A new federal court filing from Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance as part of an effort to obtain President Trump’s tax returns suggests that Trump is the target of a deeper probe by the prosecutor into potential bank and insurance fraud.
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 31: U.S. President Donald Trump listens during a meeting with members of the … [+] National Association of Police Organizations Leadership in the Cabinet Room of the White House July 31, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker-Pool/Getty Images)
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KEY FACTS
The filing seeks to dismiss a lawsuit by Trump’s attorneys that alleges the prosecutors are overreaching and acting in “bad faith” in their attempts to subpoena Trump’s personal and corporate tax documents.
Vance’s office calls the lawsuit “baseless” and casts it as an attempt to “delay the grand jury’s investigation.”
The filing notes the lawsuit’s claim that the subpoena is overbroad “rests on the false premise that the grand jury’s investigation is limited to so-called ‘hush-money’ payments made by Michael Cohen on behalf of Plaintiff in 2016.”
While the filing claims that Vance’s office “bears no affirmative burden to justify the breadth of the Mazars Subpoena,” it nonetheless points to public reporting that it says “establishes a satisfactory predicate for the Mazars Subpoena.”
The filing cites a Washington Post article written by David Fahrenthold in March 2019 detailing how Trump reportedly sent “deeply flawed” documents over-inflating his net worth to apply for loans and insurance premium reductions, make business deals and boast to journalists.
“As this reporting makes clear, at the time the Mazars Subpoena was issued, there were public allegations of possible criminal activity at Plaintiff’s New York County-based Trump Organization dating back over a decade,” the filing states.
Key Background
Vance initially subpoenaed Trump’s accounting firm Mazars USA in August 2019 for Trump’s tax returns. The probe was initially believed to focus on “hush-money” payments made by Trump fixer Michael Cohen to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Trump’s lawyers have attempted to argue that a sitting president is immune to a criminal investigation, but that argument was soundly rejected by the Supreme Court in July, which sent the case back down to a lower court for further argumentation.
Crucial Quote
“What the president’s lawyers are seeking here is delay,” argued Carey R. Dunne, an attorney in the Manhattan DA’s office, according to the New York Times. “Let’s not let delay kill this case,” he warned of the case dragging on past the statute of limitations for crimes Trump may have committed.
Chief Critic
“Our strategy seeks due process,” Trump’s lawyer Jay Sekulow said in a rebuttal to the notion that the president’s legal team only seeks to delay the case, the Times reported.
Nineteen lawsuits have been combined into a unified federal legal action against short-form video app TikTok for allegedly harvesting data from users and secretly sending the information to China.
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Nineteen lawsuits have been combined into a unified federal legal action against short-form video app TikTok for allegedly harvesting data from users and secretly sending the information to China.
Anjum Naveed/AP
Dozens of families are suing TikTok in what has turned into a major legal action in federal court.
More than 70 minors, through their parents, are alleging that the video-sharing app collects information about their facial characteristics, locations and close contacts, and quietly sends that data to servers in China.
Twenty separate but similar federal lawsuits were filed over the past year on behalf of TikTok users in California, where the company has offices, and Illinois, which requires that technology companies receive written consent before collecting data on a person’s identity.
The suits now have been merged into one.
And on Wednesday, a panel of federal judges ruled that the case will be based in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Judge John Z. Lee was appointed as the presiding judge.
Plaintiffs’ lawyers will be asking Lee to expand the suit into a nationwide class action, potentially affecting tens of millions of American users.
While TikTok flatly denies the allegations, the company is under intense pressure to avoid a long, drawn-out legal battle. The Trump administration considers TikTok a national security threat because its parent company, ByteDance, is based in China. President Trump said Monday that TikTok must be sold to an American suitor by September 15 or “close down” in the U.S. Microsoft, for one, has acknowledged that it is exploring a bid.
TikTok is fighting to have the privacy lawsuit dismissed. But if it survives, it could cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars.
A lawsuit filed under the same Illinois law against Facebook over its use of facial recognition technology recently prompted the social network to agree to a record data-privacy settlement of $650 million. Legal experts say, if the the court approves the TikTok lawsuit as a national case, the settlement sum could exceed the Facebook payout.
The Illinois law, known as the Biometric Information Privacy Act, “has been striking fear in the heart of many companies in the United States for fear that claims like this will be brought,” said Leslie Weaver, one of the 33 plaintiffs’ lawyers involved in the litigation against TikTok.
