USA Today - 15 07 2020

2020·8.77 MB·English

Vaccine could boost US carries out first federal Inside a
Big Pharma’s reputation execution in 17 years COVID-19
intensive
Drug companies’ efforts to end pandemic could After series of challenges, Supreme Court
care unit
take them from zero to hero.In Money cleared the way for killer’s death. In News
USA TODAY
In the global hot spot of
Arizona, a Tucson hospi-
tal struggles to save its
largest-ever number of
critically ill patients.
THE NATION'S NEWS | $2 | WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2020 TUCSON MEDICAL CENTER Nation’s Health
ELECTION 2020
Money dries up for November
Officials say they lack Distribution of the $400 million in emergency funds
to respond to the coronavirus for the 2020 election
resources to conduct vote Results and more
from key primaries
Pat Beall, Catharina Felke and Elizabeth Mulvey Voters weighed in on key
USA TODAY NETWORK
races Tuesday: In Alabama,
Jeff Sessions fought for his
Heading into Georgia’s primary June 9, McDuffie former Senate seat against
County Elections Director Phyllis Brooks had to assemble Tommy Tuberville, who is
a last-minute crew to count votes. endorsed by Trump. In
Two of her three staffers were out with COVID-19. She Texas and Maine, voters
had more than 2,500 absentee ballots to tally by hand chose which Democrats will
Brooks brought in a handful of county employees and face Republican incumbent
hired teenagers to do the counting. There’s no money left Sens. John Cornyn and
in her election office budget. Not for poll workers. Not for Susan Collins, respectively,
extra hands to count what is likely to be a record number in November.
Visit usatoday.com
SeeELECTION,Page6A
Ex-employee RACE IN AMERICA Trump: US
“It wasn’t until I had left the USA to experience Spain that I
pleads guilty
to sanction
really got a sense of what freedom looks like. I was able to be
in 7 VA deaths
100% myself without having to worry about safety and without
China over
needing to have too much of a complex identity.”
Nursing assistant gave
Sienna Brown,28, a Brooklyn, New York, native who Hong Kong
vets lethal insulin doses now lives near Valencia, Spain on the Mediterranean Sea
Kristine Phillips Black people President criticizes
USA TODAY
Biden, Obama policies
WASHINGTON – A former nursing
move beyond USA
assistant pleaded guilty Tuesday to John Fritze and David Jackson
federal murder charges in connection USA TODAY
with a string of insulin deaths at a vet-
erans hospital in West Virginia. WASHINGTON – President Donald
Federal prosecutors say Reta Mays Trump said Tuesday he signed legisla-
Transplants say they’re better off in other countries
injected lethal doses of insulin into tion that would slap sanctions on Chi-
eight veterans at the Louis A. Johnson nese officials who undermine the au-
VA Medical Center in rural Clarks- tonomy of Hong Kong, the latest step
burg, causing their blood sugar levels in the administration’s increasingly
to drop to dangerously low levels. confrontational posture toward
Seven died shortly after. Beijing.
The 46-year-old was charged with But Trump’s official remarks in the
seven counts of second-degree mur- Rose Garden quickly turned political
der and one count of assault with in- as he offered an extended critique of
tent to commit murder, according to Joe Biden, the presumptive Democrat-
charging documents unsealed Tues- ic presidential nominee, and the Oba-
day. She faces life imprisonment. Her ma administration’s trade policies.
attorneys did not respond to requests “If we listened to Joe Biden, hun-
for comment. dreds of thousands of additional lives
“Nothing we have done will bring would have been lost” to the coronavi-
your loved ones back,” Bill Powell, rus, Trump claimed without evidence.
U.S. attorney in West Virginia, said at Trump’s remarks, which focused
a press conference. “But we do hope far more on Biden than on Hong Kong,
that the work of these agents and came as the president has slid in na-
prosecutors honored the memory of tional polling and has seen slipping
your loved ones in a way that they so support in battleground states he won
justly deserved and, in some small in 2016, such as Michigan and Penn-
fashion, assuage the anguish you sylvania.
The president, who made trade
SeeGUILTY PLEA,Page6A with China a centerpiece of his 2016
campaign, argued that the Obama ad-
ministration “freely allowed China to
QIJFAF-03005x(c)o
pillage our factories.” Biden aides did
not immediately respond to a request
for comment.
©COPYRIGHT 2020 Trump’s remarks were the latest in-
USA TODAY,
Adivision of stance in which the president has
Gannett Co., Inc. veered into presidential politics during
HOME DELIVERY
an official event.
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Tiffanie Drayton says she felt displaced in New Jersey, so she came to “I can’t believe this,” political ana-
Trinidad and Tobago. TIFFANIE DRAYTON lyst Stuart Rothenberg posted on Twit-
ter. “This is a campaign event from the
White House.”
Younger generations
Kim Hjelmgaard neighborhoods in New U.S. relations with China have dete-
driving protests USA TODAY Jersey. She said they riorated as Trump has hammered at
were destined to be for- Beijing’s response to the coronavirus,
Americans who say they attended
Anthony Baggette knew the precise ever displaced in the repeatedly asserting China failed to
a protest for racial equality over
moment he had to get out: He was driv- USA. Then Trayvon warn the world about the severity of
the prior month:
ing by a convenience store in Cincin- Martin was shot and the disease that experts say originated
% of U.S. population nati when a police officer pulled him Baggette killed after buying a bag in Wuhan. The virus has added a new
Attended a protest
over. There had been a robbery. He fit of Skittles and a can of layer of tensions on top of the trade
AGE: the description given by the store’s iced tea. war that erupted in 2018.
18-29 30-49 50-64 65+ clerk: a Black man. Baggette lives in Ger- Trump has claimed his “phase one”
34% Okunini Obad́ élé Kambon knew: He many, Drayton in Trini- trade agreement with China an-
was arrested in Chicago and accused dad and Tobago, Kam- nounced in January remains in place,
26% by police of concealing a loaded gun bon in Ghana. though the country is falling short of
21% under a seat in his car. He did have a All three are part of a its goals to purchase U.S. goods and
19%
gun, but it was not loaded. He used it in Kambon small cultural cohort: Washington has left in place sanctions
his role teaching at an outdoor skills Black emigres who said on billions of dollars in Chinese goods.
camp for inner-city kids. Kambon had they felt cornered and powerless in the The president said he also signed an
a license. The gun was kept safely in face of persistent racism, police bru- executive order ending preferential
the car’s trunk. tality and economic struggles in the trade treatment for Hong Kong.
SOURCE Pew Research Center, June 4-10 survey Tiffanie Drayton knew: Her family Contributing: Nicholas Wu, Deirdre
AMY BARNETTE, DAVID ANESTA/USA TODAY kept getting priced out of gentrifying SeeLEAVING,Page3A Shesgreen
2A ❚ WEDNESDAY,JULY 15,2020 ❚ USA TODAY E2 NEWS
White House rescinds foreign student rule
Scholars can take online
gan and Wisconsin. Harvard and MIT
classes and remain in US filed a similar challenge last week,
The rule could have dealt which was supported by several other
universities.
a major economic blow
Deirdre Shesgreen Major U.S. technology companies
USA TODAY to colleges and universities. and other businesses, including the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, Google and
WASHINGTON – President Donald Facebook, joined the legal fray Monday,
Trump’s administration agreed Tues- the country’s caseload. The new rule, is- arguing in court papers that the rule
day to rescind its controversial rule bar- sued July 6 by Immigration and Cus- would have “serious adverse economic
ring international students from living toms Enforcement, would have been consequences.”
in the USA while taking fall classes on- devastating for students and universi- “America’s future competitiveness
line, a sharp reversal after the White ties alike. depends on attracting and retaining tal-
House faced a slew of lawsuits challeng- The Trump administration issued ented international students,” the com-
ing the policy. Zoraida Barrios Lopez, a Venezuelan the tougher immigration policy as it panies argued.
A Massachusetts judge announced international student at the University seeks to push universities and K-12 The rule could have dealt a major
the decision during a federal court hear- of West Florida who came to the U.S. schools to reopen in the fall despite economic blow to colleges and universi-
ing in a case filed last week by Harvard from Spain, is seen at home in Florida. soaring COVID-19 infections across the ties, as well as the communities sur-
University and Massachusetts Institute GREGG PACHKOWSKI/USA TODAY NETWORK country. rounding them, because of the loss of
of Technology. Last week’s shift enraged many edu- tuition and other revenue from interna-
Judge Allison Burroughs said the cators and lawmakers, who said the pol- tional students, who typically pay full
universities’ request for the court to The court said the Trump admini- icy threatened to upend careful plan- price.
block the rule was moot because the stration agreed to revert to a previous ning by universities and the approxi- The number of international stu-
government agreed to rescind the poli- rule, implemented in March, when the mately 1 million foreign students who dents studying in the USA reached 1.1
cy. coronavirus pandemic caused shut- attend American colleges each year. million in the 2018-19 academic year, ac-
On Monday, 18 state attorneys gener- downs across the country. Under that Led by Massachusetts Attorney Gen- cording to the Institute of International
al sued the Department of Homeland policy, international students were al- eral Maura Healey, Monday’s lawsuit Education, and they make up 5.5% of
Security over the rule, which would lowed to attend all classes online during sought an injunction to stop the rule the total U.S. higher education popula-
have forced foreign students to leave or the pandemic. from taking effect while the matter was tion.
face deportation if they were enrolled in Some universities planto offer class- litigated. International students contributed
only online classes this fall, when ex- es entirely online this fall because of Healey filed the lawsuit in U.S. Dis- nearly $45 billion to the U.S. economy in
perts fear expanded outbreaks of CO- concerns that college campuses could trict Court in Massachusetts, along with 2018, according to data from the U.S.
VID-19 cases. create coronavirus hot spots and add to attorneys general from Colorado, Michi- Department of Commerce.
South being transformed
by LGBTQ people of color
Barriers include violence,
laws and unemployment
Susan Miller
USA TODAY
For the LGBTQ community, the South JACK GRUBER/USA TODAY NETWORK
is known as a region that often hangs an
unwelcome sign on its door.
Ginsburg
A report out Tuesdayreveals an eye-
opening fact: Nearly 1 in 3 LGBTQ peo-
ple, or 32%, call the South their home. in hospital
And the area is transforming, led by
LGBTQ Southerners of color who are de-
vising unique ways to build communi- for possible
ties and uplift lives.
