Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti received a letter from the Trump administration on Friday warning extended or “heavy-handed” stay-at-home orders may be illegal.
“Reports of your recent public statements indicate that you suggested the possibility of long-term lockdown of the residents in the City and County of Los Angeles, regardless of the legal justification for such restrictions,” reads the letter addressed to Garcetti and Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer. “Any such approach may be both arbitrary and unlawful.”
The Los Angeles Times reported that the letter followed confusion over Ferrer saying earlier this month that stay-at-home orders will “with all certainty” be extended for the next few months, prompting many to believe strict measures would remain in place throughout the summer.
It was later clarified that while stay-at-home orders in Los Angeles County have been extended and officials will recommend people avoid unnecessary outings, some restrictions will be loosened in coming weeks. Recent changes include the reopening of beaches for active recreation as well as golf courses and hiking trails. Stores are also allowed to reopen for curbside pickup.
Asked during an interview with MSNBC about Trump’s decision against wearing a face mask, Garcetti responded: “Simply put, I say real men wear face masks.”
Stay-at-home measures have helped prevent Los Angeles from seeing hospitals overwhelmed by coronavirus cases. Los Angeles is still recommending wearing face masks outside and social distancing as it begins to reopen.
Though it’s less impacted than other major cities, Los Angeles has begun investing in a contact tracing program to help in reopening efforts.
“Look, simply put, we’ve got millions of people out of work and hundreds of thousands of jobs we need filled,” Garcetti said of the program. “And the quicker we can get them doing contact tracing, helping individuals and businesses with the benefits from the federal government, maybe even doing things like cleaning up cities and investing in infrastructure, the quicker we can get this economy back going. So for a few billion dollars we could unleash $1 trillion of economic activity sooner.”
Efforts to highlight Donald Trump’s largesse during his time in office have backfired after his press secretary appeared to display the US president’s personal bank details to the world.
At a press conference on Friday, Kayleigh McEnany announced that Trump would donate his quarterly pay cheque to the Department of Health and Human Services to “support the efforts being undertaken to confront, contain and combat the coronavirus”. So far, so laudable.
However, when she held up the $100,000 cheque for White House reporters to see, it came complete with all Trump’s banking details.
An administration official told the New York Times mock cheques were never used in the briefing, with a White House statement saying, “Today his salary went to help advance new therapies to treat this virus, but leave it to the media to find a shameful reason not to simply report the facts, focusing instead on whether the check is real or not.”
Having such details puts a bank account at risk of hacking or use by others. The relevant details in the cheque have been cropped out of the picture used in this story.
Mike Chapple, a teaching professor of information technology at the University of Notre Dame, told the newspaper that this showed why large promotional cheques were used for TV. “They’re not only a nice prop onstage, but they also omit the sensitive account information that normally appears at the bottom,” he said. “The rest of us should play it safe and keep our account numbers to ourselves.”
Trump made a campaign pledge in 2016 that he would donate the $400,000 presidential salary.
Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator, identified the Los Angeles metro area and two other major cities on Friday as places of concern because they have a “persistent high number of cases” yet remain closed.
She also cited Washington, D.C. and Chicago as hotspots, and called for the Centers for Disease Control to work with the metro areas to study where the cases are coming from, and to come up with a way to prevent them in the future.
But Birx’s comments were a bit of a contrast with those of Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County’s public health director, who was more sanguine when asked about the L.A. area’s progress.
“As I noted yesterday,” Ferrer told reporters on Friday, “our overall data points are looking pretty good in terms of being on the recovery journey.”
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Mayor Eric Garcetti Pushes Back Against White House Stance That L.A.’s Stay-In-Place Order Is Unlawful: “We’re Not Guided By Politics”
She said that hospitalization rates and deaths were moving downward. “We are moving in the right direction,” she said.
She also noted that the county has been working “very closely” with the CDC “from the very beginning of the pandemic and we actually have folks that are here from the Centers for Disease Control.”
At the White House, Birx showed a chart of daily confirmed cases in the Los Angeles area, including not just Los Angeles County but Orange County.
The county also announced that the death toll reached 2,049, with 1,072 new confirmed cases. The total number of cases so far is 43,052.
A USC study this week showed that many more people in Los Angeles County had COVID-19 antibodies than was previously thought. That is a sign of past infection. The study showed that 4.65% of the county’s adult population has contracted the coronavirus. But researchers said that is still a long way from so-called “herd immunity,” where enough people are resistant to the virus to stop its spread.
