President Taking Unproven Drug; Classroom Pets Find New Homes; Do Fewer Cars Mean Better Air?

Plus, the woman who lived through the 1918 Spanish Flu and COVID-19 crisis. by Korva Coleman and Jill Hudson First Up [President Trump looks on during a meeting with restaurant executives in the White House on Monday.]( Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images President Trump revealed Monday that he’s been taking the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a precaution against the coronavirus for a week and a half. The president says [he’s taking the drug daily]( in consultation with his White House physician. Last month, the Food and Drug Administration issued a strongly worded warning against this specific use of the medication, saying patients should either be part of a medical trial or in a hospital. Trump seemed to dismiss the FDA warnings stating, “Here my evidence — I get a lot of positive calls about it.” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell will testify before the Senate Tuesday about their stewardship of $2 trillion in emergency coronavirus relief funding from the CARES Act. The Senate hearing is set to begin at 10 a.m. ET. [Watch it live here](. Lots of people are driving less because of the pandemic, so why isn’t air pollution getting better? Factories, refineries, power plants and diesel trucks are still the leading sources of pollution in many places. NPR has reviewed more than half a million air pollution measurements reported to the EPA, and the findings suggest [it will take more than cutting car emissions]( to solve air quality problems. The coronavirus is leaving a lasting impression on the 130,000 medical residents in their final years of medical training. Many are logging long hours in emergency departments and ICUs, treating patients with COVID-19. The pandemic is [now a central part of their training]( and many say it will become a formative part of their careers. The FBI says new iPhone data reveals that the shooter who killed three sailors and wounded eight people last December at a Florida naval air station had links to Al-Qaida. Officials say it took time because Apple will not unlock phones, [citing privacy issues](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Listen [A view of the Mount St. Helens eruption on May 18, 1980.]( Vahram Muradyan for NPR Are there zombie viruses — like the 1918 flu — thawing in the permafrost? As if the pandemic isn't enough, people are wondering if climate change will cause pathogens buried in frozen ground to come back to life as the Arctic warms. How worried should we be? ([Listen here]( or [read the story]( Not many people can say they have lived through the Spanish Flu pandemic and the coronavirus crisis. But 102-year-old Sophie Avouris is a survivor of both. She was a newborn in Greece when the 1918 influenza pandemic spread through Europe. Avouris' doctor and daughter attribute her recovery from COVID-19 to her strong constitution and also maybe her lifelong Mediterranean diet — but the true reasons still remain a mystery. ([Listen here]( or [read the story]( --------------------------------------------------------------- The Daily Good [Benjamin Dally and his daughters Emma (center) and Cleo are fostering Frisky the frog from a science classroom at PS 58 in Brooklyn, N.Y.]( Sarah Stacke for NPR Who watches the classroom pets while schools are shut down? One New York photojournalist [checked in on the critters]( — including Holly the tortoise and Frisky the frog — who have relocated from her son's Brooklyn school during the pandemic. --------------------------------------------------------------- The Picture Show [Unemployed people wait outside the state Labor Bureau in New York City in 1933. The current economic crisis has drawn comparisons to the Great Depression, but experts say this downturn should be shorter.]( Malaka Gharib/ NPR Weeks into the coronavirus pandemic, many people are wondering: How do you find the strength to keep going when everything seems bleak? How do you stop thinking, "What did I do to deserve this?" Manyang Reath Kher, a Sudanese refugee now living in the U.S., shares his moment of deepest despair — and [how he pulled through](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Before You Go [Kevin Harvick crosses the finish line to win the NASCAR Cup Series auto race Sunday in Darlington, S.C. It's the first NASCAR race since March.]( NPR - COVID-19 is not the first coronavirus outbreak we’ve experienced this century. There was SARS in 2003, and MERS in 2012. If coronaviruses have been around for years, why don’t we have a vaccine already? This Planet Money video looks at [what it takes to produce a national vaccine supply](. - Character actor Ken Osmond has died at 76. Known forever as [Eddie Haskell]( of Leave It To Beaver fame, his character was known for his oily politeness to grownups and insulting behaviors toward other kids. Osmond later became a motorcycle officer with the Los Angeles Police Department. - The [cruise shutdown]( has devastated the economies of many small cities in Alaska. — Suzette Lohmeyer contributed to this report. --------------------------------------------------------------- Follow [The New Normal]( on Instagram! [Sign up for The New Normal]( NPR's daily coronavirus email. And what is your new normal? NPR wants to know. 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