The report by the Movement Ad-
vancement Project, the Campaign for infection
Southern Equality and the Equality Fed-
eration documents the striking num-
bers – 93%of LGBTQ Southerners live in
Associate justice likely
states with low or negative equality
rankings – with the work of groups Protesters gather at My Sistah’s House in Memphis, Tenn., during Pride Month. to stay for few days
navigating around rigid policies, en- COURTESY OF TC CALDWELL
trenched attitudes and scant statewide
protections. Richard Wolf
“There are issues of urgent need,” Mushovic said. ”If you are an LGBTQ credit applications. USA TODAY
said Logan Casey,MAP policy research- person of color you are living in two “To see these laws passed was like a
er. “Economic insecurity, health issues, ways that allow people to discriminate holiday,” she said. “I felt recharged.” WASHINGTON – Supreme Court
access to health care, housing …. Basic against you.” Casey said it could be easy to chalk Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
human needs that can’t always wait for That is where the work of groups led up this first for the South as a partisan was admitted to a hospital Tuesday for
the government process. In many cases, by activists of color comes into play, Ca- victory. “But it’s the result of long years treatment of a possible infection,
these are LGBTQ people of color taking sey said: “They are inherently doing of work” by LGBTQ Southerners, par- marking the latest medical issue for
care of each other. It’s not surprising work that is racial justice work and ticularly those of color. “They orga- the four-time cancer survivor.
they will take care of one another when LGBTQ equality work.” nized for years and built coalitions.” Ginsburg, 87, the court's oldest jus-
government doesn’t.” Zakia McKensey is the founder and Kayla Gore, co-founder of My Sis- tice, experienced fever and chills Mon-
Among the data: executive director of one of those tah’s House in Memphis, Tennessee, day night and was treated at Sibley
hAbout 3.6 millionLGBTQ adults, in- groups, the Nationz Foundation in Rich- recently launched a GoFundMe cam- Memorial Hospital in the nation's cap-
cluding over 525,000 transgender mond, Virginia, which targets HIV pre- paign called “20 Tiny Homes” for Black ital. On Tuesday, she underwent an
adults, live in the South, more than any vention and health and wellness issues and brown transgender women. The endoscopic procedure at Johns Hop-
other region in the U.S. for the LGBTQ community. idea, Gore said, was born in the des- kins Hospital in Baltimore to clean out
hMore than 40%of LGBTQ people in “Our clients face discrimination in peration of the coronavirus pandemic a bile duct stent that was inserted last
the South are people of color: 22% are housing, some are near homelessness, when so many transgender women August, the court announced.
Black; 16%are Latino. some have substance abuse or mental seeking services were testing positive The announcement said Ginsburg
The report shows that “LGBTQ peo- health issues,” McKensey said. “You are and had few options for quarantines. would remain at Johns Hopkins for a
ple are everywhere. They permeate the dealing with all of these things, and if Memphis has no shelters with ded- few days for intravenous antibiotic
American fabric and that includes the you aren’t affirmed in your identity, how icated spaces for LGBTQ people, and treatment but was "resting comfort-
South,” MAP Executive Director Ineke can you take responsibility for your temporary space at My Sistah’s House, ably."
Mushovic said. “LGBTQ Southerners health? We are trying to deal with the which provides housing and other ser- Ginsburg's health has been the sub-
have shown extra resilience. They are small things so they can be healthier vices for trans and gender non-con- ject of consternation among court-
thinking differently about how to make and sustain themselves.” forming people, was “at capacity,” she watchers for years, and more so as
change happen.” There are an array of programs, from said. “It made us think: What can we President Donald Trump's first term
The barriers LGBTQ people face in support groups for transgender people do if this were to happen again? How draws to a close. If she was forced to
the South are well-documented in the and people living with HIV, to a text line can we be ready?” leave the court during his administra-
report: There are higher rates of harass- service and a computer lab. The transgender housing campaign tion, the Republican-controlled
ment, violence and unemployment. McKensey is especially proud of a started with $400, but within a few Senatecould try to replace her quickly
Eight Southern states have targeted mobile testing unit and pantry, which days, it hit $17,000. Now, the fund is at and solidify the court's conservative
religious exemption laws that allow travels the region offering food, free HIV $259,000and still growing. majority, perhaps for decades to come.
businesses and service providers to re- testing and other health materials. The homes, each 400 to 500 square At a late afternoon press confer-
fuse to serve people if doing so would The group is also working to erase feet, are being built on 30 acres and ence, Trump said, "I wish her the best.
conflict with their religious beliefs. stigmas still haunting those with HIV, will provide occupants permanent She’s actually giving me some good
LGBTQ people of color can face lay- she said, by reaching out to pastors and ownership. The first three are expect- rulings."
ered barbs of bias. For example, LGBTQ ministers. ed to be completed by December. Ginsburg has had several health
people of color are more than twice as “When we think of folks who are Afri- Gore is keenly aware of the daily scares dating back to 1999, including
likely as white LGBTQ people to experi- can American, messages out of church threats transgender women of color colorectal, pancreatic and lung cancer.
ence discrimination because of their shape the way people think,” McKensey face, particularly in a state such as Her lung cancer was diagnosedin De-
identity when interacting with police, said. “When that narrative changes, it Tennessee, which MAP has ranked as cember 2018, and she had a second
the report shows. changes that stigma.” a “negative” equality state: “My Black- bout of pancreatic cancerlast August.
While 23%of all LGBTQ Southerners McKensey, a Richmond native and ness and my transness … That’s what I Still, she has kept up with the
have personally experienced physical longtime activist, has been lobbying for go into the world with every day – how court's work.
violence related to their sexual orienta- years before Virginia’s General Assem- all these identities could literally get The court has a 5-4 conservative
tion and/or gender identity, that num- bly. Those efforts along with others me killed. And someone may not say majority that could be expandedif she
ber rises to 33% among Black LGBTQ came to fruition this spring with the my name after I die.” were to be replaced by a Republican
Southerners. passage of a state law banning discrimi- Gore is hoping the state will see president and Senate. If Democrats
“It is a microcosm of what we are see- nation on the basis of sexual orientation some transgender representation at win the White House or the Senate in
ing in America as a whole. Racism is and gender identity in housing, employ- the legislative level “so we can have November, that would change the
real, LGBTQ discrimination is real,” ment, public accommodations and change from the inside.” equation.
NEWS USA TODAY ❚ WEDNESDAY,JULY 15,2020 ❚ 3A
RACE IN AMERICA
Leaving Kambon, 41, an academic in Ghana,
said he is never going back to the USA.
He is in the process of renouncing his
Continued from Page 1A American citizenship.
He said that after the police in Chi-
USA and chose to settle and pursue their cago falsely accused him of concealing a
American-born dreams abroad. loaded gun in his car, the charges were
No official statistics cover these in- thrown out by a judge because there was
ternational transplants. no probable cause for his arrest, and the
In Ghana, where Kambon is involved evidence – obtained illegally – would be
in a program that encourages descend- not be admissible in court.
ants of the African diaspora to return to “I told myself on the witness stand: I
a nation where centuries earlier their will never allow myself to again be in the
ancestors were forced onto slave ships, jurisdiction of these white people who,
he said he is one of “several thousand.” on a whim, can decide you’re not going
Kambon rejects descriptors such as to see your family for the next 10 years,
“Black American” or “African American” who can decide to throw a felony charge
that identify him with the USA. on you on a whim,” he said.
In Trinidad and Tobago, where Dray- Drayton said she tells her friends to
ton works in her home office, which has leave if they can. Many want to, she
a view of the ocean and hummingbirds said, but either don’t have the financial
frolicking above the pool, there are at means or face other obstacles.
least four: Drayton, her mother, sister “I’ve been wanting to leave for a long
and her sister’s boyfriend. There are Yasiin Bey, formerly known as Mos Def, right, moved to South Africa to escape time,” said Drayton’s friend Karla Gar-
probably more. racism, though he was thrown out in 2016.SCHALK VAN ZUYDAM/AP cia, 29, in Orlando, Florida. “But it’s dif-
About 120,000 Americans live in Ger- ficult as a young divorced mother of a
many, home to about 1 million people of child with special needs to just get up
African descent. For historical reasons, rica for many is synonymous with dis- and leave.”
Germany’s census does not use race as a ease, poverty and conflict. Brown said she is determined to
category, so it is not possible to calculate “When I got here, I remember think- make a life in southern Europe, not least
how many hail from the USA. ing: There’s wealthy Black people here. because she wants to own a house and
“There’s a lot of institutional racism No one tells you that. I was really pissed build and pass on wealth. She has a 16-
in Germany,” said Baggette, 68, who has off about it. I was also really intrigued,” year-old sister in the USA, and she said
lived in Berlin for more than 30 years she said. accumulating “generational wealth” is
and said he still feels conflicted about Ford said that since Floyd’s death in something that has proved elusive for
his move. May, she has received several emails a Black Americans, unlike for many
He described the fall of the Berlin day from Black Americans asking how whites.
Wall, in 1989, as a time when neo-Nazis they, too, can make a new life outside Her experience is that it will be easier
and skinheads would “throw Black peo- the USA. to do this in Spain than in New York,
ple off of the S-Bahn,” the city’s subway “Come home, build a life in Ghana. where there are more barriers to finan-
system. “But I still felt, and feel, better You do not have to stay where you are cial success, from discrimination in
off here – safer,” he said. not wanted forever. You have a choice, mortgage lending – “red lining” – to ac-
In interviews with more than a dozen and Africa is waiting for you,” Barbara cess to social welfare services, such as
expatriate Black Americans spread out Oteng Gyasi, Ghana’s tourism minister, affordable day care.
across the globe from the Caribbean to said during a ceremony last month “It’s like having a few more stepping
West Africa, it became clear that for marking Floyd’s death. stones to achieve that,” she said.
some, the death of George Floyd in Min- Black Americans, like expatriates of Pew Research estimated that the
neapolis provided fresh evidence that all races and ethnicities, leave the USA overall average wealth of white Ameri-
living outside the USA can be an exer- temporarily or permanently for differ- can families is at least 10 times larger
cise in self-preservation. ent reasons: in search of a better quality than that of Black American families.
A study in 2019 by the National Acad- of life, for work opportunities, to marry A Washington Post-Ipsos poll of
emy of Sciencesfound Black men were or retire abroad, for tax reasons, for ad- Lakeshia FordNII OKAI DJARBENG Black Americans conducted in mid-
about 2.5 times more likely than white venture. June found that although they are out-
men to be killed by police. An analysis Kimberly Springer, a New York-based raged and frustrated by Floyd’s death,
this yearby Nature Human Behavior of writer and researcher who spent almost they are optimistic about rising concern
100 million traffic stops conducted a decade in the United Kingdom, where from whites and the prospect of im-
across the country determined that she taught American studies at King’s “Here I don’t have proved police treatment.
Black people were far more likely to be College London, said that although In Berlin, Baggette has learned to live
to think of myself as a
pulled over by police than whites, but “Black people have always traveled,” with his mixed feelings about his adopt-
that difference narrowed significantly and “we’ve gone places willingly or un- Black woman and everything ed homeland. He values the free educa-
at night, when it is harder to see dark willingly,” often this travel is connected tion and health care his kids receive in
skin. Black Americans face a far higher in some way to a search for an experi- that comes with that. Germany. He does not routinely fear for
risk of being arrested for petty crimes. ence that is not tainted by the myriad their lives.
Here I am just a woman.”