Lawyers for TikTok say the app is not capturing users’ biometric information, nor sending any data to China. But TikTok’s legal team also argues that the company can transfer data to Beijing, if it so chooses, without breaking any laws.
“The App’s privacy policy also fully discloses that user data will be shared with TikTok’s corporate affiliates and third-party business partners and service providers, as is standard with free social networking apps that have a business model based on advertising,” wrote TikTok lawyer Tony Weibell in a submission to the court.
Is TikTok sending data to China?
The national security debate about TikTok centers on something nobody has so far provided direct evidence of: that Tiktok is sending information about American citizens to China and, possibly, the Chinese Community Party.
TikTok says its primary servers for its U.S. users are in Virginia and its backup servers are in Singapore. The company says no data collected on Americans ever goes to servers or authorities in China.
But that contradicts the findings of technology experts hired by the plaintiffs’ lawyers. Those experts, who studied the collection and journey of TikTok data, claim troves of information are being sent to servers in China “under the control of third-parties who cooperate with the Chinese government,” according to the lawsuit.
“Such information reveals TikTok users’ precise physical location, including possibly indoor locations within buildings, and TikTok users’ apps that possibly reveal mental or physical health, religious views, political views, and sexual orientation,” lawyers for users wrote in legal filings.
The lawyers declined to comment for this story, nor would they disclose to NPR who their experts are or what methods they employed.
In the lawsuit, they contend that as soon as TikTok is downloaded, it starts collecting data, even before a user opens an account. If a user starts making a video, but then does not save it, data in the video is still mined by TikTok, according to the suit. Even when TikTok is merely on a phone but not being used, it is still allegedly vacuuming up loads of personal data. It is a practice, the suit argues, that violates the law by not receiving the consent of users.
The lawyers for the users say the app engages in what it calls “covert theft” while attempting to hide its tracks.
“They do so by obfuscating the source code that would reveal the private and personally-identifiable user data and content actually taken from users’ mobile devices,” the suit says.
TikTok denies that any of its data collection starts before users agree to its terms of service. TikTok is upfront about what data it takes from users. Experts say most smartphone apps collect and store just as much — or more — data as TikTok does.
TikTok’s legal team says the lawsuit is based on a “factually mistaken” analysis of how the app collects data and what it is doing with that data. But worse than that, according to TikTok lawyer Weibell, is that the suit is China-phobic in the same way many U.S. politicians and Silicon Valley tech giants are, he argues.
“The present lawsuit is based on (and quotes) the same anti-Chinese rhetoric, conjecture, supposition, and innuendo that originated with these political and competitive attacks,” Weibell said in a filing.
Weibell would not comment on the suit to NPR.
TikTok says case should be tossed based on user agreement
TikTok’s terms of service include what is known as an arbitration clause, which makes users agree that any complaint about TikTok can never be part of a class-action lawsuit.
But under California law,arbitration clauses do not apply to minors. They can still file lawsuits if they think they have been harmed.
Lawyers for the users say because data collection allegedly happens before any terms of service are agreed to, users of any age should be able to have their day in court.
TikTok, though, hopes the whole case will be thrown out on the grounds that users do not have a right to bring the lawsuit in the first place because of the legalese that forces disputes to be resolved outside of court.
If a panel of judges overseeing the case sides with TikTok, the whole case could fall apart. But if the panel agrees with the plaintiffs, both sides will begin deliberations about who is able to join the class action and how much money will be at stake.
Under the Illinois biometric law, the minimum penalty is $1,000 per instance that identifying data was taken without someone’s consent. If it is proven that the covert theft was reckless, the penalty can go up to $5,000 per violation.
According to market research firm Sensor Tower, TikTok has been downloaded more than 180 million times in the U.S.
Lawsuit looms over potential sale to Microsoft
What kind of exposure Microsoft would have to pending litigation will likely be part of the software giant’s review ahead of an official offer to buy the app. But lawyers involved in the case say the lawsuit is not likely to dissuade Microsoft, a company valued at $1.5 trillion.
Some lawyers involved in the lawsuit predicted that a settlement would be reached before any sale of TikTok is completed and that TikTok may be in a rush to resolve the suits to make itself “more sellable.”
But if the suit becomes a nationwide class action, it could be a legal headache and considerable expense that sticks around TikTok for years to come.
Microsoft has vowed that if it becomes TikTok’s new parent company, all data on American citizens would remain within U.S. borders.
“To the extent that any such data is currently stored or backed-up outside the United States, Microsoft would ensure that this data is deleted from servers outside the country after it is transferred,” Microsoft said in a statement.
