‘Born fi dead': The Caribbean looks at the George Floyd protests and sees itself
'[It's] about systemic oppression, structural, economic, social and physical violence'

Posted 3 June 2020

George Floyd protest by the White House on May 30, 20.

Photo by Geoff Livingston on Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
As Jamaican reggae pioneer Bob Marley declared in his song “So much things to say”: “Remember that when the rain fall, it don't fall on one man's housetop.”

The horrific May 25 killing of George Floyd, one of many African-Americans who have died at the hands of the police, is reverberating strongly throughout the Caribbean, a formerly colonised region still grappling with the legacy of its own history of race-based oppression.
‘This is our cause’

Quite apart from the common Caribbean saying, “When the United States sneezes, the Caribbean catches a cold”, which speaks to the mammoth influence — economic and otherwise — that the country wields over the region, many West Indians have played an active role in the black struggle in the United States, notably pan-Africanist and Jamaican national hero Marcus Garvey; Trinidadian Kwame Ture, a prominent figure in the American civil rights movement; and Malcolm X, whose mother was Grenadian, and whose parents were active in Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA).

Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies (UWI), Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, who has been at the forefront of the region's reparations campaign, released a statement which recognised this intertwined history:


This Minneapolis fight was Marcus Garvey’s fight; it was Martin’s fight; it was Malcolm’s fight; it was Marley’s fight. It’s a Caribbean fight and it’s a global fight. […]

From that horrible history when Europeans stole 15 million of our ancestors from Africa and scattered them across plantation America—the Caribbean getting the lion’s share—shattering family bonds, the future was cast in the concrete again, in which the face of George was crushed. […]

It is this culture of centuries upon which the American nation is built that continues to choke the air from black lungs. […] This is our cause.
‘Born fi dead’

All across the archipelago and throughout the diaspora, social media users were paying attention. While some wondered why Caribbean people were concerning themselves with American problems [many such comments have since been deleted], and others suggested that the US experience cannot be transposed into the complexities of the Caribbean context, many made connections between America's systemic racism and the region's.

Even as she urged fellow social media users not to police “those of us who can elevate our thinking beyond insular nationalist concerns”, Trinidad-born, UK-based attorney Margaret Rose succinctly summed up the crux of the matter:


For those who have eyes to see the issue playing out in America today is not only about police brutality and it is not only about America. It is a manifestation both literally and metaphorically of the meta-crisis we are all experiencing worldwide. It is about systemic oppression, structural violence, economic, social and physical violence perpetuated through an indifferent global economic system that operates to reward the accumulation of wealth with power. […]

Derek Chauvin’s knee was not just a white man’s knee casually crushing the breath of life out of a black man. Chauvin is an instrument of system enforcement against George Floyd who represents the poor, the powerless, and the downtrodden in society.

In that vein, the irony of Jamaicans being scandalised at Floyd's murder was not lost on blogger Annie Paul. The Jamaica Constabulary Force often operates with impunity in its violence against residents of low-income communities:


I see the outrage being expressed on local social media re #GeorgeFloyd but honestly? I don’t think the way Jamaican police treat poor youth here is any better. They are socially black in the Jamaican hierarchy and ‘born fi dead’ as far as police are concerned. #Selectiveoutrage

The term “born fi dead” means “born to die”.

In the time of a global pandemic, when the possibility of death looms large, several commentators acknowledged that it is no coincidence such societal unravelling is taking place at the same time. Margaret Rose noted:


COVID-19 began the systematic dismantling… this is part of the COVID-19 domino effect.
Caribbean racism

On June 2, in solidarity with the black American plight, many Caribbean netizens changed their profile photos to a black screen for Blackout Tuesday, a collective action by the entertainment industry that was taken in protest over police brutality against people of colour.

The move came in the wake of the killings of not only Floyd, but also Ahmaud Arbery, a black jogger who was murdered by two white vigilantes, and Breonna Taylor, an unarmed black woman killed by the police in her home. The Black Lives Matter movement later explained how the show of support was actually hurting its own efforts by hijacking the #BLM hashtag and steering traffic away from the organisation's attempts at education and dialogue.

Caribbean Twitter, meanwhile, was filled with testimonies of home-grown racism:


Racism is so prevalent in Trinidad and as a DARK SKIN AFRO TRINI WOMAN, I just want yall to know that the people that don't see it are privileged.

— JUSTICE (@mela_nin_fae) June 1, 2020


Racism doh exist in Trinidad but I know rel fellas who didn’t want a black gyul because they didn’t want “nappy head” chirren eh…but anyway back to y’all in the studio pic.twitter.com/2ymBx6JHRn
— MamaTiks

 

(@MamaTiks) June 1, 2020

In the multicultural society of Trinidad and Tobago, where the two main ethnic groups comprise people of Indian and African descent, social media users pointed out that even the country's politics are race-based, that hatred between the two groups was used historically as a colonialist tool of control and manipulation, and that spin-off prejudices spring from racism, rooted in ignorance.

Isaac Rudder, a black Trinidadian, released an exposé about a racist WhatsApp group which he was curiously invited to join, run by Indo-Trinidadians. [Warning: The screenshots posted by Rudder contain disturbing and upsetting language.]
‘I'm not dealing with a race issue’

In Trinidad and Tobago on Blackout Tuesday, expressions of racial intolerance reached fever pitch with many commenting on the situation less from the point of view of Floyd's killing and more from the perspective of the ensuing social unrest. Facebook user Dené Voisin responded:


I find TOO MANY TRINIS […] have TOO MUCH TO SAY about ‘riots’ and ‘looting’ being uncivilized and how you don't respect it. If it wasn't for the Canboulay riots there would be no Carnival.

There would be no Labour Day without riots. There would be no Emancipation Day without riots. There would be no Independence Day if it wasn't for riots across the then British Empire.

Stop being myopic about your own history when people are fighting for their lives.

Adding fuel to the flame were the social media posts of a few business owners who felt the need to weigh in. Michael Patrick Aboud, a local businessman of Syrian descent and already a controversial figure due to his arrest on arms and drug-related offences, posted on Facebook that protesters in the United States were using Floyd's death as an excuse “to do what comes natural”. He later issued an apology saying his post was misinterpreted.

This was soon followed by other tone-deaf social media status updates, including an Instagram post — since taken down — by tea shop owner Dianne Hunt that declared “All Lives Matter”, and a Facebook post by businessman Gerald Aboud who defended Hunt's right to say what she did and admonished black people to “rise up” from their “state of mind”.

Hunt later said that she was “unaware [that] ‘All Lives Matter’ was contradictory to ‘Black Lives Matter'”, but then shifted the blame for the phrasing onto a staff member: “My waitress wrote it. It was a Black girl who wrote it.”
‘What is it going to take?’

The focus for many, however, remained on speaking their truth and finding solutions.

