweets sharing the video were deleted, the company confirmed. In addition to removing the video, the social media giant placed temporary restrictions on Breitbart News.
President Trump also reportedly shared the video and retweeted others promoting the use of the drug. Two tweets on the president's timeline have been deleted.
Other social media companies reacted similarly, with YouTube telling NPR that it removed the video for violating its policies on spreading misinformation about COVID-19. Multiple media outlets reported that Facebook took down the video down as well.
Social media companies have struggled to combat false and misleading information about the pandemic posted on their platforms. Twitter, Facebook and Google all introduced policies to better identify and remove false and dubious information about the coronavirus pandemic.
Editor's note: Google and Facebook are among NPR's financial supporters.


npr--2020-07-29--Data Analysis: COVID-19 Is Filling Up Hospitals in Small Cities

Data Analysis : COVID-19 Is Filling Up Hospitals in Small Cities Larry Pichon called an ambulance to take his wife , Judy , to a hospital in Lake Charles , in southwest Louisiana , on the morning of July 13 .
He 'd had to do this before .
She had a rare autoimmune disease — granulomatosis with polyangiitis , which causes inflammation of blood vessels and can be particularly damaging for the lungs and kidneys .
It was n't uncommon for Judy to make a trip to the emergency room .
`` When she got in the ambulance to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her , and that was around nine o'clock , '' Larry remembered .
Larry would normally have accompanied his wife and waited at the hospital , but rules enacted amid the surge of coronavirus cases meant he could n't stay .
Judy called around 5 p.m. to say she was feeling better .
She told him not to come to the hospital .
At 8 p.m. , her condition changed .
Judy was put on a ventilator .
`` Normally you go on a ventilator , you go in the ICU — there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the coronavirus , '' he said .
Hospital staff said he could see her if he could get there in time .
But , `` when I got there , she had already , had just died . ''
Judy did n't test positive for the coronavirus .
Instead , Larry said , her heart stopped .
If it were n't for the pandemic , Larry believes his wife would be alive .
He believes she would have been given more attentive care if she 'd been transferred to the ICU , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if not , the pandemic meant she died alone .
He never got the chance to say goodbye .
`` Because of corona , she was basically , in my opinion , taken away from me , '' he said .
`` It happened because somebody else did not take the precautions that they should have taken , got the virus , and then had that bed that my wife needed . ''
Officials with the CHRISTUS Ochsner St. Patrick Hospital would not comment on Judy Pichon 's case and whether her death @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is one of several hospitals in Lake Charles facing a severe shortage in beds .
In a statement , Dr. Timothy Haman , the chief medical officer of the hospital , said the hospital 's emergency department nurses are trained in critical care and `` while it definitely is n't ideal to hold patients in the ED for a prolonged amount of time , it is unfortunately a common phenomenon across the country right now . ''
As the coronavirus has moved from coastal cities to more rural areas of the country , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for those not equipped to deal with the recent surge of the pandemic .
An NPR analysis of new COVID-19 cases and hospital capacity shows that in addition to well-known hot spots like Arizona , Texas and Florida , there 's cause for concern in other parts of the country , too .
Places like southwest Louisiana , eastern Washington state and Boise , Idaho , have had to shuffle patients between hospitals in order to ensure everyone can get a bed .
The NPR analysis looked at new cases in hospital referral @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country where patients are likely to be referred when they 're trying to get care .
Because coronavirus case counts are generally available at only the county level — and since hospital capacity can fluctuate — NPR 's figures are estimates for how many cases a hospital referral region has .
Lake Charles is among two regions in Louisiana where the renewed wave of the pandemic may overwhelm hospital capacity .
It sits at the edge of the Gulf of Mexico and the border with Texas .
For weeks , Lake Charles and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have had the state 's highest rates of new coronavirus cases and its greatest growth in hospitalizations .
According to state data , there are just 20 intensive care unit beds left in the Lake Charles region as of Sunday .
Lafayette , a few hours west of New Orleans in the heart of Acadiana , has just 26 .
In both , the major hospitals are either near capacity or already full .
The governor has requested extra ICU nurses , doctors and respiratory therapists through the Federal Emergency Management Agency , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been tapping contract nurses , but `` that is drying up pretty quick , '' said Dr. Manley Jordan , the chief medical officer of Lake Charles Memorial Hospital .
`` Everybody has their limits .
Everybody has a breaking point , '' Jordan said .
`` What keeps me up at night is not having any light at the end of the tunnel . ''
Some hospitals are so full that they 're on what 's called `` diversion '' — meaning that they restrict which patients they take from surrounding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ patients farther away to get care .
In those hospitals , the only way in is through the emergency room .
Lafayette General Health , a Level II trauma center , has been on complete diversion for over a week , even for patients from smaller local facilities within its own network .
Chief Medical Officer Amanda Logue said she does n't think the community understands that a hospital swamped with coronavirus patients has an impact on other health care , too .
`` It 's all the other things that them and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had to turn them all away , '' she said .
`` So if you 're in a car accident , I 'm sorry , but we ca n't take you at this time . ''
Idaho saw 3,228 confirmed coronavirus cases in the past week , and about two-thirds of those were in the greater Boise area .
More than 200 people statewide were hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 as of this past weekend .
Almost 20 % of Idaho 's COVID-19 deaths over the course of the pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ intensive care units at St. Luke 's Health System hospitals filled up last week .
They began sending patients to the main facility in Boise .
The intensive care unit there was running at about 130 % of normal capacity .
Respiratory therapists are being sent from St. Luke 's hospital two hours away to help .
The outbreak has left Idaho 's major hospitals walking a fine line .
They want people in the community to take the virus seriously , but they 're also careful to say they are n't full @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their patients .
`` We are taking care of everyone who needs care today , and we will continue to do that , '' Chris Roth , the president and CEO of St. Luke 's Health System , Idaho 's largest health care system , said during a press conference with local medical leaders earlier this month .
`` But August will be too late , and we will find ourselves in a situation where that could very well change . ''
In mid-June , Yakima in eastern Washington emerged as the epicenter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the highest rate of infections of any West Coast county .
The NPR analysis shows Yakima has one of the worst ratios of hospital beds to people with coronavirus infections in the country .
The community of about 250,000 had n't seen a crush of patients in early spring like nearby Seattle .
But the virus was picking up speed , sweeping through long-term care facilities , sickening farmworkers and spreading uncontrollably .
One of those to fall ill was Leola Reeves ' 70-year-old stepfather , who was hospitalized for two weeks with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ phone call .
What are his final wishes ?
And that was extremely hard , '' said Reeves , 37 .
On the side of a busy roadway , Reeves has helped set up more than 8,000 red flags , each with a black silhouette , to represent the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in her hometown .
Yakima 's health care system was particularly vulnerable to that surge of patients .
In January a major hospital closed , leaving only one other hospital in the city with just 11 critical care beds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Davenport with Virginia Mason Memorial hospital in Yakima said 17 patients were transferred out of the county in a single day .
`` We 've never had anything close to that number ever in our history , '' Davenport said .
Leola Reeves began to worry her stepfather might be transferred hours away to Seattle .
`` Luckily , that did not happen .
And they were able to care for him here . ''
One reason he did n't have to be transferred is because of the way the hospital adapted during @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its critical care beds and retrofitted floors to care for patients .
Davenport said the biggest challenge was n't just physical space .
`` We had beds , but what we did n't have was team members to safely take care of those patients , '' he said .
The health care system was still on the brink .
Then a combination of good fortune and community action led to a remarkable turnaround .
While Yakima was inundated , other parts of Washington got the virus under control , so there was always @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was really our saving grace , '' Davenport said .
Meanwhile , local health officials , working with the hospital , businesses and community groups , launched a massive face mask awareness campaign .
A survey from Memorial Day weekend showed only 35 % of people in Yakima were wearing face masks .
`` Having that data point actually was really helpful , '' said Lilian Bravo with the Yakima Health District .
Bravo said they blanketed the community with free masks and shifted their messaging to focus on the goal of improving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` That was a key turning point , '' Bravo said .
`` Having that tangible goal ended up being very , very effective . ''
A month later , the same survey showed 95 % of people were wearing face masks , and the results became even more clear as hospitalizations and cases continue to fall .
`` Masking is what has changed , '' Davenport said .
`` For us to go from 200 cases a day to 100 cases a day in six weeks is incredible . ''
Whether hospitals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of rising caseloads is the challenge and the question .
Dr. Ashish Jha , the director of Harvard Global Health Institute , originally compiled hospital capacity data used in NPR 's analysis in March to estimate when hospitals might fill up .
At that time , health leaders were worried about a single crushing incident of coronavirus infections that would overwhelm U.S. hospitals .
Now , he says , he 's concerned about something else , too .
`` It may come differently as opposed to a single massive surge that overwhelms hospitals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this constant flow of critically ill patients that are just barely what a hospital can manage , '' Jha says .
`` Once you get out of those major academic centers and start getting into community hospitals and regional hospitals , they do n't have those deep benches .
They do n't have the wealth of resources that they can tap into .
So I am very worried that in the days and weeks ahead , if these hospitals continue to function at or above capacity , they 're going to have a @ @ @ @ @ @ @

