Vaccines In The South, LGBTQ Athletes, The View From Space: News You Need To Start Your Day
Good morning. The week is almost over, but the news keeps coming. Here’s what we’re watching today:
- President Biden is traveling to North Carolina to encourage people to get the COVID-19 shot. It’s one of several Southern states with low vaccination rates.
- If aliens are watching us, the view’s pretty good.
- Athletes are offering praise and hoping for change after Carl Nassib became the NFL’s first openly gay active player this week.
- A massive search-and-rescue operation continues just north of Miami Beach, after a 12-story residential building partially collapsed.
- 🎧 Also on Up First, our daily podcast, a new study says life expectancy in the U.S. decreased by about two years on average between 2018 and 2020. Declines are most pronounced among communities of color.
— The Morning Edition live blog team
(Emily Alfin Johnson, Rachel Treisman, Nell Clark, Casey Noenickx and William Jones)
Monks Are Now Helping Fight A Wildfire In California
Before we wrap things up, you have to check out this story about firefighting monks from Jaclyn Diaz.
Emergency crews are working hard to contain the Willow Fire, which broke out in a remote area of Big Sur, Calif. last week.
And now they have backup: monks from the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center monastery. The group of professionally-trained firefighting monks have been busting blazes since 2008, when a wildfire spread to the Tassajara monastery.
They even inspired a book: Fire Monks: Zen Mind Meets Wildfire at the Gates of Tassajara.
Click over to Jaclyn's piece for more on the monks and the latest on the Willow Fire.
Oregon Officials Canceled A Park Permit For Proud Boys After They Clashed With Antifascists
Officials in Oregon City, Ore., are trying to prevent further violence after a voter drive organized by the extremist group the Proud Boys turned violent.
Last Friday, local law enforcement declared a riot after the group clashed with antifascists at a community park.
The same person who reserved the park for Friday's event also made a reservation for tomorrow. Change of plans, however: City officials have announced that they are canceling the permit in order to avoid further conflict.
The Proud Boys, a far-right group with a history of extremist rhetoric and street violence, has clashed with counterprotesters in the past.
At least 30 of those charged in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol appear to have links to the Proud Boys.
NPR's 'Young, Sexy And Black' Is The Only Playlist You'll Need For A Hot Girl Summer
After a year of fear and isolation, many of us are ready to shed our comfy clothes and mingle again.
NPR has curated a playlist spanning decades of Black artists' work for just that occasion. Young, Sexy and Black is your soundtrack for being fun, carefree, dynamic, fresh, vibrant, confident, cute, loving and loved.
It celebrates the everlasting presence of vivacious souls, those who embrace the erotic on a daily basis by creating space for the power of their creativity energy.
Luda preaches about the underrated pleasure of stumbling into mayhem on a regular-degular Saturday while Yung Baby Tate shares the affirmations that keep her healthy and protected. Janet takes a page out of Megan Thee Stallion's book (note, her thesis is doing whatever she wants to do) with plans to dance all night. From Aretha Franklin, Earth, Wind & Fire and Stevie Wonder to KAYTRANADA, Solange and Janelle Monáe — the allure of feeling yourself can't be contained.
Press play and get out there now. ⤵️
The Southern Baptist Convention Has A New Leader
The Southern Baptist Convention has elected a new president. Pastor Ed Litton of Mobile, Ala., will lead the nation’s largest protestant denomination, with over 14 million members.
Earlier this year, evangelical heavy-hitters Beth Moore and Russell Moore (no relation) both left the denomination professionally and personally. And sex abuse survivors have gone public with allegations that the SBC’s Executive Committee bullied them and mishandled their claims.
Litton spoke with NPR’s Rachel Martin about the challenges he and the denomination face. After being elected at the convention last week, Litton says that issue is a priority.
“What’s real clear leaving the convention in Nashville is that Southern Baptists have spoken plainly and clearly, almost unanimously, that they want this investigated properly through a third party,” he says.
