The Evening: New Drug, Fresh Iran Sanctions, Times Like These and More

April 29, 2020

New Drug

The F.D.A. plans to announce an emergency use authorization for remdesivir, an experimental antiviral drug that is being tested in treating patients with Covid-19, as the NYT reports.

Fed Says More Spending Needed

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the U.S. economy would need additional spending from Congress and the White House to ensure that a robust recovery could take hold, as the WSJ reports.

Fresh Sanctions on Iran Threatened

The Trump administration has threatened to trigger fresh sanctions on Iran in a move intended to put pressure on the UN Security Council to extend an arms embargo on the Islamic Republic beyond October 23, as the FT reports.

Dive Deeper: “With COVID-19, Iran’s Dependence on China Grows,” by the Washington Institute’s Kevjn Lim.

On the Horizon

CSIS experts on ocean security and human rights explore how Covid-19 will shape the way the ocean connects and feeds the world —and affect the lives of the people who depend on it.

CSIS’s “On the Horizon” series offers insights into the more fundamental changes we might anticipate for our future social and economic world as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic.

CSIS Executive Education

We invite you to apply to Unpacking the Defense Enterprise , a a three-day live, online course exploring defense strategy, budgetary and technical issues, and future challenges and opportunities in the U.S. defense enterprise.

Video Shorts

Check out CSIS’s new series of video shorts: “Testify,” "What's Happening," "Preview," and “High Resolution.” And don’t forget to subscribe to the CSIS YouTube Channel!

In That Number

4.8%

Gross domestic product contracted at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.8% in the first three months of 2020, the biggest drop in quarterly economic output since the fourth quarter of 2008.

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce

Critical Quote

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said a second wave of infections is "inevitable."

iDeas Lab

Space is an increasingly important enabler of economic and military power. Who are the key actors in space? Read the new CSIS Aerospace Security Project space threat assessment.

The Andreas C. Dracopoulos iDeas Lab at CSIS enhances our research with the latest in cutting-edge web technologies, design, and video.

Optics

(Photo credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images). Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx during a meeting with President Donald Trump and Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards in the Oval Office.

Recommended Reading

“Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Play Politics With the Coronavirus,” by the German Marshall Fund’s Ariane M. Tabatabai for Foreign Affairs.

Online Events

Tomorrow, at 10:00 a.m., CSIS will host a virtual conversation on grid modernization.

And, at 10:30 a.m., the Carnegie Endowment of International Peace will hold a online discussion on the E.U. and U.S. responses to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Later, at 2:30 p.m., the Atlantic Council will host the Swedish Ambassador to the United States, Karin Olofsdotter for a conversation on Swedish-American cooperation.

Video

Jonathan E. Hillman, senior fellow with the CSIS Simon Chair in Political Economy and director of the Reconnecting Asia Project at CSIS, testified in writing for the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Watch the full video here.

Podcasts

In a new episode, I speak with Erol Yayboke, deputy director of CSIS's Project on Prosperity and Development, about the near complete halt to human mobility during the Covid-19 pandemic and how it will impact the United States and the world.

Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

Smiles

Dave Grohl pioneered grunge rock as Nirvana’s drummer but his legacy in making people smile comes as the founder and lead singer of the Foo Fighters, one of America’s most beloved rock bands. The other day Grohl appeared virtually on Jimmy Kimmel’s show to surprise thank a nurse from the Bronx who had contracted Covid-19 in his service. The nurse was gobsmacked to say the least when Dave appeared and then serenaded him with an acoustic rendition of the Foo Fighters’ hit “Everlong.”

I’m always inspired by Dave Grohl because he does things like surprising the Bronx nurse with a thank you that brought a smile at just the right time. I’m the same age as Grohl and we both grew up here in D.C. which is also cool and why I always root for him. I also love how he is widely regarded as one of the best rock drummers ever, but then forms a band in Foo Fighters where he tries something new and becomes just as successful as the front man. By the way, Foo Fighters’ drummer Taylor Hawkins is also one of rock’s very best drummers. And then, Dave Grohl writes songs like this one that lift us up when we need it most.