Sarah Chong Sing, a member of the Caribbean diaspora living in the United States, shared her experience about living as a woman of colour in Minnesota, the state in which Floyd was killed:

The one-dimensional way that POC are seen there was shocking – we were treated like criminals more times than I can remember – cops were called for us at least twice that we know of, and we were harassed by them a number of times beyond that. The only place that we felt ‘safe’ and ‘human’ was when we visited Native American reservations. Not even the Catholic Church there was able to give us that. […] All that being said, I have hope for the younger generations in Minnesota, but it will definitely take some time.

Renee Cummings, a Trinidad-born criminologist who resides in New York, asked on Facebook:


How is this going to end and who or what is going to end it? What is it going to take?

Answers ranged from “Murder convictions for all the cops present” [at George Floyd's murder] to voting out President Trump — but Caribbean people know the answer lies much deeper than that.

A good place to start would be to explore the resources that netizens have been sharing which, in Facebook user Caroline Taylor's words, “may help some people better understand, and help ease the burden of constant explanation”.

Her list includes works by playwrights Anna Deavere Smith and August Wilson, films by Ava Duvernay, and protest music by Nina Simone, all of which, she admits, “scratch the surface”.


Written byJanine Mendes-Franco

How this Brazilian police chief transformed her state's handling of femicides
She dropped a career in architecture to join the force -- and entered the police academy while pregnant

Posted 1 June 2020


Eugênia Villa, the woman who created the first police department to investigate femicides in Brazil. Photo: Secretaria de Segurança Pública do Estado do Piauí

This story is part of Global Voices’ special coverage on gender-violence in Latin America.

A glass container the size of a mayonnaise jar was filled all the way to the top with a clear liquid. Inside, there was a human body part that looked like it had been severed with a knife. ​Cinco Estrelas, a police clerk who was working on the case, took it to the magistrate in charge of internal affairs (corregedor) at an appeals court of Piauí, one of the poorest states in Brazil.

The year was 2002, and that magistrate was Eugênia Villa, who recently recounted the story to Global Voices in a conversation via Skype while quarantined in her home in Teresina, Piauí's capital. When she asked the clerk what the item in the jar was, he replied: “It's a woman's ear. I'm taking it to the morgue.”

Villa still remembers the shock. “That was a first for me,” she said. Since the women's police unit was on the same building, she headed there to investigate, as she recalls:

Translation
Original Quote


The female police chief told me that the ear belonged to a woman who gave permission to her partner to cut it off. The woman had cheated on him and she said she deserved it. This is not something they teach you at the police academy or at law school. They don't teach you that it happens, that this is real life.

That episode would forever change Villa's career. At that moment, she decided to dedicate the rest of her life to bridging the chasm between real-life violence against women and Brazil's legal system. She dropped a 19-year career in architecture to join the police academy and went on to become a superintendent in her state's civil police.

In 2015, she created Brazil's first police unit focused exclusively on investigating femicides. To this day, Teresina remains the only Brazilian city with such a unit.

Femicides are on the rise in Brazil, even though general homicide rates are down. An analysis by newspaper Folha de S. Paulo published in February showed that 2019 saw an increase of 7.2 percent of femicide cases in relation to the previous year — that's 1,310 women killed in the country last year, most of them in episodes of domestic violence.

Villa's personal story is a testament to the struggles women face in Brazil's police forces. At age 32, she left a career in architecture and enrolled in law school. Shortly after graduating in 2000, she passed the test to become a police officer. Villa entered the police academy while pregnant.

Translation
Original Quote


I hid the pregnancy [during the test]. I was afraid they wouldn't approve me. (…) My career was made out of shattered paradigms.

Once in the academy, she teamed up with two other colleagues who were also pregnant to ask their superiors to be relieved from physical activities. Not only the academy rejected the request, but it also marked them zero in those disciplines, affecting their global average.

Eugênia went on to become the dean of that same academy a few years later and says that one of the first things she did was to ensure pregnant students were treated fairly. She says:

Translation
Original Quote

I'm white. Catholic. Heterosexual. In a colonized society, I recognize my place and my privileges, but I break with that. I break with that the moment I recognize [those privileges] and use them to fight against the structural violence from which we all suffer in different ways.
Changing the system from within

Women's rights legislation was slow to catch on in Brazil.

Women's police units were created starting in 1985. Nine years later, Brazil ratified the Interamerican Convention to Prevent, Punish, and Eradicate Violence Against Women (also known as the Belém do Pará Convention).

It took another 10 years for the country to pass legislation that punished women's attackers: The Maria da Penha Law, named after a women's rights activist who became paraplegic after her husband tried to kill her, was sanctioned in 2006 and became Brazil's first law against domestic violence.

In 2015, the word “femicide” finally made it to the country's Penal Code.

But for Villa, there is still much to be done:

Translation
Original Quote


There are several weaknesses. Starting with the term domestic violence, which limits women to the condition of “housewife.” Besides, under national law, killings of trans women aren't seen as femicides. Marital rape was inivisible for a very long time. There is a blindness around femicides outside of relationships.

Along with Brazil's first femicide department, Villa created a study group focused on gender violence as well as a method to investigate femicides. She is also the mastermind of Caravana Salve Maria (Hail Mary Caravan), an interagency government program in Piauí focused on educating women about gender violence. She says:

Translation
Original Quote


Misogynistic ideas are embedded into the system. They have been reproduced for years, never questioned. What we did was to explain, through the scientific method, why this was wrong and how we could fix it. The prosecutor, the judge, the police… For a long time, they were blind to those issues.

Villa says that a former colleague of hers, a police chief, used to joke that Eugênia must have been beaten up by a boyfriend for her to care so much about violence against women.

“I was never physically beaten,” she laughs. “But I've taken a figurative beating when opening doors for change and for other women.”


For an interview to a local publication, Eugênia made sure that the photograph featured her holding a book, instead of a gun | Photo: Personal Archive/Used with permission

After she took over the internal affairs department, a reporter from a local newspaper who was profiling her was surprised to find her in a floral dress while helping her son with homework. Villa says she intended to be photographed in that dress — while also holding a book, rather than a gun, she says.

At her current job, Villa is in charge of evaluating and improving the penal system in Piauí. As such, she oversees the training of police agents and stations when it comes to assisting women in situations of violence.

She never learned what happened to the woman who had her ear severed, the case that first piked her interest in gender issues within the legal system. But she believes that Piauí's security has vastly improved when it comes to supporting its female citizens.

Translation
Original Quote


Today, it's unlikely that that case would be left unresolved. What is lacking in the struggle against violence? An understanding that violence is structural and structuring of social relations.


