News brief: Jan. 6 a year later, American extremists, CDC's communication issues

News brief: Jan. 6 a year later, American extremists, CDC's communication issues

Transcript¹

Members of Congress mark the attack on the U.S. Capitol a year ago. Experts monitoring extremist worry the U.S. is in a more dangerous place than a year ago. Examining the CDC's messaging problems.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

One year ago today, then-President Donald Trump² addressed a rally. He told supporters to, quote, "fight like hell" and added, we're going to walk down to the Capitol.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Trump himself did not go but watched on TV as thousands of people attacked police and stormed the building. They disrupted the ceremonial counting of the electoral votes of the 2020 election. Now, when it was over, lawmakers affirmed the democratic results, but many of the very same lawmakers who had just fled for their lives went on to vote in support of the defeated president's election lies. How has that affected³ the legislature since?

INSKEEP: NPR's Deirdre Walsh covers Congress and is with us. Good morning.

DEIRDRE WALSH, BYLINE⁴: Good morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: First, how are lawmakers marking this day?

WALSH: Well, I was on Capitol Hill yesterday to check out the preparations, and there's really a solemn atmosphere. President Biden and Vice⁵ President Harris are going to speak this morning from Statuary Hall. That's the area right off the House floor where rioters marched through as they tried to overturn the electoral count. White House press secretary Jen Psaki previewed that the president is expected to criticize former President Trump for what she said was his singular role and push back on the misinformation the former president continues to spread a year later.

Later today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is going to lead a moment of silence in the House chamber⁶ and give a speech from the floor. Several lawmakers are going to talk about sort of their personal reflections about the day and how it impacted them. A panel of historians is going to talk about the need to preserve the narrative⁷ about that insurrection. And then tonight, the official events are going to end with a vigil led by Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on the steps of the Capitol.

INSKEEP: I'm really interested by the choice of location. Statuary Hall is filled with these statues, which are all through the Capitol, in fact - significant figures in American history from every state, including, from some of the Southern states, Confederate rebels from the 1860s. And yet none of them managed to breach⁸ the Capitol, as happened one year ago today. How are Republicans marking this day?

WALSH: There really aren't going to be many on Capitol Hill today. The House isn't in session this week, and there aren't any votes in the Senate. You know, many Republican senators are traveling to Georgia for a memorial service for the late Senator Johnny Isakson in Georgia. But you know, the fact that so few Republicans are going to be around to mark the anniversary is just a reminder⁹ of how toxic¹⁰ and partisan¹¹ the atmosphere in the U.S. Capitol still is a year later. Republicans this week have been focused on criticizing Democrats¹² for what they say were security failures a year ago instead of calling out the former president for his role in, you know, inciting¹³ a riot.

INSKEEP: How have those events changed Congress over the past year?

WALSH: You know, it continues to be really tense. The physical damage has been repaired. You know, broken windows have been fixed¹⁴. But personal relationships between the members of the two parties have really suffered. You know, there are a lot of Democrats who don't even want to work with any of the Republicans who voted to overturn the electoral count that day. Minnesota Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, she does serve on committees with some of those Republicans and says she does work with them, but she still thinks of that day when she sees them around the Capitol. Here's Klobuchar.

AMY KLOBUCHAR: I will always remember who the people were that didn't support the results of the democracy.

WALSH: You know, in the House, lawmakers still have to go through metal detectors¹⁵ every day when they go to vote when they're in session. And there's just really a real breakdown¹⁶ of trust still. And some say that breakdown is worse a year later. It's harder and harder to move bipartisan legislation. And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy barely speak.

INSKEEP: Has Congress done much to address the threat to democracy?

WALSH: Well, Democrats are using this week to push voting rights legislation. President Biden is expected to touch on that topic today. Leader Schumer has linked, you know, what those who stormed the Capitol did a year ago to efforts around the country to pass bills to restrict access to the ballot¹⁷ box. He says if Democrats' legislation to preserve access to voting is blocked, you know, he's going to move to change the Senate rules. But Democrats don't have the votes right now.

INSKEEP: NPR's Deirdre Walsh, thanks so much.

WALSH: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

INSKEEP: Now, the president who sought to overturn the election in 2020 is now out of power.

MARTINEZ: That means the president who tried to overturn the election has lost access to the levers of power. He lost authority over the Pentagon and law enforcement and lost the presidential bully¹⁸ pulpit. So it takes a moment to realize why some experts think democracy is in more danger now. Those who monitor extremist activities say that a portion of the population is more radicalized than a year ago.

INSKEEP: What's going on here? NPR's Odette Yousef has been trying to find out. She covers domestic extremism. Good morning.

ODETTE YOUSEF, BYLINE: Good morning.