They account for a third of the prison ways Black Americans encounter dis- Baggette is retired but coaches youth
population but just 13% of the overall crimination in the USA. Lakeshia Ford,32, who grew up in New Jersey basketball. When a team from Chicago’s
population, according to Pew Research, “In America, I feel hyper-visible in and runs her own communications firmin Accra, South Side visited a few years ago as
Ghana’s capital
a nonpartisan “fact tank.” ways I didn’t when I lived in the U.K.,” part of an exchange program, he was
Drayton, 28, is writing a book about said Springer, 50, noting that although shocked to hear from some of the
fleeing from racism in America. She said racial inequalities in the U.K., like in the might’ve gone to Timbuktu, I ended up youngsters that one of the things that
one of the starkest illustrations of how USA, are deep and pervasive, they are in Paris with $40 in my pocket with the most impressed them about Germany’s
her life has changed since moving to connected to a history and tradition – in theory that nothing worse would hap- capital was the easy access to fresh
Trinidad and Tobago in 2013 is how she the U.K.’s case, its former empire – that pen to me there than had already hap- fruit, especially strawberries. It was
feels comfortable driving her kids she doesn’t share. As a foreigner, pened to me here,” Baldwin said in 1968 available on most streets in small ki-
around the block to get them to sleep Springer said, she was afforded a cer- on “The Dick Cavett Show.” osks. These kids weren’t used to that on
each night without being worried about tain amount of insulation from British A decade prior, actor and singer Paul the South Side, he thought.
what happens if she is pulled over by racism. Robeson, famed for his deep baritone “Being Black in Berlin is a challenge,”
police. “Our racism isn’t as lethal as yours,” voice, said before the House Committee he said. “One thing I can say is that
“In America, your hands are shaking. said Gary Younge,a professor of sociol- on Un-American Activities,“In Russia, I when those young kids from Chicago
You’re worried about what to say. You’re ogy at Manchester University in Eng- felt for the first time like a full human visited us here, well, they felt a certain
worried about whether you have the land. Younge, 51, who is Black, spent being. No color prejudice like in Missis- amount of freedom that I can tell you
right ID. You’re just so worried all the more than a decade as The Guardian sippi, no color prejudice like in Wash- they don’t feel over there.”
time,” she said of the interactions her newspaper’s U.S. correspondent. ington. It was the first time I felt like a
friends experience regularly with Amer- “In Britain, I don’t generally walk human being.”
ican police officers. around thinking I might get killed, Yasiin Bey, an American rapper-actor
For other Black Americans who chose whereas in America, in some places, better known by his stage name Mos
what amounts to foreign exile, Floyd’s that’s not always the case,” he said. Def, moved to South Africa because he
death and the ensuing protests con- Younge attributed this disparity to was fed up with inequality and racism. Customer service
firmed that leaving may not mean a life the availability in the USA of guns. “For a guy like me, with five or six To view important information online related to
free from racism and police brutality, Asked whether Black people should generations from the same town in your subscription, visit aboutyoursubscription.
but it at least feels somewhat more confront racism at home, rather than America, to leave America, things gotta usatoday.com. You can also manage your
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within reach. leave, he said, “Why shouldn’t they just be not so good with America,” Bey said
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experience Spain that I really got a and goes somewhere for work or better for Cape Town. He was thrown out of phone at 1-800-872-0001.
sense of what freedom looks like. I was opportunities, no one would say to them South Africain 2016for violating its im- Operating hours are:
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tity,” said Brooklyn, New York, native Si- and having to stick around.” According to his lawyer, Bey did not
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enna Brown, 28, who lives near Valencia Black Americans have been trying to want to use his American passport for is billed monthly and includes 24/7 access to
on the Mediterranean Sea. Brown escape American racism – from segre- political reasons. usatoday.com, breaking news on our tablet and
founded a company that helps Black gation to heinous organized violence, That same year, as the U.K. voted to smartphone apps, subscriber benefits at
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people are willing to be educated about Writers James Baldwin and Richard Springer. If the U.K. could withdraw
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time after visiting in 2008 as part of a died in France’s capital. Poet Langston leave the USA?
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“Here I don’t have to think of myself munity in London. Jazz and blues singer breathe’ too lightly,” Springer said, re-
as a Black woman and everything that Nina Simone decided to see out her days ferring to the words that became a rally- Corrections and clarifications
comes with that,” said Ford, 32, who in France, and after she stopped per- ing cry for police brutality protesters Our goal is to promptly correct errors. Email us at
grew up in New Jersey and runs her own forming, she never returned to what she and were the last words of Floyd and Er- [email protected] to report a mistake.
Describe the error, where you saw it, the date,
communications firmin Accra, Ghana’s called the “United Snakes of America.” ic Garner, a Black man killed in police
page number, or the URL.
capital. “Here I am just a woman.” Simone also lived in Liberia, Barbados, custody in 2014.
She said that although racism in the Belgium, the U.K., the Netherlands and “But I think there is a way in which Postal information
USA contributed to the decision, her Switzerland. When she died in 2003, this country is, in its history and its fail-
Volume 38, No. 215
move to Ghanawas not a direct reaction her ashes, at her request, were scattered ure to recognize it and reckon with it USA TODAY, USPS #684090, ISSN #0734-7456, is
to prejudice. She was equally intrigued across several African countries. honestly, is suffocating,” she said. “I published Monday through Friday at 7950 Jones
by Ghanaian culture and what she saw “I left this country for one reason really don’t blame anyone thinks I can’t Branch Dr. McLean, VA 22108. Periodicals postage
paid at McLean, VA 22108. Postmaster: Send
as a growing economic success story only. One reason. I didn’t care where I’d take this country anymore, I’m leaving,
address changes to Customer Service, PO Box
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4A ❚ WEDNESDAY,JULY 15,2020 ❚ USA TODAY K1 NEWS
DOJ details Stone’s clemency Democrats
hit Trump
Prison term, probation,
Jackson sentenced Stone to a little cluding Joe Arpaio, a former sheriff in
$20,000 fine all erased over three years in prison and two years Arizona, and commentator Dinesh
over Fauci
of supervised release. D’Souza. His decision to commute
Jackson said her inquiry Stone’s sentence represents the first
Kristine Phillips was in response ques- time Trump has circumvented the jus-
criticism
USA TODAY tions from the U.S. Pro- tice system in a case directly tied to
bation Office. himself.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump commuted Stone was convicted in November
Poll: More people trust
Trump’s executive order granting clem- Stone’s sentence Friday, of lying to Congress and obstructing
ency for his longtime ally Roger Stone Stone just days before Stone, a its investigation on Russian election doctor than president
wiped away not only Stone’s prison sen- longtime GOP consult- interference in order to protect Trump.
tence, but also the two years he was ant, was set to report to prison. Demo- The 67-year-old was one of several
supposed to spend on probation and the crats condemned the move, the latest in Trump associates to be convicted in David Jackson and John Fritze
$20,000 fine he was ordered to pay. a series of instances in which Trump cases stemming from special counsel USA TODAY
The Justice Department on Monday has wielded his broad clemency powers Robert Mueller’s investigation into
released the president’s executive order in highly political criminal cases. Russia’s interference in the 2016 elec- WASHINGTON – Democrats are
after U.S. District Judge Amy Berman The president has granted pardons tion. seizing on a growing rift between the
Jackson sought more information about and commutations to several conserva- Contributing: John Fritze and Kevin White House and Dr. Anthony Fauci as
the scope of the clemency. tive allies and controversial figures, in- Johnson aides seek to explain why President
Donald Trump is battling with the na-
tion’s top infectious disease expert
during the worsening coronavirus
Allegations against Maxwell pandemic.
As cases of the virus surgein large
swaths of the country and the nation’s
most populous state reversed course
challenge common views
on reopening indoor businesses,
Trump has insisted he has a “very good
relationship” with Fauci, the director
of the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases, but also says, “I
Female socialite doesn’t
don’t always agree with him.”
fit predator stereotypes As Trump and aides such as press
secretary Kayleigh McEnany have dis-
missed questions about internal fric-
Alia E. Dastagir tion between the White House and
USA TODAY Fauci, others within the president’s or-
bit began openly airing their criticism.
Ghislaine Maxwell, the woman ac- “Dr. Fauci has a good bedside man-
cused of helping Jeffrey Epstein recruit, ner with the public but he has been
groom and sexually abuse girls, pleaded wrong about everything I have inter-
not guilty to perjury and conspiracy acted with him on,” said Peter Navarro,
charges Tuesday. a trade adviser who is close to the
Both Epstein and Maxwell allegedly president and who claimed Fauci had
knew the victims were under age 18 and downplayed the risks of the virus,
as young as 14. In some cases, she alleg- “flip-flopped” on masks, and “was tell-
edly participated in the abuse herself. ing the media not to worry” this year.
Maxwell’s attorneys have said she “is “So when you ask me if I listen to Dr.
not Epstein.” She’s not. But many find Fauci’s advice, my answer is only with
her case equally horrifying, dismaying – caution,” Navarro added.
and something else, too: confounding. Fauci’s supporters said his com-
The Maxwell case shocks people be- ments were being taken out of context,
cause it defies stereotypes about preda- and that he made many of them early
tion, gender and class. But sexual vio- this year when little was known about
lence experts say the case underscores the virus.
how incorrect and incomplete our ideas Meanwhile, throughout the pan-
are about how sexual abuse happens. Ghislaine Maxwell, seen in 2013, pleaded not guilty to perjury and conspiracy demic Trump has made a series of in-
“This is not a behavior that we asso- charges on Tuesday.LAURA CAVANAUGH/GETTY IMAGES correct statements and predictions
ciate with women. There’s this under- about the coronavirus. Early on, he
standing that women would protect compared it to the flu, saying it might
other women, or that women would confined to tropes. said. “If you stop and think, we all can “miraculously” disappear. More re-
protect children, and that is unfortu- “We often think about it within a probably point to numerous places cently, Trump has incorrectly blamed
nately not the case,” said Laura Palum- teacher-student relationship ... but it’s where wealth and prestige and power the rise in COVID-19 cases solely on in-
bo, communications director at the Na- certainly not limited to that just because contributed to abuse and did not pro- creased testing. Trump claimed this
tional Sexual Violence Resource Center. that’s what we pay the most attention tect against abuse.” month that 99% of coronavirus cases
“People from all walks of life commit to,” Houser said. In cases of men, class is often initia- are “harmless” – an assertion at odds
sexual abuse.” The media may be partly to blame. lly used in their defense, as in “he with a wide array of data on death
Research on female perpetrators is Authors of a 2019 study looking at the could get any woman he wants, why rates and hospitalizations.
limited. The Rape Abuse and Incest Na- “culture of denial” around female sex of- would he rape?” or “she’s making it up
tional Network said the Maxwell case fenders theorized that media reports because he’s rich and she wants mon-
has prompted it to look more deeply at reinforce gender stereotypes and limit ey.”
female offenders, but they are difficult awareness of sexual offenses commit- These arguments persist despite
to study because they aren’t often ted by women. women coming forward against fam-
caught. A 2017 study analyzing data from ous, wealthy men being met with
“Partly as a result of this case, it’s four large-scale federal agency surveys death threats.
prompted our research team to start go- conducted by the Centers for Disease Class also matters in how victims
ing back through our hotline data, to Control and Prevention and the Bureau are targeted. Sex traffickers often tar-
identify cases where there was a female of Justice Statistics found gender get victims who are poor, lack support
perpetrator and see if they can learn stereotypes can obscure the prevalence networks and live on the margins of
anything or see any patterns,” said of female sexual perpetration and mini- society, experts say. They especially
RAINN President Scott Berkowitz. mize its impact. target children with a history of abuse
and neglect, according to the CDC.