Written byGiovana Fleck

UH OH
Dutch Minks Contract COVID-19 — And Appear To Infect Humans

June 25, 2020 PIEN HUANG N

Minks at a mink farm.Yuri Tutov /AFP via Getty Images

Minks on two fur farms in the Netherlands began getting sick in late April. Some were coughing, with runny noses; others had signs of severe respiratory disease. Soon, they started dying.

Researchers took swabs from the animals and dissected the ones that had died.

The culprit: SARS-COV-2, the novel coronavirus causing a global pandemic.

It's part of an emerging pattern of animals getting infected with the novel coronavirus with a new concern: The minks are thought to have passed the disease back to humans. Since the discovery, more than 500,000 minks have been culled on fur farms in the Netherlands over worries that their mink populations could spread the virus among humans.

The minks were first exposed to the coronavirus by infected farm workers, according to Wim van der Poel, a veterinarian who studies viruses at Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands. Then the virus spread among the animals in the farms like wildfire.

"The animals are in cages with wire tops and closed walls between them," says Van der Poel, who co-authored a Eurosurveillance paper investigating the mink farm infections that was published this month. "So it probably spread through droplet or aerosol transmission, from the top of one cage to another, when an animal is coughing or heavily breathing."


The Netherlands is one of the world's top exporters of mink fur for coats and trim. The outbreak was first reported on two of its approximately 125 farms and has now been found in at least 17. Van der Poel says the virus was likely spread to more farms either from infected workers who traveled between locations or from virus-contaminated products that moved from one farm to another.

Minks are the latest addition to the list of animals that we know can be infected with the novel coronavirus, says Linfa Wang, director of the emerging infectious diseases program at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore. "The first one we noticed was cats," he says. "Then it was followed by dogs, which are susceptible but not as much as cats. And then the tigers in the New York zoo. And now the minks." Laboratory experiments have also confirmed that hamsters and some monkeys can also get sick from the virus. And the virus is believed to have originated in Chinese horseshoe bats.

The findings from the mink farm adds an concerning layer to our understanding of how the virus spreads because infected minks are thought to have passed the virus back to people, according to Dutch government reports. At least two farm workers are believed to have caught the novel coronavirus from handling the minks or breathing virus-contaminated clouds of dust.

The situation confirms a longstanding concern among researchers which has, until now, been hypothetical: In some animal-to-human interactions, the virus can transmit both ways. "It's another route of transmission that we have to worry about," says Kevin Olival, an ecologist at EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit that monitors for emerging diseases. "And if the virus somehow establishes itself in animal populations or in other wildlife populations around the world, it'll be really hard to eradicate it if it keeps spilling back into the human population."

Those concerns prompted Dutch authorities to cull all the minks on farms where the novel coronavirus has been found. While many of the animals on affected farms were found to have survived the virus and developed antibodies, it's unclear how long they might be protected. And many new pups, presumed to be susceptible to the coronavirus, are born in the late spring, van der Poel says. So hundreds of thousands of animals are being gassed to ensure that they do not become reservoirs for the virus.

From a disease control perspective, Wang says it's helpful that the outbreaks were contained to farms and caused symptoms in the infected animals, "so at least you notice the animal is sick." A less controllable scenario, he says, is if the virus takes root in wandering wildlife populations — for instance, if it were to become established among North American bats, a group that could carry the disease without developing symptoms and spread it widely.

Wang sees this ability of the novel coronavirus to jump easily between different species as troubling — especially since the virus has spread so rapidly among humans. Many common viruses, such as measles and hepatitis, mostly infect humans. On the other hand, some emerging viruses such as Ebola, Nipah and SARS infect a broad spectrum of species. But outbreaks among humans have been contained.

When it comes to eradicating a disease, "the worst is an animal virus that jumps over and becomes established in humans — and has a wide host range," Wang says, meaning it can infect many different animal species that might pass it back to humans. "And that's SARS-COV-2."

Currently, the novel coronavirus is mainly spreading through close contact between people, says Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead for the World Health Organization's health emergencies program.

Still, researchers think the potential for animal reservoirs is something public health officials should be thinking about now. The lesson from the mink farms, says van der Poel, is that we should be testing all kinds of animals for the novel coronavirus as well as keeping a lookout for other novel diseases they may be carrying.

"We have to have an open mind and open eyes for any new virus that pops up," he says.

Jerome Socolovsky contributed to this story.

FINAL SCENE GORKY PARK SABLES ARE RELATED TO MINK
GREAT BOOK GREAT MOVIE 

Coronavirus FAQs: Is There A Polite Way To Remind Someone To Follow Pandemic Rules?


June 26, 2020 PRANAV BASKAR

Each week, we answer "frequently asked questions" about life during the coronavirus crisis. If you have a question you'd like us to consider for a future post, email us at goatsandsoda@npr.org with the subject line: "Weekly Coronavirus Questions."


Malaka Gharib/ NPR

At the farmer's market I saw a woman break the "do not touch what you're not buying" guideline CLEARLY PRINTED ON A BIG SIGN and pick up and inspect a dozen plastic bags of peaches. Is there a way to politely tell someone to follow the rules?

Fingering various food items — whether bagged or unbagged — isn't the only way people break the rules of preventing viral spread during a pandemic. Maybe they're failing to maintain distance from other customers or letting their mask slip. Yikes! There are so many new no-no's in the age of COVID-19.

So do you say anything — and if so, what?

Health experts agree that the etiquette of epidemics can be super thorny.

On the one hand, you care about safety and believe others ought to stick to certain rules for the well-being of the general public. On the other hand, it can be awkward to encourage others to follow health guidelines. You don't want to come across as rude. But sometimes it really, really does feel as if the world is at stake. It is a worldwide pandemic, after all!


The key, says Dr. Paul Sax, clinical director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Brigham and Women's Hospital, is to find the "sweet spot" — to strike a balance between politeness and public health.

Start by choosing your battles.

Sax says it's a good idea to channel your focus on the highest risk situations — instances where you think an individual actually poses danger to others and where you think your intervention will help. Mostly, this will apply to indoor spaces with large crowds, like markets or other public gatherings, he says. In this light, it's probably smart to not waste energy by acting on lower-risk examples: maybe disregard "the jogger going by without a mask, an unmasked family having a picnic, etc."

For public settings you've identified as potentially high-risk (say, our peach-touching friend at the market), think wisely about how you can convey the message in the most "non-threatening way."

"Shaming never works — it didn't work in past epidemics and it won't work in this one," says Harvard Medical School physician Dr. Abraar Karan. "The key here is to be kind and communicate your concerns clearly without stigmatizing others or making them feel like they are at fault. Personally, I would say: 'Hey there — here's some hand sanitizer. Please use it.' "

A gentle nudge, like "Wearing a mask protects you and others," can go a long way, says Sax.

Furthermore, because these encounters will be in public, it's important to not get too technical, he says. Strangers don't want to hear you expound on epidemiological studies, and public places aren't the correct settings for these sorts of "didactic exchanges."

