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      Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Says Trump Will Seek to Remove Fluoride From Drinking Water

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      Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Saturday that among the first acts of a second Trump administration would be to “advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water,” a stunning potential reversal of what is widely considered one of the most important public health interventions of the past century.The statement, posted on social media, is among the more concrete pledges made by Mr. Kennedy — a former independent presidential candidate who is now backing Mr. Trump — in his capacity as a top adviser on Mr. Trump’s transition team. It also raises the specter of an all-out assault on public-health expertise should Mr. Trump win next week’s election, a prospect that has already caused significant alarm among experts across the medical and environmental fields.As president, Mr. Trump would not have the power to order states and municipalities to remove fluoride from their water supplies; fluoridation is a matter of local control.But a presidential pronouncement would inject the White House into a debate that stretches back to the 1950s, when conspiracy theories swirled around fluoridation, with critics claiming it was a Communist plot to poison Americans’ brains — a view that was memorably parodied in Stanley Kubrick’s film “Dr. Strangelove.”More recently, however, there has been scientific debate around the practice, with some studies suggesting that excess exposure to fluoride — at levels twice the amount recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency — could harm infants’ developing brains. But scientists, including those at the federal government’s National Toxicology Program, say more research is needed to understand whether lower exposure to fluoride has an effect.The process of adding small amounts fluoride to drinking water, or fluoridation, began about 80 years ago to prevent tooth decay. That effort, public health officials say, has been extraordinarily successful. A majority of Americans today live in water systems that are fluoridated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which lists fluoridation as one of the 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Supreme Court Rejects Bid to Block Count of Some Pennsylvania Provisional Ballots

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      Republicans had sought to block the counting of provisional ballots by voters whose mail-in ballots were deemed invalid. Democrats celebrated the ruling as a win in a crucial state.The Supreme Court cleared the way on Friday for some voters in Pennsylvania whose mail-in ballots had been deemed invalid to cast provisional ballots in person, rejecting an appeal by Republicans not to count such votes.Democrats immediately celebrated the decision, which like in many such emergency petitions was unsigned and gave no reasoning, as a victory in a state crucial to each party’s presidential and Senate hopes. It could affect thousands of mail-in ballots in a contest where the latest polls show Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald J. Trump virtually tied.The ruling was one in a string of court victories for Democrats, whose voters are more likely to use mail ballots and were therefore more likely to have had their votes tossed out if Republicans had succeeded in the case.“In Pennsylvania and across the country, Trump and his allies are trying to make it harder for your vote to count, but our institutions are stronger than his shameful attacks,” the Harris campaign said in a statement after the ruling. “Today’s decision confirms that for every eligible voter, the right to vote means the right to have your vote counted.”The Republican National Committee was “disappointed” in the court’s ruling, a spokeswoman said.In a brief statement attached to the court’s order, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote that the case was “a matter of considerable importance.” But he said the justices had no way to give the Republicans what they were asking for — a statewide block on allowing these provisional ballots.Only Butler County elections officials were parties to the case, he wrote, which meant the justices could not force elections officials in other counties to block those ballots. He was joined by two other conservative justices, Clarence Thomas and Neil M. Gorsuch.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      From AI to Musk’s Brain Chip, the F.D.A.’s Device Unit Faces Rapid Change