The White House’s singling out of the Los Angeles area came as the Department of Justice sent a letter to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti warning of a longterm lockdown, according to the Los Angeles Times. “Reports of your recent public statements indicate that you suggested the possibility of long-term lockdown of the residents in the city and county of Los Angeles, regardless of the legal justification for such restrictions,” wrote Eric S. Dreiband, assistant attorney general in the department’s civil rights division.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is not requiring nursing homes to provide data on COVID-19 deaths and cases that occurred prior to May 6, according to a public government document, limiting the accuracy of the federal data collection effort to measure the impact of the pandemic on older Americans.
The government encourages nursing homes to provide the data from before May 6, but does not mandate it. The limitations of the data collection effort were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
“I think that is outrageous,” said Charlene Harrington, nursing professor emerita from the University of California San Francisco, who said the administration was aiding the nursing home industry by “helping them cover up the death rates.”
“Not only do the high death rates look bad for the nursing home industry,” she said, “but also for the administration.”
In the absence of any federal tracking effort of deaths and outbreaks in nursing homes, numerous media outlets, including NBC News, have tracked the deaths using data provided by individual states. The most recent computation by NBC News found that as of May 11 at least 27,000 older Americans who were residents of long-term care facilities had died.
The number is an undercount, because some states did not report death data. The states also do not have a uniform method of data collection. More than 20,000 nursing homes residents had died by May 6, when the CMS reporting requirement begins.
NBC News reported cases of nursing homes failing to disclose coronavirus infections prior to experiencing significant outbreaks and deaths. Now, some facilities in New Jersey, New York and California face criminal investigations for cases of neglect that were revealed after the disease ravaged their facilities.
The government’s decision not to require reporting of deaths prior to May 6 was buried on a frequently asked questions section on page 18 of a 21-page memo published in early May by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency responsible for nursing home oversight.
Related
In the FAQ, the question was posed, “Are facilities required to report data that predates the effective date of the interim final rule?” The effective date of the final rule is May 6.
The answer: “No, there is no requirement in the rule to collect older data. The [reporting] system has capability for retrospective reporting from January 2020 onward, consistent with [Centers for Disease Control]’s mission-critical work, but CMS will not take enforcement action if a nursing home is unable to accurately report information from that time.”
The document continues, “However, we encourage facilities to report older data as it will help with CDC’s ongoing surveillance and response efforts to assess burden of COVID-19 in nursing homes, and support a comprehensive national surveillance of the pandemic.”
CMS did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
In a call last week with reporters, CMS administrator Seema Verma was asked about the data collection efforts and seemed to indicate data collection would extend back before May 6.
According to an NBC News transcript of the call, a reporter from the Phoenix Business Journal asked Verma, “Are you going all the way back to the beginning of March to report those numbers? Or will those numbers start from just now when they’re collecting it? How is there going to be a look back period for COVID cases in depth?”
The administrator responded, “Yes there is going to be a look-back period so we’ll get to know sort of the status of the nursing homes. And then the requirement is that they report to us on a weekly basis so we’ll have the look-back and then we’ll also have the go forward.”
The for-profit nursing home industry association, the American Health Care Association, asked CMS for clarification of the data collection efforts in April. The AHCA told NBC News via email, “We support transparency, and we encouraged reporting to public health officials and residents, families and staff in our own guidance to members in early April.”
“Nursing homes were already reporting this information to state and local health departments prior to May. We would support the federal government collecting that data from state and local health departments, rather than adding an additional retrospective reporting burden to individual providers.”
LeadingAge, the association of non-profit nursing homes, told NBC News its members have struggled with the complexity of CDC’s online reporting module where nursing homes submit their data about COVID-19 cases and deaths.
Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton addresses need to reopen houses of worship amid coronavirus pandemic.
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Sen. Tom Cotton said on Friday that there is no reason churches, synagogues, mosques, and other places of worship should remain closed while liquor stores and marijuana dispensaries are open amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“It is time to let people go back to worship with their congregations,” Cotton, R-Ark., told “Outnumbered Overtime.”
Cotton said that after discussing reopening strategies with pastors of churches, they’ve laid out plans to have more services throughout a day in order to break up the congregation, lessening the amount of attendance per service.
Cotton’s comments came after President Trump on Friday announced that new Centers for Disease Control guidance will classify houses of worship as “essential,” as he called on governors to allow them to open “right now” after being closed during the coronavirus lockdowns.
Trump announced the policy for churches, synagogues and mosques during a short briefing at the White House.
“The governors need to do the right thing and allow these very important essential places of faith to open right now–for this weekend,” Trump said. “If they don’t do it, I will override the governors.
“In America, we need more prayer not less,” Trump said.
