WAR/MILITARY FACES AUTO RACING Taliban car bomb TV cliffhanger: Fall Harvick wins his 50th kills 9, wounds 40 season in jeopardy career race as NASCAR in Afghanistan amid virus shutdown returns at Darlington Page 4 Page 15 Back page Report: Vietnam War vets likely exposed to Agent Orange on Guam » Page 3 stripes.com Volume 79, No. 22 ©SS 2020 TUESDAY, MAY 19, 2020 50¢/Free to Deployed Areas CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK FBI ties Pensacola gunman to al-Qaida BY ERIC TUCKER Associated Press The gunman in a deadly rampage late last year at a military base in Florida communicated with al- Qaida operatives about the attacks in the months leading up to it, U.S. officials said Monday as they laid out new details of a shooting that killed three American sailors. The FBI learned of the contacts between Mohammed Saeed Alsham- rani and operatives of al-Qaida after breaking the encryption on cellphones that CONNER D. BLAKE/U.S. Navy had previously U.S. sailors assigned to the USS Theodore Roosevelt inspect an M2HB machine gun during a gun quarters drill on Saturday. been locked The aircraft carrier’s COVID-negative crew is making preparations to return to sea. and that the shooter, a Saudi Air Force of- ficer, had tried to destroy USS Roosevelt begins at-sea simulation before being Alshamrani killed by law enforcement. in preparation for returning to operations “We now have a clearer under- standing of Alshamrani’s associa- tions in the years, months and days BY CAITLIN DOORNBOS nity to integrate all of that together leading up to his attack,” Attorney Stars and Stripes and show that Theodore Roosevelt is General William Barr said at a news ready and able to go back to sea.” conference in which he sharply After spending six weeks sidelined The carrier had been deployed to chastised Apple for not providing in Guam to battle a coronavirus out- the Western Pacific when it diverted to help in unlocking the phones. break on board, the USS Theodore Guam on March 26 after several of its Roosevelt took a step toward re-de- Once unlocked by the FBI, the sailors tested positive for the coronavi- phones revealed contact between ploying over the weekend, the Navy rus. Since then, more than 1,150 Roos- said Monday. Alshamrani and “dangerous” op- evelt sailors have tested positive, one eratives from al-Qaida in the Arabian Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier of whom died, according to the Navy. Pensinsula, or AQAP, and also showed on Sunday began an at-sea simulation As many as 13 sailors from the how he had been radicalized overseas called a “fast cruise” while moored Roosevelt have tested positive for the U.S. Navy for at least the last five years, offi- at Naval Base Guam, according to virus a second time, according to The a statement. During a fast cruise — The aircraft carrier is moored at Associated Press. Those sailors and a cials said. He also was meticulous in typically one of the final steps before Naval Base Guam on Friday . number of others who had contact with his planning, including saving a will a Navy vessel deploys — crews “sim- them were removed from the ship. on his phone that sought to explain ulate normal underway conditions USFK set to lift most Most of the 4,800-person crew dis- himself — the same document AQAP while testing the critical systems re- embarked and were isolated last month later released in taking responsibility quired to sustain the ship during its anti-virus restrictions for as the carrier was sanitized. The Navy for the attack. upcoming underway operations,” the began moving sailors back aboard the “It is certainly more than just statement said. military bases Page 5 Roosevelt on April 29 after all crew inspired,” FBI Director Chris Wray “Fast cruise is a major milestone for members were tested for the virus. said of Alshamrani’s contacts with the ship and for the crew,” Roosevelt As of Sunday, 2,900 sailors had re- al-Qaida. “We know, for example, commander Capt. Carlos Sardiello Online: Get the latest turned to the carrier, according to that he was sharing plans and tac- said in the statement. “Our Sailors on the virus outbreak have tested all of the ship’s systems Monday’s statement. tics with them. We know that he was individually, but this is our opportu- stripes.com/coronavirus SEE ROOSEVELT ON PAGE 6 SEE PENSACOLA ON PAGE 5 PAGE 2 F3HIJKLM •STARS AND STRIPES• Tuesday, May 19, 2020 BUSINESS/WEATHER EXCHANGE RATES Military rates Switzerland (Franc)............................0.9704 Fed chair: Recovery could drag through 2021 Euro costs (May 19) ..............................$1.06 Thailand (Baht) ..................................... 32.03 Dollar buys (May 19) ........................€0.8997 Turkey (Lira) .........................................6.8828 British pound (May 19) ........................