Data Analysis: COVID-19 Is Filling Up Hospitals In Small Cities
Enlarge this image toggle caption Larry Pichon Larry Pichon
Larry Pichon called an ambulance to take his wife, Judy, to a hospital in Lake Charles, in southwest Louisiana, on the morning of July 13. He'd had to do this before.
She had a rare autoimmune disease — granulomatosis with polyangiitis, which causes inflammation of blood vessels and can be particularly damaging for the lungs and kidneys. It wasn't uncommon for Judy to make a trip to the emergency room.
"When she got in the ambulance to go was the last time I saw her, and that was around nine o'clock," Larry remembered.
Larry would normally have accompanied his wife and waited at the hospital, but rules enacted amid the surge of coronavirus cases meant he couldn't stay. Judy called around 5 p.m. to say she was feeling better. She told him not to come to the hospital. At 8 p.m., her condition changed. Judy was put on a ventilator.
"Normally you go on a ventilator, you go in the ICU — there were no beds in the ICU due to the coronavirus," he said.
Hospital staff said he could see her if he could get there in time.
But, "when I got there, she had already, had just died."
Judy didn't test positive for the coronavirus. Instead, Larry said, her heart stopped. If it weren't for the pandemic, Larry believes his wife would be alive. He believes she would have been given more attentive care if she'd been transferred to the ICU, possibly saving her life. But even if not, the pandemic meant she died alone. He never got the chance to say goodbye.
"Because of corona, she was basically, in my opinion, taken away from me," he said. "It happened because somebody else did not take the precautions that they should have taken, got the virus, and then had that bed that my wife needed."
Officials with the CHRISTUS Ochsner St. Patrick Hospital would not comment on Judy Pichon's case and whether her death was related to crowding, but it is one of several hospitals in Lake Charles facing a severe shortage in beds. In a statement, Dr. Timothy Haman, the chief medical officer of the hospital, said the hospital's emergency department nurses are trained in critical care and "while it definitely isn't ideal to hold patients in the ED for a prolonged amount of time, it is unfortunately a common phenomenon across the country right now."
As the coronavirus has moved from coastal cities to more rural areas of the country, disparities in hospital capacity are causing problems for those not equipped to deal with the recent surge of the pandemic.
Loading...
An NPR analysis of new COVID-19 cases and hospital capacity shows that in addition to well-known hot spots like Arizona, Texas and Florida, there's cause for concern in other parts of the country, too. Places like southwest Louisiana, eastern Washington state and Boise, Idaho, have had to shuffle patients between hospitals in order to ensure everyone can get a bed.
The NPR analysis looked at new cases in hospital referral regions, which are areas of the country where patients are likely to be referred when they're trying to get care. Because coronavirus case counts are generally available at only the county level — and since hospital capacity can fluctuate — NPR's figures are estimates for how many cases a hospital referral region has.
Southwest Louisiana: Staff Shortages
Lake Charles is among two regions in Louisiana where the renewed wave of the pandemic may overwhelm hospital capacity. It sits at the edge of the Gulf of Mexico and the border with Texas. For weeks, Lake Charles and another hospital referral region, Lafayette, have had the state's highest rates of new coronavirus cases and its greatest growth in hospitalizations. According to state data, there are just 20 intensive care unit beds left in the Lake Charles region as of Sunday. Lafayette, a few hours west of New Orleans in the heart of Acadiana, has just 26. In both, the major hospitals are either near capacity or already full.
The governor has requested extra ICU nurses, doctors and respiratory therapists through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but the request is pending. Hospitals have been tapping contract nurses, but "that is drying up pretty quick," said Dr. Manley Jordan, the chief medical officer of Lake Charles Memorial Hospital.
"Everybody has their limits. Everybody has a breaking point," Jordan said. "What keeps me up at night is not having any light at the end of the tunnel."
Some hospitals are so full that they're on what's called "diversion" — meaning that they restrict which patients they take from surrounding areas or other facilities, sending some patients farther away to get care. In those hospitals, the only way in is through the emergency room.
Lafayette General Health, a Level II trauma center, has been on complete diversion for over a week, even for patients from smaller local facilities within its own network. Chief Medical Officer Amanda Logue said she doesn't think the community understands that a hospital swamped with coronavirus patients has an impact on other health care, too.
"It's all the other things that them and their family need. And we've had to turn them all away," she said. "So if you're in a car accident, I'm sorry, but we can't take you at this time."
Boise: Walking A Fine Line
Enlarge this image toggle caption Sáša Woodruff/Boise State Public Radio Sáša Woodruff/Boise State Public Radio
Idaho saw 3,228 confirmed coronavirus cases in the past week, and about two-thirds of those were in the greater Boise area. More than 200 people statewide were hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 as of this past weekend. Almost 20% of Idaho's COVID-19 deaths over the course of the pandemic happened in the past week.
Two intensive care units at St. Luke's Health System hospitals filled up last week. They began sending patients to the main facility in Boise. The intensive care unit there was running at about 130% of normal capacity. Respiratory therapists are being sent from St. Luke's hospital two hours away to help.
The outbreak has left Idaho's major hospitals walking a fine line. They want people in the community to take the virus seriously, but they're also careful to say they aren't full — they can still care for all their patients.
"We are taking care of everyone who needs care today, and we will continue to do that," Chris Roth, the president and CEO of St. Luke's Health System, Idaho's largest health care system, said during a press conference with local medical leaders earlier this month. "But August will be too late, and we will find ourselves in a situation where that could very well change."
Yakima, Wash.: Workarounds
In mid-June, Yakima in eastern Washington emerged as the epicenter of the state's outbreak, with the highest rate of infections of any West Coast county. The NPR analysis shows Yakima has one of the worst ratios of hospital beds to people with coronavirus infections in the country.
The community of about 250,000 hadn't seen a crush of patients in early spring like nearby Seattle. But the virus was picking up speed, sweeping through long-term care facilities, sickening farmworkers and spreading uncontrollably.
One of those to fall ill was Leola Reeves' 70-year-old stepfather, who was hospitalized for two weeks with COVID-19. "My mom got the phone call. What are his final wishes? And that was extremely hard," said Reeves, 37.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Will Stone for NPR Will Stone for NPR
On the side of a busy roadway, Reeves has helped set up more than 8,000 red flags, each with a black silhouette, to represent the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in her hometown.
Yakima's health care system was particularly vulnerable to that surge of patients. In January a major hospital closed, leaving only one other hospital in the city with just 11 critical care beds.
At one point, Dr. Tanny Davenport with Virginia Mason Memorial hospital in Yakima said 17 patients were transferred out of the county in a single day. "We've never had anything close to that number ever in our history," Davenport said.
Leola Reeves began to worry her stepfather might be transferred hours away to Seattle. "Luckily, that did not happen. And they were able to care for him here."
One reason he didn't have to be transferred is because of the way the hospital adapted during the crisis.
Virginia Mason Memorial doubled its critical care beds and retrofitted floors to care for patients. Davenport said the biggest challenge wasn't just physical space. "We had beds, but what we didn't have was team members to safely take care of those patients," he said.
The health care system was still on the brink. Then a combination of good fortune and community action led to a remarkable turnaround. While Yakima was inundated, other parts of Washington got the virus under control, so there was always somewhere to transfer patients.
"That was really our saving grace," Davenport said.
Meanwhile, local health officials, working with the hospital, businesses and community groups, launched a massive face mask awareness campaign. A survey from Memorial Day weekend showed only 35% of people in Yakima were wearing face masks.
"Having that data point actually was really helpful," said Lilian Bravo with the Yakima Health District. Bravo said they blanketed the community with free masks and shifted their messaging to focus on the goal of improving that number so Yakima could reopen.
"That was a key turning point," Bravo said. "Having that tangible goal ended up being very, very effective."
A month later, the same survey showed 95% of people were wearing face masks, and the results became even more clear as hospitalizations and cases continue to fall.
"Masking is what has changed," Davenport said. "For us to go from 200 cases a day to 100 cases a day in six weeks is incredible."
Nationwide: What's Next?
Whether hospitals and communities can continue to keep ahead of rising caseloads is the challenge and the question.
Dr. Ashish Jha, the director of Harvard Global Health Institute, originally compiled hospital capacity data used in NPR's analysis in March to estimate when hospitals might fill up. At that time, health leaders were worried about a single crushing incident of coronavirus infections that would overwhelm U.S. hospitals. Now, he says, he's concerned about something else, too.
"It may come differently as opposed to a single massive surge that overwhelms hospitals. What we might get is just this constant flow of critically ill patients that are just barely what a hospital can manage," Jha says.
"Once you get out of those major academic centers and start getting into community hospitals and regional hospitals, they don't have those deep benches. They don't have the wealth of resources that they can tap into. So I am very worried that in the days and weeks ahead, if these hospitals continue to function at or above capacity, they're going to have a very hard time keeping going."
Additional reporting by Huo Jingnan.


npr--2020-07-29--In Ashtabula, Ohio, Young People Fight For The County's Political Future