The announcement comes after Trump has been hearing concerns of faith leaders who are unable to hold Sunday services due to coronavirus restrictions at a time when their parishioners are grappling with the crisis. Families may be grieving the loss of loved ones from the virus or struggling with job loss but unable to seek respite in their places of worship.
On Thursday, Trump had a conference call with 1,600 pastors and faith leaders from around the country, including Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council. He reassured them he wants to get churches reopened.
Trump telegraphed the decision Thursday when he announced he spoke to the CDC on finding ways to reopen houses of worship during the pandemic.
Cotton said that Americans have a “constitutional right” to worship his or her god in the manner they choose.
“I am very confident that every house of worship can help protect their members,” Cotton said.
Churches across the country had to close down due to stay-home orders necessary to stop the spread of the contagious virus. Faith leaders set up online services and families tuned in Sunday mornings from their computers at home.
Last week the CDC released new guidelines that schools, businesses and other organizations can use as states reopen from coronavirus shutdowns. The document, however, excluded guidance for churches and faith-based groups because the White House raised concerns about the recommended restrictions, the Associated Press reported.
“I don’t take it for granted at all,” he said later Friday. “No one, no one, should have to vote for any party based on their race, their religion, their background. There are African-Americans who think that Trump was worth voting for. I don’t think so, I’m prepared to put my record against his. That was the bottom line and it was, it was really unfortunate.”
Stay-at-home orders intended to curb the spread of the coronavirus could end up causing “irreparable damage” if imposed for too long, White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNBC on Friday.
“I don’t want people to think that any of us feel that staying locked down for a prolonged period of time is the way to go,” Fauci said during an interview with CNBC’s Meg Tirrell on “Halftime Report.”
He said the U.S. had to institute severe measures because Covid-19 cases were exploding then. “But now is the time, depending upon where you are and what your situation is, to begin to seriously look at reopening the economy, reopening the country to try to get back to some degree of normal.”
However, Fauci also cautioned states against reducing social distancing measures too quickly, adding they must take “very significant precautions.”
“In general, I think most of the country is doing it in a prudent way,” he said. “There are obviously some situations where people might be jumping over that. I just say please proceed with caution if you’re going to do that.”
Fauci has been criticized in recent days by Republicans, including U.S. lawmakers Rand Paul and Andy Biggs, for making comments appearing to advocate for keeping some businesses closed longer.
Just last week, Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned members of Congress that the United States could face even more “suffering and death” from the coronavirus if some states rush to reopen businesses too early.
It could also hinder states “on the road to try to get back to an economic recovery,” he testified at a hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on May 12. “It would almost turn the clock back rather than going forward. That is my major concern.”
The virus, which emerged in Wuhan, China, less than five months ago, has infected more than 1.5 million people in the United States, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. States have started the process of reopening their economies after being shut down for weeks.
In a separate interview with NPR earlier in the day, Fauci said it was “conceivable” that the U.S. could begin to roll out a coronavirus vaccine by December.
He told CNBC that biotech firm Moderna‘s vaccine data, released earlier this week, was very encouraging.
Moderna has been fast-tracking work with the National Institutes of Health to develop a vaccine.
The vaccine produced neutralizing antibodies, which researchers believe are important to protect against the virus, for eight of the patients whose data was available so far. Data on neutralizing antibodies for the remaining patients is expected to come out later.
“We still have a long way to go obviously,” Fauci said Friday. “There are so many things that need to be done. We’re going to go quickly into a phase three trial probably in the beginning of the summer, sometime in July.”
Correction: White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci spoke to CNBC on Friday. An earlier version misstated the day.
Gov. Gavin Newsom vowed to provide plans Monday for reopening California churches amid mounting pressure to allow in-person religious services both from protesters and President Trump, who is demanding that governors take action immediately.
Newsom’s comment comes just days after he said opening churches to congregants was “a few weeks away.” The governor said he has been meeting with religious leaders for weeks to craft a plan for the safe reopening of churches for services, including efforts to sanitize pews, ensure safe distancing and other safety protocols.
“We look forward to churches reopening in a safe and responsible manner, and we have guidelines that we anticipated completing on Monday and we’re on track to do just that,” Newsom said during a COVID-19 briefing held at the Veterans Home of California in Yountville on Friday.
Newsom’s comments came hours after Trump made an unexpected appearance in the White House briefing room to declare that he was designating churches “essential” businesses so that they can immediately reopen.
Trump, who has said he would leave decisions about easing public health guidance to states but has often criticized decisions by individual governors, threatened that he would “override” states that didn’t heed his directive. It was not clear what authority he was referring to.
His comments, in tenor and tone, made clear that the announcement was largely about signaling that he continues to fight for religious conservatives, a core element of his political base where Trump’s support has eroded somewhat in recent weeks amid broader questions about his response to the pandemic.
