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A26 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 7 april 2020
Navy leader calls fired carrier captain 'naive' or 'stupid'

By LOLITA C. BALDOR and even, regrettably any pro-
ROBERT BURNS fanity that may have been
Associated Press used for emphasis. Anyone
WASHINGTON (AP) — In an who has served on a Navy
extraordinary broadside ship would understand. I
punctuated with profanity, ask, but don't expect, that
the Navy's top leader ac- people read them in their
cused the fired command- entirety."
er of the COVID-stricken Modly, a 1983 Naval Acad-
USS Theodore Roosevelt emy graduate, became
of being "too naive or too the acting Navy secretary
stupid" to be in charge of last November after Rich-
an aircraft carrier. He deliv- ard Spencer was ousted
ered the criticism to sailors from the position. Spencer
who had cheered the de- got entangled in a struggle
parting skipper last week. over the war crimes case of
Acting Navy Secretary a Navy SEAL, Eddie Galla-
Thomas Modly harshly criti- gher, whose bid to restore
cized Capt. Brett E. Crozier his SEAL status became
— and by implication those an issue championed by
among the crew who had Trump.
vocally supported him — in In his remarks aboard the
a lengthy and passionate In this Dec. 3, 2019, file photo, acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly testifies during a hearing Roosevelt, Modly raised is-
speech aboard the ship, of the Senate Armed Services Committee about about ongoing reports of substandard housing sues likely to please Trump.
which is pier-side at Guam. conditions in Washington, on Capitol Hill. He accused the news me-
Crew members are being Associated Press. dia, for example, of manip-
taken off the ship to be you're not required to love command of the ship last An unofficial transcript of ulating a political agenda
tested for the coronavirus. him." Modly urged the crew week, saying he had lost Modly's remarks, as well as to divide the country and
At least 155 of the 4,865 to stop complaining about confidence in him for hav- an audio recording, circu- embarrass the Navy. He
members of the crew have their predicament, which ing shown "extremely poor lated widely on the internet said China "was not forth-
tested positive, and the he said made the Navy judgment" in widely distrib- Monday — demonstrating coming" about coronavirus
carrier is sidelined. look weak. He suggested uting a letter pleading for the slippery landscape that when it began spreading
While skewing Crozier, that some aboard the an accelerated evacua- Modly accused Crozier of there months ago, echoing
Modly also admonished the Roosevelt, including Cro- tion of the crew. The dis- failing to navigate. Hours Trump's oft-repeated state-
crew. He suggested that zier, had forgotten what missal turned into a hot po- after the latest furor erupt- ment that China could
by cheering Crozier when matters most. litical issue, with Democrats ed, Modly issued a brief have done more to pre-
he departed the carrier last "It is the mission of the ship saying Crozier was wrongly statement saying he stood vent a pandemic.
week, they were overlook- that matters," he said. "You fired for defending his sail- behind his remarks but And Modly invoked the
ing their most basic duty to all know this, but in my view ors, and President Donald had not heard a record- name of Trump's chief
defend U.S. interests. your Captain lost sight of Trump denouncing Crozier ing and therefore could Democratic challenger,
"So think about that when this and he compromised and backing Modly. not confirm every detail in Joe Biden, noting that the
you cheer the man off critical information about The Sunday comments by the transcript."The spoken former vice president had
the ship who exposed you your status intentionally to Modly added fuel to the words were from the heart, said Modly's decision to fire
to that," he said. "I under- draw greater attention to political fire, with at least and meant for them," Modly Crozier was almost crimi-
stand you love the guy. It's your situation." one member of Congress said, referring to the crew. "I nal. "I assure you it was not,"
good that you love him. But Modly relieved Crozier of urging he be fired. stand by every word I said, Modly said.q

Virus is mostly mild and rarely fatal for US kids, data show

suggest that while the ill- of them, or almost 2%, were especially older adults
ness usually isn't severe children. While most kids and people with existing
in kids, some do get sick didn't become severely ill, health problems, it can
enough to require hospital three youngsters died. cause more severe illness,
treatment. About 1 in 5 infected chil- including life-threatening
The Centers for Disease dren were hospitalized ver- pneumonia. Confirmed
Control and Prevention sus 1 in 3 adults. Cases were U.S. cases top 340,000 with
report released Monday more common in older more than 10,000 reported
shows that fever, cough children and teens but seri- deaths. Globally, there
and shortness of breath ous illness appeared to be have been more than 1.3
were the most common more common in infants. million confirmed cases,
symptoms in kids, but they Cases were slightly more and more than 70,000 re-
occurred less often than in common in boys than girls. ported deaths.
adults. The findings mostly The authors cautioned that The report authors stressed
echo reports from China many details were missing that because people with-
In this April 2, 2020 file photo, an adult and a child, both wearing about how the new coro- from pediatric cases, so the out symptoms, including
face masks amid the coronavirus outbreak, carry bags in the navirus affects children. report should be consid- children, are likely playing
Chinatown neighborhood of Los Angeles. The report included nearly ered preliminary. a role in transmitting the vi-
Associated Press. 150,000 laboratory-con- For most people, the virus rus, "social distancing and
firmed U.S. cases in adults causes mild or moderate everyday preventive mea-
By LINDSEY TANNER The first national data on and children from Feb. 12 symptoms that clear up sures" are recommended
AP Medical Writer COVID-19 in U.S. children through April 2. About 2,500 in a few weeks. For some, for all ages.q