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      The new director overseeing medical devices will confront criticisms about hasty approvals as she ushers in revolutionary technology.There are now artificial intelligence programs that scan M.R.I.s for signs of cancer, Apple AirPods that work as hearing aids and devices that decode the electrical blips of the brain to restore speech to those who have lost it.Medical device technology is now deeply entrenched in many patients’ health care and can have a stunning impact on their lives. As advancements become more tangible to millions of Americans, regulation of the devices has commanded increasing attention at the Food and Drug Administration.Dr. Michelle Tarver, a 15-year-veteran of the agency, is stepping into that spotlight at a critical time. She is taking the reins of the F.D.A.’s device division from Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, who forged deep ties with the device industry, sped up the pace of approvals and made the agency more approachable to companies. Some of those device makers were represented by Dr. Shuren’s wife and her law firm, posing ethical conflicts for him that continue to draw scrutiny.Dr. Michelle Tarver, an ophthalmologist and a 15-year veteran of the F.D.A.’s medical device division.U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationMore broadly, congressional lawmakers and consumer advocates have become increasingly concerned about the device industry’s influence over the sprawling division, which has a budget of about $790 million and a staff of 2,500. Device safety and standards for agency approvals of products as intimate as heart valves or neural implants will be at the forefront of the division’s mission in the coming years. Among the issues Dr. Tarver will encounter:Brains, computers and Elon MuskFew devices will require such intense oversight as one of the most breathtaking technologies in development: brain-computer interfaces that dip into the surface layers of the brain to decode its electrical noise — and return function to people who have lost it.Researchers from a number of teams have demonstrated the capability to restore the voice and speech of a California man with ALS, to enable a paralyzed man to walk and to help a man who is paralyzed below the neck to play Mario Kart by simply thinking about steering left or right.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Trump Lays Out Vision for Bending the Federal Government to His Will

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      Former President Donald J. Trump vowed to vastly reshape the federal bureaucracy on Saturday in a wide-ranging, often unfocused speech at a rally in Wisconsin.He pledged to ultimately eliminate the Department of Education, redirect the efforts of the Justice Department and fire civil servants charged with carrying out Biden administration policies that he disagreed with.And he told his supporters that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a leading vaccine skeptic who recently endorsed him, would be “very much involved” in a panel on “chronic health problems and childhood diseases.” Mr. Kennedy rose to prominence as a vaccine skeptic who promoted a disproved link between vaccines and autism.At one point Mr. Trump got in a dig at Vice President Kamala Harris, whom he has frequently accused without evidence of covering up signs that Mr. Biden was not fit to be president, by saying that he would support modifying the 25th Amendment to the Constitution to make it an impeachable offense for a vice president to cover up the incapacity of the president. It was a long-shot proposal at best, which would entail a difficult process that he does not control.Mr. Trump — who spent four years overseeing the federal bureaucracy — stood at an airport in front of hundreds of people holding “Drain the Swamp” signs distributed by his campaign and promised to “cut the fat out of our government for the first time meaningfully in 60 years,” a period that includes his presidency.Many of the proposals in Mr. Trump’s speech align with plans reported by The New York Times to conduct a broad expansion of presidential power over government, and to effectively concentrate more authority within the White House, if he wins in November.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      The Big Border Change Harris Isn’t Talking About

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      A Biden administration border policy that has had a dramatic impact isn’t getting campaign play.Good evening. Tonight, my colleague Hamed Aleaziz, who covers immigration, looks at why the sharp drop in border crossings isn’t playing a bigger role in the presidential campaign. Plus, I want to hear about your favorite books about politics. — Jess BidgoodThe situation at the southern border looks very different these days.Gone are the headlines about surging border crossings crushing border communities and cities like New York struggling to fund housing for migrants who recently came to the country.The reality is that the numbers at the southern border have dropped to levels not seen before in the Biden administration — and lower than they were during parts of the Trump administration.The dramatic drop in border crossings came after a Biden administration policy seen by White House officials as a major success for an administration that has spent three years fighting Republican attacks over its handling of surging border crossings.Vice President Kamala Harris, however, has not focused on the dramatic change at the southern border in her presidential campaign. Tonight, I’ll explain what’s happening at the border, and offer some theories about why Harris isn’t talking it up.A border shutdown that workedThe border had seen a steady drop in crossings all year, but things took a dramatic turn in June. That’s when the Biden administration took a hallmark of the failed immigration bill from February — a measure allowing border officials to turn back migrants quickly when crossings exceed a certain level — and put a version of it into place via presidential proclamation.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Tras una gran semana para los demócratas, un buen día para Trump

