Page 4 - ARUBA TODAY

A4 U.S. NEWS
Friday 22 September 2017
Michigan official faces key hearing in Flint water case

FLINT, Mich. (AP) — A for- publicly. Flint area in 2014-15 might while Flint was using the something.”
mer Michigan health offi- Becker was the first wit- have saved Robert Skid- river. Legionnaires’ is a type Special prosecutor Todd
cial testified Thursday that ness at a key court hearing more. He died of conges- of pneumonia caused by Flood played a video of Ly-
he started asking questions involving his former boss, tive heart failure, six months bacteria, called legionella, on’s testimony to a House-
about bacteria in Flint’s department director Nick after he was treated for Le- that thrive in warm water Senate committee in which
water supply a year before Lyon, who is charged with gionnaires’. and infect the lungs. he said he only learned
the state publicly acknowl- involuntary manslaughter Some experts have blamed Skidmore’s home wasn’t on about “major health issues”
edged an outbreak of Le- in the death of an 85-year- the outbreak on Flint’s use Flint water, but it’s believed in Flint in July 2015. Flood
gionnaires’ disease. old man and misconduct in of the Flint River as a water he got Legionnaires’ while revealed a January 2015
Tim Becker, who was dep- office. source. At the same time, a in a Flint hospital. email in Lyon’s account
uty director at the Depart- A judge must decide failure to treat the water for An infectious disease spe- with “legionella” in the sub-
ment of Health and Human whether there’s enough corrosion caused a differ- cialist hired by the state to ject line.Lyon is the highest-
Services, acknowledged evidence to send him to tri- ent disaster: Lead leached investigate Legionnaires’ ranking official among 15
that the agency could al. Lyon’s attorneys call the from old plumbing and after the outbreak became people charged in an in-
have issued a public warn- charges “baseless.” contaminated the city’s public in 2016 testified that vestigation of how Flint’s
ing in January 2015. But it The attorney general’s water system. Lyon seemed dismissive water system became poi-
was 12 more months before office says a timely an- Nearly 100 Legionnaires’ at times.Dr. Marcus Zer- soned after the city used
the department and Gov. nouncement about a Le- cases, including 12 deaths, vos quoted him as saying, the Flint River for 18 months,
Rick Snyder said something gionnaires’ outbreak in the were detected in 2014-15 “People are going to die of starting in 2014.q
Sanders: Diplomacy, human rights must drive US world affairs

By BILL BARROW The senator delivered his re-
Associated Press marks as Trump concluded
Once and possibly future a four-day visit to the Unit-
presidential candidate ed Nations, where he of-
Sen. Bernie Sanders said fered an unapologetically
Thursday that President aggressive stance that di-
Donald Trump accentu- vides the world into friends
ates the worst aspects of and foes, with promises to
generations of U.S. foreign meet America’s enemies,
policy, arguing that diplo- particularly North Korea,
macy and human rights with catastrophic force.
must drive the U.S. ap- Sanders has been men-
proach to the world. tioned as a possible Dem-
The Vermont independent ocratic presidential can-
chided Trump on every- didate in 2020, although
thing from his rhetoric and he would be 79 that year.
proposed foreign aid cuts The venue for his speech in
to his handling of North Ko- Fulton, Missouri, served as
rea, Iran and terrorism. But the site for major addresses
Sanders also made clear from Winston Churchill and
at Missouri’s Westminster former President Ronald
College that an undue fo- Reagan.
cus on American military In this Sept. 13, 2017 photo, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., pauses while speaking at a news confer- Sanders defended the
might began long before ence on Capitol Hill in Washington. Sanders is blasting President Donald Trump’s foreign policy but United Nations and NATO
Trump’s election. also criticizing how the United States has engaged in world affairs for generations. — both targets of Trump’s
“The goal is not for the (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) ire — as fundamental to
United States to dominate responsibilities under the military and economic af- attitude he said is “better international stability. “Dia-
the world. Nor on the other banner of ‘America First,’” fairs on the global stage. for security” and “better for logue and debate are far
hand is our goal to with- Sanders said, invoking a Rather, Sanders called facilitating the international preferable to bombs, poi-
draw from the internation- phrase Trump has used to for “global engagement cooperation necessary to son gas and war,” Sanders
al community and shirk our explain his approach to based on partnership,” an meet shared challenges.” said.q
Mueller investigators seek documents from the White House

By ERIC TUCKER quested a large batch of tors intend to look into and ministration’s response to it. Investigators also are inter-
Associated Press documents from the White also reveal a strong interest A statement provided to ested in White House ac-
WASHINGTON (AP) — Spe- House and is expected to in certain of Trump’s ac- journalists in July, which the tions involving Flynn, such as
cial counsel Robert Muel- interview at least a half- tions as president. White House has said Trump what officials knew about
ler’s team of investigators dozen current and former A person familiar with the had a hand in drafting, said an FBI investigation into him
is seeking information from aides in the coming weeks. investigation who spoke the meeting was primar- and how they responded
the White House related to Lawyers for the White to The Associated Press on ily to discuss a disbanded to word that his Russian
Michael Flynn’s stint as na- House are in the process condition of anonymity program that used to al- contacts had been scru-
tional security adviser and of trying to cooperate with to discuss an ongoing in- low American adoptions of tinized. Flynn was forced
about the response to a the document requests. vestigation said investiga- Russian children, but emails out as national security ad-
meeting with a Russian law- Though the full scope of the tors want information on, released days later by viser in February after White
yer that was attended by investigation is not clear, among other topics, a June Trump Jr. show that he ar- House officials concluded
President Donald Trump’s the information requests 2016 meeting at Trump ranged the encounter with he had misled them about
oldest son, The Associated make evident at least some Tower that Donald Trump the expectation of receiv- his conversations with the
Press has learned. of the areas that Mueller Jr. attended with a Russian ing damaging information Russian ambassador to the
Mueller’s office has re- and his team of prosecu- lawyer as well as on the ad- about Hillary Clinton. United States.