INSKEEP: So who exactly is warning that the United States may be in a much more dangerous place now than on January 6?

YOUSEF: I'm hearing this concern, Steve, from both democracy experts and people who've studied conflicts in places where ideologically¹⁹ driven violence has taken root. And one of the most troubling developments they speak of is the growing number of Americans, particularly on the right, who feel that violence may be necessary to settle political differences. And the people holding these views look very different, Steve, from what the U.S. has traditionally known to be extremist threats. You know, we're not talking about neo-Nazi skinheads or violent anti-government militias²⁰ anymore. We're talking about largely middle-class Americans with jobs, with families and who are starting to sympathize with views that have in the past been considered on the fringe. Here's how Robert Pape at the University of Chicago put it.

ROBERT PAPE: We need to realize that this isn't just something to hand off to law enforcement and think, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, just - you know, the FBI - this is just an FBI sort of problem. No, this is an all-hands-on-deck problem here. And that's why democracy is under challenge.

INSKEEP: Let's talk about the scope of that challenge. Some of the people, some of the people who were arrested for attacking the Capitol one year ago today have since said, oh, gosh, I can't believe I did that; I didn't know what I was doing. But it sounds like some other people have gone right on with their activities.

YOUSEF: That's true. And you know, more importantly, we've seen support for the activities that happened on January 6 really, you know, spread throughout the - a larger portion of the populace. You know, immediately after January 6 last year, the movement kind of went underground. You'll remember, Steve, former President Trump was kicked off Twitter. Some online spaces like Parler, where the far-right gather, disappeared, and things kind of went quiet. But over the past year, we've seen a new strategy from some in the far-right to organize more offline, to decentralize activity to more local settings like school board meetings and to latch²¹ on to more emotional sort of culture war issues that we've seen like racially inclusive education and vaccine²² mandates²³. And that's filtered up. You know, what we've seen really in the past year is a profound shift in American culture and politics.

INSKEEP: And this has made what would be described as extremism mainstream²⁴?

YOUSEF: Well, yeah. I mean, we're seeing this blurring²⁵ of mainstream and extreme now. I remember a few months ago, I spoke²⁶ with an anti-fascist researcher who told me that she stopped doing her work because it's no longer as simple as researching neo-Nazis and white nationalists in her neighborhood. You know, she honestly didn't know what to do about suburban²⁷ moms who seemed to have been radicalized over issues like kids wearing masks in schools. So the solution to this right now is going to have to be more holistic²⁸ than law enforcement, and it's not clear what that'll look like.

INSKEEP: NPR's Odette Yousef covers domestic extremism, which gives you a lot to do. Thanks so much.

YOUSEF: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

INSKEEP: OK. As you may know, the new CDC guidelines for COVID-19 isolation²⁹ and quarantine have received a lot of criticism.

MARTINEZ: Yeah. Yesterday, the American Medical Association labeled them confusing and counterproductive. It's even become fodder³⁰ for comedians³¹ such as Desi Lydic from "The Daily Show."

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH TREVOR NOAH")

DESI LYDIC: If you test negative but you're an Aries or any other fire sign, test again. Your immune system is a free spirit, so the tests have trouble detecting COVID.

INSKEEP: NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin has been looking into the CDC's messaging and joins us now. Or maybe it's several days from now. I can't keep track. Selena, good morning.

SELENA SIMMONS-DUFFIN, BYLINE: Morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: How did things get so off track?

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Well, first of all, this came out via press release. It was only about 500 words, and it was just unclear about how long to stay home and when to test or how to test or if you even need to test. There was no technical briefing along with this with studies to support the change with evidence, and CDC didn't give important partners, like state and local health associations, a heads-up that this press release was coming. Dr. Tom Frieden directed the agency during the Obama administration.

TOM FRIEDEN: There's a right way to do public health messaging. It means getting clear, simple, technically³² sound and practical recommendations and then holding a media briefing to explain the reasoning behind them. For whatever reason, that's not how CDC recommendations are being rolled out.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: He says, as a result, there's been a lot of misunderstanding about the guidance and criticism of the agency, and some of that criticism points to a pattern of CDC not doing enough communicating about its guidance and policies to people all throughout the pandemic.

INSKEEP: With that said, Rochelle Walensky, the head of the CDC, has been here on NPR, has been on other networks, has been presenting at the White House COVID-19 response briefings. Why's that not enough?

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Well, basically because, first of all, these are White House-led briefings. There has hasn't been a CDC-led media briefing for two years. It's just not the same as subject matter experts, career scientists sharing with the press and the public what they know in detail.

INSKEEP: Has the agency done that in the past?