Defying stereotypes about women Socialites not seen as predators In 2018, Miami Herald reporter Julie
Brown identified 80 victims Epstein President Donald Trump attends
“Nurturing” and “empathy” are In court filings ahead of Tuesday’s abused from 2001 to 2006. The Herald a briefing in April with Dr. Anthony
among the top traits society values in bail hearing, prosecutors reasserted spoke with eight of the accusers and Fauci. MANDEL NGAN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
women, a 2017 Pew Research Center their claim that Maxwell represented a found “most of the girls came from dis-
survey found. Shock at Maxwell in part serious flight risk, citing her vast finan- advantaged families, single-parent
reflects stereotypes about women being cial resources and citizenship in multi- homes or foster care. ... Many of the More than two thirds of Americans
gentle, emotional, in need of protection. ple countries. They said Maxwell has girls were one step away from home- said they trust Fauci on the virus, ac-
Negative stereotypes of masculinity not been forthcoming about details of lessness.” cording to a New York Times poll con-
include violence, dominance, uncon- her wealth. The judge ordered her to be ducted by Siena College last month.
trollable sexual urges. But it’s an errone- held without bond. ‘Their stories matter more’ That was vastly larger than the 26%
ous idea that a sexual offender must be Her father, Robert Maxwell, was a who said they trusted Trump on that
aggressive, experts say. It’s why men publishing tycoon and former member Sexual violence experts are careful issue. Democrats – including Joe Bi-
with “good guy” reputations may be of the British Parliament who died in not to speculate about Maxwell’s his- den, the party’s presumptive presi-
overlooked as abusers, as was the case 1991 after falling overboard from his lux- tory or intentions, but they do note dential nominee – were quick to draw
with Bill Cosby and Matt Lauer. ury yacht, Lady Ghislaine, named after that sexual violence involves complex the distinction.
“One of our psychological defenses the youngest of his nine children. dynamics. “Donald Trump needs to spend less
against feeling vulnerable ourselves is “No one is thinking of a British social- With grooming, for example, a vic- time playing golf and more time listen-
to create this idea that it must take some ite when they’re thinking about who’s a tim may align with the victimizer as a ing to experts like Dr. Fauci,” Biden
kind of monster to commit sexual as- predator of sexual abuse and violence,” way to protect themselves. posted on Twitter.
sault,” said Sherry Hamby, founding ed- Palumbo said. Research also shows female sex of- “The truth is, this country needs Dr.
itor of the American Psychological As- But it may be part of how Maxwell al- fenders have a high incidence of phys- Anthony Fauci,” tweeted Sen. Mark
sociation journal Psychology of Vio- legedly groomed victims. Court docu- ical, sexual and emotional abuse in Warner, D-Va. “These attacks are un-
lence. ments describe Maxwell and Epstein al- their histories. fair; we should be listening to health
These stereotypes are also why male legedly accompanying victims on shop- It’s unknown whether Maxwell was experts and following the science.”
victims of sexual abuse struggle to come ping trips and movie outings, designed ever a victim of sexual abuse herself. Muriel Bowser, the Democratic
forward, according to RAINN. Feelings to put the girls at ease. We may never know her motivations, mayor of Washington, D.C., and a fre-
of shame are compounded by the belief “Having developed a rapport with a and some would say we don’t have to. quent critic of the president, also
they should have been “strong enough” victim, Maxwell would try to normalize “We have so many people who have weighed in on the dispute.
to stop their perpetrator or, if the perpe- sexual abuse ... by, among other things, come forward and provided rather ex- “In Fauci we trust,” she posted on
trator is female, that they should have discussing sexual topics, undressing in plicit inventories of her role in recruit- Twitter. “Mask on, DC.”
enjoyed it. Female victims of female front of the victim, being present when ing, in abusing and making people feel Total confirmed cases of coronavi-
perpetrators also face stigmas regarding a minor victim was undressed and being trapped,” Houser said. “Whatever her rus have surpassed 3.3 million and
sexuality. present for sex acts involving the minor story was, their stories matter more.” more than 135,000 Americans have
Kristen Houser, a nationally recog- victim and Epstein,” prosecutors allege. If you are a survivor of sexual as- died, according to Johns Hopkins Uni-
nized expert in sexual abuse, said the Experts say people often fail to ac- sault, you can call the National Sexual versity. Florida reported a record 132
invisibility of female perpetration is a knowledge victimization can be perpe- Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE additional COVID-19 related deaths
problem. Men are more likely to commit trated by and happen to the ultra rich. (4673). Tuesday, surpassing the previous high
sexual violence, but that doesn’t mean “That’s part of why her role in this Contributing: Kevin Johnson, Kevin of 120 set July 9.
women don’t. Our understanding of story is so shocking to people, because McCoy and Kristine Phillips, USA TO- Contributing: John Bacon, Nicholas
female sexual abusers, however, is often we let class cloud reality for us,” Houser DAY Wu, Palm Springs Desert Sun
NEWS
USA TODAY ❚ WEDNESDAY,JULY 15,2020 ❚ 5A
Army overlooked evidence, searcher says
Civilian: Guillen’s body Guillen’s family has criticized Army confronted him in their investigation The dog walked to the Leon River
officials’ investigation since she disap- into Guillen’s disappearance. bank and alerted its handlers that it
found week after debris
peared from Fort Hood, alleging they “If we had used ground penetration, smelled something, he said.
failed to thoroughly search on and off we would have likely seen anomalies “They relied on that one dog, and in-
Heather Osbourne post. Army officials did not immediately and stuff in the ground and found her stead of searching the area a little more,
Austin American-Statesman respond to requests for one week prior to when she was found,” they were sure (Robinson) threw (Guil-
USA TODAY NETWORK comment regarding Mil- Miller said. “It would have been one len) into the river,” Miller said.
ler’s account of the week less of decomposition.” Army officials defended their search
AUSTIN, Texas – Military investiga- search. Miller said his team pleaded with of- efforts, saying that by May 21, more than
tors searching for the body of U.S. Army Army Secretary Ryan ficials from the Army's Criminal Investi- 500 soldiers from the 3rd Cavalry Divi-
Spc. Vanessa Guillen overlooked evi- McCarthy ordered an in- gation Command, an organization more sion searched daily while the 1st Cavalry
dence that could have led to the discov- dependent review of the commonly known as CID, on June 21 to Division provided more than 100 hours
ery of her remains a week sooner – and Guillen command climate at Fort take a closer look at what his searchers of flight time to search on and off the in-
brought resolution to her heartbroken Hood after Guillen's found. stallation.
family, the leader of a team of civilian death raised questions about the treat- “Army CID said the (burned) case is A criminal complaint filed July 2
searchers said Friday. ment of women and Hispanic service not the kind they use and that it doesn’t against Cecily Aguilar – Robinson’s girl-
The 20-year-old soldier disappeared members. have anything to do with anything,” Mil- friend who is charged with conspiracy
from Fort Hood in Texas on April 22. If the review finds wrongdoing, ac- ler said. Officials called in the Texas to tamper with evidence in Guillen’s
Tim Miller, founder of the civilian tion will be taken against officials at Rangers after the civilian searchers case – says she and Robinson attempted
group EquuSearch, said his crew dis- "any echelon," McCarthy said. showed them photos of a Pelican case to dispose of Guillen’s body in multiple
covered a pile of burned debris June 21 Among the items Miller said his crew on Google, Miller said. ways, including burning it and covering
at a rural highway intersection about 20 found in the burn pile was the charred Authorities dug directly under the it in cement.
miles away from Fort Hood and steps remains of a Pelican case, a hard-sided, burn pile but did not find Guillen’s body, Miller said the ground did not appear
from the Leon River. watertight storage container commonly Miller said. They did not search areas to be disturbed, nor did he smell any
Miller said he pleaded with Army of- used in the military. around the pile of burned evidence. odor. The EquuSearch leader said the
ficials to search the site more thorough- Army investigators suspect that Spc. Miller said CID officials were uninter- smell was likely contained by concrete
ly that day. Military investigators, he Aaron David Robinson of Fort Hood ested in continuing to search near the and other substances Robinson and
said, instead focused their search on the used a Pelican case to carry Guillen’s pile because a dog trained to help find Aguilar used to cover up the remains.
nearby river. More than a week later, body off post after he killed her with a body parts, tissue, blood and bone More than a week after the burn pile
construction workers came upon Guil- hammer in an armory room April 22. walked right over it and did not alert was discovered, odor led civilians who
len’s remains in the very spot Miller said Robinson died of a self-inflicted gun- handlers of any signs of human re- were building a fence on a property near
military investigators overlooked. shot wound July 1 after Killeen police mains. the pile to Guillen’s remains.
1st federal execution held in 17 years
Lee put to death despite scramble that lasted deep into the night
and early morning.
series of legal challenges
Chutkan said that the federal govern-
ment’s new method of lethal injection,
Tim Evans using the single drug pentobarbital, had
Indianapolis Star produced evidence of severe breathing
USA TODAY NETWORK problems. Chutkan went on to say that
the condemned prisoners had identified
The federal government carried out other alternatives, including a multi-
its first execution in 17 years early Tues- drug mixture or the rarely used firing
day when Daniel Lewis Lee, convicted squad.
in the 1996 slaying of an Arkansas fam- Chutkan’s ruling was followed by a
ily, was put to death by lethal injection flurry of Supreme Court filings in which
at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, the government and advocates for Lee
Indiana. and the other inmates continued their
Lee, a once-avowed white suprema- legal battle, even as Lee’s scheduled 4
cist, was pronounced dead at 8:07 a.m., p.m. execution time lapsed without ac-
following a protracted legal fight that tion.
delayed his execution by more than 16 “Hours before the first execution was
hours. set to take place, the District Court preli-
“You’re killing an innocent man,” Lee minarily enjoined all four executions on
said before he died. the ground that the use of pentobarbital
Lee’s execution had been scheduled likely constitutes cruel and unusual
for 4 p.m. Monday, but a series of legal punishment prohibited by the Eighth
challenges delayed the sentence. A 5-4 Amendment,” Supreme Court ruled
Supreme Court decision in the early Tuesday, adding that vacating the in-
hours of the morning Tuesday ultimate- junction is “appropriate” because the
ly cleared the way for Lee’s lethal injec- inmates’ claim was not likely to succeed
tion and the scheduled executions of Daniel Lewis Lee, seen in 1997, was put to death by lethal injection early Tuesday as it faced an “exceedingly high bar.”
three other inmates. Two are scheduled in the first federal execution in 17 years. DAN PIERCE/THE COURIER VIA AP FILE The filings raised a range of ques-
to proceed this week and another in Au- tions, from the threat posed by corona-
gust. virus to witnesses and continuing dis-
Lee’s attorney, Ruth Friedman, de- statement. put it back down. putes related to the execution protocol
nounced the government’s action as Inside the Terre Haute execution He appeared completely still at 8:02 to a claim that Lee’s trial lawyers provid-
“reckless and relentless,” saying that chamber early Tuesday, the curtains a.m., but remained on the table for an- ed ineffective assistance.
her client remained strapped to the gur- were rolled back from four witness room other five minutes before he was pro- Friday, an Indiana federal judge
ney for hours as the last legal challenges windows at 7:46 a.m., to reveal Lee nounced dead. blocked Lee’s execution, citing the
played out over night. strapped to the gurney with his arms out Lee and Kehoe targeted the Mueller threat posed by the resurgent coronavi-
“It is shameful that the government to his sides and two IV lines running family as part of a botched effort to fund rus. U.S. District Judge Jane Magnus-
saw fit to carry out this execution during from a port in the wall behind him. a white supremacist enclave in the Pa- Stinson acted on a legal challenge
a pandemic,” Friedman said. “It is Asked if he wanted to make a final cific Northwest. After robbing and brought by family members of the vic-
shameful that the government saw fit to statement, Lee was defiant, asserting shooting the victims with a stun gun, tims who asserted that the pandemic
carry out this execution when ... the his innocence and criticizing the court the killers covered the victims’ heads posed an unreasonable health risk to
judges in his case and even the family of system for ignoring DNA evidence. with plastic bags, sealed the bags with them as prospective witnesses.