Sometimes, trying to correct the behaviors of strangers can feel awkward or pointless — in many cases, Karan says, people's decision to not adhere to health requirements can come down to differences in beliefs and values rather than apathy or simply forgetting.

"People may not believe the data on masks and are further skeptical because of the CDC's position change on masks," he says. "For others, it may be a matter of 'personal rights.'"

Exercise good judgement, our sources stress. In some cases, it's also OK to simply make sure your mask is properly donned and try to keep your distance from the person in question — a strategy Karan says is akin to "defensive driving."

Most of all, Sax says, serving as a role model works — think of it as "peer pressure." The person you have the most control over is yourself. So wear a mask and follow other protocols in public to help establish those actions as social norms, pushing other people to adopt those behaviors too.

So the next time you're at the market? Set the example you want to see. And give that peach-toucher a gentle reminder, if you feel inclined.

People who are headed back to the office are asking: Is it OK to pop off your mask for a casual conversation with a coworker? What about in conference rooms?

Health experts say the COVID-19 pandemic has opened a Pandora's box of new considerations for proper etiquette and agreeable behavior in public settings. And the workplace is no exception.

That said, there are some overarching precautions to keep in mind when going back to a physical workplace to ensure you're as safe as possible.

In general, Dr. Abraar Karan says it's a good idea to wear your mask as much as possible — especially if you're indoors and close to colleagues.

Scientists suspect that in indoor settings COVID-19 can be transmitted even when people are six feet apart, Karan says, depending on the room's ventilation and how long droplet clouds containing viral particles linger in the air. "So — unless you are going to be in your own office completely alone, I would wear your mask."

Dr. Paul Sax says it might be OK to remove your mask if you're in an exceptionally well-ventilated conference room and are maintaining over 6 feet in distance from colleagues — but even that might not be enough to prevent contact with viral particles. He says it's hard to guarantee that people won't move around. So as a rule, it's better to keep the mask on.

Sax adds that an especially vulnerable time can be meal breaks, a time when people must take off their masks and may be eating in close quarters like a cafeteria. He recommends taking advantage of the outdoors during the summer, where the risk of transmission has shown to be less severe than it is indoors, and sitting at least six feet apart: "There's barely any transmission outside," Sax says. "The virus is so diluted."

Beyond that, try not to sweat the small stuff.

"People [should] not be too worried about briefly passing something who isn't wearing a mask," says Sax. "Those extremely casual passes in the hallway or especially outside are not dangerous situations at all."

And there are always general guidelines you can follow to make sure you're minimizing your risks — like washing your hands with soap often and using hand sanitizer.

Pranav Baskar is a freelance journalist and U.S. national born in Mumbai.

NPR
Coronavirus World Map: Tracking The Spread Of The Outbreak

June 30, 2020
This page is updated regularly.

Since the new coronavirus was first reported in Wuhan, China, in December, the infectious respiratory disease COVID-19 has spread rapidly within China and to neighboring countries and beyond.

The first confirmed coronavirus cases outside China occurred on Jan. 20, in Japan, Thailand and South Korea. On Jan. 21, the first case in the U.S. was identified in Washington state.

This particular virus, officially known as SARS-CoV-2, is only the third strain of coronavirus known to frequently cause severe symptoms in humans. The other two strains cause Middle East respiratory syndrome and severe acute respiratory syndrome

On Jan. 24, the first two European cases were confirmed in France. By Feb. 1, eight European nations had confirmed cases of COVID-19, and a month later that count had risen to 24 countries with at least 2,200 cases, most of them in Italy. On March 11, Italy eclipsed 10,000 cases and the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a pandemic — the first since H1N1 in 2009. That's also when China, the original epicenter, began seeing drops in daily counts of new cases.

March also saw exponential spread of the virus throughout the U.S., with all 50 states reporting cases by March 17.

On Jan. 24, the first two European cases were confirmed in France. By Feb. 1, eight European nations had confirmed cases of COVID-19, and a month later that count had risen to 24 countries with at least 2,200 cases, most of them in Italy. On March 11, Italy eclipsed 10,000 cases and the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a pandemic — the first since H1N1 in 2009. That's also when China, the original epicenter, began seeing drops in daily counts of new cases.

March also saw exponential spread of the virus throughout the U.S., with all 50 states reporting cases by March 17.

This particular virus, officially known as SARS-CoV-2, is only the third strain of coronavirus known to frequently cause severe symptoms in humans. The other two strains cause Middle East respiratory syndrome and severe acute respiratory syndrome.

Click here to see the state-by-state breakdown of cases in the United States.


This story was originally published on March 30, 2020.

THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

Pandemic Causes China To Ban Breeding Of Bamboo Rats And Other Wild Animals
June 28, 2020
EMILY FENG
AMY CHENG


Liu Ping, a breeder of bamboo rats. He had to cull his rats when the Chinese government banned consumption of various wild animals as a way to potentially curb spread of viruses from animals to humans.Liu Ping

This year was supposed to be a good year for selling bamboo rats to eat. Prices had been rising steadily as had their popularity as a delicacy when grilled.

Then the coronavirus hit.

"People nowadays are always talking about poverty alleviation. But now, I'm close to being in extreme poverty," said Liu Ping, a breeder of bamboo rats — plump rodents known for their sharp, bamboo-gnawing incisors and ample flesh.

Days after a mysterious pneumonia-like illness in Wuhan was linked to a local wet market known for selling exotic animals, authorities suspended the transportation and sales of terrestrial wild animals, including bamboo rats and badgers.

Chinese researchers have since theorized that wildlife species such as bamboo rats, pangolins and civet cats may have been intermediate hosts for the novel coronavirus before it infected humans.

On paper, China moved fast to close off wild animal consumption. On February 24, China's national legislature suspended illegal wildlife trade to "uproot the pernicious habit of eating wild animals." Cities such as Shenzhen rolled out their own, more far-reaching policies that also suspended the consumption of certain domesticated animals, notably dogs, a move animal activists have been lobbying for for years.


The general consensus is that the ban is a good step but needs to be made permanent – and to be more sweeping.

For example, the open-ended suspension still contains significant loopholes for animal breeders who supply zoos and makers of traditional medicines that incorporate animal parts. The impact falls most heavily on rural communities, exacerbating historic resentments between China's more prosperous urban centers and its impoverished rural tracts.

Since the early 2000s, rural development policies explicitly encouraged the breeding of captive animals such as rat snakes and pangolins, scaly mammals prized in traditional Chinese medicine. Local officials trumpeted the wildlife trade as a way to close the rural-urban divide and to meet ambitious national targets to alleviate poverty.

