| The White House installs political operatives at the CDC; a former Mexican defense minister is arrested in the US. Tonight's Sentences was written by Benjamin Rosenberg. | | | | | | | The White House is reportedly using CDC operatives to control information on the pandemic | | | | | Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images | | - A new Associated Press report says two White House political operatives are working at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to attempt to control the information the agency releases related to the Covid-19 pandemic, as President Donald Trump's administration looks to downplay the severity. [AP / Jason Dearen, Mike Stobbe, and Richard Lardner]
- Both arrived at the CDC without clear assignments, and neither had any public health background beforehand. Nina Witkofsky was named the CDC's acting chief of staff, with Chester "Trey" Moeller as her deputy. [Daily Beast / Barbie Latza Nadeau]
- According to emails and other internal government documents obtained by ProPublica, the Trump administration has taken control of the CDC's messaging, turning the agency into a political tool to advance the Trump agenda. [ProPublica / James Bandler, Patricia Callahan, Sebastian Rotella, and Kirsten Berg]
- White House advisers have made detailed edits to CDC health guidance, from recommendations for religious gatherings to social distancing in bars and restaurants. In May, Trump successfully pressured CDC Director Robert Redfield to declare places of worship essential services. [WSJ / Rebecca Ballhaus, Stephanie Armour, and Betsy McKay]
- Just as the full extent of the pandemic was becoming known in March, Trump's hard-line immigration adviser Stephen Miller had the CDC use its quarantine powers to stop migrants from coming across the US-Mexico border. [The Week / Peter Weber]
- In August, the CDC came under fire for publishing guidance discouraging people from getting tested for Covid-19. Reporting by the New York Times later revealed that Trump officials had actually published that guidance over CDC scientists' objections. [Business Insider / Bill Bostock]
- Last month, a CDC order that would have required all passengers and employees to wear masks on all forms of public transportation was blocked by the White House. Redfield has said masks are "the most powerful weapon we have to confront Covid." [NYT / Sheila Kaplan]
- The White House also ignored CDC guidance with regards to its own coronavirus outbreak. The CDC recommends that anyone who has had close contact with someone infected with Covid-19 should get a test and quarantine for 14 days, but federal officials have defied those guidelines. [Vox / German Lopez]
| | | Former Mexican defense secretary arrested in Los Angeles | | - Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, Mexico's former defense minister, was arrested Thursday evening when he arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on charges of drug trafficking and money laundering. He will be tried in the United States. [NYT / Azam Ahmed]
- Cienfuegos will face charges in Brooklyn in the same federal court where notorious drug cartel Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán was convicted last year, according to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. [Washington Post / Mary Beth Sheridan and Marissa J. Lang]
- In Mexico, Cienfuegos repeatedly refused to allow an investigation into a September 2014 incident in the city of Iguala, when 43 teacher trainees were kidnapped and likely murdered. He also defended soldiers involved in a 2014 incident in Tlatlaya where 22 people were killed. [Guardian / David Agren]
- Cienfuegos served in President Enrique Peña Nieto's administration from 2012 to 2018. He is the second former Mexican cabinet minister arrested in the US for drug trafficking in the past 12 months, joining Genaro García Luna, who was secretary of public security from 2006 to 2012. [AP / Christopher Sherman]
- Mexico has seen roughly 150,000 murders related to organized crime since 2006, with 73,000 or so more reported missing between 2007 and the middle of 2020, according to López Obrador's government. [NBC News / Andrew Blankenstein, Todd Miyazawa, and Adela Suliman]
| | | | | | | A fire has broken out on Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's tallest mountain, and authorities are worried about threats to the area's ecosystem. | | | [NYT / Abdi Latif Dahir] -
Even after Nigeria announced it will disband the Special Armed Robbery Squad, a police unit that engaged in brutality, protests have continued in major cities across the country, and at least 10 people have been killed. [CNN / Anita Patrick] -
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his country should prepare for a no-deal Brexit, telling the European Union that continuing negotiations would be pointless. [Reuters / Guy Faulconbridge and William James] -
Trump's campaign announced that it raised nearly $248 million in September, but that still lagged well behind Democratic nominee Joe Biden's record-setting total of $383 million. [US News / Elliott Davis] | | | | | "This is an unmistakable example of the decomposition of the government, of how civil service was degrading ... during the neoliberal period." | | | | | | | | | | | In the second of our five-part series, Vox's Nicole Narea and Jenn Williams explain how President Trump has fundamentally changed the perception of the United States at home and abroad. [Spotify / Nicole Narea and Jenn Williams]
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