In Ashtabula , Ohio , Young People Fight For The County 's Political Future With less than 100 days until the 2020 presidential election , Ohio 's 18 electoral votes are in play .
The state went for President Trump in 2016 , and Ashtabula County is one reason why .
A Rust Belt county that was once home to a booming coal port , voters here supported Democrats in every presidential election from 1988 to 2012 .
But President Trump carried 57 percent of the vote there four years ago .
The electorate in this county may be older @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a new crop of political leaders on both sides of the aisle hopes a younger generation will help decide the 2020 presidential election — and Ashtabula 's future . '
A lot of people just want change so much' Long-time residents of Ashtabula have seen the county change a lot in recent decades .
Christine Seuffert , 70 , says she has even experienced a change in her community since Trump won , especially `` in the way that people treat each other .
The things that they say out loud that they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's good to know where people stand . ''
For the last 10 years , Seuffert has met up with a group of friends on many weekday mornings for coffee at the Harbor Perk Coffeehouse in downtown Ashtabula .
Seuffert and her friends have a lot in common but do n't all agree on who to support for president .
She and Donna Rulla , 74 , a retired nurse , both grew up in union families and identified as `` John F. Kennedy Democrats . ''
But as the coal business declined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ backed Democrats .
While Seuffert remains a Democrat , Rulla voted for Trump in 2016 , and plans to do so again in 2020 .
`` Whenever Trump talked about getting rid of the alligators in the swamp , that 's what sold me , '' Rulla says .
She acknowledges Trump has his flaws : `` Trump 's a jackass most of the time .
I can see why people do n't like it .
Does n't mean he ca n't do the job . ''
For Seuffert , Hillary Clinton 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a self-inflicted wound .
`` I felt the Democrats in the county kind of fell asleep at the wheel or took for granted the influence that they had , '' she says .
But in 2020 , that could change .
Eli Kalil is the 23-year-old Ashtabula County chairman of the Democratic Party .
When he assumed the role in early June of 2020 , there were 56 vacant Democratic precinct chair positions in the county .
Now there are none .
Kalil was able to fill the positions mostly with people in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He 's been busy trying to help the Democratic Party energize its traditional electorate and mobilize new young voters.When Wisdom Davis , one of Kalil 's classmates from junior high school , decided to organize a rally for racial justice in Ashtabula , he supported the effort .
Davis , 23 , says George Floyd 's killing by Minneapolis police officers resonated with Ashtabula 's Black residents .
Of the county 's population of roughly 100,000 , African Americans make up just 3.8 percent .
Davis hesitated at first to join the nationwide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protests would be peaceful .
`` I said , these protests I feel are going to go really bad .
It 's gon na turn into something that it should n't , '' she says .
But after a few weeks , Davis decided it was time .
Though she 'd never organized an event like it before , she put together a rally at Lance Corporal Kevin Cornelius Memorial Park in Ashtabula on June 6 .
Hundreds of people — of diverse ages and races — attended .
They counted down together @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Floyd 's neck while he died .
There was music , food , drinks and a voter registration table .
The presidential election of 2016 was Davis ' first as a registered voter .
She cast a ballot , but not for Clinton or Trump .
She says she does n't yet know how she feels about Joe Biden .
But she sees voting in local elections as a key to Ashtabula 's future .
`` A lot of people just want change so much , '' she says .
But , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know how to take the steps . ''
Republicans in Ashtabula County are also looking to a younger generation of leaders to retain the progress the party made in 2016 .
David Thomas , a 27-year-old Republican , is Ashtabula County 's auditor .
He first won elected office at 22 .
Thomas says county politics have been revitalized by the participation of people in their 20s and 30s .
`` We 've got about 10 elected officials in the county who are 35 and under .
Just in the past 10 years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ] a whole new wave of leaders coming up in the county , '' Thomas says .
Thomas credits the strength of the Republican party in Ashtabula County in part to the relative decline of the urban electorate there .
`` Prior to 2016 , essentially , the votes were in the cities where our population centers were .
You had to win them in order to win the county , '' he says .
`` Myself , as an example , I lost all three of our cities , but won outside @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suburban areas , but mainly in some of our rural areas , too , that have grown not only in population , but also in voter participation . ''
And Republicans in Ashtabula County are excited about 2020 .
Thomas says , `` They 're registering their friends .
They 've never voted before .
They 're starting to learn about that process .
And they 're motivated . ''
Motivated , according to Thomas , to keep the government out of their lives .
Though their philosophies about the role of government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Kalil say they see a common goal in their efforts to engage voters .
About six months ago , the two ran into each other while getting coffee at the Harbor Perk Coffeehouse .
A woman approached them and said she was proud of them .
`` She told us we reminded her of her son , '' Kalil says .
Thomas notes these kinds of interactions are common .
And while some of the county 's young people do leave Ashtabula County looking for work elsewhere , Kalil believes , `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the ones who are the leaders here .
A lot of young folks are leaving , but the ones who are sticking around are making a big difference . ''

In Ashtabula, Ohio, Young People Fight For The County's Political Future
Enlarge this image toggle caption Steve Inskeep Steve Inskeep
With less than 100 days until the 2020 presidential election, Ohio's 18 electoral votes are in play.
The state went for President Trump in 2016, and Ashtabula County is one reason why.
A Rust Belt county that was once home to a booming coal port, Ashtabula voters supported Democrats in every presidential election from 1988 to 2012. But Trump carried 57% of the vote there four years ago.
The electorate in this county may be older than the rest of Ohio, but a new crop of political leaders on both sides of the aisle hopes a younger generation will help decide the 2020 presidential election — and Ashtabula's future.
"A lot of people just want change so much"
Longtime residents of Ashtabula have seen the county change a lot in recent decades. Christine Seuffert, 70, says she has even experienced a change in her community since Trump won, especially "in the way that people treat each other. The things that they say out loud that they perhaps were always thinking. Maybe it's good to know where people stand."
Enlarge this image toggle caption Steve Inskeep/NPR Steve Inskeep/NPR
For the past 10 years, Seuffert has met up with a group of friends on many weekday mornings for coffee at the Harbor Perk coffee shop in Ashtabula.
Seuffert and her friends have a lot in common but don't all agree on who to support for president. She and Donna Rullo, 74, a retired nurse, both grew up in union families and identified as "John F. Kennedy Democrats." But as the coal business declined in Ashtabula, so did unions that backed Democrats.
While Seuffert remains a Democrat, Rullo voted for Trump in 2016 and plans to do so again in 2020.
"Whenever Trump talked about getting rid of the alligators in the swamp, that's what sold me," Rullo says. She acknowledges Trump has his flaws: "Trump's a jackass most of the time. I can see why people don't like it. Doesn't mean he can't do the job."
For Seuffert, Hillary Clinton's loss in Ashtabula County was something of a self-inflicted wound.
"I felt the Democrats in the county kind of fell asleep at the wheel or took for granted the influence that they had," she says.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Da'Shaunae Marisa for NPR Da'Shaunae Marisa for NPR
But in 2020, that could change. Eli Kalil is the 23-year-old Ashtabula County chairman of the Democratic Party. When he assumed the role in early June of 2020, there were 56 vacant Democratic precinct chair positions in the county. Now there are none. Kalil was able to fill the positions mostly with people in their 20s, 30s and 40s.
He's been busy trying to help the Democratic Party energize its traditional electorate and mobilize new young voters. When Wisdom Davis, one of Kalil's classmates from junior high school, decided to organize a rally for racial justice in Ashtabula, he supported the effort.
Davis, 23, says George Floyd's killing by Minneapolis police officers resonated with Ashtabula's Black residents. Black people make up just 3.8% of the county's population of roughly 100,000.
Davis hesitated at first to join the nationwide protest movement, unsure of whether the protests would be peaceful.
"I said, these protests I feel are going to go really bad. It's gonna turn into something that it shouldn't," she says. But after a few weeks, Davis decided it was time. Though she'd never organized an event like it before, she put together a rally at Lance Corporal Kevin Cornelius Memorial Park in Ashtabula on June 6. Hundreds of people — of diverse ages and races — attended. They counted down together the nearly nine minutes that police knelt on Floyd's neck while he died. There was music, food, drinks and a voter registration table.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Da'Shaunae Marisa for NPR Da'Shaunae Marisa for NPR
The presidential election of 2016 was Davis' first as a registered voter. She cast a ballot, but not for Clinton or Trump. She says she doesn't yet know how she feels about Joe Biden. But she sees voting in local elections as a key to Ashtabula's future.
"A lot of people just want change so much," she says. But, she says, "they don't know how to take the steps."
"They're motivated"
Republicans in Ashtabula County are also looking to a younger generation of leaders to retain the progress the party made in 2016.
David Thomas, a 27-year-old Republican, is Ashtabula County's auditor. He first won elected office at 22. Thomas says county politics have been revitalized by the participation of people in their 20s and 30s.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Da'Shaunae Marisa for NPR Da'Shaunae Marisa for NPR
"We've got about 10 elected officials in the county who are 35 and under. Just in the past 10 years or so, [there's been] a whole new wave of leaders coming up in the county," Thomas says.
Thomas credits the strength of the Republican Party in Ashtabula County in part to the relative decline of the urban electorate there.
"Prior to 2016, essentially, the votes were in the cities where our population centers were. You had to win them in order to win the county," he says. "Myself, as an example, I lost all three of our cities, but won outside of the cities in some of the suburban areas, but mainly in some of our rural areas, too, that have grown not only in population, but also in voter participation."
And Republicans in Ashtabula County are excited about 2020.
"They're registering their friends. They've never voted before," Thomas says. "They're starting to learn about that process. And they're motivated."
Motivated, according to Thomas, to keep the government out of their lives.
Though their philosophies about the role of government in their community are different, Thomas and Kalil say they see a common goal in their efforts to engage voters.
About six months ago, the two ran into each other while getting coffee at the Harbor Perk coffee shop. A woman approached them and said she was proud of them.
"She told us we reminded her of her son," Kalil says. Thomas notes these kinds of interactions are common. And while some of the county's young people do leave Ashtabula County looking for work elsewhere, Kalil believes, "the folks who do stick around are the ones who are the leaders here. A lot of young folks are leaving, but the ones who are sticking around are making a big difference."


npr--2020-07-29--Where Are The Thousands Of Nazi-Looted Musical Instruments?