his victims urged against it. And it is be- “I bear no responsibility for the duct tape, weighed down each victim An appeals court reversed that deci-
yond shameful that the government, in deaths of the Mueller family,” he said, with rocks, and threw the family of sion Sunday night, concluding that the
the end, carried out this execution in referring to victims William Mueller, his three into the Illinois Bayou in Arkan- challenge “lacks any arguable legal ba-
haste, in the middle of the night, while wife Nancy and her 8-year-old daugh- sas. sis and is therefore frivolous.”
the country was sleeping.” ter, Sarah. He claimed that he and co- Until the Supreme Court acted early Lawyers for Earlene Peterson, 81, and
Attorney General William Barr said defendant, Chevie Kehoe, were in an- Tuesday, the appeals court had denied other family members not only cited the
Lee “finally faced the justice he de- other part of the country at the time of the government’s request to lift the stay health risks involving their planned
served.” the murders. ordered by U.S. District Judge Tanya travel to Indiana but claimed that feder-
“The American people have made the It took two or three minutes after the Chutkan, who concluded that four in- al prison officials could not provide ade-
considered choice to permit capital lethal drug was administered for Lee to mates, including Lee, had not exhaust- quate assurances once they arrived at
punishment for the most egregious fed- die. He didn’t appear to be suffering. ed their challenges to the government’s the prison complex.
eral crimes, and justice was done today His lips moved like he was blowing execution protocol, which they claimed The family had planned to attend
in implementing the sentence for Lee’s bubbles, but nothing came out. At one risked inflicting “severe pain.” Lee’s execution, even though they were
horrific offenses,” Barr said in a written point he raised his head slightly, then The judge’s ruling touched off a legal opposed to his death sentence.
Colorado squirrel tests positive for bubonic plague
Ryan W. Miller and may die if not treated promptly with Bayannur to raise its alert level for
USA TODAY antibiotics. Cats can contract plague plague illness.
from flea bites, a rodent scratch/bite or Modern antibiotics have significant-
A squirrel in a Colorado has tested ingestion of a rodent. Dogs are not as ly lowered plagues’ mortality rate.
positive for bubonic plague, public susceptible to plague; however, they Symptoms of bubonic plague can in-
health officials say. may pick up and carry plague-infected clude fever, headache, chills, weakness
The rodent was found in Morrison,a rodent fleas,” the department said in a and swollen lymph nodes, the CDC says.
town outside Denver in Jefferson Coun- statement. The bacteria can spread to other parts of
ty. The county’s health officials said in a Although tied to historic pandemics the body if untreated.
statement that the squirrel was the first like the Black Death, plague illnesses do Jefferson County Public Health ad-
case of plague in the county. A squirrel carries an acorn in its mouth still occur around the world and in the vised avoiding wild animals, especially
Bubonic plague is one of three forms in London’s Hyde Park on Sept. 25, United States every year, though they those that appear sick or dead. Pets
of the infectious disease caused by the 2008.DAN KITWOOD/GETTY IMAGES are rare. In the U.S., most plague cases should also be kept a safe distance from
Yersinia pestis bacteria. According to occur in the Southwest, including in wild animals, and owners should con-
the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado, the sult a veterinarian if a pet does become
Prevention, bubonic plague is usually be susceptible to plague infection which CDC says. ill, the department says.
contracted after an infected flea bite. could transfer to humans if they pick up In China’s Inner Mongolia region last Plague, a disease caused by a bacteri-
Jefferson County Public Health said infected fleas. week, a case of bubonic plague was con- al infection, is unrelated to the new cor-
in its statement that household pets can “Cats are highly susceptible to plague firmed, sparking health officials in onavirus, which causes COVID-19.
NEWS
6A ❚ WEDNESDAY,JULY 15,2020 ❚ USA TODAY
WASHINGTON
Guilty plea
medication, including insulin. “Yes, sir” to the judge’s questions, in- examiner ruled that both men died by
Her motive remains unclear. cluding whether she understood the homicide by insulin injection.
USA TODAY reported in October terms of her plea deal. At times, her The other victims are Archie Edgell,
Continued from Page 1A that hospital staff missed opportuni- body shook and her voice trembled be- 84; Robert Edge Sr., 82; Robert Kozul,
ties to figure out what was happening, neath the white mask she was wearing. 89; Raymond Golden, 88; and one iden-
have suffered.” which may have risked veterans’ lives Michael Missal, inspector general tified in charging documents as W.A.H.
The development comes two years and limited evidence in the probe. The for the Department of Veteran Affairs, USA TODAY reported last year that
after a criminal investigation into sus- hospital didn’t adequately track insu- said his agency is conducting an inves- William Alfred Holloway, 96, died after
picious deaths of 10 veterans at the lin, and there were no surveillance tigation of the hospital’s policies and suffering from severe hypoglycemia, a
hospital began. All patients were elder- cameras on the ward, according to em- procedures. condition in which blood sugar levels
ly veterans staying in the hospital’s ployees. Missal said investigators identified plummet.
surgical unit, known as Ward 3A. All By the time a doctor alerted hospital Mays as a person of interest shortly af- Some of the deaths were ruled “un-
suffered unexplained drops in their supervisors of the deaths in June 2018, ter officials were notified of the suspi- determined.”
blood sugar levels. at least eight patients had died under cious deaths in 2018. She was fired in Court records say Mays injected an-
Mays began working at the hospital suspicious circumstances. Several had July of that year. other veteran, identified in records as
five years ago and was assigned to work been embalmed and buried, destroying Powell, the U.S. attorney, said Mays R.R.P., with insulin, although his blood
the night shift in Ward 3A. As a nursing potential evidence. One veteran had denied wrongdoing until recently, sugar levels stabilized. The man, 92,
assistant, Mays was responsible for, been cremated. Many of the bodies had when she realized the mounting evi- died two weeks later, but the medical
among other things, acting as a one- to be exhumed for a medical examiner dence against her. examiner was unable to tie his death to
on-one sitter for patients, checking vi- to perform autopsies. Felix Kirk McDermott, 82, and the injection.
tal signs and testing blood sugar levels, Mays appeared in court for a plea George Nelson Shaw Sr., 81, died in Contributing: Donovan Slack and
but she was not qualified to administer hearing Tuesday, repeatedly saying April 2018. The Army Forces medical Kevin Johnson
Election
curately count large numbers of absen-
tee or mail-in ballots. Aging machines
are more likely to fail or be vulnerable to
Continued from Page 1A hacking. More than 1,200 jurisdictions –
including counties in Texas, Kentucky
of mail-in ballots. Not even for stamps and Illinois – plan to count absentee
to send out the absentee ballots they ex- ballots using scanners so old they are no
pect to need. longer manufactured.
Sixteen weeks before the presiden- Louisiana, which has some of the
tial election, Brooks and hundreds of oldest election equipment in the coun-
other cash-strapped elections supervi- try, arranged months ago to lease new
sors across the nation are waiting to see systems. Michigan earmarked $1.5 mil-
how much state and federal money will lion of its federal cash to help election
come their way. offices buy ballot scanners and vote tab-
Experts said the coronavirus pan- ulators.
demic tacked on hundreds of millions of It is not clear how many elections of-
dollars in unexpected costs to this year’s ficials can replace aging equipment.
election, and there are clear signs that Hillsborough County, Florida, Super-
an emergency federal infusion of $400 visor of Elections Craig Latimer said
million made in March will fall far short that when he asked Elections Systems &
of what’s needed. Software, the nation’s largest vendor of
Money buys the material to pull off a its kind, to lease a backup high-speed
free and fair election, said Nathaniel scanner, the answer was no.
Persily, an election law professor with An ES&S spokeswoman did not di-
Stanford Law School. This year, “local Poll workers wear protective gear as voters arrive at the Dalraida Church of rectly respond when asked if demand
jurisdictions are literally relying on phi- Christ precinct in Montgomery, Ala., on Tuesday.MICKEY WELSH/USA TODAY NETWORK had outstripped its supply of scanners
lanthropy to help pull off this election,” but said in an email that the company
he said, pointing to a Chicago nonprofit was working with customers to assess
group that donated $6.3 million to five one will know who won the White not just the elections office, agreed upon needs. In some cases, she said, officials
Wisconsin cities. “It’s like we are hold- House on Nov. 4. If it is very close, the what was needed. are “reconfiguring” equipment to han-
ing a bake sale for our democracy.” count could go to Thanksgiving – or Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee dle the expected surge of mail-in bal-
Dozens of interviews with election longer, predicted Greg Miller, co-foun- did not ask for $20.2 million in funding lots.
clerks, state officials and advocates by der and chief operations officer of the until mid-May, shortly after the state’s “The train has left the station for ma-
USA TODAY Network, Columbia Jour- OSET Institute, a research firm develop- association of county elections supervi- jor changes,” said Tammy Patrick, sen-
nalism Investigations and the PBS se- ing open source technology for voting sors wrote in a letter that “Florida is lag- ior adviser for elections for the Democ-
ries “Frontline” reveal the country’s systems. ging behind nearly every other state in racy Fund, a nonpartisan Washington
patchwork election system is fraying. A Should the election system falter, securing (federal) funding for elec- foundation. New computer equipment,
proposal to provide states an additional even in a few states, the fallout could tions.” The Florida Supervisors of Elec- new poll books and testing a new voting
$3.6 billion in federal money to support make the 2000 Gore-Bush election tions wrote, “While we wait, the goods system takemonths, she said.
cratering election budgets has yet to be chaos “look like a spring ball,” Miller and services we need are becoming Online systems can allow voters to
voted on by the U.S. Senate. said. scarce.” update information or register for the
Academics and experts said the Only four states conducted all-mail first time without risking in-person vis-
$400 million allocated is too little and Bottlenecked elections before 2020, and it took them its to government offices. But it is too
its distribution too slow. In swing states, years to hone the systems, equipment late to create online registration sys-
cash and resources are only now trick- Split among 50 states, Washington, and training to do it. November marks tems, Patrick and Thomas said.
ling down to the locals responsible for D.C., and five U.S. territories, the $400 the first time any Michigan voter can In Maine, which requires in-person
running elections. million from the federal Coronavirus cast a mail-in ballot in a presidential registration, “people were saying that
As a result, expensive equipment Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act election, a herculean shift. But the we needed to develop an online voter
that could speed tabulating votes, open missed the mark by more than $3 bil- Michigan secretary of state’s office had registration system,” said Dunlap, the
absentee envelopes or check voter sig- lion, the Brennan Center for Justice spent only about 30% of its $11.2 million secretary of state. “But we were lacking
natures remain out of reach for many. wrote in a report in April. in federal money by mid-June, on ab- time, we were lacking money and we
The mailing costs to deal with in- “The funding is not sufficient for sentee ballot applications. It was were lacking the people needed to build
creased absentee voting are likely to add what is needed in this new world,” said month’s end before state officials tenta- it.”
up to tens of millions of dollars, accord- Dianna Moorman, director of elections tively decided how to spend the rest. A $3 trillion bill setting aside $3.6 bil-
ing to figures compiled by the Brennan for James City County, Virginia, at a “More funding is crucial, the funding lion in election funding is stalled in the
Center for Justice, a New York think hearing by the U.S. Election Assistance and support we need, it’s out there, it’s Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch
tank. Commission. been talked about; we just don’t have it McConnell, R-Ky., dismissed it as an
An additional $140 million would be Three battleground states – Georgia, yet,” said Cynthia Bower, city clerk for “ideological wish list.”