$1.19 (Military exchange rates are those Bloomberg More than 36 million Americans have lost their Japanese yen (May 19) ......................105.00 available to customers at military banking South Korean won (May 19) ......... 1,200.00 jobs since February as the economy shuttered to Commercial rates facilities in the country of issuance The U.S. economy will recover from the coronavi- for Japan, South Korea, Germany, the Bahrain (Dinar) ....................................0.3776 limit virus spread. Countless companies, especially Netherlands and the United Kingdom. For rus pandemic, but the process could stretch through British pound .....................................$1.2190 small businesses, are hurtling toward bankruptcy, nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., the end of next year and depend on the delivery of Canada (Dollar) ...................................1.4010 purchasing British pounds in Germany), while states and cities are confronting gaping bud- China (Yuan) ........................................ 7.1097 a vaccine, said Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome check with your local military banking Denmark (Krone) ................................6.8654 get shortfalls that could provoke a massive second facility. Commercial rates are interbank Powell. Egypt (Pound) ....................................15.8203 rates provided for reference when buying wave of layoffs from the public sector. Euro .........................................$1.0857/0.9210 “Assuming there’s not a second wave of the coro- currency. All figures are foreign currencies navirus, I think you’ll see the economy recover To limit the harm, Powell and his colleagues Hong Kong (Dollar) .............................7.7515 Hungary (Forint) .................................324.68 to one dollar, except for the British pound, steadily through the second half of this year,” the have slashed interest rates to zero, flooded finan- Israel (Shekel) .....................................3.5365 which is represented in dollars-to-pound, U.S. central bank chief said in a television interview cial markets with trillions of dollars in liquidity, and Japan (Yen) ........................................... 107.48 and the euro, which is dollars-to-euro.) unveiled nine emergency lending facilities to keep Kuwait (Dinar) .....................................0.3089 INTEREST RATES conducted Wednesday . Norway (Krone) .................................10.0983 “For the economy to fully recover people will have credit flowing in the economy. Philippines (Peso)................................. 50.78 Prime rate ................................................3.25 to be fully confident, and that may have to await the “This economy will recover. It may take a while,” Poland (Zloty) ..........................................4.20 Discount rate ..........................................0.25 Saudi Arabia (Riyal) ...........................3.7577 Federal funds market rate ...................0.05 arrival of a vaccine,” said Powell, seated in the Fed’s he said. “It could stretch through the end of next Singapore (Dollar) ..............................1.4223 3-month bill ............................................. 0.12 stately boardroom . year. We really don’t know.” South Korea (Won) ......................... 1,228.23 30-year bond ...........................................1.32 WEATHER OUTLOOK TUESDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST TUESDAY IN EUROPE WEDNESDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 44/41 Kabul 69/50 Seoul 59/47 Baghdad 105/75 Kandahar 91/59 Osan Tokyo Mildenhall/ Drawsko 64/48 60/55 Lakenheath Pomorskie Busan 69/54 56/51 63/53 Iwakuni 63/59 Kuwait Bahrain Zagan Sasebo City 85/80 Brussels 64/53 Guam 95/82 69/44 Ramstein 64/59 87/82 Lajes, 69/39 Riyadh Doha Azores Stuttgart Pápa 98/84 99/73 64/61 70/49 72/52 Aviano/ Vicenza 70/59 Naples 70/63 Okinawa Morón 77/74 88/59 Sigonella Rota 75/53 The weather is provided by the Djibouti Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 100/82 75/53 75/68 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. T O D A Y IN STRIPES American Roundup ..... 14 Classified .................. 13 Comics ...................... 18 Crossword ................. 18 Faces ........................ 15 Opinion .................16-17 Sports .................. 20-24 Tuesday, May 19, 2020 •STARS AND STRIPES• F3HIJKLM PAGE 3 MILITARY Report: Guam tours exposed to Agent Orange Review says veterans who served between 1962-75 meet legal standard BY SETH ROBSON executive director of the Na- Stars and Stripes tional Veterans Legal Services Wikimedia Commons Program, in a statement issued Veterans who served on Guam with the report on May 11. U.S. Army Huey helicopter sprays Agent Orange herbicide and defoliant in this undated photo from the between 1962 and 1975 were like- The standard