Where Are The Thousands Of Nazi-Looted Musical Instruments ?
In April 1945 , Madame Roos wrote a letter to French authorities describing her piano she was hoping to get back .
Roos , who was 72 , was Jewish and her piano had been stolen when Nazis emptied her apartment in Paris .
A similar fate befell many of the 75,000 French Jews deported to concentration camps during World War II .
`` It would take me too long to list piece by piece what was taken , '' said the letter , which only showed the author 's last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ me if my piano is still in Paris , perhaps my furniture is , too . ''
Roos described `` a brown piano of the brand Hanel , '' with a piano stool and dust cloth for the keys covered in the same yellow fabric .
Roos , who described herself as infirm , had to vacate her apartment in June 1943 when her two daughters were denounced and deported , according to the letter .
`` I was unable to get food or survive alone so had to leave everything behind , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ among thousands of letters that French archivist Caroline Piketty studied while researching Paris ' pillaged pianos .
There has been a lot of research into the Nazis ' plunder of Jewish-owned artwork in Europe during World War II , though far less attention has been paid to the looting of instruments .
But a number of scholars have been focused on bringing this facet of Nazi crimes to light .
Piketty was among many experts who attended a conference in January in Paris titled Looted Music , Sources and Research Methods .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ History at the Paris Institute of Political Studies , also included historians , musicologists and lawyers .
`` Even tailors and corset-makers had a piano '' Piketty says in the spring of 1945 , with Paris liberated but the war in Europe not quite over , French authorities opened three warehouses to the public to display hundreds of pianos that had been stolen by the Nazis .
Those who had lost an instrument were invited to write a letter for an appointment to visit .
`` I was astounded to find there were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even the most modest ones , '' Piketty says .
`` Most of the Jewish families were not well off .
But even the tailors and corset-makers had a piano and a taste for music . ''
Musician and historian Willem de Vries , who also attended the Paris conference , wrote the defining work on the Nazi pillaging of musical life in Western Europe .
His book 's title , Sonderstab Musik , refers to Germany 's specialized music looting units .
De Vries says starting around 1935 the Nazis began to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , literature and music .
`` When Germany invaded France in May 1940 , there were already commandos ready to seize and steal all the cultural things of Jews in France , '' he says .
De Vries says Nazis swiftly emptied the apartments of prominent musicians who had already fled .
The next wave of plundering came with the deportation of ordinary Jews in 1942 .
`` It was really a very sophisticated organization , '' he says .
`` The Sonderstab Musik collected all the musical instruments they found , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And the Jews were of course sent to the concentration camps and all of their possessions were catalogued and inventoried and systematically sent to Germany , mainly to German people who had suffered from the allied bombings starting in 1942 . ''
Piketty explains that when a person was deported in France , the rest of the family usually fled .
The Nazis would then seal the apartment and return with trucks to take not just the piano , but everything — tables , chairs , bedsheets , linens and dishes .
She @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out of the walls .
In 1998 , 44 countries gathered in Washington , D.C. , and pledged to help identify and restore art and other property looted by the Nazis to the descendants of Jewish owners .
Since then tens of thousands of artworks , books and cultural objects that ended up in museums across the world have been returned .
Carla Shapreau , a senior fellow at the University of California , Berkeley 's Institute of European Studies , has been working on the subject of Nazi looted instruments for more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are many families still looking for musical instruments but it 's challenging to trace them because government records , dealer records , claims , confiscation records — everything that has to be compared when looking for an instrument — are scattered across many countries .
`` Every nation has a story that feeds into this overall story , '' Shapreau says .
`` It all interconnects , and without doing global research it 's very difficult to put all those pieces together . ''
Shapreau 's research has helped 72-year-old Danièle Enoch-Maillard fill @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's past .
Enoch-Maillard , who is Jewish , is the fourth generation to run her family 's music publishing business in Paris .
A year and a half ago , Shapreau contacted her with the full list of what was looted from her grandparents ' apartment when they were arrested by the Nazis and deported to Auschwitz in 1943 .
`` I never knew what they took , '' says Enoch-Maillard , who calls Shapreau 's work tremendous .
She says her own father never talked about it .
The inventoried list @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and a historical Erard piano once played by composer Emmanuel Chabrier .
`` Shapreau found that piano and it is numbered , '' says Enoch-Maillard .
`` So if it is ever located , it could be identified . ''
Enoch-Maillard says her father never tried to get the instrument or anything else back .
She remembers he had a coupon to get a free piano .
`` He went to get one in a warehouse where they had put all the pianos that they got back , '' she says .
`` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he brought it back to the house and I learned to play on that piano . ''
Thanks to Shapreau 's research , Enoch-Maillard says she also found out how much one of her grandparents ' non-Jewish friends did to protect and preserve their music business .
As the Nazis tried to Aryanize Jewish-owned concerns , her grandparents entrusted their company to a friend .
He delayed and blocked its sale , which allowed her father to get the business back after the war .
`` I never knew that , '' she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , hid out the war in an Alpine village .
Young and athletic , she says he fled Paris in 1940 , pedaling some 600 miles south .
Scholars say it 's hard to put a number on how many instruments were stolen by the Nazis , and there are different estimates .
Shapreau says in France , immediately following the war , about 1,500 instruments were listed as missing by those who had survived the Holocaust .
That list did not include the music manuscripts , books , scores , music libraries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
A 1997 French government commission that looked into looted Jewish property reported 8,000 pianos missing after the war , with 2,221 recovered .
Archivist Piketty says she does n't know how many pianos were in those three warehouses in the spring of 1945 , but she studied the letters of 3,000 Parisians searching for their pianos .
She says about half of them got their instruments back .
Swiss violin-maker Mark Wilhelm , who also attended the Paris conference , says his country 's instrument dealers further complicated things by not checking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then reselling them on a large scale .
`` We can see that prewar there were fewer good instruments and after the war there were a lot of good instruments in Switzerland , '' Wilhelm says .
`` We have been quite a sort of hub for instruments , as we were for looted art . ''
`` You put money , you put jewelry in the case '' The Paris workshop on looted instruments was organized by Pascale Bernheim , who heads a French association that tries to trace lost instruments .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ people 's most valued possessions .
`` When someone has to leave his home in a rush , he takes with him his most precious belongings , '' she says .
`` The violin or the instrument is quite often considered a very special belonging .
And usually you put money , you put jewelry in the case and you lived with it .
And then you either keep it with you as long as you can or you sell it because you need cash desperately , or you give it to someone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then the question is what happens to this instrument if you are not there to claim it back ? ''
Piketty says going through the correspondence of people hoping to find their pianos was heartbreaking .
`` These letters were almost all written at the same time that the deportees were starting to come home , '' she says .
`` People were wondering if their children or their parents who had been gone two , three and four years would return .
There was big hope .
There was also hope of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the center of good times and family memories before the war . ''
Piketty says Madame Roos did not get her piano back or ever hear from her two daughters again .
She reads from the letter of another woman , Madame Chwatt , who was looking for the piano belonging to her husband who had been deported .
Chwatt said she could not imagine the composer coming home and not finding his instrument .
`` My husband can not be without his piano , '' she wrote .
In the end , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her husband never returned .