President Donald Trump on Monday claimed to have the authority to issue an executive order addressing the expected influx of mail-in voting in the November election and said he hadn’t ruled out doing so, in spite of the Constitution’s expressly giving states the right to run their elections.
“I have the right to do it,” Trump insisted, adding: “We haven’t got there yet, but we’ll see what happens.”
Trump made the assertion during a coronavirus briefing at the White House when pressed by a reporter from OAN, the far-right network that has been a vocal ally of the president, and as part of a broader tirade against mail-in voting amid a push to expand the practice during the coronavirus pandemic.
Dr. Barbot’s resignation could renew questions about Mr. de Blasio’s handling of the response to the outbreak, which devastated the city in the spring, killing more than 20,000 residents, even as it has largely subsided in recent weeks. And it comes at a pivotal moment: Public schools are scheduled to partially open next month, which could be crucial for the city’s recovery, and fears are growing that the outbreak could surge again when the weather cools.
The mayor had been faulted by public health experts, including some within the Health Department, for not moving faster to close down schools and businesses in March, when New York emerged as an epicenter of the pandemic.
Public health officials have bristled at the mayor’s decision to strip the Health Department of its responsibility for contact tracing and give it instead to the public hospital system, known as Health + Hospitals. The Health Department has performed such tracing for decades; the public hospitals have not.
“It had been clear in recent days that it was time for a change,” Mr. de Blasio said in a hastily called news conference. “We need an atmosphere of unity. We need an atmosphere of common purpose.”
The mayor moved quickly to replace Dr. Barbot, immediately announcing the appointment of a new health commissioner, Dr. Dave A. Chokshi, a former senior leader at Health + Hospitals.
Tropical Storm Isaias spawned tornadoes and dumped rain during an inland march up the US east coast on Tuesday that has states on alert all the way up to Massachusetts after making landfall as a category 1 hurricane near Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, overnight, killing at least one person.
East coast metropolises including the Washington area, Philadelphia and New York were watching out for potentially dangerous winds and rain as the storm moved briskly.
The hurricane’s eye moved over land just after 11pm on Monday with maximum sustained winds of 85mph, and its top winds dropped to 70mph by early Tuesday. But forecasters said it would continue to inflict damage while moving into New England by late Tuesday.
Governor Roy Cooper of North Carolina spoke of “double trouble” on ABC on Tuesday morning as he described the state trying to evacuate and rescue people as the hurricane hit while also trying to minimize the risk of spreading coronavirus.
The state had to provide more shelters, at least two dozen opening, so those having to leave their homes because of flooding or fire caused by power outages, could try to keep socially distant, while having temperature checks and wearing masks.
Cooper urged those evacuating to turn to shelters as a last resort, citing coronavirus risks and the need to operate shelters at reduced capacity to allow for social distancing. “Whether it’s labeled a tropical storm or a hurricane, you should take this storm seriously, and make sure your family is ready,” he said.
“All in all this storm got in and got out pretty quickly,” he told ABC’s Good Morning America on Tuesday. He added: “We are saddened by the one fatality we know we have.”
At least three states are under a federal emergency declaration.
“We don’t think there is going to be a whole lot of weakening, we still think there’s going to be very strong and gusty winds that will affect much of the mid-Atlantic and the north-east over the next day or two,” said Robbie Berg, a hurricane specialist with the National Hurricane Center.
Forecasters had warned tornadoes were possible, and two were later confirmed, near Kilmarnock, Virginia, and Vienna, Maryland. Heavy rains were predicted, with falling trees causing power failures as Isaias moves north.
More than 500,000 customers lost electricity, most of them in North Carolina and Virginia, according to PowerOutage.US, which tracks utility reports.
In Suffolk, Virginia, near the coast, multiple homes were damaged by falling trees, and city officials received reports of a possible tornado. A fire station downtown sustained damage including broken windows. A photo posted by city officials showed a pile of bricks lying next to a damaged business.
The storm set off flooding and sparked five home fires in Ocean Isle Beach, Mayor Debbie Smith told WECT-TV. The town’s firefighters were battling the blaze with help from Horry county firefighters in South Carolina, Tony Casey, a spokesperson for Horry County Fire Rescue, told the Associated Press.
About 80 miles north of Ocean Isle Beach, about 30 people were displaced due to a fire at a condominium complex in Surf City, news outlets reported.
It is not clear if the fires were connected to the storm. No injuries have been reported.