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Yeah, actually not so long ago. Back in 2009, career scientists at CDC were briefing the public daily for a stretch of the H1N1 pandemic. Glen Nowak ran CDC communications at the time, and he's now a professor at the University of Georgia.

GLEN NOWAK: We did a press conference every single day for eight weeks, including weekends. We did press conferences as long as we had something that was new, something that was different, there was a need to do it.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: CDC scientists would field detailed³³ questions from health reporters about the data or the vaccine supply or the guidance. And Dr. Frieden, who directed the agency then, said he actually thinks some of the current criticism of CDC is unfair, that the virus is changing in a way that justifies³⁴ the changing guidance, but that the agency needs to get back to being more transparent³⁵ and more communicative.

FRIEDEN: The fact is, there are dedicated³⁶ scientists at CDC who are the world's experts in a lot of these issues. And they need to be speaking directly to the public along with Dr. Walensky.

INSKEEP: What does the agency say when they're asked about being more transparent and communicative?

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: The CDC press office did not respond to my questions about CDC-led briefings by airtime. But this isn't just about optics. People need to understand public health guidance to follow it. And unclear communication can be used as fuel for disinformation that can undermine trust in CDC, so the stakes are really high.

INSKEEP: Selena, it's always a pleasure talking with you. Thanks for your insights.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Thank you.

INSKEEP: That's NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin.

 

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1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

7 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

8 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

9 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

10 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

11 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

12 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 inciting   

刺激的，煽动的

参考例句：

• What are you up to inciting mutiny and insubordination? 你们干吗在这里煽动骚动的叛乱呀。
• He was charged with inciting people to rebel. 他被控煽动民众起来叛乱。

14 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

15 detectors   

探测器( detector的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The report advocated that all buildings be fitted with smoke detectors. 报告主张所有的建筑物都应安装烟火探测器。
• This is heady wine for experimenters using these neutrino detectors. 对于使用中微子探测器的实验工作者，这是令人兴奋的美酒。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技

16 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

17 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

18 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。

19 ideologically   

adv. 意识形态上地，思想上地

参考例句：

• Ideologically, they have many differences. 在思想意识上，他们之间有许多不同之处。
• He has slipped back ideologically. 他思想退步了。

20 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

21 latch   

n.门闩，窗闩；弹簧锁

参考例句：

• She laid her hand on the latch of the door.她把手放在门闩上。
• The repairman installed an iron latch on the door.修理工在门上安了铁门闩。

22 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

23 mandates   

托管（mandate的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Individual mandates would require all people to purchase health insurance. 个人托管要求所有人都要购买健康保险。
• While I agree with those benefits, I'm not a supporter of mandates. 我同意上述好处，我不是授权软件的支持者。

24 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

25 blurring   

n.模糊，斑点甚多，（图像的）混乱v.（使）变模糊( blur的现在分词 )；（使）难以区分

参考例句：

• Retinal hemorrhage, and blurring of the optic dise cause visual disturbances. 视网膜出血及神经盘模糊等可导致视力障碍。 来自辞典例句
• In other ways the Bible limited Puritan writing, blurring and deadening the pages. 另一方面，圣经又限制了清教时期的作品，使它们显得晦涩沉闷。 来自辞典例句

26 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

27 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

28 holistic   

adj.从整体着眼的，全面的

参考例句：

• There is a fundamental ambiguity in the use of word "whole" in recent holistic literature.在近代的整体主义著作中，“整体”这个词的用法极其含混。
• In so far as historicism is technological,its approach is not piecemeal,but "holistic".仅就历史决定论是一种技术而论，它的方法不是渐进的，而是“整体主义的”。

29 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

30 fodder   

n.草料；炮灰

参考例句：

• Grass mowed and cured for use as fodder.割下来晒干用作饲料的草。
• Guaranteed salt intake, no matter which normal fodder.不管是那一种正常的草料，保证盐的摄取。

31 comedians   

n.喜剧演员，丑角( comedian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The voice was rich, lordly, Harvardish, like all the boring radio comedians'imitations. 声音浑厚、威严，俨然是哈佛出身的气派，就跟无线电里所有的滑稽演员叫人已经听腻的模仿完全一样。 来自辞典例句
• He distracted them by joking and imitating movie and radio comedians. 他用开玩笑的方法或者模仿电影及广播中的滑稽演员来对付他们。 来自辞典例句

32 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

33 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

34 justifies   

证明…有理( justify的第三人称单数 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护）

参考例句：

• Their frequency of use both justifies and requires the memorization. 频繁的使用需要记忆，也促进了记忆。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• In my judgement the present end justifies the means. 照我的意见，只要目的正当，手段是可以不计较的。

35 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

36 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。