Where Are The Thousands Of Nazi-Looted Musical Instruments?
Enlarge this image toggle caption Cornelia Li for NPR Cornelia Li for NPR
Updated on Aug. 6 at 8:06 a.m. ET
In April 1945, Madame Roos wrote a letter to French authorities describing her piano she was hoping to get back. Roos, who was 72, was Jewish and her piano had been stolen when Nazis emptied her apartment in Paris.
A similar fate befell many of the 75,000 French Jews deported to concentration camps during World War II.
"It would take me too long to list piece by piece what was taken," said the letter, which only showed the author's last name. "But it seems to me if my piano is still in Paris, perhaps my furniture is, too."
Roos described "a brown piano of the brand Hanel," with a piano stool and dust cloth for the keys covered in the same yellow fabric.
Roos, who described herself as infirm, had to vacate her apartment in June 1943 when her two daughters were denounced and deported, according to the letter. "I was unable to get food or survive alone so had to leave everything behind," she wrote.
Her note is among thousands of letters that French archivist Caroline Piketty studied while researching Paris' pillaged pianos.
There has been a lot of research into the Nazis' plunder of Jewish-owned artwork in Europe during World War II, though far less attention has been paid to the looting of instruments. But a number of scholars have been focused on bringing this facet of Nazi crimes to light.
Piketty was among many experts who attended a conference in January in Paris titled Looted Music, Sources and Research Methods. The gathering, organized by the Center for History at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, also included historians, musicologists and lawyers.
toggle caption Eleanor Beardsley/NPR
"Even tailors and corset-makers had a piano"
Piketty says in the spring of 1945, with Paris liberated but the war in Europe not quite over, French authorities opened three warehouses to the public to display hundreds of pianos that had been stolen by the Nazis. Those who had lost an instrument were invited to write a letter for an appointment to visit.
"I was astounded to find there were pianos in so many Jewish homes, even the most modest ones," Piketty says. "Most of the Jewish families were not well off. But even the tailors and corset-makers had a piano and a taste for music."
Musician and historian Willem de Vries, who also attended the Paris conference, wrote the defining work on the Nazi pillaging of musical life in Western Europe. His book's title, Sonderstab Musik, refers to Germany's specialized music looting units. De Vries says starting around 1935 the Nazis began to document European Jews' holdings in art, literature and music.
When Germany invaded France in May 1940, there were already commandos ready to seize and steal all the cultural things of Jews in France.
"When Germany invaded France in May 1940, there were already commandos ready to seize and steal all the cultural things of Jews in France," he says.
De Vries says Nazis swiftly emptied the apartments of prominent musicians who had already fled. The next wave of plundering came with the deportation of ordinary Jews in 1942.
"It was really a very sophisticated organization," he says. "The Sonderstab Musik collected all the musical instruments they found, and the music books and the records. And the Jews were of course sent to the concentration camps and all of their possessions were catalogued and inventoried and systematically sent to Germany, mainly to German people who had suffered from the allied bombings starting in 1942."
Piketty explains that when a person was deported in France, the rest of the family usually fled. The Nazis would then seal the apartment and return with trucks to take not just the piano, but everything — tables, chairs, bedsheets, linens and dishes. She says the electric sockets were even pulled out of the walls.
Tale of a music publisher
In 1998, 44 countries gathered in Washington, D.C., and pledged to help identify and restore art and other property looted by the Nazis to the descendants of Jewish owners. Since then tens of thousands of artworks, books and cultural objects that ended up in museums across the world have been returned.
Every nation has a story that feeds into this overall story.
Carla Shapreau, a senior fellow at the University of California, Berkeley's Institute of European Studies, has been working on the subject of Nazi looted instruments for more than a decade.
She says there are many families still looking for musical instruments but it's challenging to trace them because government records, dealer records, claims, confiscation records — everything that has to be compared when looking for an instrument — are scattered across many countries.
"Every nation has a story that feeds into this overall story," Shapreau says. "It all interconnects, and without doing global research it's very difficult to put all those pieces together."
Shapreau's research has helped 72-year-old Danièle Enoch-Maillard fill in the blanks on her own family's past.
Enlarge this image toggle caption The Enoch-Maillard family The Enoch-Maillard family
Enoch-Maillard, who is Jewish, is the fourth generation to run her family's music publishing business in Paris. A year and a half ago, Shapreau contacted her with the full list of what was looted from her grandparents' apartment when they were arrested by the Nazis and deported to Auschwitz in 1943.
"I never knew what they took," says Enoch-Maillard, who calls Shapreau's work tremendous. She says her own father never talked about it.
The inventoried list includes her grandparents' extraordinary music library and a historical Erard piano once played by composer Emmanuel Chabrier.
Shapreau says she located the piano in an 1882 Erard ledger with the serial number 68,037, which would help to identify the instrument.
Enoch-Maillard says her father never tried to get the instrument or anything else back. She remembers he had a coupon to get a free piano.
"He went to get one in a warehouse where they had put all the pianos that they got back," she says. "He just took an ordinary piano and he brought it back to the house and I learned to play on that piano."
Thanks to Shapreau's research, Enoch-Maillard says she also found out how much one of her grandparents' non-Jewish friends did to protect and preserve their music business. As the Nazis tried to Aryanize Jewish-owned concerns, her grandparents entrusted their company to a friend. He delayed and blocked its sale, which allowed her father to get the business back after the war. "I never knew that," she says.
Her father, Jacques Enoch, hid out the war in an Alpine village. Young and athletic, she says he fled Paris in 1940, pedaling some 600 miles south.
Untold stealing and reselling
Scholars say it's hard to put a number on how many instruments were stolen by the Nazis, and there are different estimates.
Shapreau says in France, immediately following the war, about 1,500 instruments were listed as missing by those who had survived the Holocaust. But the total number of looted musical objects on the French list was far greater, including musical manuscripts, books, scores, music libraries and other musicalia.
A 1997 French government commission that looked into looted Jewish property reported 8,000 pianos missing after the war, with 2,221 recovered.
Archivist Piketty says she doesn't know how many pianos were in those three warehouses in the spring of 1945, but she studied the letters of 3,000 Parisians searching for their pianos. She says about half of them got their instruments back.
Swiss violin-maker Mark Wilhelm, who also attended the Paris conference, says his country's instrument dealers further complicated things by not checking the provenance of likely looted instruments and then reselling them on a large scale.
"We can see that prewar there were fewer good instruments and after the war there were a lot of good instruments in Switzerland," Wilhelm says. "We have been quite a sort of hub for instruments, as we were for looted art."
"You put money, you put jewelry in the case"
The Paris workshop on looted instruments was organized by Pascale Bernheim, who heads a French association that tries to trace lost instruments. She says an instrument was often among people's most valued possessions.
"When someone has to leave his home in a rush, he takes with him his most precious belongings," she says. "The violin or the instrument is quite often considered a very special belonging. And usually you put money, you put jewelry in the case and you lived with it. And then you either keep it with you as long as you can or you sell it because you need cash desperately, or you give it to someone you trust to store it. And then the question is what happens to this instrument if you are not there to claim it back?"
Piketty says going through the correspondence of people hoping to find their pianos was heartbreaking.
"These letters were almost all written at the same time that the deportees were starting to come home," she says. "People were wondering if their children or their parents who had been gone two, three and four years would return. There was big hope. There was also hope of finding a cherished instrument that was at the center of good times and family memories before the war."
Piketty says Madame Roos did not get her piano back or ever hear from her two daughters again.
She reads from the letter of another woman, Madame Chwatt, who was looking for the piano belonging to her husband who had been deported. Chwatt said she could not imagine the composer coming home and not finding his instrument.
"My husband cannot be without his piano," she wrote. In the end, Chwatt got back the piano. But her husband never returned.


npr--2020-07-29--Bloomberg Vowed To Spend Whatever It Takes To Beat Trump. Dems Are Still Waiting

Bloomberg Vowed To Spend Whatever It Takes To Beat Trump .
Dems Are Still Waiting When a billionaire with a history of investing generously and strategically in campaigns promised to spend whatever it takes to defeat President Trump , it made Democrats sit up and take notice .
And how did they interpret that pledge from former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg ?
`` It meant spending about a billion dollars , '' said Jim Messina , who ran President Obama 's 2012 reelection campaign .
`` It meant making sure that Donald Trump did not have the typical incumbent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ helping us catch up in a couple places where Trump was well ahead of us , which was digital and data . ''
It is the most ambitious campaign promise ever made by someone who is n't still running , and Bloomberg fully intends to fulfill it , according to former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter , the national political chair of Bloomberg 's short-lived primary campaign , in which the candidate spent $ 1 billion of his own fortune .
But Nutter also says that `` whatever it takes '' ca n't be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; instead it 's about how and where Bloomberg spends his money this year .
Bloomberg has already spent well over $ 350 million for Democrats this cycle , according to his team , including the following investments : • $ 35 million for a digital and data platform he gives to Democratic campaigns at cost ; • $ 18 million transferred from his campaign to the Democratic Party ; • $ 10 million to House Majority PAC , the lead outside group backing House Democrats ; • $ 5 million to Fair @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by Stacey Abrams ; • $ 2 million to Collective Future , focused on registering Black voters in key states ; • $ 500,000 to Voto Latino , focused on registering young Latino and Hispanic voters .
Altogether , it makes Bloomberg the single biggest donor to the Democrats this year , and it 's having an impact on the ground , according to party strategists in battleground states .
North Carolina is one of those , and it has pretty much every political prize on the line in November , with competitive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. House seats , governor and control of the state legislature , with redistricting looming next year .
`` What the Bloomberg campaign did right was they put money into field organizing , '' said state Rep. Graig Meyer , who is in charge of fundraising and recruiting for Democratic statehouse candidates .
`` And so that getting campaign operations up and running , building a volunteer base , setting up the structure for direct voter contact — all of that is happening because they made that investment through the DNC . ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a real advantage , Bloomberg could do a lot more , according to Meyer .
`` In no way has the Bloomberg operation put direct money into down-ticket races besides through the overall coordinated effort [ with the DNC ] , '' he said , adding , `` $ 30 or $ 50 million is probably the right amount that would be a completely transformative game changer .
I imagine Bloomberg could afford to do $ 30 to $ 50 million in North Carolina if he wanted to . ''
The Democratic leader @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was even tougher on Bloomberg .
`` I am the person he looked in the eye and said what he was going to do , '' said state Rep. Darren Jackson .
`` I am the person that endorsed him .
And I have been the person that reached out to his campaign leadership . ''
Jackson said he does n't know what Bloomberg 's intentions are in North Carolina , but he adds , `` I certainly hoped for help with the House caucus .
We have such a once-in-a-decade opportunity .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of that .
In whatever form he chooses . ''
In Georgia , Howard Franklin has similar expectations .
He was a senior adviser in the state to Bloomberg 's presidential campaign , and he is optimistic that Bloomberg will fulfill his pledge .
`` I think he did set the bar high , '' Franklin said .
To make Georgia truly competitive , Franklin says , Bloomberg should make an eight-figure investment .
Georgia is another state with a lot at stake , as a longtime GOP stronghold that appears close at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S.Senate races due to a special election and competitive U.S. House races in the Atlanta suburbs .
It 's also felt the brunt of the two major crises of the year , the pandemic and unrest over racial justice .
There 's a lot to invest in for Democrats to make the most of their opportunities in the state , according to Franklin : `` I think eight figures gets you on the television in the media markets you care about .
I think it puts boots on the ground .
I think @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And you know , again , with everything the country is going through and the attention that the city of Atlanta , in particular , has gotten , I just think that there is n't a better place to make the case for a more socially just and equitable approach to policing . ''
Bloomberg is getting pitches like that all day , every day .
Although there 's no evidence yet that he is spending all that he promised , that does n't mean Bloomberg ca n't or wo n't in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now fewer than 100 .
Bloomberg has a history of coming in late and spending big .
In 2018 , he was the single biggest Democratic investor in House races , and the donations he made in September helped flip 21 red districts blue , out of 24 he invested in .
The remaining investments are `` still being determined and decided and figured out '' according to Nutter : `` I mean , this is politics .
You do n't just kind of throw the money out the window and hope it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ makes strategic investments to change outcomes using data and evidence . ''
In the next month or so , Bloomberg 's team says it will be clear how much and where he has decided to invest , and then Democrats can decide for themselves if they think he 's spending whatever it takes .