Isaias toggled between tropical storm and hurricane strength throughout its path to the US coast, killing two people in the Caribbean and trashing the Bahamas before brushing past Florida.
Coastal shops and restaurants had closed early in the Carolinas, where power began to flicker at oceanfront hotels and even the most adventurous of beachgoers abandoned the sand on Monday night. The National Hurricane Center warned oceanside home dwellers to brace for storm surge up to 5ft (1.5 meters) and up to 8in (20cm) of rain in spots.
“All those rains could produce flash flooding across portions of the eastern Carolinas and mid-Atlantic, and even in the north-east US,” said Daniel Brown, senior hurricane specialist. A tropical storm warning extended all the way up to Maine, where flash flooding was possible in some areas on Wednesday.
The center was moving over south-eastern Virginia before daybreak, on a path to remain near or along the coast of mid-Atlantic states and continue across the north-eastern United States later into the evening.
Strong winds and heavy rainfall were expected to spread northward along the mid-Atlantic coast on Tuesday morning.
As the storm neared the shore, a gauge on a pier in Myrtle Beach recorded its third-highest water level since it was set up in 1976. Only Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and Hurricane Matthew in 2016 pushed more salt water inland.
This article is republished here with permission from The Associated Press. This content is shared here because the topic may interest Snopes readers; it does not, however, represent the work of Snopes fact-checkers or editors.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump claimed that he has the authority to issue an executive order on mail-in ballots, whose increasing use, he argues, could increase election fraud and uncertainty, though it is is unclear what he could do to curtail the practice.
“I have the right to do it,” Trump told reporters at a White House press conference. “We haven’t gotten there yet, we’ll see what happens.”
Trump added that Republicans are planning to file suit as soon as Tuesday to try to block Nevada’s expansion of mail-in voting.
Nearly all election procedures are governed on a state-by-state basis, with the remainder set by Congress or enshrined in the Constitution. There is no precedent or apparent authority for Trump to try to curtail the use of mail-in ballots by executive order, though he could use a document to formalize his opposition to the practice.
Trump’s claimed authority comes days after he publicly floated a delay to the Nov. 3 presidential election, a notion was met with swift bipartisan blowback.
Trump has increasingly sought to cast doubt on November’s election and the expected pandemic-induced surge in mail-in and absentee voting — particularly as he has found himself trailing in public and private polling. Trump has called remote voting options the “biggest risk” to his reelection. His campaign and the Republican Party have sued to combat the practice, which was once a significant advantage for the GOP.
There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud through mail-in voting and the states that use it exclusively say they have necessary safeguards in place to ensure that a hostile foreign actor doesn’t disrupt the vote. Election security experts say voter fraud is rare in all forms of balloting, including by mail.
In addition to his claims of fraud, Trump argued that voting by mail would delay the determination of the election’s victor, noting that the winner of a New York Democratic congressional primary vote conducted by mail weeks ago remains undeclared. Trump said he believes that race would need to be “rerun.”
Trump claimed the challenge would be greater in a presidential election, where the Electoral College could come down to just one state, and some states allow mail-in ballots to be received up to a week after Election Day.
“You’ll never know who won that state,” Trump said of Nevada’s expansion of mail voting.
President Donald Trump is considering executive action as congressional leaders and White House officials struggle to reach a deal on the next coronavirus relief package.
Trump, in an interview with Axios, defended his administration’s effort to beat back the U.S. outbreak that has shown little signs of easing.
“They are dying, that’s true,” Trump said. “It is what it is. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t doing everything we can.”
As more schools across the country welcome students back to class this week, some are already temporarily reclosing because of COVID-19 concerns. In Indiana, one school is shutting down two days after an employee tested positive for the virus. In another Indiana school, a student tested positive after the first day back to school.
The United Nations estimates more than 1 billion students worldwide have been affected by school closures. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the pandemic has created the largest disruption to education in history.
Here are some significant developments:
The Census Bureau will halt all counting efforts by Sept. 30, a month earlier than planned.
The NFL and the NFL Players Association set Thursday as the deadline for players planning to opt out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19.
In a letter addressed to congressional leaders, more than 100 CEOs in the U.S. expressed the importance of small businesses and called on leaders to provide another round of Paycheck Protection Program relief aid to small businesses.
📈 Today’s numbers: The U.S. has recorded more than 155,000 deaths and about 4.7 million cases of COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, there have been about 694,000 deaths and more than 18.3 million cases.
Our live blog is being updated throughout the day. Refresh for the latest news, and get updates in your inbox with The Daily Briefing.