“Some governors have deemed liquor stores and abortion clinics as essential, but have left out churches and other houses of worship,” Trump said. “It’s not right. So, I’m correcting this injustice and calling houses of worship essential.”
Speaking to the possibility that some governors might not immediately adhere to his instructions, he suggested they reach out to him directly even though the matter, he asserted, would not be open to discussion.
“If there’s any question, they’re going to have to call me — but they are not going to be successful in that call,” he said. “The governors need to do the right thing and allow these very important essential places of faith to open right now, this weekend.”
When asked about Trump’s comments, Newsom sidestepped the issue, saying his administration has been working with faith leaders to allow services to resume as quickly as can be done while protecting the public health.
“We have been very aggressive in trying to put together guidelines that will do justice to people’s health and their fundamental need and desire to practice their faith,” Newsom said. “We are looking forward to a very positive working relationship with faith leaders, as we make public those documents and look forward to working through this issue in the spirit of cooperation and collaboration.”
During the noon briefing, Newsom did take a subtle swipe at the Trump administration, noting that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had yet to release federal guidelines detailing how churches and other religious institutions should resume services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Newsom said CDC guidelines were expected to be released on Friday and said state health officials will review them to determine if they include safeguards that should be added to those being drafted by the state.
Newsom emphasized his own religious upbringing in the Catholic Church, saying he had deep admiration and respect for the faith of the millions of Californians and the need for them to practice that faith. The governor said the vast majority of religious leaders across the state understand the need to protect the public health and have been working with his administration to ensure services, when the resume, will be conducted in a safe manner.
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Justice sent a letter to the Newsom administration warning that the state’s stay-at-home order may discriminate against religious groups and violate their constitutional rights. The letter accused Newsom of “unequal treatment of faith communities” in restricting their ability to gather and resume services.
“Simply put, there is no pandemic exception to the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights,” Eric S. Dreiband, an assistant attorney general and the head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, stated in the letter.
Robert H. Tyler, an attorney representing a Lodi church that has challenged the governor’s order in court, said pastors signed a “Declaration of Essentiality” that asserts their churches are as essential as grocery stores and hardware stores and should be allowed to reopen.
“We believe you are attempting to act in the best interests of the state,” Tyler wrote to Newsom, “but the restrictions have gone too far and for too long.”
A federal court judge in Sacramento recently issued a ruling that Newsom’s stay-at-home order did not violate the constitutional rights to free assembly and religion when the Cross Culture Christian Center in Lodi was ordered to cease services.
Last week, a federal judge in San Diego denied a request from a Chula Vista church for a temporary restraining order against the state that would allow it to hold in-person services.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who took questions after the president’s comments on Friday, struggled to cite any legal authority for the president to order governors to allow religious services to resume, attempting to deflect by suggesting that reporters questioning the validity of Trump’s move wanted churches to remain closed.
She said the White House would “leave it to faith communities to reopen,” noting the newly released CDC guidelines and acknowledging that the decision would be “up to the governors.”
A passenger jet carrying 98 people crashed Friday into a residential neighborhood of the Pakistani city of Karachi. Pakistan International Airlines said flight PK 8303 went down with 91 passengers and 7 crew on board.
There was no official word on the number of casualties, but Pakistan’s leader tweeted condolences “to the families of the deceased.”
Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar was quoted by The Associated Press as telling reporters at the scene that all those who had been on board the jetliner died in the crash, but officials with the national government said at least two people from the plane were believed to have survived.
Firefighters spray water on the wreckage of a Pakistan International Airlines aircraft after it crashed at a residential area in Karachi on May 22, 2020.
RIZWAN TABASSUM/AFP/Getty
Some of the confusion was likely between casualties among those on the ground when the plane came down — it destroyed five or six houses — and those on board the aircraft.
CBS News’ Maria Usman said the PIA Airbus A320 crashed into a neighborhood called Jinnah Gardens, close to the port city of Karachi’s airport.
A source at the airport told CBS News the pilot had informed the control tower that one of the plane’s two engines had failed. The control tower told the pilot that two runways were clear for landing, but air traffic control lost communication with the crew and the plane crashed shortly after. Witnesses reported seeing an engine on fire before the plane came down.
Rescue workers remove a body from the site after a Pakistan International Airlines aircraft crashed into a residential area in Karachi, Pakistan, May 22, 2020.
ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty
Rescue efforts were underway and an official with Pakistan’s Interior Ministry told CBS News there were survivors, but no numbers could be confirmed, and it was unclear whether he was referring to people who had been on the ground or in the plane at the time of the crash.