required to replace poll workers who Pennsylvania, and Michigan – would Taylor, Michigan. Even if the money were available,
dropped out citing COVID-19 risks and need more than a quarter of a billion In Arizona, the governor did not re- some states might not accept it. The bill
pay raises to keep workers who didn’t. dollars to meet safety and security goals lease the money to the secretary of state would override states’ voter ID laws in
Then there will be staffing to count the outlined in a report published by a bi- until July 2. By then, the Republican-led federal elections and broaden access to
extra ballots, extra training to replace partisan group of academics and policy Legislature had pulled $500,000 from mail-in voting.
poll workers who fall ill and gallons of advocates. That includes millions for the overall state election budget. Both are line-in-the-sand issues at
hand sanitizer for polling stations. unbudgeted COVID-19-related costs, Congress built in its own delays. the heart of partisan court battles and
Election officials are too often “at the such as renting polling places large States must match 20% of the federal campaign strategies by Democrats and
bottom of the food chain when it comes enough to accommodate social distanc- money within two years or risk paying Republicans.
to resources,” said former Michigan di- ing and beefing up cybersecurity for back the entire amount. California’s “Receiving one-time funds at the ex-
rector of elections Christopher Thomas, election officials working from home. $36.4 million awardcalls for it to spend pense of radically changing our election
a fellow with the Bipartisan Policy Cen- The sooner election directors get the $7.2 million of its own money. Missis- system is a trade-off we are not willing
ter, a Washington think tank. money, the sooner they can prepare for sippi’s $4.7 million requires a $945,608 to make,” Louisiana Secretary of State
Expecting massive turnout in No- November’s turnout, said Liz Howard, match. Kyle Ardoin said in June before a con-
vember, they will need every dollar. counsel for the Brennan Center’s De- Some state legislatures had ad- gressional subcommittee on elections.
“Even in the best of times, the system mocracy Program. journed when the coronavirus aid bill Alabama Secretary of State John
would struggle to process this many The Election Assistance Commission passed and could not appropriate the Merrill, who chairs the national Repub-
votes on Election Day,” he said. “Can expedited release of the $400 million money. The same spiraling economy lican Secretaries of State Committee,
they get it done? That’s the big ques- and predicted it would be distributed by that prompted Congress to pass the act said accepting money from the bill as
tion.” April 10. However, 30 states did not even made it harder for states to commit to written would put the federal govern-
Not every state will need to offset the ask for the money until after that date. the deal. ment in the driver’s seat. “We do not
threat of COVID-19 with large-scale, Florida, Nevada, Virginiaand Oklahoma Maine’s match translates to roughly want them to tell us how to use those re-
multimillion-dollar purchases, but all waited until May to make their requests. $659,000 as tax revenue-producing in- sources,” he said.
face unexpected, budget-sapping costs. Oklahoma asked for half its share. Utah dustries are shuttered, according to Sec- At the local level, this is not a political
PauldingCounty, Georgia expects to asked for less than half, saying it had a retary of State Matthew Dunlap. “The issue, said Jeff Greenburg, election di-
receive $8,000 from the state, but that strong vote-by-mail structure in place. next fiscal year is going to be pretty rector in Mercer County, Pennsylvania.
will not even cover the almost $10,000 Multiple states did not begin allocat- scary,” he said. It is a crisis.
the supervisor of elections shelled out ing the money to county and local elec- The required match is why Oklahoma “As a local election official, I would
for mail-in ballot drop boxes. In Greene tion offices until June, roughly four asked for half of the $5.4 million it was love to see Congress and other levels
County, Missouri, the bill for sneeze months before the election. entitled to. “We didn’t have it,” said Pam stay away from using funding to change
guards topped $46,000. Lycoming That’s cutting it close, said Forrest Slater, assistant secretary of the State election laws,” Greenburg said. “They
County, Pennsylvania, bought an Lehman, elections director for Lycom- Election Board. always try to tie in both issues, and that
$11,000, 245-pound high-speed letter ingCounty, Pennsylvania. “Six months “Would we have loved to be able to ends up stopping it in its tracks.
opener to handle mail-in ballots. out, that’s when you can turn the ship, ask for the whole thing?” she said. “This is an emergency. Let’s get the
Lansing, Michigan, City Clerk Chris that’s when you can make changes.” “Sure, but we were lucky to be able to funding out there.”
Swopewarns voters that no one should Different states have taken different ask for a portion of it.” This story was produced in partner-
expect to know who won three City approaches to using the money, and ship with Columbia Journalism Investi-
Council seats – or any other race – on some have been more time-consuming Unmet needs gations, an investigative reporting unit
election night. than others. In Alabama, checks were at the Columbia Journalism School, and
Short of a landslide, it’s possible no cut to counties after a group of officials, High-speed scanners quickly and ac- the PBS series “Frontline.”
NEWS USA TODAY ❚ WEDNESDAY,JULY 15,2020 ❚ 7A
OPINION
TODAY'S DEBATE: PANDEMIC RESPONSE
Our view: The dangerous effort
to denigrate Dr. Fauci
Suppose your doctor, one of the na-
tion’s leading cardiologists, told you
that you are at risk of a heart attack and
that you need to make some lifestyle
changes. You probably wouldn’t say he
or she is wrong, is asking for too much,
or is a know-it-all whose advice counts
for less than some miracle cure you
heard about on the internet.
Yet that is essentially what the Dr. Anthony Fauci and President
Trump White House is doing by repeat- Donald Trump in April.ALEX BRANDON/AP
edly denying reality, ignoring experts
and proposing quack solutions to the Now that the number of new cases is
COVID-19 crisis. Nowhere is this clearer surging in the very places that dis-
than in the administration’s attempts missed the experts most vehemently,
to sideline and undermine Dr. Anthony and as testing continues to fall short
Fauci, director of the National Institute despite four months to come up to
of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. speed, one might think that Trump
Fauci, 79, is a national treasure. He is would have learned his lesson. MIKE THOMPSON/USA TODAY NETWORK
one of the leading authorities in his Just the opposite is true. Weeks ago,
field. He combines extraordinary ex- as it pivoted to economic recovery, the My great-grandfather
pertise with an exceptional ability to administration began trying to limit
communicate. He has held his position Fauci’s public appearances. More re-
for 36 years, earning the admiration of cently, the president has begun public-
carved Mt. Rushmore
multiple presidents, including George ly criticizing him, as he did in a Fox
W. Bush, who awarded him the Presi- News interview last week, while aides
dential Medal of Freedom. circulated negative talking points as if
But to Donald Trump, Fauci’s an an- they were doing opposition research on It’s time to remove this
noying truth bomb that keeps going off a political adversary.
violation of sacred land
in his garden party of falsehoods and Trump’s top trade adviser, Peter Na-
blame shifting. Without confronting varro, whose statement accompanies
the president directly, but rather sim- this editorial, has been more forcefully Kimberly Ford
ply by offering factual statements and denigrating the doctor. That Navarro,
well-considered recommendations, he an economist by training, is the one do- On the 4th of July of our nation’s bi-
reminds Americans how wrong Trump ing the deed shows how hard it is to find centennial, when I was 7, I went with
has been about COVID (“One day, it’s an actual medical professional willing my beloved grandmother to celebrate
like a miracle, it will disappear”), with to undercut Fauci. her father’s most notable work, one of
devastating consequences. Fauci and other health professionals the world’s most famous monuments, a
From the outset, Fauci emphasized are not always right. Initially, for in- landmark that had come to stand for
the need for robust testing that could stance, they downplayed the impor- America. My great-grandfather, Gut-
provide quick results to isolate the in- tance of masks and travel bans. But as zon Borglum, carved Mount Rushmore.
fected. When Trump talked about more evidence came in about this While heralded as a massive artistic Kimberly Ford, in a bonnet, next to
packing churches on Easter Sunday, brand new virus, they changed their achievement, there was criticism of the grandmother Mary-Ellis Borglum Vhay
Fauci intervened with models that pro- views. That’s what scientists do when monument even when it was unveiled at Mount Rushmore in 1976.
jected horrific death tolls if social dis- additionalfacts emerge. in the early 1940s.
tancing was relaxedprematurely. Trump does the opposite. He has de- There was also a grandfather and an undisturbed use and occupation” of the
Fauci was also one of the many lusions of infallibility and keeps dou- uncle who chose not to join us because, Black Hills. A mere six years later, gold
health experts who cautioned states on bling down on mistakes. I had inferred from hushed voices, they was “discovered,” and a small portion
reopening before they met guidelines In the difficult weeks and months might have opposed the sculptor’s ego- of the Sioux people ceded the land in
put forth by the White House Coronavi- ahead, America’s best hope involves mania, his lack of proportion, even to exchange for needed food.
rus Task Force. To varying degrees the listening to the people, like Dr. Fauci, the questionable aesthetics of a man — My great-grandfather began carving
governors went against this advice, in who have devoted their lives to public capable of stunning bronze and marble presidents into the Black Hills only af-
part because Trump pressured them. health and science-based solutions. statues — carving four presidents’ ter having destroyed (in a kind of artis-
faces into the side of a mountain. tic tantrum) the models he had created
Opposing view: I listen with
Most important, family members for a different gigantic, side-of-a-
and other critics spoke of violating sa- mountain monument in Stone Moun-
caution to Dr. Fauci’s advice cred Native American land. tain, Georgia — one memorializing
Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford For-
Involvement with the Klan rest, who became a prominent leader of
Peter Navarro And when Fauci was telling the the Klan.
White House Coronavirus Task Force Through the decades there has been This July 3, President Donald Trump
Dr. Anthony Fauci has a good bed- that there was only anecdotal evidence more talk, public opinion and docu- used my great-grandfather’s work as a
side manner with the public, but he has in support of hydroxychloroquine to mentaries revealing Borglum’s involve- background to foment division and
been wrong about everything I have in- fight the virus, I confronted him with ment with the Ku Klux Klan and hard willful ignorance, a rally on the ancient
teracted with him on. scientific studies providing evidence of evidence of white supremacy and anti- sacred land of a people we have perse-
In late January, when I was making safety and efficacy. A recent Detroit Semitism. Two of the four presidents cuted, a rally that further threatens
the case on behalf of the president to hospital study showed a 50% reduction my great-grandfather carved owned that population with pandemic. All of
take down the flights from China, Fauci in the mortality rate when the medicine slaves. In an 1886 address, Theodore this speaks to the monument as sym-
fought against the president’s coura- is used in early treatment. Roosevelt, who already had a long his- bolic of white male leaders who have
geous decision — which might well Now Fauci says a falling mortality tory of animosity toward Indigenous utterly, aggressively failed enormous
have saved hundreds of thousands of rate doesn’t matter when it is the single Peoples said, “I don’t go so far as to say swaths of people who lived on this con-
American lives. most important statistic to help guide that the only good Indians are dead In- tinent before them.