Primary day in a pandemic means changes
A handful of states are conducting primaries today, and COVID-19 is playing a major role. More than 2 million voters in Michigan requested absentee ballots, which are likely to take several days to tally. In Arizona, hundreds of thousands of residents have already mailed in their votes – and Maricopa County, home to Phoenix, is allowing registered voters can cast a ballot at any of 99 voting locations. In Missouri, the narrow list of reasons allowed for voting absentee has been tossed aside. Anyone may vote absentee with a notarized ballot envelope, and voters in at-risk categories for COVID-19 are eligible to vote absentee by mail without getting the envelope notarized.
Financial crisis keeps more young adults financially dependent on family
The coronavirus pandemic has created a new set of financial obstacles for young millennials and Gen Zers. Most are unsure how their generations can navigate through the worst global economic crisis since the 1930s. Almost 60% of young Americans say the pandemic has derailed their goal of becoming financially independent from family or other support, according to a new report by The Harris Poll on behalf of TD Ameritrade.
“Even before the economic downturn, young Americans generally had anxiety about their finances due to stagnant wages, the rising cost of living and debt burdens,” says Keith Denerstein, director of investment products and guidance at TD Ameritrade. “Now that’s been exacerbated by the pandemic.”
– Jessica Menton
Some companies cashing out on crucial pandemic supplies
Taxpayers paid $2.4 million for ventilators and protective garb to a firm setting its sights on the global coronavirus pandemic. And the government appears to have grossly overpaid, a USA TODAY investigation suggests.
One deal involved paying about $17,000 apiece for 60 ventilators. One reseller says the units that were delivered wholesale for about $4,000 – and the government has cut deals for closer to $2,500 per unit. But trying to track down information about the company and its product exposes the tangled web the government has created for itself by relying on a growing number of middlemen, brokers and newcomers to secure emergency supplies.
“So $17,000 is a pretty huge margin,” Bautista said. “Your ethics have to stretch to make $15,000 on something.”
– Nick Penzenstadler
Trump says pandemic in US is ‘under control as much as you can control it’
The pandemic is under control in the U.S. and the administration has given governors “everything they need” to combat the outbreak, President Donald Trump said in an interview with Axios. He said some governors had failed to properly use federal assistance to curb outbreaks in their states. And he repeated his theme that the alarmingly high number of U.S. cases is a function of expansive testing.
“It’s under control as much as you can control it. This is a horrible plague,” Trump said. “I think you have to have a positive outlook, otherwise you would have nothing.”
COVID-19 has claimed lives of 13 nuns at Michigan convent
Thirty nuns – more than half of the nuns living together in their Michigan convent – have become infected with COVID-19. Of those, 13 have died, including one who recovered, but then relapsed, authorities say.
Since the 1930s, the sisters have started schools and hospitals in the Detroit suburb of Livonia. For generations, they have taught toddlers and held the hands of the terminally ill as they took their last breaths. Now the survivors are mostly isolated and quarantined in the convent and allowed few visitors.
“They are reluctant to say they need anything,” said Angela Moloney, president and CEO of the Catholic Foundation. “They are so self-sacrificing, they never think of themselves first. They’re always saying, ‘What can we provide the community?’ “
UN chief: 1B students affected by ‘largest disruption’ in education history
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the “largest disruption of education ever,” with more than 1 billion students affected by school closures in more than 160 countries, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says.
Students with disabilities, those in minority or disadvantaged communities, displaced and refugee students, and those in remote areas are at highest risk of being left behind, he said. The world was facing a “learning crisis” before the pandemic, he added.
“We are at a defining moment for the world’s children and young people,” Guterres said.
Hawaii, Puerto Rico set records for deaths in a week
Hawaii and Puerto Rico set records for new cases in a week while four states had a record number of deaths in a week, A USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins data through late Monday shows. Record numbers of deaths were reported in Arkansas, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina and Puerto Rico.
The Puerto Rico Health Department said it will investigate the crowds of people in shopping centers who are failing to follow safety and protection protocols.
– Mike Stucka
Census Bureau to end all counting operations a month early
The Census Bureau plans to end all counting operations by Sept. 30, a month earlier than planned, the bureau’s director announced Monday. The bureau delayed its original date to complete the census from July 31 to Oct. 31 because of the coronavirus pandemic. The announcement comes after President Donald Trump signed a memorandum on July 21 asking the bureau to not count undocumented immigrants to decide how many members of Congress are apportioned to each state.