A video shared online by Pakistan’s GEO TV showed an emergency crew trying to reach the scene through rubble, with flames still visible in the background. Others showed huge clouds of black smoke billowing up between tightly packed buildings in the residential neighborhood.
Abdul Sattar Khokhar, spokesman for the country’s aviation authority, confirmed that the flight had been flying to Karachi from Lahore. The Associated Press quoted witnesses as saying the Airbus A320 appeared to have tried to land at least a couple times before crashing into the residential area near Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport.
The crash came just days after the country began allowing commercial flights to resume after planes were grounded during a lockdown over the coronavirus pandemic.
It also comes as Pakistanis across the country are preparing to celebrate the end of Ramadan and the beginning of Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr, with many travelling back to their homes in cities and villages.
Shocked & saddened by the PIA crash. Am in touch with PIA CEO Arshad Malik, who has left for Karachi & with the rescue & relief teams on ground as this is the priority right now. Immediate inquiry will be instituted. Prayers & condolences go to families of the deceased.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan sent his condolences to the victims of the crash in a tweet, vowing an immediate investigation into the disaster.
Pakistan has a checkered military and civilian aviation safety record, with frequent plane and helicopter crashes over the years.
In 2016, a Pakistan International Airlines plane burst into flames after one of its two turboprop engines failed while flying from the remote northern to Islamabad, killing more than 40 people.
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Fox News senior strategic analyst Jack Keane said on Friday that the Chinese government has stepped up its operations in the southern and western Pacific region since the coronavirus pandemic, aiming to demonstrate the “dominance” in the region.
“[The Chinese government] wants to break the resolve of our allies here in Hong Kong. This is a bold move on their part. They failed to get an extradition law because of this significant protest en-masse by the Hong Kong people,” retired General Keane told “Fox & Friends.”
“Now they’ve gone to their National Party Congress, the equivalent of our legislature.”
The Chinese government will review new “national security” legislation in Hong Kong after two years of pro-democracy protests in an effort to employ control over the semi-autonomous city, a spokesperson for China’s parliament said Thursday.
Zhang Yesui said that the National People’s Congress (NPC) is considering a bill on “establishing and improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to safeguard national security.”
The bill would allow the Chinese government to suppress anti-government movements, like the most recent yearslong protests.
Hong Kong was a former British colony handed over to the Chinese government in 1997. Under the Sino-British Declaration, Hong Kong maintained a certain amount of autonomy from mainland China.
Article 23 of the Basic Law says that Hong Kong will “enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition [or] subversion against the Central People’s Government.”
But this law has never been passed. The last attempt by the Chinese government to exert a law that would enforce this rule was in 2003, which resulted in the city’s largest-ever protests, and the legislation was dropped.
Keane said that the Chinese government wants to enact laws that will criminalize foreign interference in order to “punish subversion and secession activities by the people.” Keane explained that the Chinese government will strip freedom of the press, speech rights, and protest rights in Hong Kong.
“This is absolutely a movement away from the stated policy of one country, two systems, where Hong Kong will lose its autonomy and the Chinese Communist Party will eventually take control of the global financial center in Hong Kong.”
Keane said it would be a mistake to believe that Hong Kong would “sacrifice” the financial center to protect its regime, power, and influence.
“They clearly will sacrifice all of that for those ends. That’s the serious point here. This is a significant step if they enact this legislation because they’re absolutely moving directly on the people of Hong Kong,” Keane said.
At a press conference Friday afternoon, President Trump announced that he would order churches reopened despite the coronavirus pandemic — something he almost certainly does not have the power to do.
State governors, Trump claimed, need to allow churches to reopen “right now, for this weekend.” He added that “if they don’t do it, I will override the governors.”
Trump also reportedly ordered the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to release guidance for houses of worship seeking to reopen.
There have been several outbreaks of coronavirus that were traced back to church gatherings. In April, at least 70 infections were linked to a church in Sacramento, California. More recently, the CDC determined that “among 92 attendees at a rural Arkansas church during March 6-11, 35 (38%) developed laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, and three persons died.”
Although many governors have either ordered churches closed or restricted gatherings within churches, some governors have allowed places of worship to reopen. There have also been some court challenges to orders closing houses of faith, but the impact of these challenges, at least so far, has largely been marginal.
Trump’s power to override state governments is very limited
State governments, not the White House, have the primary responsibility to decide how their states will react to the pandemic.
But even assuming that churches have a substantial enough impact on interstate commerce that Congress could order them reopened, Trump is not Congress. Trump can invoke existing laws that give the federal executive branch some power to help manage a public health crisis, but those statutes largely permit the federal government to support ongoing state efforts to control a disease, or to quarantine seeking to enter the country or to cross state lines.