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      El expresidente Donald Trump habló de políticas en Las Vegas y lució casi animado. En Arizona, se deleitó con el apoyo de un antiguo rival de campaña, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.[Estamos en WhatsApp. Empieza a seguirnos ahora]Fue un momento que el mundo político se había estado preguntando durante semanas.Si la vicepresidenta Kamala Harris tenía una buena convención, ¿podría descolocar aún más al expresidente Donald Trump?¿Toda esa prensa positiva para Harris —los grandes índices de audiencia, el apoyo de las celebridades y las bromas de Obama— podría llevar a Trump a lo profundo de sus patrones más autodestructivos?El viernes por la tarde, en un restaurante ítalo-mexicano de Las Vegas, parecía que teníamos la respuesta: no, al menos por ahora.Trump se presentó en el restaurante para promocionar su propuesta de “no gravar las propinas” entre los trabajadores del sector de servicios. En general se mantuvo centrado, no habló de sí mismo, sino de la difícil situación de los camareros y barmans. Les dijo que había sido Harris quien había roto un empate votando a favor de que el Servicio de Impuestos Internos contratara a 87.000 personas, las mismas que les arrebatarían las propinas que tanto les había costado ganar. (La verdad es un poco más matizada).We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      After a Big Week for Democrats, One Good Day for Trump

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      Former President Donald J. Trump talked policy in Las Vegas and seemed almost chipper. In Arizona, he reveled in the endorsement of a former campaign rival, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.It was a moment the political world had been wondering about for weeks.If Vice President Kamala Harris had a good convention, would it knock former President Donald J. Trump further off his game?Would all that positive press for Ms. Harris — the big ratings, celebrity froth and the double-barreled Obama zingers — drive Mr. Trump deeper into his most self-destructive patterns?At a Mexitalian restaurant in Las Vegas on Friday afternoon, we seemed to have our answer: It would not — at least for now.Mr. Trump had turned up at the restaurant to stand among service industry workers and promote his “no tax on tips” policy proposal. He stayed mostly focused — he did not talk all about himself but rather about the plight of waiters and bartenders. He told them it was Ms. Harris who cast a tiebreaking vote to provide the Internal Revenue Service with funds to hire 87,000 people — the very people who would be snatching their hard-earned tips. (The truth is a bit more nuanced than all that.)He did not devolve into any racist tangents about Ms. Harris, or call anyone a fat pig, or pick a fight with a popular governor from his own party, or tell dark tales about young women being raped, strangled and murdered by immigrants.He seemed almost chipper (at least more chipper than the night before, when he called into Fox News with his initial meandering reviews of Ms. Harris’s big speech). He talked about how the restaurant’s owner had started as a dishwasher and worked his way up, and joked with him about how he must have lots of cash now. The owner compared Mr. Trump to Ronald Reagan. “Thank you, Javier,” said Mr. Trump, looking touched.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Onstage Together in Arizona, Trump and Kennedy Signal New Alliance

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      Fresh from ending his long-shot presidential bid, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared alongside Donald J. Trump at a rally for the former president in Arizona on Friday, a potential headline-grabber that the Trump campaign hopes will help its efforts in battleground states.Mr. Kennedy received almost a rock-star-style reception, walking onstage to fireworks, raucous cheering and the Foo Fighters song “My Hero” at an arena in Glendale, Ariz. But the political impact of his endorsement of Mr. Trump remains uncertain.Still, Mr. Trump’s allies on Friday relished the fact that the former president had won the backing of a member of America’s most storied Democratic family, albeit one who has had many of his relatives denounce him and his endorsement of Mr. Trump. Of all the outlandish political news stories of the summer, mused Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, which helped organize the rally, “maybe most remarkable of all: A Kennedy has endorsed a Republican.”Hours after Mr. Kennedy announced in nearby Phoenix that he was suspending his campaign and throwing his support behind Mr. Trump, he said at the rally — with Mr. Trump standing next to him — that he and the former president had found common ground.“We talked not about the things that separated us — because we don’t agree on everything — but on the values and the issues that bind us together,” Mr. Kennedy told the crowd, recalling a conversation he had with Mr. Trump. “Don’t you want a president that’s going to make America healthy again?”Despite their past conflicts, Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Trump have similar grievances that they could easily weave together on the campaign trail. They both blame a shadowy, bureaucratic deep state for many of the nation’s ills, and they argue that technology companies and Democrats want to suppress free speech.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More