Bloomberg Vowed To Spend Whatever It Takes To Beat Trump. Democrats Are Still Waiting
Enlarge this image toggle caption Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images
Updated at 10:58 a.m. ET
When a billionaire with a history of investing generously and strategically in campaigns promised to spend whatever it takes to defeat President Trump, it made Democrats sit up and take notice.
And how did they interpret that pledge from former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg?
"It meant spending about a billion dollars," said Jim Messina, who ran President Barack Obama's 2012 reelection campaign. "It meant making sure that Donald Trump did not have the typical incumbent advantage on finance, and it meant helping us catch up in a couple places where Trump was well ahead of us, which was digital and data."
It is the most ambitious campaign promise ever made by someone who isn't still running, and Bloomberg fully intends to fulfill it, according to former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, the national political chair of Bloomberg's short-lived primary campaign, in which the candidate spent $1 billion of his own fortune. But Nutter also says that "whatever it takes" can't be defined simply by a specific dollar amount; instead it's about how and where Bloomberg spends his money this year.
Bloomberg has already spent well over $350 million for Democrats this cycle, according to his team, including the following investments:
$275 million in anti-Trump ads during his primary campaign
$35 million for a digital and data platform he gives to Democratic campaigns at cost.
$18 million transferred from his campaign to the Democratic Party.
$10 million to House Majority PAC, the lead outside group backing House Democrats.
$5 million to Fair Fight, the voting rights group led by Stacey Abrams.
$2 million to Collective Future, focused on registering Black voters in key states.
$2 million to Swing Left, which supports Democratic volunteer efforts.
$500,000 to Voto Latino, focused on registering young Latino and Hispanic voters.
Altogether, it makes Bloomberg the single biggest donor to the Democrats this year, and it's having an impact on the ground, according to party strategists in battleground states.
North Carolina is one of those, and it has pretty much every political prize on the line in November with competitive contests for president, U.S. Senate, U.S. House seats, governor and control of the state Legislature, with redistricting looming next year.
"What the Bloomberg campaign did right was they put money into field organizing," said state Rep. Graig Meyer, who is in charge of fundraising and recruiting for Democratic Statehouse candidates. "And so that getting campaign operations up and running, building a volunteer base, setting up the structure for direct voter contact — all of that is happening because they made that investment through the DNC."
But to give Democrats in North Carolina a real advantage, Bloomberg could do a lot more, according to Meyer.
"In no way has the Bloomberg operation put direct money into down-ticket races besides through the overall coordinated effort [with the DNC]," he said, adding, "$30 or $50 million is probably the right amount that would be a completely transformative game changer. I imagine Bloomberg could afford to do $30 to $50 million in North Carolina if he wanted to."
The Democratic leader in the North Carolina House of Representatives was even tougher on Bloomberg.
"I am the person he looked in the eye and said what he was going to do," said state Rep. Darren Jackson. "I am the person that endorsed him. And I have been the person that reached out to his campaign leadership."
Jackson said he doesn't know what Bloomberg's intentions are in North Carolina, but he adds, "I certainly hoped for help with the House caucus. We have such a once-in-a-decade opportunity. We need his help to take advantage of that. In whatever form he chooses."
In Georgia, Howard Franklin has similar expectations. He was a senior adviser in the state to Bloomberg's presidential campaign, and he is optimistic that Bloomberg will fulfill his pledge.
"I think he did set the bar high," Franklin said.
To make Georgia truly competitive, Franklin says, Bloomberg should make an eight-figure investment.
Georgia is another state with a lot at stake, as a longtime GOP stronghold that appears close at the presidential level, along with two U.S. Senate races due to a special election and competitive U.S. House races in the Atlanta suburbs. It's also felt the brunt of the two major crises of the year, the pandemic and unrest over racial justice.
There's a lot to invest in for Democrats to make the most of their opportunities in the state, according to Franklin: "I think eight figures gets you on the television in the media markets you care about. I think it puts boots on the ground. I think it gets you telephones and social media. And you know, again, with everything the country is going through and the attention that the city of Atlanta, in particular, has gotten, I just think that there isn't a better place to make the case for a more socially just and equitable approach to policing."
Bloomberg is getting pitches like that all day, every day.
Although there's no evidence yet that he is spending all that he promised, that doesn't mean Bloomberg can't or won't in the remaining days of the campaign, now fewer than 100.
Bloomberg has a history of coming in late and spending big. In 2018, he was the single biggest Democratic investor in House races, and the donations he made in September helped flip 21 red districts blue, out of 24 he invested in.
The remaining investments are "still being determined and decided and figured out" according to Nutter: "I mean, this is politics. You don't just kind of throw the money out the window and hope it lands in the right places. Mike makes strategic investments to change outcomes using data and evidence."
In the next month or so, Bloomberg's team says it will be clear how much and where he has decided to invest, and then Democrats can decide for themselves whether they think he's spending whatever it takes.


npr--2020-07-29--As States Take Pandemic Lead, Biden Is Said To Weigh At Least 2 Governors For VP