Notably, when reporters asked White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany to identify which provision of federal law permits the president to override a governor’s public health order, McEnany did not do so. Instead, her answer —”the president will strongly encourage every governor to allow churches to reopen” — appeared to concede that Trump only has the power to try to persuade governors to change their policies.
Trump may influence Republican judges to order churches reopened
Yet while Trump almost certainly does not have the lawful authority to order churches reopened, he is the head of the Republican Party and his words are likely to shape the views of many GOP partisans — some of whom are sitting judges.
Under the Supreme Court’s decision in Employment Division v. Smith (1990), churches and other religious institutions may be subjected to the same laws as anyone else, so long as they are not singled out for inferior treatment. As Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for his Court in that case, “the government’s ability to enforce generally applicable prohibitions of socially harmful conduct, like its ability to carry out other aspects of public policy, ‘cannot depend on measuring the effects of a governmental action on a religious objector’s spiritual development.’”
But Smith has fallen out of favor with judicial conservatives, and it is likely that the Supreme Court’s Republican majority will overrule it in a case they are scheduled to hear in the fall. Even if Smith is overruled, however, state governments may still regulate churches — or even close them down — so long as the rules regulating those churches are narrowly tailored to advance a compelling interest, such as preventing the spread of a deadly disease.
While existing law provides that governors may close churches in order to protect human life, it is far from clear that an increasingly conservative judiciary will follow this law. Last month, for example, Trump-appointed Judge Justin Walker wrote a highly partisan opinion that seemed to liken a Kentucky order, which allegedly banned drive-in church services, to tales of slaves being beaten for “attending prayer meetings”
So, while Trump does not have the lawful authority to order churches reopened, his rhetoric is likely to influence politicians and at least some Republican judges. That means that the courts could require churches to reopen long before the virus is under control — potentially leading to new outbreaks like the ones in California and Arkansas.
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Democratic White House candidate Joe Biden has said in an interview African Americans “ain’t black” if they vote for President Donald Trump over him.
The controversial exchange happened as radio host Charlamagne Tha God pressed the former vice-president on Friday about his outreach to black voters.
Mr Biden later expressed regret for the comment, insisting he had never taken African American support for granted.
Loyal support from black voters has been vital to Mr Biden’s candidacy.
What exactly did Biden say?
Throughout the 18-minute interview, Mr Biden, 77, stressed his longstanding ties to the black community, noting his overwhelming win this year in South Carolina’s presidential primary, a state where the Democratic electorate is more than 60% African American.
“I won every single county. I won the largest share of the black vote that anybody had, including Barack,” he said of President Barack Obama, the country’s first African-American president, who picked Mr Biden as his running mate.
Mr Biden also “guaranteed” that several black women were being considered to serve as his vice-president. The presumptive nominee has already committed to selecting a woman to join him on the Democratic ticket.
Toward the end of the interview, a campaign aide interrupted to say the former vice-president was out of time.
When an aide for Mr Biden tried to end the interview, Charlamagne protested, saying: “You can’t do that to black media.”
“I do that to white media and black media,” Mr Biden replied. “My wife has to go on at 6 o’clock,” he said, apparently referring to Jill Biden needing to use their at-home broadcast studio.
Media captionThe biggest myth about the ‘black vote’
Charlamagne urged Mr Biden to return for an additional interview, saying he had more questions.
“If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black,” Mr Biden responded.
Charlamagne said: “It don’t have nothing to do with Trump. It has to do with the fact that I want something for my community.”
“Take a look at my record, man!” Biden said, throwing his hands in the air, seconds before concluding the interview.
Image copyright Reuters
Biden trips an electrical live wire
Joe Biden just touched a live electrical wire of racial identity in US politics.
Until now his support among black voters has been rock-solid, and there’s little chance Friday’s line will do much by itself to dent that. The Trump campaign will be happy, however, if they can chip away even a sliver of Mr Biden’s support, particularly in key electoral states like Wisconsin and Michigan, where black voter apathy hurt Democrats in 2016.
Mr Biden’s gaffe came at the end of an interview, as he was being pressed on whether he favoured Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar over a black woman as his running mate. That he responded with indignation – and then veered dangerously off-script – suggests his preference might lie with someone like Ms Klobuchar, who shares Mr Biden’s pragmatic political sensibilities.
If Friday’s kerfuffle has staying power, however, he might feel compelled to pick a black female candidate like Kamala Harris or Stacey Abrams – if only to clean up the mess he created.
How is the Biden camp trying to contain the damage?
Biden campaign adviser Symone Sanders defended the comments on Friday, saying they were made “in jest”.
