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Tragedy politicization, tariff incantation and pain pill authorization

 
Today's National story

Trump blames diversity, Democrats for DC air tragedy

What happened
President Donald Trump claimed without evidence yesterday that efforts by his Democratic predecessors to recruit more diverse, and especially disabled, air traffic controllers contributed to Wednesday night's deadly midair collision between an Army Blackhawk helicopter and a passenger jet landing at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. None of the 64 people on the plane or three on the helicopter survived, making it the deadliest U.S. air crash since November 2001.

Who said what
"I put safety first," Trump told reporters at a White House briefing. "Obama, Biden and the Democrats put policy first." He asserted that before he returned to office, the Federal Aviation Administration was "actively recruiting workers who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems," under a "diversity and inclusion hiring initiative." But those policies were in place throughout his first term, The Washington Post said, and it was on his watch, in 2019, that "the FAA began a program to hire air traffic controllers with the conditions that Trump decried." 

Trump has a "long record" of using tragedies to "buttress his own political standing or attempt to damage that of his opponents," Politico said. But these were "some of the most extraordinary public statements he has ever made," especially in "equating diversity with incompetence," The New York Times said. When "dumbfounded" reporters asked if he had any evidence DEI played a role, Trump said "it just could have been." Asked again, he said it was "common sense."

What next?
Trump named Chris Rocheleau acting head the FAA, after Elon Musk "forced the resignation" of FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker "on Inauguration Day," one year into his five-year term, Politico said. Whitaker had proposed fining Musk's SpaceX company. The National Transportation Safety Board said it would release the preliminary results of its investigation within 30 days. 

 
 
Today's Global Trade story

Trump says 25% tariffs on Canada, Mexico start Feb. 1

What happened
President Donald Trump yesterday affirmed that he will impose 25% import taxes tomorrow on all goods from Canada and Mexico, America's top two trading partners, though he said he "may or may not" exempt oil imports.

Who said what
"I'll be putting the tariff of 25% on Canada, and separately, 25% on Mexico, and we'll really have to do that," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. He said those tariffs could rise if the two countries don't meet his demands on blocking migrants and fentanyl. "We don't need the products that they have," Trump said. "We have all the oil you need. We have all the trees you need, meaning the lumber."

"There would undeniably, indisputably be a negative economic impact if tariffs were to be enacted," Glenn Hamer, CEO of the Texas Association of Business, told The Texas Tribune. Importers typically pass the added import taxes on to consumers, and tariffs on Canadian oil in particular "could undermine Trump's repeated pledge to lower overall inflation," The Associated Press said. Canada and Mexico said they have prepared retaliatory tariffs.

What next?
Trump's advisers are "considering several off-ramps" to avert enacting "universal tariffs on Mexico and Canada," The Wall Street Journal reported. Options include more targeted tariffs or a grace period to allow further negotiations.

 
 
Today's Health Care Story

FDA approves painkiller said to thwart addiction

What happened
The Food and Drug Administration yesterday approved a new class of pain pill that is not addictive like opioids. Suzetrigine, being sold as Journavx by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, is the first new pharmaceutical treatment for pain to win FDA approval in more than 20 years.

Who said what
Opioids work by binding to receptors in the brain that receive pain signals from nerves around the body, but "those chemical interactions also give rise to opioids' addictive effects," The Associated Press said. But while prescription opioids have helped fuel an epidemic of addiction and overdoses, suzetrigine "works differently," intercepting pain signals before they reach the brain.

In two clinical trials submitted by Vertex, suzetrigine was more effective than a placebo at treating short-term pain in people recovering from stomach and foot surgery, and on par with a combined acetaminophen-hydrocodone pill, like Vicodin.

What next?
Journavx was approved to treat acute pain in adults. But at a list price of $15.50 a pill, it "faces some hurdles in winning over physicians, hospitals and insurance companies," The Washington Post said. The new painkiller is promising because "there are a number of people who, once they have an opioid, want an opioid constantly," University of Washington pain expert Dr. John Loeser told The New York Times. But acetaminophen-opioid pills are "dirt cheap."

 
 

It's not all bad

A new implantable heart muscle patch made from blood cells "'reprogramed' to mimic stem cells" could one day be used to treat patients with heart failure, said The Guardian. The patches, which have the "characteristics” of a heart between 4 and 8 years old, can help the organ contract, stabilizing and strengthening it. During tests with healthy rhesus macaques, researchers from Germany's University Medical Center Gottingen found no adverse reactions to the patches, and now 15 human patients are participating in a clinical trial.

 
 
Under the radar

The African continent is dividing in two, and a new landmass and ocean may form sooner than expected. The change could alter the climate and ecosystem of the region, as well as the way humans live. In the geologic history of Earth, the shifting of lithospheric plates is commonplace, and Africa's impending rift is but another chapter in that story.

In 2005, Ethiopia experienced earthquakes that created a 35-mile-long fissure in the desert. The appearance of this East African Rift marked the visible "start of a long process in which the African plate is splitting into two tectonic plates: the Somali plate and the Nubian plate," said Unilad. Then, in 2018, another crack appeared in Kenya.

The rift has been widening over time, and there has been varying levels of seismic activity along the seam, according to a study published in the journal Frontiers in Earth Science. Still, in the "human life scale, you won't be seeing many changes," Ken Macdonald, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told the Daily Mail. "You will be feeling earthquakes, you will be seeing volcanoes erupt, but you won't see the ocean intrude in our lifetimes."

The split will change the world's continental makeup. "Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania and some parts of Ethiopia would form a new continent separated by the world's sixth ocean," said Metro. Africa's split "will be just another move in this giant geological playbook," said IFL Science. "Whether we as a species will survive for long enough to witness it? Well, that's a different story."

 
 
On this day

January 31, 1958

The U.S. launched Explorer 1, the country's first artificial satellite. The device sent data back to the U.S. for four months before its batteries ran out, and it orbited Earth until 1970. The launch marked the beginning of the Space Race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

 
 
TODAY'S newspaperS

"Air collision over Potomac kills 67," The Wall Street Journal says on Friday's front page. After the "worst U.S. crash in two decades," The New York Times says, President Donald Trump "turns accident into grievance." It was a "disaster in crowded skies" after "years of warnings on area's safety," The Washington Post says. "Now, the search for answers," The Boston Globe says. In Los Angeles, "safety worries amid toxic cleanup" from the wildfires, the Los Angeles Times says, and residents who lost their homes are "facing the unthinkable: what if they can't rebuild?" 

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

X factor

A mysterious asteroid feared to be on a collision course with Earth has been identified as a cherry-red Tesla Roadster. The Minor Planet Center recognized the asteroid and gave it the official designation 2018 CN41, only to retract the announcement soon after. The vehicle was launched into orbit by Elon Musk in 2018 "as part of a publicity campaign" tied to the first flight of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket, The Independent said.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Roberto Schmidt / AFP via Getty Images; Brett Gundlock / Bloomberg via Getty Images; Erin Clark / The Boston Globe via Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images