When I warned in late January in a the pace of our economic reopening. dians, but I believe 9 out of 10 are.”
memo of a possibly deadly pandemic, The lower the mortality rate, the faster Family, teachers and peers argued Perpetrators of genocide
the director of the National Institute of and more we can open. that when the monument was begun, it
Allergy and Infectious Diseases was So when you ask me whether I listen “was a different time.” Some suggested To those who say Mount Rushmore
telling the news media not to worry. to Dr. Fauci’s advice, my answer is: only that my great-grandfather’s question- should be preserved because it’s part of
When I was working feverishly on with skepticism and caution. able alliances were fiscal, not ideologi- our history, I say the four presidents
behalf of the president in February to cal; they said every major American carved forever into the granite speak of
help engineer the fastest industrial mo- Peter Navarro, an assistant to the leader owned slaves back when you the fundamental brutality of “Western
bilization of the health care sector in president, is the director of the Office of could. There was mention of “sacred Expansion” and “Manifest Destiny.”
our history, Fauci was still telling the Trade and Manufacturing Policy. Indian land,” often with a rueful, nearly The monument says nothing — or ev-
public the China virus was low risk. (Parts of this statement were shared contrite, shake of the head. erything, horrifically — about the
When we were building new mask with other news organizations. The FDA The ubiquitous Rushmore bumper struggles we Americans inflicted on
capacity in record time, Fauci was flip- has revoked its approval for treating stickers, coffee mugs, ads and T-shirts communities that had lived on this
flopping on the use of masks. COVID-19 with hydroxychloroquine.) of my youth have morphed into memes. continent for at least 15,000 years.
In one I loved, each forefather wore a At this moment when we are doing
pink knit “pussy hat.” More recently, work as a nation to think hard about the
my Instagram showed the four presi- horrendous injustice of slavery and the
YOUR SAY
dents in face masks. Even amid deep pervasive, systemic racism that has fol-
national division, few monuments feel lowed, we also need to remember the
It’s too early to reopen schools more emblematic of our United States. near annihilation of Indigenous Peo-
Yet, as with patriotic songs and slo- ples. It is timeto remove a monument
gans and even with our flag — a fuller that celebrates the perpetrators of a
LETTERS President Donald Trump doesn’t appreciation of income and gender and genocide, a monument that sits on the
[email protected] care. He doesn’t think of a sick child ethnic and racial injustices has turned sacred land of the very people who con-
with no symptoms infecting teachers, me into someone who cannot love tinue to be so deeply wronged today.
With 60 years of experience teach- or teachers and staff infecting each broadly patriotic emblems right now.
ing, including 24 years as a health edu- other. He just wants the world “normal” For the Lakotas, South Dakota’s Kimberly Ford is a writer and editor
cator, I can clearly see that the plan to because he thinks that will help him Black Hills have been the site of sacred in Northern California.
reopen schools won’t work. win. He can act as if the coronavirus prayer services for innumerable gener-
When I taught adults English and was just a bad dream. But we need ations. The granite faces look upon the WANT TO COMMENT?Have Your Say at
[email protected], @usatodayopinion on
Spanish, we acted out plays. When I more distancing and masks before we location of Washun Niya, where Moth-
Twitter and facebook.com/usatodayopinion.
taught young children, we played circle talk schools. That reopening plan won’t er Earth is believed to breathe. In 1868, Comments are edited for length and clarity. Con-
games. The idea of students being able work right now, sir. our government “granted” the Sioux — tent submitted to USA TODAY may appear in print,
to carry out these educational activities Fran B. Reed made up of the Lakota, Dakota and Na- digital or other forms. For letters, include name,
address and phone number. Letters may be mailed
while staying 6 feet apart is absurd. Hilton Head Island, S.C. kota tribes — rights to “absolute and to 7950 Jones Branch Drive, McLean, VA, 22108.
“USA TODAY hopes to serve as a forum for better understanding and unity to help make the USA truly one nation.” – Allen H. Neuharth, Founder, Sept. 15, 1982
Chairman and CEO USA TODAY Publisher USA TODAY Vice President/Local News and Audience Development: Amalie Nash Executive Editor/News: Jeff Taylor
Gannett Co. President of News Editor in Chief Vice President & Executive Editor/Investigations: Chris Davis Executive Editor/Audience: Patty Michalski
MICHAEL REED MARIBEL PEREZ WADSWORTH NICOLE CARROLL Chief Revenue Officer, sales and service: Kevin Gentzel Editorial Page Editor: Bill Sternberg
NEWS
8A ❚ WEDNESDAY,JULY 15,2020 ❚ USA TODAY
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MONEYLINE
JPMORGAN CHASE’S PROFITS
HIT HARD BY THE PANDEMIC
The coronavirus pandemic is weighing
heavily on the financial health of
JPMorgan Chase, as the nation’s larg-
est financial company set aside bil-
lions in the second quarter to cover
potential losses from the businesses
and consumers who are unable to pay
their debts because of the slumping
economy. The results offer a glimpse
into how badly the pandemic is im-
pacting the financial health of Amer-
ican consumers and businesses. Last
quarter, when the coronavirus pan-
demic had only just begun, JPMorgan
set aside nearly $8.3 billion to cover
loan losses. The bank added addition-
al $10.5 billion to those reserves this
quarter.
WELLS FARGO LOSES $2.4B
IN Q2, FIRST LOSS SINCE 2008
Wells Fargo lost $2.4 billion in the
second quarter, the first quarterly loss Researcher Matt Dunn holds dead samples of the coronavirus in Oakland, Pa. NATE GUIDRY/PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE VIA AP
for the bank since the real estate
crash of 2008. Wells said it set aside Could a vaccine fix drug
an additional $8.4 billion for loan loss
provisions – the money set aside to
cover potentially bad loans – more
than double last quarter’s $3.83 billion
industry’s reputation?
as the effects of the coronavirus pan-
demic ravaged almost every aspect of
its business.
Big price increases have creases and avoid a regulatory crack-
down.
eroded consumers’ trust
“With drug prices where they’re at,
people can’t afford them and they are
Nathan Bomey dying,” said Tim Lash, chief strategy of-
USA TODAY ficer of West Health, a nonprofit that
pursues lower health care costs. He
For years, the pharmaceutical in- added that “there is very real concern
dustry has faced withering bipartisan about pharma leveraging” the coronavi-
criticism and a deteriorating reputa- rus vaccine push to increase the price of
DAMIAN DOVARGANES/AP
tion among the public for its role in other treatments.
driving up drug prices.
But the sector suddenly might be Did drug profits make a
CHINA’S TRADE IMPROVES AS poised to go from villain to hero with A vial of the antiviral drug remdesivir coronavirus vaccine possible?
ECONOMY BEGINS RECOVERY the development of a vaccine that is visually inspected at a Gilead
could end the COVID-19 pandemic. Sciences manufacturing site in the U.S. The chance to develop a vaccine or a
China’s trade improved in June in a The drug industry’s reputation in March. GILEAD SCIENCES VIA AP successful treatment that could save
fresh sign the world’s second-largest started this crisis in the basement af- millions of lives and jobs has attracted
economy is recovering from the coro- ter having plunged to an all-time low in hundreds of players despite the high
navirus pandemic. But its exporters 2019, making it the least popular sector the greatest opportunities in the history likelihood of failure for most of them.
face threats including tension with among 25 major industries, according of medicine – with the reputational Vaccines – which save about 2.5 mil-
Washington and a possible downturn in to pollster Gallup. benefits alone worth the effort, not to lion lives annually from conditions such
U.S. and European demand. Chinese Americans soured on the industry mention the financial possibilities. The as polio, measles and diphtheria – rep-
imports rose 3% over a year earlier to after net drug prices – which factor in companies pursuing a vaccine include resent “one of the most successful and
$167.2billion, rebounding from May’s rebates and discounts – increased by giants like Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & cost-effective health interventions”
3.3% decline, customs data showed 60% from 2007 to 2018, about triple Johnson, AstraZeneca, Merck and Glax- ever, according to the World Health Or-
Tuesday. Exports edged up 0.4% to the rate of inflation, according to a oSmithKline. ganization.
$213.6billion, an improvement over the University of Pittsburgh study. High- Drug companies have “spared no ex- Potential COVID-19 treatments un-
previous month’s 16.7% contraction. profile examples of sharp drug price pense to kind of pivot and shift” to tack- der development include 150 vaccine
hikes in recent years have included le the coronavirus, Gilead Sciences CEO candidates, 160 novel medications de-
“Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli’s 5,000% Daniel O’Day told investors on a confer- signed to kill the virus and 300 existing
increase of a life-saving treatment Da- ence call on April 30. “I think this will drugs that could be repurposed to treat
Dow Jones Industrial Avg. raprim and Mylan’s six-fold increase certainly help the industry’s reputa- it, according to the Biotechnology Inno-
30,000 of the EpiPen, an emergency allergic tion.” vation Organization (BIO), a trade group
reaction treatment. Yet there are also potholes on the that represents biotech companies.
28,000 556.79
While drugmakers throughout the road to a vaccine for the drug industry, Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S.
26,000 world are chasing a coronavirus vac- as Americans and industry critics ex- government’s National Institute of Al-
24,000 cine and only a few, at most, can win, press concern that the race could help
22,000 26,642 the feverish pursuit represents one of pharma companies justify price in- SeeVACCINE,Page2B
20,000
18,000
JAN. JULY Experts to Wis. dairy farmers:
AP
TUESDAY MARKETS
Rising milk prices may not last
INDEX CLOSE CHG
Dow Jones Industrial Avg. 26,642.59 x 556.79
S&P 500 3,197.52 x 42.30
Nasdaq composite 10,488.58 x 97.73
T-note, 10-year yield 0.626 x 0.007 Rick Barrett ary before slumping to $12 in May and
SOURCESUSA TODAY RESEARCH, BLOOMBERG
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel then rising to around $22.
USA TODAY NETWORK “The sharp drop in May was the re-
sult of the COVID-19 virus shutting
Wisconsin lost fewer dairy farms in down schools, universities, restaurants
USA TODAY SNAPSHOTS©
June as higher milk prices kept more and food service, which caused a big
farmers in business. But some experts drop in the sales of milk, cheese and
Mortgage rates caution that it’s a “sugar high” that butter,” Bob Cropp, a University of Wis-
may not last, and farmers say they’re consin Cooperative Extension professor
not getting the full benefit. emeritus, wrote in a recent column.
Rates reported Tuesday.
As of July 1, there were 7,079 dairy In response, dairy farmers cut pro-
Current Week ago cow herds in the state, down only 44 duction, and some were asked to dump
30 yr. fixed 3.14% 3.25% from a month earlier and one of the milk.
lowest exit rates in several years. A dairy cow pops its head up in the Then, government food assistance
15 yr. fixed 2.73% 2.75%
For the first six months of 2020, the cattle barn at a dairy farm in Trenton, programs kicked in, helping to lower
5/1 ARM 3.08% 3.12% state lost 213 dairy farms, significant Wis.MIKE DE SISTI/USA TODAY NETWORK dairy product surpluses. Also, restau-
7/1 ARM 3.16% 3.23% but far fewer than in the first half of rants placed large orders to restock sup-
2019. plies as COVID-19 restrictions were
30 yr. jumbo 3.19% 3.33%
Boosted by government purchases “It’s a combination of things. I call it a eased.