Bamboo rats have been particularly popular among breeders. The rats are a delicacy eaten in parts of southern China, popularized in part by internet celebrities like the Huanong brothers, whose earthy videos depicting them breeding and grilling the rats have attracted millions of views on social media. Since the coronavirus pandemic, the brothers have quietly pivoted toward videos featuring them grilling vegetables.

Liu, a bamboo rat breeder from a small Guangdong village, took notice of the government support for raising rats. Late last year, he took out 100,000 yuan ($14,150) in loans to expand his bamboo rat operations. Thanks to a local poverty alleviation program, his loan was interest-free for the first two years.

Bamboo rats are prized for their ample flesh. This year was looking to be a good year for rat breeders like Liu Ping — consumption of the grilled delicacy was increasingly popular and prices were going up — until the coronavirus struck.Liu Ping

But less than two months after his investment, the coronavirus pandemic struck. "I have not earned a penny since the Chinese New Year in January, but I have elderly parents and young children to feed," Liu said.

Liu is especially infuriated by the seemingly arbitrary designations of which species are banned while others are permitted for consumption.

For example, China's definition of what is a wild animal continues to change. Last month, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs released an updated list of species permitted for breeding in captivity. Bamboo rats did not make the cut. China's top scientist, Zhong Nanshan, has said bamboo rats may be a vector for COVID-19.

GOATS AND SODA
They Call Him A Hero: Dr. Zhong Is The Public Face Of China's War Against Coronavirus

Seventeen traditional species such as chicken and rabbit as well as sixteen "special" species, including spotted deer and ostrich, did make it. The ministry decided that such animals would now be considered "livestock," meaning they can be commercially bred and traded.

"Where exactly you draw the line between 'wildlife' and what many perceive as domesticated species for consumption is a blurry one," said Leigh Henry, a policy director at World Wildlife Fund.

And while China has banned most consumption of certain wild animals, it continues to permit four broad categories of breeding activity. Breeders are still allowed to raise certain wild animals in captivity for their fur, for research purposes and to supply zoos and circuses.

Breeders are also allowed to raise animals like black bears and pangolins for use in traditional Chinese medicine. Heavily promoted for export, traditional Chinese medicine is worth 786.6 billion yuan ($111 billion) in annual revenue, or a third of the entire Chinese pharmaceutical market, according to an industry association.

"Business interests put a lot of pressure on the Chinese government, arguing that if you don't include these animals, then we will be out of business, and we will lose money," said Peter K. Li, an associate professor at the University of Houston-Downtown and a China policy adviser for the Humane Society International.

Those interests may delay the implementation of a permanent ban on wildlife consumption. China's legislature, the National People's Congress, has yet to update the country's wildlife protection law, which only protects rare and endangered animals. Instead, the legislature concluded during its annual national meeting this May that it will look into drafting revisions, a lengthy process that can take years before amendments are approved.

Already, the suspension on wildlife trade has encountered particularly vociferous opposition from rural communities, some of which have become entirely economically reliant on wild animal breeding.

"During the coronavirus epidemic, some individuals exaggerated the relationship between the virus and animals, leading to a near-obliteration of the breeding industry," wrote Ran Jingcheng, an outspoken forestry official who regulates wildlife in Guizhou province, one of China's poorest.

Yao Yuanchuan, a bamboo rat breeder based in Sansui County in Guizhou, said dozens of farms in his small village reliant on bamboo rat breeding had already been shut down and forced to kill off their stock.

"Only a few smaller breeders have yet to deal with their stocks," Yao told NPR. He estimated that he lost 3 million yuan ($420,000) after he was forced to dispose of thousands of unsold rats.

Guangdong's Liu Ping demanded more compensation money for his animals. Other breeders lobbied hard to have the rodents excluded from new animal consumption regulations, to no avail. Local officials told him to kill his rats in exchange for up to 140 yuan ($20) in state compensation per rat, only about a third of their market value, claims Liu. He dug in his heels. To cut costs, he began hand-cutting bamboo to feed his rats rather than buy food for them.

In late June, Liu finally gave in. He dug a deep pit, put his hundreds of bamboo rats inside, and buried them alive. Afterward, he liberally sprayed the ground with disinfectant.

"I have no way of describing how bitter I feel inside," said Liu, " I invested all I had into this business."

THIRD WORLD USA
Essential Worker Shoulders $1,840 Debt For Trying To Get A Coronavirus Test

PRIVATE HEALTHCARE, INSURANCE COMPANIES AND PRIVATE HOSPITAL CORPORATIONS HOW'S THAT WORKING FOR YA?!

June 30, 2020 5:05 AM ET
Heard on NPR Morning Edition
SARAH VARNEY
LISTEN·4:54
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Transcript

Carmen Quintero works as a supervisor at a distribution center for N95 masks. She owes $1,840 for other care she received when she tried to get a coronavirus test.Heidi de Marco/KHN

Carmen Quintero works an early shift as a supervisor at a 3M distribution warehouse that ships N95 masks to a nation under siege from the coronavirus. On March 23, she had developed a severe cough, and her voice, usually quick and enthusiastic, was barely a whisper.

A human resources staff member told Quintero she needed to go home.

"They told me I couldn't come back until I was tested," said Quintero, who was also told that she would need to document that she didn't have the virus.

Her primary care doctor directed her to the nearest emergency room for testing because the practice had no coronavirus tests.

The Corona Regional Medical Center is just around the corner from her house in Corona, Calif. They didn't have any tests either, but there a nurse tested her breathing and gave her a chest X-ray. For testing, the nurse told her to go to Riverside County's public health department. There, a public health worker gave her an 800 number to call to schedule a test. The earliest the county could test her was April 7, more than two weeks later.


At the hospital, Quintero got a doctor's note saying she should stay home from work for a week and she was told to behave as if she had COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, isolating herself from vulnerable household members. That was difficult — Quintero lives with her grandmother and her girlfriend's parents — but she managed. No one else in her home got sick, and by the time April 7 came, she felt better and decided not to get the coronavirus test.

Then the bill for the ER visit came.

The patient: Carmen Quintero, 35, a supervisor at a 3M distribution warehouse who lives in Corona, Calif. She has an Anthem Blue Cross health insurance plan through her job with a $3,500 annual deductible.

Total bill: Corona Regional Medical Center billed Quintero $1,010, and Corona Regional Emergency Medical Associates billed an additional $830 for physician services — for her visit attempting to get a test. She also paid $50 at Walgreens to fill a prescription for an inhaler.

DOCUMENT













Service provider: Corona Regional Medical Center, a for-profit hospital owned by Universal Health Services, a company based in King of Prussia, Pa., which is one of the largest health care management companies in the nation. The hospital contracts with Corona Regional Emergency Medical Associates, part of Emergent Medical Associates.

Medical service: Quintero was evaluated in the emergency room for symptoms consistent with COVID-19: a wracking cough and difficulty breathing. She had a chest X-ray and a breathing treatment and was prescribed an inhaler.