As States Take Pandemic Lead , Biden Is Said To Weigh At Least 2 Governors For VP One of a series of reports looking at Joe Biden 's potential running mates As the coronavirus spread across the country in March , President Trump held a conference call with the nation 's governors and reportedly told them they should try to find their own supplies of ventilators and respirators .
Gretchen Whitmer , Michigan 's Democratic governor , said she could n't believe it .
`` To hear the leader of the federal government telling us to work around the federal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just kind of mind-boggling , to be honest , '' Whitmer told MSNBC .
Trump fired back on Twitter , saying `` 'Half ' Whitmer ... does n't have a clue . ''
And later , as the death toll in Michigan mounted , Trump said he told Vice President Pence to ignore governors who do n't show enough appreciation .
`` Do n't call the woman in Michigan , '' he said from the White House briefing room .
The back and forth thrust Whitmer — a former Michigan Senate minority leader @ @ @ @ @ @ @ since early 2019 — into the national spotlight .
It also previewed an ongoing theme of this pandemic — a debate over who should take the lead in managing the crisis .
Now , Whitmer and another governor confronting the pandemic at the state level , Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico , are two of the candidates reportedly said to be on Joe Biden 's vice presidential shortlist .
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said Tuesday that he plans to announce his pick next week .
Lujan Grisham was New Mexico 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , where she was chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus , and then became governor in 2019 .
Lujan Grisham had dealt with a flu outbreak as health secretary , and so she started preparing for the coronavirus when it spread abroad in January , rushing to secure testing supplies .
She also issued early lockdown orders when there were just a few cases in New Mexico .
Still , she said she was surprised by the lack of a national strategy .
`` In my wildest dreams I would not be spending @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and the right manufacturers , getting swabs and then chasing PPE , '' she recently told The Washington Post .
The dynamic was unprecedented , said Kathleen Sebelius , the former Kansas governor who was secretary of health and human services under former President Barack Obama and was vetted for the vice presidency in 2008 .
`` All governors found themselves in a very unique position , with a federal government who did n't want responsibility , so over and over again , governors have stepped into this vacuum , '' she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Blanchard said that 's why it 's the perfect moment to put a governor on Biden 's ticket .
He is close with the Biden campaign and has advised several vice presidential searches for Democratic nominees .
`` You know , until the virus , governors were in the shadows of government , '' he said .
`` It 's been the senators who get all the attention because they 're on all the cable shows every night . ''
But Blanchard said that 's changed .
He said Whitmer and many other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has projected a stark contrast with Trump — one that could be useful for the Biden campaign .
`` Because it shows they 're doing things , '' he said .
`` They care .
They 're taking action .
They 're not sitting around abdicating responsibility and finding someone to blame . ''
Dr. Shauna Ryder Diggs , one of Michigan 's representatives to the Democratic National Committee and a regent at the University of Michigan , said her patients have noticed the disconnect .
`` People are starting to think more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she said , `` so they see the leadership they had from Gov .
Whitmer and the state of Michigan , and now they 're wondering if the same leadership out of Washington had taken place , perhaps [ coronavirus outbreaks ] would n't have been in these other states in July , almost August . ''
On top of the pandemic , governors have faced an economic crisis and protests over police brutality and racial injustice .
The protests have amplified calls for Biden to select a Black woman for his running @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who 's white , responded to the protests with empathy .
`` I 'm an African American woman and Gov .
Whitmer , she 's able to have honest conversations on race , and I think those interpersonal relationships she 's able to have with all people , to feel that pain , and understand what those protests were really about , '' she said .
In battleground Michigan , approval of Trump 's handling of the coronavirus is under water .
Whitmer 's , though , has remained high despite protests and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ use of emergency powers .
According to a recent survey , 63 % of Michiganders approved of Whitmer 's handling of the coronavirus , compared with 41 % for Trump .
Whitmer flipped the governor 's mansion blue in 2018 , winning by 9 percentage points , and some Democrats think she could help bring home Michigan and other `` blue wall '' states .
But Zach Gorchow , executive editor of Gongwer , a news service that covers state politics in Lansing , said he is doubtful that adding a Michigander to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ impact on Midwestern voters that some Democratic strategists hope .
`` Michigan Democrats already seem to be ready to walk across hot coals to unseat Trump , and I do n't think adding Gretchen Whitmer to the ticket really changes that , '' he said .
Whitmer has faced blowback from Republicans for spending too much time taking interviews in the national media — a critique that would only be exacerbated if she were to seek higher office .
For both governors , campaigning while managing crises on multiple fronts could also prove @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , they carry the baggage of having ordered sometimes-unpopular closures and social distancing rules .
Stephanie Garcia Richard , the New Mexico commissioner of public lands and a Lujan Grisham ally , said the governor has made the right decisions , even when they 're unpopular .
Recently , Lujan Grisham had to walk back reopening indoor dining as cases of the coronavirus rose again .
The New Mexico Restaurant Association sued , but the state Supreme Court has so far upheld the closures .
`` And not to say that was an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' Garcia Richard said .
`` There will be businesses that will not recover , that we will lose , permanently , but Americans look to their leaders to do the right thing under pressure . ''
While Whitmer could bring a geographic advantage to the ticket , Lujan Grisham could attract another bloc of voters .
She 's the first Democratic Latina governor in the country .
Gabriel Sanchez , a professor at the University of New Mexico and principal at the research group Latino Decisions , said Democrats often overlook Latino @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also an opportunity not just to address 2020 , but the long-term electoral map , '' he said .
`` Having a Latino on ... the ticket might solidify Texas flipping not only soon but potentially for the long term . ''

As States Take Pandemic Lead, Biden Is Said To Weigh At Least 2 Governors For VP
Enlarge this image toggle caption Craig Fritz and Michigan Office of the Governor via AP Craig Fritz and Michigan Office of the Governor via AP
One of a series of reports looking at Joe Biden's potential running mates
As the coronavirus spread across the country in March, President Trump held a conference call with the nation's governors and reportedly told them they should try to find their own supplies of ventilators and respirators.
Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan's Democratic governor, said she couldn't believe it.
"To hear the leader of the federal government telling us to work around the federal government because it's too slow is just kind of mind-boggling, to be honest," Whitmer told MSNBC.
Trump fired back on Twitter, saying "'Half' Whitmer ... doesn't have a clue." And later, as the death toll in Michigan mounted, Trump said he told Vice President Pence to ignore governors who don't show enough appreciation. "Don't call the woman in Michigan," he said from the White House briefing room.
The back and forth thrust Whitmer — a former Michigan Senate minority leader who has only been leading her state since early 2019 — into the national spotlight.
It also previewed an ongoing theme of this pandemic — a debate over who should take the lead in managing the crisis.
Now, Whitmer and another governor confronting the pandemic at the state level, Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, are two of the candidates reportedly said to be on Joe Biden's vice presidential shortlist. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said Tuesday that he plans to announce his pick next week.
Lujan Grisham was New Mexico's health secretary before three terms in Congress, where she was chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and then became governor in 2019.
Lujan Grisham had dealt with a flu outbreak as health secretary, and so she started preparing for the coronavirus when it spread abroad in January, rushing to secure testing supplies. She also issued early lockdown orders when there were just a few cases in New Mexico.
toggle caption Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal via AP
Still, she said she was surprised by the lack of a national strategy.
"In my wildest dreams I would not be spending my own specific time finding testing supplies, and the right manufacturers, getting swabs and then chasing PPE," she recently told The Washington Post.
The dynamic was unprecedented, said Kathleen Sebelius, the former Kansas governor who was secretary of health and human services under former President Barack Obama and was vetted for the vice presidency in 2008.
"All governors found themselves in a very unique position, with a federal government who didn't want responsibility, so over and over again, governors have stepped into this vacuum," she said.
Governors seen "taking action"
Former Michigan Gov. Jim Blanchard said that's why it's the perfect moment to put a governor on Biden's ticket. He is close with the Biden campaign and has advised several vice presidential searches for Democratic nominees.
"You know, until the virus, governors were in the shadows of government," he said. "It's been the senators who get all the attention because they're on all the cable shows every night."
But Blanchard said that's changed. He said Whitmer and many other governors have shown calm under fire that has projected a stark contrast with Trump — one that could be useful for the Biden campaign.
"Because it shows they're doing things," he said. "They care. They're taking action. They're not sitting around abdicating responsibility and finding someone to blame."
Dr. Shauna Ryder Diggs, one of Michigan's representatives to the Democratic National Committee and a regent at the University of Michigan, said her patients have noticed the disconnect.
"People are starting to think more about leadership at the top," she said, "so they see the leadership they had from Gov. Whitmer and the state of Michigan, and now they're wondering if the same leadership out of Washington had taken place, perhaps [coronavirus outbreaks] wouldn't have been in these other states in July, almost August."
On top of the pandemic, governors have faced an economic crisis and protests over police brutality and racial injustice. The protests have amplified calls for Biden to select a Black woman for his running mate.
Ryder Diggs said Whitmer, who's white, responded to the protests with empathy.
"I'm an African American woman and Gov. Whitmer, she's able to have honest conversations on race, and I think those interpersonal relationships she's able to have with all people, to feel that pain, and understand what those protests were really about," she said.
Seeking advantages with a running mate
Enlarge this image toggle caption Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images
In battleground Michigan, approval of Trump's handling of the coronavirus is under water. Whitmer's, though, has remained high despite protests and lawsuits over social distancing orders and her use of emergency powers.
According to a recent survey, 63% of Michiganders approved of Whitmer's handling of the coronavirus, compared with 41% for Trump.
Whitmer flipped the governor's mansion blue in 2018, winning by 9 percentage points, and some Democrats think she could help bring home Michigan and other "blue wall" states.
But Zach Gorchow, executive editor of Gongwer, a news service that covers state politics in Lansing, said he is doubtful that adding a Michigander to the ticket would have the kind of impact on Midwestern voters that some Democratic strategists hope.
"Michigan Democrats already seem to be ready to walk across hot coals to unseat Trump, and I don't think adding Gretchen Whitmer to the ticket really changes that," he said.
Whitmer has faced blowback from Republicans for spending too much time taking interviews in the national media — a critique that would only be exacerbated if she were to seek higher office.
For both governors, campaigning while managing crises on multiple fronts could also prove both politically and practically challenging. Plus, they carry the baggage of having ordered sometimes-unpopular closures and social distancing rules.
Stephanie Garcia Richard, the New Mexico commissioner of public lands and a Lujan Grisham ally, said the governor has made the right decisions, even when they're unpopular. Recently, Lujan Grisham had to walk back reopening indoor dining as cases of the coronavirus rose again. The New Mexico Restaurant Association sued, but the state Supreme Court has so far upheld the closures.
"And not to say that was an easy thing for her to do," Garcia Richard said. "There will be businesses that will not recover, that we will lose, permanently, but Americans look to their leaders to do the right thing under pressure."
While Whitmer could bring a geographic advantage to the ticket, Lujan Grisham could attract another bloc of voters. She's the first Democratic Latina governor in the country.
Gabriel Sanchez, a professor at the University of New Mexico and principal at the research group Latino Decisions, said Democrats often overlook Latino voters.
"I think this is also an opportunity not just to address 2020, but the long-term electoral map," he said. "Having a Latino on ... the ticket might solidify Texas flipping not only soon but potentially for the long term."


npr--2020-07-29--Harvested Antibodies Now Being Tested As A Prevention Tool Against COVID-19