We want to look at it honestly and transparently because we have to deal with this for the sake of the survivors. But also we really at the same time need to lead our churches to be serious about creating safe places for people. That people do not have to fear that they’re going to molested, abused or taken advantage of. That’s our challenge.Ed Litton - President of the Southern Baptist Convention
The convention is also facing serious questions about its stance on critical race theory and that’s something Litton addresses in the interview with Morning Edition.
Search And Rescue Efforts Are Underway After A Building Collapsed Near Miami Beach
Get the latest on this developing story here.
This post was last updated at 9:56 a.m. ET
Authorities say at least one person is dead and fire rescue crews are still searching for survivors after a building collapsed overnight near Miami.
The 12-story condominium building collapsed around 2 a.m. ET. It's part of the Champlain Tower condo complex in Surfside, just north of Miami Beach.
There were more than 150 units in the condo tower. Many residents were awakened by the rumbling and rushed to safety, and rescue crews have pulled at least one survivor from the rubble.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava spoke to Morning Edition about what we know so far. Listen to the wide-ranging interview here.
A family reunification center has been set up for anyone looking for unaccounted or missing relatives at 9302 Collins Avenue. If you have family members that are unaccounted for or are safe, please call 305-614-1819 to account for them. pic.twitter.com/ksQ9LubG8V
— Miami-Dade Fire Rescue (@MiamiDadeFire) June 24, 2021
Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett told NBC's Today show that residents of 15 units have been taken to a family reunification center, and that other buildings nearby have been evacuated out of fear that they could be in danger of collapsing.
He said there's still no indication of what caused the collapse.
"It's very difficult for us to imagine what could have happened," he said. "But obviously the foundation somehow was undermined and the whole thing came down. I mean it looks like a bomb went off, but we're pretty sure a bomb didn't go off. So it's something else."
‘I’m Tired Of Feeling Alone’: Britney Spears Weighs In On Her Conservatorship
We gave you a heads up yesterday that Britney Spears would be (virtually) speaking in court about her much-talked-about conservatorship.
Well yesterday afternoon she gave her most public statement yet, and it was chock full of upsetting revelations.
"I feel ganged up on, I feel bullied and I feel left out and alone," Spears said to an Los Angeles judge. "And I'm tired of feeling alone."
This may be the last time we hear from Spears directly on the matter. She asked the judge for the conservatorship to end, and for any future legal proceedings to be sealed.
So what's next with her conservatorship? NPR's Andrew Limbong breaks down what we know.
Former NFL player Wade Davis Jr. Says LGBTQ Representation On The Field Matters
When Carl Nassib of the Las Vegas Raiders came out in a short video on Instagram earlier this week, he made history: He became the first active NFL player to announce he's gay.
One of the first to congratulate him was former NFL player Wade Davis Jr., who came out as gay after leaving the NFL.
Davis Jr. was particularly happy that Nassib mentioned the importance of representation in his video announcement. (You can watch Nassib's full video, here.)
In a conversation with Morning Edition's Rachel Martin, Davis Jr. said that LGBTQ visibility and representation played a huge part in the reception to Nassib’s announcement.
LGBTQ folks have been just so visible, so courageous and sort of present that Carl’s announcement felt different. It didn't feel like that this was the first or the last time that this is going to happen.Wade Davis Jr. - Former NFL Player, LGBTQ Activist
Davis Jr. recalls his own experience being very different. In our conversation, there's a particularly powerful moment where he describes the constant fear of being outed. You can listen to that here ⤵️
Davis Jr. feels the NFL has a responsibility to ensure that locker rooms and sports facilities are less homophobic and sexist.
But the issues are societal, he says. One of the bigger Davis Jr is the sexism that he says is at the root of homophobia.
“We have structured many of our institutions where women aren’t seen as competition and that boys grow up believing that we need to have dominion over women in order to prove our manhood and masculinity,” Davis Jr. says. “It creates the conditions for [us] to also think of gay folks as less-than.”
You can listen to Wade Davis Jr.'s full interview with Rachel Martin by heading here.