What gives: Quintero knew she had a high-deductible plan yet felt she had no choice but to follow her doctor's advice and go to the nearest emergency room to get tested. She assumed she would get the test and not have to pay. Congress had passed the CARES Act just the week before, with its headlines saying coronavirus testing would be free.

That legislation turned out to be riddled with loopholes, especially for people like Quintero who needed and wanted a coronavirus test but couldn't get one early in the pandemic.

Insurers do have to cover tests, but when a patient goes to see a doctor to be checked out for COVID-19 symptoms, if no test is ordered or administered, insurers aren't required to cover the appointment without cost sharing.

So Quintero was on the hook for the copay.

"I just didn't think it was fair because I went in there to get tested," she said.

Some insurance companies are voluntarily reducing copayments for coronavirus-related emergency room visits. But Quintero said her insurer, Anthem Blue Cross, would not reduce her bill. Anthem would not discuss the case until Quintero signed its own privacy waiver; it would not accept a signed standard waiver KHN uses. The hospital would not discuss the bill with a reporter unless Quintero could also be on the phone, something that has yet to be arranged around Quintero's workday, which begins at 4 a.m. and ends at 3:30 p.m.

Three states have gone further than Congress to waive cost sharing for testing and diagnosis of pneumonia and influenza, given these illnesses are often mistaken for COVID-19. California is not one of them, and because Quintero's employer is self-insured — the company pays for health services directly from its own funds — it is exempt from state directives anyway. The U.S. Department of Labor regulates all self-funded insurance plans. In 2019, nearly 2 in 3 covered workers were in these types of plans.

Related health care hurdle: On that day in late March when her body shook from coughing, Quintero's immediate worry was infecting her family, especially her girlfriend's parents, both older than 65, and her 84-year-old grandmother.

"If something was to happen to them, I don't know if I would have been able to live with it," said Quintero.

Quintero wanted to isolate in a hotel, but she could hardly afford to for the week that she stayed home. She had only three paid sick days and was forced to take vacation time until her symptoms subsided and she was allowed back at work. At the time, few places provided publicly funded hotel rooms for sick people to isolate, and Quintero was not offered any help.

As lockdown restrictions ease and coronavirus cases rise around the country, public health officials say quickly isolating sick people before the virus spreads through families is essential.

But isolation efforts have gotten little attention in the U.S. Nearly all local health departments, including Riverside County where Quintero lives, now have these programs, according to the National Association of County and City Health Officials. Many were designed to shelter people experiencing homelessness but can be used to isolate others.

Raymond Niaura, interim chairman of the Department of Epidemiology at New York University, said these programs are used inconsistently and have been poorly promoted to the public.

"No one has done this before and a lot of what's happening is that people are making it up as they go along," said Niaura. "We've just never been in a circumstance like this."

Resolution:

The bills have been a constant worry. Quintero called the hospital and her insurance company and complained that she should not have to pay since she was seeking a test on her doctor's orders. Neither budged, and the bills labeled "payment reminders" soon became "final notices." She reluctantly agreed to pay $100 a month toward her balance — $50 to the hospital and $50 to the doctors.

"None of them wanted to work with me," Quintero said. "I just have to give the first payment on each bill so they wouldn't send me to collections."

On top of that, Quintero still worries about bringing the virus home to her family and fears being in the same room with her grandmother. Quintero returns from work every day now, puts her clothes in a separate hamper and diligently washes her hands before she interacts with anyone.

The takeaways:

At this point in the pandemic, tests are more widely available and federal law is very clearly on your side: You should not be charged any cost sharing for a coronavirus test.

Be wary, though, if your doctor directs you to the emergency room for a test, because any additional care you get there could come at a high price. Ask if there are any other testing sites available.

If you do find yourself with a big bill related to suspected coronavirus, push beyond a telephone call with your insurance company and file a formal appeal. If you feel comfortable, ask your employer's human resources staff to argue on your behalf. Then, call the help line for your state insurance commissioner and file a separate appeal. Press insurers — and big companies that offer self-insured plans — to follow the spirit of the law, even if the letter of the law seems to let them off the hook.

If you suspect you have COVID-19 and need to isolate to protect vulnerable members of your household, call your local public health department. Most counties have isolation and quarantine programs, but these resources are not well known. You may be placed in a hotel, recreational vehicle or other type of housing while you wait out the infection period. You do not need to have a positive coronavirus test to qualify for these programs and can use these programs while you await your test result. But this is an area in which public health officials repeatedly offer clear guidance — 14 days of isolation — which most people find impossible to follow.

Bill of the Month is a crowdsourced investigation by Kaiser Health News and NPR that dissects and explains medical bills. 

'Going To Be Very Disturbing': Fauci Warns Coronavirus Cases Could Reach 100K A Day

NPR June 30, 2020

Dr. Anthony Fauci, and other top government health officials, testifies before the Senate health and education committee on Tuesday.Kevin Dietsch/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Updated at 1:40 p.m. ET

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's top infectious disease expert, told members of Congress on Tuesday that although he can't predict the ultimate number of infections and deaths related to the coronavirus, "it's going to be very disturbing."

"When you have an outbreak in one part of the country, even though in other parts of the country they're doing well, they are vulnerable," he said. "We can't just focus on those areas that are having the surge. It puts the entire country at risk. We are now having 40-plus thousand new cases a day. I would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around," he told the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which convened to discuss plans for reopening schools and work offices that have been shuttered by the deadly coronavirus pandemic.

Drs. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Stephen Hahn, Food and Drug Administration commissioner; and Adm. Brett Giroir, assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services, also testified.


Masks still front and center

Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., urged people to take CDC guidelines to wear a face covering seriously and lamented the politicization of mask-wearing.

"Unfortunately, this simple life-saving practice has become part of the political debate that says if you're for Trump, you don't wear a mask, if you're against Trump, you do," Alexander said. "That's why I've suggested that the president occasionally wear a mask, even though in most cases it's not necessary for him to do so. The president has plenty of admirers. They would follow his lead."

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., asked the panelists whether they would support an effort to increase the production of masks in this country and distribute them free of charge.

"There's no doubt that wearing masks protects you," Fauci said. "Anything that furthers the use of masks, whether it's giving out free masks or any other mechanism, I am thoroughly in favor of."

Redfield concurred, calling universal mask-wearing "the most important thing we can do."

Surges of cases

Fauci said it is clear that some parts of the country skipped over checkpoints or guidelines for determining when to reopen. He added that even in states that followed the rules, it appears people are taking an "all-or-nothing approach" when it comes to social distancing and wearing face masks.

"Either be locked down or you see people in bars, not wearing masks, not avoiding crowds, not paying attention to physical distancing," Fauci described. "I think we need to emphasize the responsibility we have both as individuals and as part of a societal effort to ending the epidemic."