30 yr. FHA 2.97% 3.21% of dairy products and the reopening of ‘sugar high.’ Unfortunately, we believe Milk prices improved, in some cases
restaurants, farm milk prices have the dairy markets will be oversupplied” nearly doubling.
been rising. towardthe end of the year when govern- Now, the question is whether it’s sus-
“Farmers are doing a lot better. Milk ment food purchases wind down, he tainable.
prices today are at the highest level go- said. “Hopefully, dairy farmers do not re-
ing back to 2014,” said Dan Basse, Prices have vacillated in the pandem- spond to higher milk prices by increas-
president of AgResource, an agricul- ic. For example, milk that is used to ing production again,” Cropp said.
tural markets research firm based in make cheese was priced at $17 per hun-
BANKRATE.COM Chicago. dred pounds, about 12 gallons, in Janu- SeeMILK PRICES,Page2B
2B ❚ WEDNESDAY,JULY 15,2020 ❚ USA TODAY MONEY
Milk prices
this spring in Successful Farming maga-
zine.
Rural Wisconsin is fueled by the
Continued from Page 1B money that farmers spend at equip-
ment dealerships, feed mills, hardware
This fall, dairy processors will likely stores, cafes and scores of other busi-
scale up the manufacturing of cheese, nesses. When dairy farmers stumble,
butter and other products for seasonal businesses in rural towns lose their bal-
demand. But if there’s a second wave of ance as well.
COVID-19 infections, higher sales over “I believe the full impact of COVID is
the holidays would be at risk. still hanging out there,” Smith said.
“There is a lot of uncertainty as to “It’s going to impact our rural vil-
milk prices for the remainder of the lages, cooperatives, businesses, all
year,” Cropp said. “Prices should remain those things. We may see quite a drop in
strong for the next two or three months, services and opportunities in rural com-
at least, but beyond that, there’s more munities.”
uncertainty.” Government programs have helped
“This is not a good time to try and ease some of the pain.
outguess the markets,” said Kevin Bern- “But we can’t keep putting Band-Aids
hardt, a dairy economist at University of on things,” Smith said. “We have to
Wisconsin-Platteville. come up with a long-term plan for the
Minimum milk prices are set by the health of rural communities that works
U.S. Department of Agriculture using economically, socially and culturally.”
complicated formulas based on the COVID-19 has exposed cracks in the
wholesale market value of various dairy food production system, said Jim Good-
products such as cheese, butter and man, president of the National Family
whey. Farm Coalition, and a retired dairy
Many farmers see themselves as rel- farmer from Juneau County.
atively powerless in an agricultural sys- Farmers dumped milk because proc-
tem based on large-scale efficiencies. essing plants were full, yet there were
Faced with few options to control the milk shortages in grocery stores.
price for what they produce, they ramp Belkis Jacquelyn prepares cows for milking at a dairy farm owned by Bob and Slaughter plants shut down from the
up production and hope markets don’t Rick Roden in Trenton, Wis.MIKE DE SISTI/USA TODAY NETWORK spread of coronavirus, resulting in meat
buckle under the strain. shortages.
Most dairy farmers don’t know what “The food system that many thought
they’ll be paid until 30 days after milk “What’s happened is farmers have health care and utilities. was so good because there was plenty in
has left their farms. borrowed against their equity in order to “For all of us, COVID-19 is the wild the stores at fairly affordable prices now
And under the pricing system, and keep going,” Roden said. “But we have card,” Smith said. seems pretty fragile,” Goodman said.
what’s called a producer price differen- dug some deep holes that we need to get From cranberries to wheat, other “If workers get sick in a processing
tial, they don’t necessarily realize the out of, and that doesn’t change over- commodities have also experienced plant, or if there are transportation
full benefit of increases shown in the night.” price swings. problems, the whole system breaks
commodities market. The recent dairy crisis that began in For example, about 40% of U.S. corn down.”
“A lot of that does not get directly to late 2014 underscored changes in agri- goes into making the fuel additive etha- A third-generation farmer for more
the farmer,” said Bob Roden, a dairy culture that have been taking place for nol, and those sales plummeted when than 40 years, he called it quits in 2018.
farmer near West Bend. decades but sped up more than many Americans began driving less. Goodman loved the animals and the
“There are a lot of rumors about what expected. “When the ethanol plants shut down work and had endured hard times, but
we’re actually going to be paid for our Farmers are now engaged in a global for COVID, a lot of that corn remained in he couldn’t see much of a future for his
June milk,” Roden said, adding that his marketplace that can be upended for bins. If we come up with a sizable grain organic dairy operation that milked 45
cooperative told him to expect around months, even years, by trade wars, pan- crop this fall, there will be some pretty cows.
$18 per hundred pounds, close to his demics and climate change. severe storage issues, let alone the im- He believes the loss of dairy farms,
break-even price. There’s not much confidence in the pact on the market,” Smith said. while it’s slowed some, will likely con-
“I will know what I actually got after higher prices now, said Daniel Smith, “The farmers are nervous as cats be- tinue until most small family-run opera-
July 18th,” he said. president and CEO of Cooperative Net- cause they’re afraid that we’re going to tions have disappeared.
The recent higher prices have helped work, a Wisconsin and Minnesota stop buying corn. And they’re right,” “I think that a farm like mine, once
farmers regain their footing after years group that represents cooperatives in Randy Doyle, CEO of ethanol maker Al- the cows are sold, is never going to come
of losses or barely covering their costs. dozens of fields including agriculture, Corn Clean Fuel, was quoted as saying back,” Goodman said.
Vaccine
PhRMA has led a marketing and pub-
licity campaign in recent months to pro-
mote the industry’s role in developing a
Continued from Page 1B vaccine or treatment. The group has ad-
vertised in news outlet Politico’s influ-
lergy and Infectious Diseases, recently ential “Playbook” e-newsletter, run a
predicted that a vaccine could arrive by print advertisement along with BIO,
the end of 2020 or early 2021. published blog posts, compiled fact
Pharma industry executives say the sheets and written reports document-
vaccine push shows how the industry is ing the industry’s commitment to devel-
committed to using profits, which have oping a safe and effective vaccine expe-
been the target of much criticism, to ditiously.
support their pursuit of life-saving Gilead CEO O’Day said in the April 30
medications. call that he had already noticed a shift in
About 90% of drug candidates fail, il- rhetoric about drug pricing on Capitol
lustrating the need for substantial in- Hill following the emergence of the pan-
vestments in potential therapies, said demic.
Stephen Ubl, CEO of industry trade “I think people are very appreciative
group PhRMA, which represents phar- and concerned about finding solutions
maceutical companies on policy issues here. And it’s brought us all together,
in Washington, which I think is a good thing,” he said.
“The coronavirus gives us the oppor- “I’m not suggesting that there won’t
tunity to tell the real story of the impor- continue to be focus and pressure on
tance of the industry and why a robust drug pricing. Of course, there will be. ...
biopharmaceutical sector is absolutely But it’s being done now in a way where
critical to the public health,” Ubl said. we can have an appreciation for the in-
The pandemic “has driven the public Sen. Bernie Sanders has called for policies to restrict drug prices.GETTY IMAGES novation the industry brings.”
eye onto what the biotech industry Lash said policymakers should not
does, which is change the dynamic of a fall for the suggestion that pharmaceu-
disease,” said Jeremy Levin, chairman For example, Gilead Sciences recent- oned after being convicted on unrelated tical companies have taken an altruistic
of BIO and author of the recently pub- ly won approval to distribute its remde- fraud charges, and Mylan. turn.
lished book “Biotechnology in the Time sivir drug as a treatment for critically ill “In the noise that came from the bad The pharmaceutical industry can’t
of COVID-19: Commentaries from the COVID-19 patients. That antiviral drug, actors, we basically lost sight of the es- escape the fact that it’s “the most profit-
Front Line.” which Gilead said it spent more than $1 sence of what the biotech is all about, able sector in our economy when you
But industry critics say pharmaceu- billion to develop, originally came about which is patients and innovation,” Lev- look at return on investment capital,” he
tical companies shouldn’t be let off the during the pursuit of a remedy for Ebola in said. said.
hook for their role in driving up drug several years ago but went nowhere at
prices. the time. Industry promotes vaccine pursuit Americans don’t like drugmakers
“There are certainly bright spots in Gilead on June 29 announced a pric-
the pharma sector in terms of innova- ing plan: $3,120 per treatment course for With the public’s attention suddenly For their part, Americans have placed
tion, hope and optimism –and certainly the typical insured patient. focused on the push for a vaccine, the significant blame on pharmaceutical
those three things would apply to the It’s currently unclear how a potential pharmaceutical industry senses an op- companies for drug prices.
work that’s happening around CO- vaccine would be priced or whether it portunity to ease regulatory pressure in Only 21% of Americans gave the
VID-19,” Lash said. “But if you look at the would be covered by insurance or by the Washington, too. pharmaceutical sector positive ratings
performance of Big Pharma and their government. The federal government’s The pressure has come in the rare in a 2019 Gallup survey, while 58% gave
behavior over the last decade, it paints a Operation Warp Speed is providing form of a bipartisan chorus, ranging as it negative ratings. The industry’s rep-
very dark picture of drug pricing in nearly $10 billion in funds to aid in the widely as President Donald Trump to utation was even worse than the federal
America.” development and production of various one of his fiercest critics, Sen. Bernie government’s.
A study conducted by West Health coronavirus vaccines with a goal of deli- Sanders, D-Vt., both of whom have re- “It’s hard to do worse than the gov-
and polling outfit Gallup found that in a vering 300 million doses by January peatedly called for policies to restrict ernment in these types of positivity,
given 12-month period, about 1 in 5 2021. drug prices. negativity ratings,” said Dan Witters,
American adults are unable to pay at The average private-sector non-in- Some say the federal government’s research director of the Gallup National
least once for needed prescribed fluenza vaccine for adults ranges from Medicare program should be allowed to Health and Well-Being Index. “There’s
drugs. about $26 for Grifols’ tetanus and diph- negotiate drug prices instead of paying real public sentiment here” against
And nearly 9 in 10 Americans are con- theria toxoids inoculation to $228 for market value, a move that advocates say pharmaceutical companies.
cerned that pharmaceutical companies Merck’s Human papillomavirus inocu- would help lower prices across the Witters conceded that the COVID-19
will raise drug prices to compensate for lation, according to the Centers for Dis- board. vaccine race could lend some “buoyan-
the coronavirus vaccine race, according ease Control and Prevention. Others say the government should cy” to the industry’s reputation.
to another study by West Health and Ubl said Americans don’t need to be impose caps on drug prices, among oth- But in the long run, Americans are
Gallup. concerned about the price of a COVID-19 er possibilities. unlikely to forgive the industry for drug
“The pharmaceutical sector has his- vaccine. “The industry is deeply com- Ubl criticized the push for “draconian prices, he said.
torically leveraged price increases to mitted to, when we find safe and effec- policies that would upend the business “In my opinion, whatever goodwill
further maximize profit,” Lash said. tive therapies, we want them to be safe model” and “throw sand into the gears” may ultimately be bought for the phar-
Pharmaceutical executives say their and accessible,” he said. of innovation. But he said he’s hopeful maceutical industry as a function for its
pricing is justified due to the high cost of He attributed much of the criticism that policymakers will recognize that efforts to come up with a vaccine, I think
research and development that is now over drug prices to “relatively few bad the race to solve the coronavirus pan- it’s going to be fleeting,” Witters said.
contributing to the pursuit of a vaccine actors” responsible for sharp increases, demic “highlights the benefit of our free “The concern about rising costs gener-
for the coronavirus. including Shkreli, who was later impris- market system.” ally is overwhelming.”