Going Under Fire in the Strait of Hormuz, and Kennedy’s Pushback on Antidepressants
This document was created using speech recognition software. Although it has been reviewed by human authors, it may contain errors. Please review the audio of the episode before quoting from this transcript and email transcripts@nytimes.com with any questions.
From “The New York Times,” it says “Headlines.” I’m Tracy Mumford. Today is Tuesday, May 5. Here’s what we’re covering.
One day into President Trump’s plan to get traffic through the Strait of Hormuz again, the US military says it has fired missiles and drones at commercial vessels by Iran. And it has launched its strikes, sinking six Iranian speedboats. The new attack shook the temporary truce. And they add to the confusion and uncertainty with ships caught near the waterway.
While the US has vowed to help tankers carrying everything from natural gas to fertilizer to leave, it’s unclear whether shipping companies will take the risk. One trade analyst told “The Times,” the main reason why cargo ships don’t pass at the moment is the cost of insurance. Even if the captain is willing to go through the Strait, the owners of the ship or the owners of its cargo can refuse.
Shipping companies have said Iran needs to be part of any plan to move more ships into the water. According to the International Maritime Organization, about 1,600 ships are stranded in the Gulf. Before the war, about 130 ships a day crossed the Strait. Yesterday, according to one financial intelligence company, four ships passed.
Currently –
- Treasury Secretary Scott Besent
-
China, let’s see them step up with some diplomacy and get the Iranians to open the Strait.
– Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent asked China to try to help open the Strait.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Besent
-
I would urge the Chinese to join us in supporting this international project.
The country continued to buy Iranian oil through the war, which, in part, kept Iran’s economy afloat. But the US has been applying pressure, warning China that it will go after entities involved in those oil sales, such as refineries and financial institutions. So far, the Chinese government has avoided taking a strong stance on the war.
In Indiana today, voters will vote in the state’s general assembly. Usually, that’s kind of a sleeper issue – down-ballot races without much eye contact. Not at this time. Today will be a test of President Trump’s power in the Republican Party. It’s from last year, when Trump urged red states to redraw their electoral maps to try to get more GOP seats in Congress.
Many followed suit, but not in Indiana. In a rare case of elected Republicans publicly defying the president, a critical mass of Indiana lawmakers said no to his redistricting effort. So Trump put them first.
He has been inviting rivals to the White House and issuing endorsements on social media for months. And tonight, seven Republican incumbents will fight to keep their seats against the nominees that Trump supports. It will be one of many tests of the president’s strength in this first season.
- Shane Goldmacher
-
If you look at the series of races in May, this is an amazing set of primaries where President Trump has put one way, will he be loyal to him? And if you’ve crossed him before and you didn’t do his bidding, he wants you out. And he wants people to come in, some of whom he personally hired, who he believes will vote to be locked up with him in the future if he is in office.
“Times” political reporter Shane Goldmacher has more on what races to watch this primary season in today’s episode of “The Daily.” And “The Times,” will have the Indiana results as they go in tonight.
[REFLECTIVE MUSIC]
Washington –
- health secretary robert f. Kennedy, jr.
-
The United States is not alone in its mental health crisis. We are dealing with an addiction problem, driven by over-medication.
– Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced a plan yesterday to control what he called Americans’ overuse of antidepressants.
- health secretary robert f. Kennedy, jr.
-
We will no longer treat them as default. We will treat them as one option.
Kennedy specifically cut back on SSRIs, the most prescribed class of antidepressants. That includes household names like Zoloft, Paxil, Prozac. The user base is huge. About one in six Americans reported taking an SSRI this year.
Kennedy agreed that patients could benefit from them. And he emphasized that he is not telling anyone to just stop. But he said many people start taking these drugs without knowing how long they will be on them and without a plan to get off.
You have chosen SSRIs before. He previously said, without evidence, that they are responsible for the increase in school shootings and that it can be harder to quit than heroin – something he repeated yesterday. With his new effort, Kennedy announced several measures, such as training and new guidelines to persuade doctors to help patients stop taking medications and consider other treatments, such as therapy or exercise.
No major medical organizations were represented at yesterday’s event. And my colleague, Ellen Barry, who oversees mental health, has been talking to psychiatrists and other experts in the field about Kennedy’s new push.
- Ellen Barry
-
I think there are kind of two problems here. It’s another kind of technical and structural question of what people need to get off the cocktail of psychiatric drugs they’ve been on for so long. And I think honestly, you hear from people in the profession that they could do better at this.
At the same time, I feel some concern about the blanket statement that we are overusing psychiatric medications. And the concern I hear from psychiatrists is that this conversation may end up being a disservice to the entire care system. Some of these psychiatric medications are used by tens of millions of Americans. They are first-line treatments, in most cases, for anxiety and depression, the most common illnesses. And there are concerns about undermining their confidence.
[REFLECTIVE MUSIC]
Health authorities continue to look into the possibility of a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Three passengers died after showing symptoms of this rare disease. And three others are sick.
The ship, which was traveling from Argentina to the Canary Islands, is currently docked on the coast of Cape Verde in West Africa, but the passengers have not been given permission to disembark. Hantavirus is usually contracted when people come in contact with infected rodents or their droppings. Early symptoms may be similar to the flu.
In severe cases, it can progress to lung or heart failure. It is rare for this disease to spread to humans. The regional director of the World Health Organization said yesterday that the risk to the general public remains low, saying, “There is no need for panic or travel restrictions.”
[WISTFUL MUSIC]
And finally –
- speaker 1
-
Feathers, diamonds, headdress.
— The Met Gala is often billed as the world’s most exclusive party.
- speaker 2
-
[GASPS] Can you spot the details on this dress?
And last night, it delivered what has become its trademark combination of high fashion and heated controversy. The event, which raised a record amount of money for the museum’s Costume Institute, was full of sometimes impressive looks. Bad Bunny, for example, scares people by looking old, wrinkled and grey, due to the heavy make-up of the costume he makes a joke of, taking 53 years to put on.
Before the night began, protesters were calling the event a blatant symbol of wealth inequality. The main sponsors of the Gala this year were Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, which sparked a huge backlash. A group of activists even placed fake urine bottles near the museum, a reference to reports from other Amazon workers that they were not even given bathroom breaks. The group also displayed large slogans on buildings near Bezos’ gas station in New York, including, if you can’t afford the Met Gala, you can pay more taxes.
[THEME MUSIC]
Those are “Subtitles.” I’m Tracy Mumford. We will be back tomorrow.