“Let’s be clear about what the VP was saying: he was making the distinction that he would put his record with the African American community up against Trump’s any day. Period.”
Mr Biden endeavoured to make amends on a call later to black business leaders.
“I should not have been so cavalier,” he said. “I’ve never, never, ever taken the African American community for granted.”
He added: “I shouldn’t have been such a wise guy.”
He continued: “No-one should have to vote for any party based on their race, their religion, their background.”
Image copyright Reuters
Image caption
Mr Biden’s resounding win among black voters in South Carolina healed seal his status as presumptive nominee
What’s the reaction?
The Trump campaign seized on the remarks, calling the exchange “disgusting”.
“That is the most arrogant, condescending comment I’ve heard in a very long time,” said Senator Tim Scott, a black Republican, on Fox News.
“He’s saying that 1.3 million African Americans, that you’re not black? Who in the heck does he think he is?” the South Carolina lawmaker said, referring to the black Americans who voted for Mr Trump in 2016.
Mr Biden’s words also incited criticism from his side of the aisle.
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Image caption
Mr Biden often references his record as Barack Obama’s running mate.
Keith Boykin, a professor at Columbia and former aide to Democratic President Bill Clinton, called Mr Biden’s comments “a mistake”.
“Yes, Biden is a much better choice for black people than racist Trump,” Mr Boykin wrote on Twitter.
“But white people don’t get to tell black people what is black. Biden still has to EARN our vote.”
Why is Biden popular among black voters?
Mr Biden’s long political career has been bolstered by enduring support from African Americans, fortified by the eight years he spent serving alongside Mr Obama – who remains hugely popular out of office.
A Quinnipiac University poll released this week showed Mr Biden’s support among black voters at a stunning 81%, compared with 3% for Mr Trump. The remainder said they didn’t know.
Mr Obama endorsed his former vice-president last month, saying in a video that Mr Biden “has all the qualities we need in a president right now”.
Stay-at-home orders intended to curb the spread of the coronavirus could end up causing “irreparable damage” if imposed for too long, White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNBC on Friday.
“I don’t want people to think that any of us feel that staying locked down for a prolonged period of time is the way to go,” Fauci said during an interview with CNBC’s Meg Tirrell on “Halftime Report.”
He said the U.S. had to institute severe measures because Covid-19 cases were exploding then. “But now is the time, depending upon where you are and what your situation is, to begin to seriously look at reopening the economy, reopening the country to try to get back to some degree of normal.”
However, Fauci also cautioned states against reducing social distancing measures too quickly, adding they must take “very significant precautions.”
“In general, I think most of the country is doing it in a prudent way,” he said. “There are obviously some situations where people might be jumping over that. I just say please proceed with caution if you’re going to do that.”
Fauci has been criticized in recent days by Republicans, including U.S. lawmakers Rand Paul and Andy Biggs, for making comments appearing to advocate for keeping some businesses closed longer.
Just last week, Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned members of Congress that the United States could face even more “suffering and death” from the coronavirus if some states rush to reopen businesses too early.
It could also hinder states “on the road to try to get back to an economic recovery,” he testified at a hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on May 12. “It would almost turn the clock back rather than going forward. That is my major concern.”
The virus, which emerged in Wuhan, China, less than five months ago, has infected more than 1.5 million people in the United States, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. States have started the process of reopening their economies after being shut down for weeks.
In a separate interview with NPR earlier in the day, Fauci said it was “conceivable” that the U.S. could begin to roll out a coronavirus vaccine by December.
He told CNBC that biotech firm Moderna‘s vaccine data, released earlier this week, was very encouraging.
Moderna has been fast-tracking work with the National Institutes of Health to develop a vaccine.
The vaccine produced neutralizing antibodies, which researchers believe are important to protect against the virus, for eight of the patients whose data was available so far. Data on neutralizing antibodies for the remaining patients is expected to come out later.
“We still have a long way to go obviously,” Fauci said Friday. “There are so many things that need to be done. We’re going to go quickly into a phase three trial probably in the beginning of the summer, sometime in July.”
Correction: White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci spoke to CNBC on Friday. An earlier version misstated the day.
When California Gov. Gavin Newsom revealed Wednesday that the state will deliver guidelines that will allow many counties to resume filming as early as next week, the reaction in Hollywood was muted.
After nearly two months of shutdowns caused by the coronavirus outbreak, many of the hundreds of thousands of cast and crew across the country are eager to return to work. But there are also lingering concerns that the industry isn’t yet ready.
“I’m grateful the governor recognizes how important the film industry is,” said Nickolaus Brown, President, IATSE Motion Picture Costumers Local 705. However, he added,”it’s misleading to suggest the film industry is going to open on Monday. There’s been a mix of reactions from members, some are excited and some are scared out of their minds.”