Giroir echoed that sentiment, saying he's concerned about the recent data from several states that indicate a rise in infections and an uptick in hospitalizations.

"We can reverse these concerning trends, if we work together," Giroir said. "We must take personal responsibility and be disciplined about our own behavior. Maintain physical distancing, wear a face covering whenever you can't physically distance, wash your hands, stay at home if you feel sick."

Vaccine

Regarding a potential vaccine, Fauci said that while health officials are hopeful, there's "no guarantee" the U.S. will develop a "safe and effective" vaccine for the coronavirus.

"But we are cautiously optimistic, looking at animal data and the early preliminary data, that we will at least know the extent of efficacy sometime in the winter and early part of next year ... Hopefully, there will be doses available by the beginning of next year," he said.

Fauci also said that questions remain about how long someone who received a vaccination would retain immunity and that the "durability" of immunity could influence how often someone would need to receive an updated vaccine.

The panel also addressed the skepticism that still remains within the country over the safety of a vaccine.

"Public confidence in vaccines is so important," Redfield said. "We have an obligation to use all of our scientific knowledge, our regulatory framework to ensure that any vaccine that comes before us, whether for authorization or approval, meets our stringent standards for safety and effectiveness.

Reopening schools

Fauci told Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., that local officials should make the decision to reopen schools based on the prevalence of the virus in their district.

"I feel very strongly we need to do whatever we can to get the children back to school. So I think we are in locked agreement with that."

He suggested that there could be "creative" measures to modify a school's schedule and structure to allow for a reopening of some kind.

Treatment

Hahn said he was optimistic about possible treatments for coronavirus for adults by the fall.

He noted that remdesivir, an antiviral medication, has shown a reduction in hospitalization days among COVID-19 patients.

"Convalescent plasma, we have evaluated the safety through a large expanded access program at the Mayo Clinic and it's been found to be safe, and over 20,000 patients who administered it," Hahn said.

"That antibody data will help us in terms of the development of monoclonal antibodies," he described.

"Monoclonal antibodies are synthetic antibodies that the theory is will provide protection against the infection of the virus, and we're hopeful that those studies by the late summer, early fall will provide us information about their effectiveness and safety," Hahn explained.

Airlines

Redfield said there was "substantial disappointment" with the recent announcement that American Airlines plans to begin booking flights to full capacity. Redfield did not commit to any action when asked by Sanders whether the federal government plans to impose guidelines or requirements for social distancing on airlines or buses.

"I can say this is under critical review by us at CDC," Redfield said. "We don't think it's the right message ... Again, we think it's really important that individuals that are in whether it's a bus or a train or a plane are social distancing to the degree that it is feasible or at least have a reliable face covering."

The hearing comes as cases of the deadly respiratory virus have spiked across the United States, following calls from President Trump for states to reopen their economies and phase back into normal operations, despite health experts' guidance.


SHOTS - HEALTH NEWS
Tracking The Pandemic: Are Coronavirus Cases Rising Or Falling In Your State?

The president himself has bucked conventional wisdom on slowing the spread of COVID-19, holding large in-person events as part of his reelection campaign.

So far, more than 125,000 people in the United States have died from coronavirus infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The United States has some 2.5 million confirmed cases.

WHO Chief On COVID-19 Pandemic: 'The Worst Is Yet To Come'

June 29, 2020
SCOTT NEUMAN NPR

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks during a news conference this week in Geneva.Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty ImagesThe head of the World Health Organization is warning that the COVID-19 pandemic is speeding up, and he criticized governments that have failed to establish reliable contact tracing to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Speaking at a briefing in Geneva, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives. But the hard reality is this is not even close to being over."

"Although many countries have made some progress, globally the pandemic is actually speeding up," he said.

He said the solution is the same as it has been since the early days of the pandemic: "Test, trace, isolate and quarantine."

"If any country is saying contact tracing is difficult, it is a lame excuse," he said.

SHOTS - HEALTH NEWS
Former NIH Director Calls Trump Administration's Pandemic Response 'Amateur Hour'

According to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University, there have been more than 10 million confirmed coronavirus infections worldwide since the virus was first identified in China late last year, with more than a half-million deaths. The United States alone accounts for more than one-quarter of all confirmed cases with nearly 126,000 deaths.

"If any country is saying contact tracing is difficult, it is a lame excuse," says @WHO Chief @DrTedros, pointing out that many public health professionals have risked their lives to do contact tracing in active conflict zones, including @DrMikeRyan when fighting #Ebola in DRC. pic.twitter.com/ka8vbLrAUL— Global Health Strategies (@GHS) June 29, 2020

"The lack of national unity and lack of global solidarity and the divided world ... is actually helping the virus to spread," Tedros said. "The worst is yet to come."

"I'm sorry to say that, but with this kind of environment and conditions we fear the worst," he said.

The head of WHO's emergencies program, Mike Ryan, said there had been "tremendous work" toward a coronavirus vaccine but said there's no guarantee of success.

In the U.S., a spike in coronavirus infections has been driven in part by people unwilling to heed public health guidelines to wear masks and continue social distancing.

Currently, the U.S. leads the world in both coronavirus infections and COVID-19 deaths. Brazil ranks second in the number of infections, followed by Russia, India and the United Kingdom.

President Trump has been highly critical of the WHO, accusing it of helping China cover up the extent of the pandemic within its borders. Earlier this month, the president announced that the U.S. was "terminating" its decades-long relationship with the WHO and would withdraw vital U.S. funding.

Congress Unites To Demand Answers From Trump On Russian Bounties In Afghanistan

June 29, 202011:40 AM ET


PHILIP EWING

U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers trained in Afghanistan in 2009. Members of Congress want answers about reported Russian bounties paid to target American troops.Maya Alleruzzo/AP

Members of Congress in both parties demanded answers on Monday about reported bounties paid by Russian operatives to Afghan insurgents for targeting American troops.

The stories appeared to have taken even the most senior lawmakers off guard, and they said they wanted briefings soon from the Defense Department and the intelligence community.

"I think it is absolutely essential that we get the information and be able to judge its credibility," said Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee.


NATIONAL SECURITY
Trump Says He Was Not Briefed On Russian Bounties Because Intelligence 'Not Credible'

The story is unfolding along two parallel tracks in Washington, based on two key questions:

First, what actually has taken place — and have any American troops been killed as a result of Russian-sponsored targeted action? And second: Who knew what about the reporting on these allegations that has flowed up from the operational level in Afghanistan?


ANALYSIS
Trump Is Still Running Against The City And Idea Of Washington, D.C.

