This week, there is confusion, fear and anger in Miami Beach -- one of two Miami-Dade county zika transmission hot spots. The cause of the public outcry? The pre-dawn aerial spraying for zika-carrying mosquitoes that began this morning. Round two of that spraying is set for Sunday.
But, the battle to fund it is turning into a political chess game in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Senate came back on Tuesday from a seven-week summer recess and failed AGAIN to pass a Zika funding bill. So, how much money does the National Institute of Health have left to fight Zika? The Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci joins WLRN’s Kate Stein and Miami Herald reporter Joey Flechas to discuss.
Plus, this week American Airlines became the second major U.S. airline to add regular flights to Cuba since the Obama administration moved to relax travel restrictions between the two countries.
The promise of the U.S. Department of Transportation is that 110 daily flights operated by US carriers are due to begin flying to the communist island. But will they allow Cuba’s failing economy to get off the ground?
WLRN’s Tim Padgett and CNN’s Havana Bureau Chief Patrick Oppmann share their thoughts.