Inside Trump’s Pressure Campaign on Cuba, and Why Food Banks Are Getting Squeezed

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“From the New York Times, it's the headlines.”

I'm Will Jarvis in for Tracy Mumford.

Today's Thursday, May 21st, here's what we're covering.

Today, we are announcing an indictment, charging rural Castro, and several others with conspiracy to kill US nationals. The Department of Justice has announced charges against the former president of Cuba, 94-year-old Raul Castro, in a dramatic escalation of the Trump administration's pressure campaign against the country. If you kill Americans, we will pursue you, no matter who you are, no matter what title you hold,

“and in this case, no matter how much time has passed.”

Raul Castro, who's the brother of Fidel, was charged in connection with a deadly incident back in 1996.

That year, the Cuban military shot down a pair of American planes operated by an exal group that often scoured the Caribbean, looking for Cubans who are trying to flee the communist regime. For US citizens were killed, and for decades, family members of the victims and others called for Castro to be held responsible. Now, the indictment comes, as President Trump, has openly said he wants to topple the Cuban government. In a press conference announcing the charges, acting attorney general Todd Blanch said a warrant has been issued for Castro's arrest.

So, we expect that he will show up here by his own will or by another way. This is a major development, frankly, because it has clear echoes of the indictment by the US Justice Department of the Venezuelan leader, Nicholas Maduro. My colleague Michael Crowley covers US foreign policy. He says the Maduro indictment became the basis for the White House to send troops into Venezuela and seize the leader. And when it comes to Cuba, Trump has already been saying the US could take over the island. Michael says one driving force behind Trump's aggressive stance is his secretary of state, Marco Rubio.

Rubio grew up and started his political career in South Florida, where the influence of anti Castro regime Cuban exiles is enormous. And as a United States senator, there may have been no one as outspoken and determined as Rubio in calling for dramatic change in Cuba, including the fall of the Cuban regime, which he has often described as a dictatorship. And even if President Trump doesn't feel nearly as emotionally invested in Cuba as Marco Rubio does, Trump loves to be able to say that he has done things or solved problems that his predecessors weren't able to do.

And if President Trump is able to achieve dramatic change in Cuba, possibly getting rid of the communist regime that has been there since 1959, I think he would be very, very happy to brag about that achievement that other presidents were not able to accomplish. Meanwhile, on the ground in Cuba, news of Raul Castro's indictment trickled out slowly, in part because of widespread blackouts made worse by President Trump's effective fuel embargo on the country. Facing those power outages along with growing hunger and a health care crisis, some Cuban say they would welcome in intervention, even a military one, if it would break the status quo.

Time, Cuba's ambassador to the UN, said in an interview that the country is eager to continue negotiations with the US about changing its economy and government. But that quote, "Building different pretexts for a military aggression does not help." Now, two quick updates on stories we've been covering. First, new campaign finance documents show that just before the White House rolled out a policy that could be lucrative for the tobacco industry, a major tobacco company donated $5 million to a Trump backed super PAC.

During that same period, lobbyists and top tobacco executives had lunch with President Trump at one of his golf clubs, according to people briefed on the meeting. They said that during the lunch, the guests complained about how the FDA was regulating the tobacco industry. In the middle of their conversation, Trump picked up the phone and called top health officials to criticize regulations around e-sigarettes. Days later, the federal government issued new guidance that could pave the way for major tobacco companies to sell flavored vapes, any of which had been banned over fears they could get young people hooked.

In that quote, "the only guiding factor behind the Trump administration's health policy making is gold-standard science."

“And, with no end incites the war in Iran and the cost of fuel still well over $4 a gallon in the US, the country's food banks are starting to get squeezed.”

As many as 50 million Americans turned to food pantries or soup kitchens every year, and the organizations had already been struggling to keep up with demand, mid-rising inflation.

Now, the group say they're being forced to make a painful trade-off. Pay for the fuel to deliver food, or pay for the food itself. One food bank in Oregon that supplies pantries across the state says it's had to budget an extra $20,000 in monthly fuel cost for its fleet of trucks. A food bank now working Montana said it's reducing how much food it orders, and other food banks say they've had to shift what they offer to cheaper options, like substituting meat and other protein with low-cost produce.

“The head of one organization told the times it's funding quote could be going to food for people, but instead it's going into the price of gas.”

There are several factors that weren't serious concern about the potential for further spread and further deaths.

The head of the World Health Organization is warning that the Ebola outbreak in Central Africa is still not under control. So far, there have been nearly 600 suspected infections, including almost 140 deaths. We expect those numbers to keep increasing, given the amount of time the virus was circulating before the outbreak was detected. The outbreak was officially declared last week, but health authorities say that the deadly virus probably started spreading months ago. They say that the risk of a global pandemic is low, but the danger is still high in Congo and Uganda, or cases have been confirmed in major cities.

While local health officials have deep expertise on Ebola, experts say that cuts to foreign aid by the Trump administration have hindered their emergency response. They say that during previous outbreaks, the US had been a big part of tracing early cases of Ebola, and rushing medical supplies to the front lines. Now, many health care workers are likely having to treat patients wearing only gloves and surgical masks instead of respirators and face shields. With the world's attention on the crisis, their signs the US is starting to step up its involvement.

State Department announced it's sending more than $20 million of equipment to the region. One former USAID official told the Times that when it comes to this outbreak, quotes, "We're playing catch up, and so this is going to be a tough one."

And finally, we can feel the excitement. There's room. I'm excited to listen. This is our last week.

The very last episode of the late show with Stephen Colbert will air tonight. The show's cancellation, which was abruptly announced by CBS last year, was described by network executives as a financial decision amid declining viewership for late night. But it immediately set off speculation that politics were involved, and that Colbert, who'd been a vocal critic of President Trump, was being pushed out. It marks for now the end of a more than two decade TV career for Colbert, who really hit his stride when Trump first took office.

I want to give Donald something very special. After all, as a late night host, he's given me so much. I don't know that Stephen Colbert wanted Donald Trump to become his assigning editor and sort of give him his topic.

“It is day 102 of the Trump presidency, 1,358 days to go, but who's counting?”

But whether he saw it out or deeply regretted it, he found his voice and his show found his voice at a time when politics was pop culture. James Punawazic is the Times Chief TV critic. Through Trump and then through Biden and then through Trump again, the late show manages to find a way to be sort of pointed and topically engaged while also entertaining. And for years, stays the number one rated late night talk show in its time slot. He really sees Stephen Colbert presiding over what I would call the peak period of late night political comedy.

There are still other people doing it, but it feels with him going like something is ending.

James says that while the future of late night might be up in the air with the rise of streaming services and advertising dollars drying up,

“Colbert has announced his next project. He'll be helping write a new Lord of the Rings movie.”

Colbert is a token super fan who once said he's read the series so many times he lost count at 50.

Those are the headlines. I'm Will Jarvis. We'll be back tomorrow with the latest updates and the Friday news quits.