The revelation by Newsom that filming might restart so soon caught many in Hollywood off guard. Newsom made the statement in a session with entertainment industry executives, including Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos and Oscar-nominated director Ava DuVernay as part of his so-called “Economic Recovery & Reinvention Listening Tour.”
Newsom said the state on Monday would release requirements that California’s 58 counties need to meet in order to begin filming, and that some areas could resume production as early as next week. Los Angeles, however, is going to be several weeks behind that move because of ongoing deaths, he said.
“We are working with industry stakeholders — including labor and management — to produce guidance that is inclusive of industry voices while prioritizing worker health and public safety,” said Jesse Melgar, press secretary to the governor, in a statement.
The governor has been under increasing pressure to re-open the state to business despite the ongoing death rate caused by COVID-19. The disease has had a devastating economic impact on the film industry, where crews and actors interact in close proximity.
Part of the challenge has been a patchwork approach with some regions racing to start before others. In San Francisco, the city’s film office said it is planning to issue permits for crews of less than 10 people, providing they meet certain guidelines.
But SAG-AFTRA, Hollywood’s largest union, has told its 160,000 members not to return to work without getting its approval. Like other unions, SAG-AFTRA has been hiring epidemiologists to help them formulate reopening procedures.
The union said in a statement it has not yet signed on to “any specific set of procedures for reopening” and that is reviewing “multiple efforts throughout the industry to create various procedures for a safer return to work.”
Steve Dayan, secretary-treasurer of Teamster Local 399, which represents location managers, drivers and casting directors, said flatly: “No, the industry is not going to open on Monday.” While Dayan applauds the governor’s handling of the pandemic, he said it was premature to talk about resuming filming while industry unions are still in talks with the studios over new safety protocols.
“I know people are anxious but people need to be patient, ” Dayan said. “We are working around the clock to get this done. We need to protect our crews but also have an obligation to protect the public. The most difficult thing for me is to hear one of my members dies because I didn’t do my due diligence.”
Crew members remain anxious about returning to sets.
“I’m happy to go back to work, but I’m kind of scared,” said Robyn Buchanan, a 31-year old L.A.-based second assistant camera who was working on a network series when production shut down in March due to the pandemic. “If production can go back to work, then why aren’t restaurants and stores open?”
“We value the efforts by so many leaders in the production industry to develop in-depth back-to-work guidelines, and we hope the baseline guidance from the Governor, in coordination with public health officials, will contribute to that collaborative process,” said California Film Commission Executive Director Colleen Bell.
On the call with Newsom, Danny Stephens, a key grip and IATSE Local 80 member, raised concerns about costs of any protocols required. Studios, for example, have discussed hiring “COVID coordinators” with their owns staffs and crews may be staggered, which could slow production down.
“Someone needs to pay for all this,” said Stephens. While there is a need to develop rigorous protocols to keep people safe, the industry needs to keep it “financially feasible for production to afford this,” he said. “The last thing we want to do is price ourselves out of business.”
FilmL.A., the nonprofit group that handles film permits for the city and county, said it wouldn’t begin issuing permits until at least June 15. “And it will be until the Department of Public Health issues its guidelines and gives the go-ahead,” FilmL.A. President Paul Audley said in a statement.
To be sure, many in the industry have been hit hard by the shutdowns and are keen to return to work. Mark Butts, a production and lighting designer and lighting director, based in L.A., owner of Preset Productions said the move by the governor was “great news.”
“One of the things that we’ve all been waiting for is that we’re all anxious to get back to work as long as we can do it safely,” Butts said. “It’s encouraging that they understand that this business is a pretty big part of this economy and it’s getting attention.”
AMITYVILLE, N.Y. — A Long Island man was stabbed to death by his adult son Thursday while on a Zoom video chat, police said, leading to 911 calls from people who watched the horror unfold on their screens.
Thomas Scully-Powers, 32, fled out a window after attacking his 72-year-old father, Dwight Powers, around noon at their home near South Oaks Hospital in Amityville, Suffolk County, police said.
Scully-Powers was arrested about an hour later, having gotten only about 1 mile away from the home. He remained hospitalized Thursday night for treatment of minor injuries from his jump.
Police said details on his arraignment and detention will be available once he is released from the hospital. Information on a lawyer who could comment on his behalf was not immediately available.
Depending on whom you ask, salons that offer hair extensions can open in Illinois despite Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order. Those that don’t, can’t. Similarly, gyms in hotels can open, while independent ones aren’t supposed to yet, although at least five already have.
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