Are Aliens Watching Us? Some Other Planets Have A Good View Of Earth
Just a dozen light years away from Earth is a star called Teegarden's Star — and it has a couple of orbiting planets cozy enough that they could be home to aliens or intelligent life.
Right now, scientists say if there is anyone on those planets, they probably don't know we're out here. But they could find out in 29 years, assuming they have the right technology.
Here's how:
Stars are constantly moving, and Teegarden's Star will soon slip into the right place to watch our sun. Once positioned, aliens there could notice a slight dimming when Earth passes in front of it, according to a new Nature report. That's the technique scientists on our planet have used to spot and track over 4,400 other planets in other solar systems.
"While we were working, we had this fun idea — if someone else out there is trying to make the same with their sky maps, and whether they would be knowing that we were making sky maps of them. We were trying to turn the tables, in our heads."René Heller, astrophysicist at Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
If alien planet-trackers have used the same strategy, then around 1,715 stars may have been able to see Earth at some point in the last 5,000 years. In the next 5,000 years, 319 new stars will move into the right position to get a good view — including Teegarden's Star.
For now, with our telescopes pointed at outer space, we can imagine aliens pointing theirs right back at us. NPR's Science Correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce has more details on this story here.
We're Going To Miss Biden's July Fourth Vaccination Goal
President Biden is heading to North Carolina today to urge people to get their COVID-19 shots.
Vaccination rates have slowed down nationally, and we’re set to narrowly miss Biden’s goal of having 70% of the U.S. adult population at least partially vaccinated by July.
And as the vaccination rates slow, Dr. Anthony Fauci and other public health officials have raised new concerns about the threat to unvaccinated populations as the more dangerous Delta variant takes hold in the U.S.
Some parts of the country are doing better than others
Surveys have found that states Biden won in 2020 have the highest rates of vaccination. More on that here.
In Louisiana, where less than 35% of the population is fully vaccinated, neighbors are going door-to-door to encourage folks to get their shots.
Shalina Chatlani, a reporter for the Gulf States Newsroom, spoke with the state's regional medical director Shantel Hébert-Magee.
Magee says they've already done a lot to try to boost the vaccination rate, including announcing a million-dollar lottery last week.
"We have had a number of hyper local events," she says. "We’ve expanded to shopping malls. Working with the National Guard, we have sent our team to several businesses.
But despite that, even those who lost a loved one to COVID-19, remained hesitant to get the vaccine.
How is the vaccination campaign going in your state? Here’s what we know.
There Could Be A Breakthrough On Infrastructure Talks
The White House is signaling a potential breakthrough on an infrastructure bill. President Biden has invited a bipartisan group of negotiators to the White House today to discuss a potential outline for an agreement.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said senior officials had two productive meetings with a bipartisan group of senators. They've been negotiating a package that would include hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending.
President Biden had been under pressure to end bipartisan talks as divisions remained over the scope of the proposal and how to pay for it.
But Psaki now says the group has made progress toward an outline of a potential agreement and some of the senators involved in the talks have told reporters they've agreed to the framework of a deal.
If a deal is struck, it would mark a significant victory for President Biden on of one of his biggest domestic policy goals.
A Study Shows That Life Expectancy In The U.S. Is Dropping Significantly
Americans on average are living shorter lives than a few years ago. The pandemic drove down average life expectancy in the U.S. by almost two years — the biggest decrease since World War II.
The decline is even more pronounced among Black and Hispanic Americans. Minority groups were hit hardest by the pandemic and its disruptions, like lack of access to healthcare and chronic disease management.
The findings are part of a new study published in the British Medical Journal. Here are some of the key takeaways:
- Average life expectancy in the U.S. was about 79 years in 2018. By the end of 2020, this had declined to about 77 years.
- Average life expectancy dropped nearly 3.9 years for Hispanics and about 3.3 years for Black Americans.
- The numbers reflect systemic inequalities that predate the pandemic, but the gap had been narrowing in recent years. So the pandemic has wiped out these gains.
You can read more about the findings from this study and the prognosis going forward.