Inside an Ebola Ward, and a Roadblock for Trump’s $1.8 Billion Fund

0:00This podcast is supported by Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Here's a story that's not getting nearly enough attention. Defunding Planned Parenthood has already caused chaos and harm, and access to essential reproductive care is plummeting. Right now, the Trump administration's backers in Congress want to permanently defund Planned Parenthood, forcing even more health centers to close, and millions at risk of losing access to care. It takes less than a minute to help. Go to plannedparenthood.org slash defend and make a gift of any size. From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracey Mumford.

0:37Today's Monday, June 1st. Here's what we're covering.

0:46When I walked into the Ebola ward in Mongualu General Hospital, the first thing that struck me was how many people were walking around without any form of protection. A handful of people were wearing rubber gloves. Some of them had pulled a scarf or part of their sweater across their mouths. But for the most part, people were wearing nothing, and that meant that they were at great risk of catching the virus that causes Ebola themselves. Declan Walsh is The Times' chief Africa correspondent. He's been on the ground in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the Ebola outbreak has now ballooned to the third largest on record, and where hospitals are struggling to keep up.

1:25In that small ward that we visited, we found a five-year-old boy who had just come in the night before with incessant bleeding from his nose. He was lying on the bed with the tissue stuffed into his nose to staunch the bleeding with his dad watching over him. But just two beds away from that boy lay the body of a 21-year-old woman who had died during the night and her remains had still not been removed. Now, the bodies of people who have just died from Ebola are incredibly infectious, yet it was just covered by a thin sheet that had been pulled over. That only added to that sense of danger inside that treatment facility.

2:05And in fact, people were being infected at the hospital because when we went into the next ward, we found the lab technician who himself had gotten apparently infected with Ebola as part of his job taking samples from other people. And we later learned that seven other staff members from that hospital had already died from the virus. That was just a sign of how bad conditions were. I was brought around the ward by a young Congolese doctor. He told me he was angry. He was angry at his own government, which had taken so long to detect this outbreak. But he was also more broadly angry at the international response system towards Ebola.

2:45He turned around to me at one point and he said, Here we are in Mongualu, in the town where the epidemic started, where there are the highest number of cases. And yet this is the best we can do. Now it's important to say that there is aid coming into this area. In the capital, Bunya, where I'm currently speaking from, there is an airport where planes are coming in, bringing supplies, much needed supplies. There are other treatment centers being set up as well. But we don't really know if these facilities are going to be enough because the aid effort is so far behind the curve, it's not even keeping pace with this outbreak as of now.

3:34At a federal court in Virginia, a judge has blocked the government from launching President Trump's controversial$1.8 billion fund. The pot of money is intended to pay people the administration claims were harmed by the government. But as soon as it was announced, critics blasted it as a slush fund for Trump's allies and warned that it could be used to give payouts to January 6th rioters, among others. The judge said that for now, no money can be dispersed, at least until she holds a hearing later this month about one of several lawsuits challenging the fund. The head of a legal nonprofit involved in the case celebrated the temporary pause, saying, quote, no administration has the authority to spend public money through a political rewards program that Congress never authorized.

4:23The fund was announced last month as part of a remarkable deal Trump struck to end a case he had filed against the federal government. Trump had sued the IRS over a leak of his tax returns, but then abruptly dropped the case as the Justice Department announced the$1.8 billion fund and a provision giving Trump and his family immunity from any ongoing tax audits. Now, though, the judge overseeing the tax return suit has ordered that case reopened, saying she wants to investigate what she called grievous allegations that the hasty deal was premised on deception. She said she wanted to look into whether Trump had effectively settled with his own government out of court to, quote, avoid judicial scrutiny.

5:07The White House did not immediately respond to questions from The Times, But a spokeswoman for the Justice Department has defended Trump's original decision to drop the case, calling it a routine move and saying there was, quote, nothing improper about this agreement.

5:29Now, a few quick updates on the war in Iran. First, the U.S. military says it's hit more targets inside Iran, the latest in a series of attacks over the past week. In a statement, U.S. Central Command described the strikes as self-defense and said it was responding to aggressive Iranian actions, including the downing of an American military drone. Shortly after the U.S. announcement, Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps said it had also carried out strikes, targeting a base used by U.S. forces. The fresh exchange comes even as negotiations to end the war are ongoing. On Friday, Trump met with his top aides in the Situation Room for two hours to discuss the peace talks.

6:12And officials say the president has now sent Iran a new set of terms for a potential framework to stop the conflict. And in the Strait of Hormuz, the Times has learned that the U.S. military has been quietly guiding some ships through the waterway. According to an American official, the U.S. has coordinated the passage of about 70 commercial ships into and out of the strait in the past three weeks. That has allowed some ships which can't or don't want to get Iranian permission or pay an Iranian toll to move through the area. Still, Iran continues to exert significant control over the strait. Before the war, more than 100 ships a day pass through the waterway.

7:00About 10 days ago in Hawaii. And we start tonight with breaking news. A lot of people certainly felt it. A big jolt. A 6.0 magnitude earthquake hit the Big Island and set off what has now become a water crisis. They've felt earthquakes before, but this one in particular really stood out. In the Kona region, many people rely on rainwater for drinking, irrigation, and more. and the quake destroyed hundreds of water tanks where people were holding their supplies. Some residents are now trekking to a local public spigot to fill up five-gallon jugs, and authorities have started trucking in some water to try and help.

7:41The owner of one company that sells rainwater catchment systems said he'd gotten 200 calls and was flying in extra staff to try and keep up with demand. The water shortage has created a particular problem for one of Kona's most famous exports. Coffee. It's some of the most coveted coffee in the world, but with no easy way to water the crop right now, many of the small family-run farms there are struggling.

8:16And finally. I found something. What did you find? The place. The horror movie Backrooms pulled in an astonishing$82 million at the North American box office this weekend. And it is basically proving that YouTube success can translate to a Hollywood hit. I'm not saying I don't believe you. Okay, I'm going to come back here with proof. Backrooms was born on the internet. It was inspired by a photo that's been going around on message boards for years of a creepy, empty, yellow room. The film's director, Cain Parsons, had made horror content on YouTube riffing on it, and with Backrooms, he turned it into a full-feature film.

8:59Before this, Parsons had no Hollywood credit, and he's only 20 years old, setting the record for youngest director with a number one movie. He's one of a handful of directors this year with surprise horror hits who came up through YouTube rather than Hollywood. Box office data shows he also managed to pull off something people thought might be impossible. He got young people into the theater. That is the generation Hollywood thought it might have lost forever due to streaming, the pandemic, etc. But by one estimate, 86 % of the audience for backrooms was under 35.

9:40Those are the headlines. Today on The Daily, a walking tour of Washington, D.C. with Times investigative reporter David Farenthold, who's been looking into how President Trump has been trying to renovate and reshape the nation's capital. You can listen to that in the New York Times app or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.

10:05This podcast is supported by Helen Keller International. This is a moment of growing urgency. Families around the world are facing widening gaps in healthcare and nutrition, but solutions are within reach. Just 75 cents can provide treatment for neglected tropical diseases, and$2 can help protect a child's sight and health. For a limited time, donations are being matched, helping expand that impact. Learn more at HelenKellerINTL.org slash the headlines.