Harvested Antibodies Now Being Tested As A Prevention Tool Against COVID-19 If you 're bitten or scratched by an animal with rabies , your doctor can give you a shot to prevent the virus from taking hold in you and causing an infection .
The same concept is now being put to the test for the coronavirus .
Most people who get sick with COVID-19 produce antibodies in their blood that seem to protect them from reinfection .
A study is now underway to see whether an infusion of those antibodies can protect someone who has been exposed to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ infection .
One of the first volunteers for this study is a physician who treats transplant patients at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine .
Jonathan Orens had a close brush with the coronavirus involving not his work , but his family .
His daughter from Los Angeles wanted to come home to be near her sister , who was about to give birth to her first baby .
Orens says the traveling daughter was careful about protecting her health in Los Angeles and did everything she could think of to stay @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` She wore a mask , she wore gloves , she had sanitizer , she had wipes , '' he says .
`` The load on the plane was relatively small . ''
They chose the Fourth of July as a travel day , knowing that even fewer people were likely to be traveling that day .
`` We actually bought the two seats in the row to keep her away from everybody else . ''
She wore masks through the airports and in the car ride back to her parents ' house @ @ @ @ @ @ @ distance from them .
Just to be sure , about a week after she arrived , she and her parents went for coronavirus testing .
Though she had no symptoms , `` she was positive , '' Orens says .
`` And fortunately my wife and I were negative . ''
But they were still at high risk of contracting the disease , given the close contact with their daughter .
As luck would have it , one of Orens ' colleagues at Hopkins was just starting a study to see if purified @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from COVID-19 — called convalescent plasma — could prevent the disease in someone else .
Orens and his wife , who are in their early 60s , are entering an age group at higher risk of serious disease if infected with the coronavirus .
They signed up for the experimental treatment .
Half the people in this clinical trial get an intravenous infusion of convalescent plasma , while the other half get an infusion of blood serum that had been donated before the pandemic emerged ( so it lacked protective antibodies ) .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ them know who 's getting what .
The infusion took about an hour , Orens says .
`` I did n't feel anything except for the pinprick from the IV , and we went on our merry way . ''
He now returns to the clinic for regular blood tests .
`` We 'll follow him along to see if he develops symptoms and if he turns positive , '' says Dr. Shmuel Shoham , who is directing the study .
Shoham says he plans to enroll up to 500 patients — though @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the treatment is highly effective he wo n't need to study that many people .
In addition to recruiting patients in Baltimore , `` right now we have sites in Houston , sites in Alabama , '' Shoham says .
`` We 're opening up additional sites in Dallas and Arizona .
We have sites all over Southern California . ''
He 's also involved in a second study that looks at whether plasma will prevent serious illness in people who are infected but not sick .
He says if both of these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lot of people , even in the absence of a vaccine .
`` That would give people a lot of confidence , I think , to go back to school , go back to work , '' he says , `` because if somebody gets sick it 's not a tragedy -- because we can protect them and protect those around them . ''
These studies are among a growing number of experiments involving convalescent plasma , both as preventive measures and as treatments for COVID-19 .
Dr. Jessica Justman at Columbia University @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New York tried to launch a similar study this spring .
Good news for New York — but a complication for her study — was that the disease had largely abated in the city , and she did n't have luck recruiting people to participate .
`` Compared to March and April , people have become less worried , less scared of COVID and perhaps a little bit less inclined to go for a preventive treatment , '' Justman says .
That situation could turn around if the disease roars back in her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is well worth pursuing .
A similar strategy works against other diseases — not just rabies , but hepatitis B , botulism and a potentially serious viral infection in babies called respiratory syncytial virus .
In fact , this general strategy dates back more than a century .
Shohan was involved in a study that attempted to use convalescent serum to treat the flu , and it was not successful — so it is n't a cure-all .
Piggybacking on this strategy , drug companies are gearing up to manufacture antibodies , instead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But those products — monoclonal antibodies — would n't be cheap .
`` What I like about the convalescent plasma idea is that if it worked , I see it as something that could really be scalable in resource-limited settings , '' Justman says , referring to developing countries where expensive pharmaceuticals are frequently out of reach .
`` And I think that 's where convalescent plasma has this really great potential . ''
As for the Orens family , nobody fell ill — whether that was due to in part to treatment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quarantine period ended just in time for a quick trip to New York after the baby 's birth to see the new mom .
`` The plan is to drive up after she is out of the hospital .
Hopefully , everything will go well , and we will all be outside , '' Orens says .
`` We will see the baby from a distance .
I 've already been informed by my daughter that I am not allowed to get anywhere near the baby .
And then we will turn around @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It 's hardly the way he was hoping to greet his first grandchild , he says , `` however it 's the price we have to pay to bring this pandemic under control . ''
The researchers in Baltimore hope to know by mid-September whether the convalescent plasma will in fact inoculate people from COVID-19 .
You can contact NPR science correspondent Richard Harris at rharris @ npr.org .

Harvested Antibodies Now Being Tested As A Prevention Tool Against COVID-19
Enlarge this image toggle caption Lindsey Wasson/Reuters Lindsey Wasson/Reuters
If you're bitten or scratched by an animal with rabies, your doctor can give you a shot to prevent the virus from taking hold in you and causing an infection. The same concept is now being put to the test for the coronavirus.
Most people who get sick with COVID-19 produce antibodies in their blood that seem to protect them from reinfection. A study is now underway to see whether an infusion of those antibodies can protect someone who has been exposed to the virus and is at high risk of infection.
One of the first volunteers for this study is a physician who treats transplant patients at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Jonathan Orens had a close brush with the coronavirus involving not his work, but his family.
His daughter from Los Angeles wanted to come home to be near her sister, who was about to give birth to her first baby. Orens says the traveling daughter was careful about protecting her health in Los Angeles and did everything she could think of to stay safe on her flight to Baltimore.
"She wore a mask, she wore gloves, she had sanitizer, she had wipes," he says. "The load on the plane was relatively small." They chose the Fourth of July as a travel day, knowing that even fewer people were likely to be traveling that day. "We actually bought the two seats in the row to keep her away from everybody else."
She wore masks through the airports and in the car ride back to her parents' house. Once there, she kept her distance from them.
Just to be sure, about a week after she arrived, she and her parents went for coronavirus testing.
Though she had no symptoms, "she was positive," Orens says. "And fortunately my wife and I were negative." But they were still at high risk of contracting the disease, given the close contact with their daughter.
As luck would have it, one of Orens' colleagues at Hopkins was just starting a study to see if purified blood serum from people who have recovered from COVID-19 — called convalescent plasma — could prevent the disease in someone else. Orens and his wife, who are in their early 60s, are entering an age group at higher risk of serious disease if infected with the coronavirus. They signed up for the experimental treatment.
Half the people in this clinical trial get an intravenous infusion of convalescent plasma, while the other half get an infusion of blood serum that had been donated before the pandemic emerged (so it lacked protective antibodies). Neither the participants nor the doctors treating them know who's getting what.
The infusion took about an hour, Orens says. "I didn't feel anything except for the pinprick from the IV, and we went on our merry way."
He now returns to the clinic for regular blood tests.
"We'll follow him along to see if he develops symptoms and if he turns positive," says Dr. Shmuel Shoham, who is directing the study. Shoham says he plans to enroll up to 500 patients — though, in the best-case scenario, if the treatment is highly effective he won't need to study that many people.
In addition to recruiting patients in Baltimore, "right now we have sites in Houston, sites in Alabama," Shoham says. "We're opening up additional sites in Dallas and Arizona. We have sites all over Southern California."
He's also involved in a second study that looks at whether plasma will prevent serious illness in people who are infected but not sick. He says if both of these strategies work, they could help a lot of people, even in the absence of a vaccine.
"That would give people a lot of confidence, I think, to go back to school, go back to work," he says, "because if somebody gets sick it's not a tragedy --because we can protect them and protect those around them."
These studies are among a growing number of experiments involving convalescent plasma, both as preventive measures and as treatments for COVID-19.
Dr. Jessica Justman at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health in New York tried to launch a similar study this spring. Good news for New York — but a complication for her study — was that the disease had largely abated in the city, and she didn't have luck recruiting people to participate.
"Compared to March and April, people have become less worried, less scared of COVID and perhaps a little bit less inclined to go for a preventive treatment," Justman says.
That situation could turn around if the disease roars back in her area. And Justman says the idea is well worth pursuing. A similar strategy works against other diseases — not just rabies, but hepatitis B, botulism and a potentially serious viral infection in babies called respiratory syncytial virus. In fact, this general strategy dates back more than a century. Shohan was involved in a study that attempted to use convalescent serum to treat the flu, and it was not successful — so it isn't a cure-all.
Piggybacking on this strategy, drug companies are gearing up to manufacture antibodies, instead of collecting blood from recovered patients. But those products — monoclonal antibodies — wouldn't be cheap.
"What I like about the convalescent plasma idea is that if it worked, I see it as something that could really be scalable in resource-limited settings," Justman says, referring to developing countries where expensive pharmaceuticals are frequently out of reach. "And I think that's where convalescent plasma has this really great potential."
As for the Orens family, nobody fell ill — whether that was due to in part to treatment or luck, nobody knows. Their quarantine period ended just in time for a quick trip to New York after the baby's birth to see the new mom.
"The plan is to drive up after she is out of the hospital. Hopefully, everything will go well, and we will all be outside," Orens says. "We will see the baby from a distance. I've already been informed by my daughter that I am not allowed to get anywhere near the baby. And then we will turn around and come back to Baltimore."
It's hardly the way he was hoping to greet his first grandchild, he says, "however it's the price we have to pay to bring this pandemic under control."
The researchers in Baltimore hope to know by mid-September whether the convalescent plasma will in fact inoculate people from COVID-19.
You can contact NPR science correspondent Richard Harris at rharris@npr.org.