The White House tried to defend itself over the weekend on both counts, arguing that senior intelligence officials aren't convinced about the reliability of the reports and that they never reached President Trump or Vice President Pence personally.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who usually receives some of the most sensitive intelligence briefings as a member of the so-called Gang of Eight leaders in Congress, said she too hadn't been informed and sent a letter Monday requesting a briefing for all members of the House soon. She also said she relayed that request directly to Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe and CIA Director Gina Haspel in calls Monday evening.

In statements Monday evening, Ratcliffe and Haspel said they will continue to look into the matter and will brief the president and congressional leaders at the appropriate time.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called for a briefing for all members of the Senate.

Pelosi cited reports in The New York Times and The Washington Post that suggested that Trump has been aware of the bounty practice since earlier this year but he and his deputies haven't acted in response.


"The administration's disturbing silence and inaction endanger the lives of our troops and our coalition partners," she wrote.

Another top House lawmaker demanding more information was Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, Republicans' No. 3 leader in the chamber.



If reporting about Russian bounties on US forces is true, the White House must explain:
1. Why weren’t the president or vice president briefed? Was the info in the PDB?
2. Who did know and when?
3. What has been done in response to protect our forces & hold Putin accountable?— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) June 28, 2020

Limited briefings

White House officials briefed a limited number of House Republicans on Monday.

Cheney; Thornberry; Rep. Chris Stewart of Utah; Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana; Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas; Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York; Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona and Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois attended, a White House official said.

There was no immediate explanation for how and why this particular group of lawmakers was chosen and not others. A group of House Democrats was expected to travel to the White House on Tuesday with Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md.

McCaul and Kinzinger said in a joint statement that they'd been told that "there is an ongoing review to determine the accuracy of [the bounty targeting] reports, and we believe it is important to let this review take place before any retaliatory actions are taken."

If U.S. officials ultimately are satisfied that they've proven what they suspect is happening, Trump must act, the lawmakers said.

"There are already those who are politicizing this issue. However we cannot let politics overshadow a truth that Republicans and Democrats alike can agree on: [Russian President Vladimir Putin's] regime cannot be trusted," McCaul and Kinzinger said. "If the intelligence review process verifies the reports, we strongly encourage the administration to take swift and serious action to hold the Putin regime accountable."

In an interview with NPR, McCaul said the president was not briefed because "they like the information to be verified across the intelligence community."

Banks used a Twitter thread after the briefing to attack the newspapers for reporting the bounty allegations because he said they'd revealed an ongoing intelligence investigation — one that he said now might never be resolved because it has become public.



I just left the White House where I was briefed by CoS @MarkMeadows and top intelligence officials. They discussed @nytimes' hit piece falsely accusing @realDonaldTrump of ignoring reports that Russia placed bounties on American soldiers in Afghanistan.

A thread, 👇— Jim Banks (@RepJimBanks) June 29, 2020

"The real scandal: We'll likely never know the truth..." he wrote.

That characterization of the reality inside the secret intelligence world was different from the one offered earlier by McEnany, who suggested that American spies don't agree about what they've uncovered or what it means.

McEnany told reporters there was "no consensus" about the allegations within the intelligence community and that it also includes some "dissenting opinions."

McEnany also suggested that intelligence officials decided to keep the bounty payment allegations below Trump's level until they were "verified," as she put it, but those details were not clear.

Sen. Ben Sasse, who was not part of the briefing, said he heard concern from military families in his state, Nebraska, and the country. "What we're talking about here is putting a target of crosshairs on the backs of American servicemen and women in uniform. ... and they're livid. They're right to be livid. This isn't a time for politics," Sasse told Capitol Hill pool reporters. "This is a time to focus on the two things Congress should be asking and looking at: 1. Who knew what, when, and did the commander-in-chief know? And if not, how the hell not? What is going on in that process? And 2. What are we going to do to Impose proportional cost in response?"

Custody of the information

Although Trump and Ratcliffe both said the president hasn't been briefed about the alleged bounty practice, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not address whether aspects of the reporting had been included in written briefings submitted to the president.

McEnany did not directly address a question about written briefing materials on Monday.

Past accounts have suggested that Trump doesn't read many of his President's Daily Briefs and prefers to hear from in-person intelligence presenters — but even then, according to the recent book by former national security adviser John Bolton, Trump does more talking than listening.

This has added to questions about practices within the administration for passing intelligence to the president that he might not like or wish to hear about.

For example, former officials have said they learned not to talk with Trump about Russian interference in U.S. elections, about which the president has been critical and skeptical.

Another example included reports that suggested Trump had received warnings about the coronavirus in his daily briefing but hadn't absorbed them; the White House has detailed two specific briefings Trump received about the virus early this year.

Richard Grenell, the former acting director of national intelligence who temporarily held the post before Ratcliffe's confirmation, said on Twitter that he wasn't aware of any reporting about the alleged bounty practices.



I never heard this. And it’s disgusting how you continue to politicize intelligence. You clearly don’t understand how raw intel gets verified. Leaks of partial information to reporters from anonymous sources is dangerous because people like you manipulate it for political gain. https://t.co/403X9AVGAC— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) June 27, 2020

Tension with intelligence services

The game of who knew what when is an old one in Washington but which is further complicated now by Trump's longstanding antipathy with the intelligence community.

The president has feuded with his aides and advisers over their assessments about Russia and other issues such as North Korea's nuclear program.

Meanwhile, there have been reports for years about Russian paramilitary or intelligence activity in Afghanistan with implications for American forces. A top general said Russian operatives were helping the Taliban with weapons or supplies. Former Defense Secretary James Mattis also said he worried about it.

The full picture never emerged, but as the situation on the ground in Afghanistan evolved, so did the practices in Washington to ingest, process and brief intelligence in a capital that has endured a number of tense episodes involving the spy agencies.

It isn't yet clear what practices the intelligence agencies may have adopted to process intelligence like that connected to the alleged bounty program and whether they were continuing to evaluate it — or different agencies might have reached different conclusions, as sometimes happens.

In other words, did the Defense Intelligence Agency or one of the military services find evidence about the bounty practice in Afghanistan, but there hasn't yet been confirmation about the intentions of Moscow from the eavesdropping National Security Agency or human spy-operating CIA?

Banks' Twitter thread on Monday suggested something along these lines — that The Times had, he wrote, "used unconfirmed intel in an ONGOING investigation into targeted killing of American soldiers."

At the same time, the story appears to be broader than that. Britain's Sky News reported that British military forces also may have been targeted in exchange for bounties paid by Russian forces and that members of Parliament want more information from Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

What was clear Monday is that members of Congress want to resolve these questions fast. The House Armed Services Committee's Thornberry said that the safety of American and allied troops could depend on it.

"When you're dealing with the lives of our service members, especially in Afghanistan — especially these allegations that there were bounties put on Americans deaths, then it is incredibly serious," he said. "We in Congress need to see the information and the sources to judge that ourselves, and it needs to happen early this week. You know, it will not be acceptable to delay."

NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales contributed to this report.