Hawaii may delay quarantine for travelers, again
Hawaii continued to experience a sharp surge in the number of COVID-19 cases on Monday, prompting Gov. David Ige to warn that the state may once again delay the start of a pre-travel testing program for travelers.
“If there are too many cases here and we haven’t stopped the increase, then we would be looking at delaying the September 1st date,” Ige said, referring to the current timeline for allowing out-of state visitors to bypass a 14-day traveler quarantine if they test negative.
Hawaii reported a record 207 additional cases of the disease on Monday. State officials said more than half were the result of delayed reporting over the weekend due to issues at Hawaii’s clinical laboratories. Even so, the number comes after multiple recent days of triple-digit increases.
Ex-WHO doctor Larry Brilliant predicts COVID-19 ‘doom and gloom’ for years
A California epidemiologist who was part of a World Health Organization team in the 1970s that helped eradicate smallpox predicts the world will be fighting the coronavirus for the next three to four years as virus hot spots skip from nation to nation and the pandemic’s toll will linger for decades.
But it’s “not all doom and gloom” with effective vaccines likely to emerge from dozens of candidates worldwide and effective treatments, including convalescent plasma and monoclonal antibodies, to help people recover more quickly, Dr. Larry Brilliant said.
“We will still be chasing the virus four years from now. But it won’t be like (today),” Brilliant told the USA TODAY Editorial Board on Monday afternoon. “It will be like the smallpox eradication program. The polio eradication program. Having yellow fever in some countries and not in others.”
– Ken Alltucker
COVID-19 deaths, infections and hospitalizations decreasing in Florida
Florida’s encouraging coronavirus trends continued Monday, with the number of COVID-19 patients in the hospital dipping slightly, deaths well below last week’s records and the positive test rate remaining in the single digits. Florida health officials reported just 4,752 new coronavirus infections Monday, a dramatic decrease when compared with the daily average for new infections last week, which was 9,327. That brought the statewide total to 491,884 cases.
The impact of testing sites closed due to a tropical storm were not immediately clear. While the number of new infections may be artificially suppressed by the lack of testing, the 73 new COVID-19 deaths reported Monday also is a big drop from the record highs recorded last week, when there were multiple days when deaths topped 200. Florida had 7,938 people in the hospital for COVID-19 Monday afternoon, down from 7,952 Sunday. There are nearly 1,000 fewer COVID-19 patients in the hospital right now compared to six days ago.
– Zac Anderson, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Deadline for NFL players to opt out of season due to coronavirus is Thursday
NFL players must make their decisions on whether to opt out of the 2020 season because of concerns over the coronavirus by 4 p.m. ET Thursday. The NFL owners and the NFL Players Association agreed to the terms Monday night, and the player body was notified of the arrangement shortly after, two people with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because the league and union had yet to announce the pact. The agreement letter was finalized Monday night. Originally, the NFLPA and owners had agreed to set the opt out deadline for seven days after the finalization of the modified Collective Bargaining Agreement.
But with final details of the economic aspects of the deal still unresolved, and as more than 40 players have opted out already, NFL owners wanted to nail down the opt out deadline. Teams worried that players who were unlikely to make rosters would simply use the opt out clause to ensure themselves a stipend of $150,000 to $350,000 rather than making the move with the health and safety of themselves and their families in mind.
More COVID-19 resources from USA TODAY
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However, state aid can vary significantly from person to person. It falls in a range between a minimum and maximum value. Most states pay minimums below $100 a week.
Hawaii, for example, pays $5 a week on the low end. It’s not much higher in other states like Louisiana ($10), Connecticut ($15), North Carolina ($15), Nevada ($16), Oklahoma ($16) and Delaware ($20), according to Labor Department data.
Arizona and Washington state have the highest minimums, just shy of $190 a week. The U.S. average is $61.
The federal unemployment supplement boosted these minimum payments by $600 a week.
HERE’S AN AMAZING FACTOID almost two weeks into the talks aimed at producing a Covid relief bill: The two sides have not resolved a single issue. Let us say this another way: Speaker NANCY PELOSI andSenate Minority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER have not come to complete agreement on anything with White House chief of staff MARK MEADOWS andTreasury Secretary STEVEN MNUCHIN.
THERE’S AN AXIOM in legislative politics that we oftentimes chuckle about: Nothing’s agreed to until everything is agreed to. That’s fair.
IN THIS CASE, nothing is agreed to because many of the main power centers have been unbending in these talks, and are particularly convinced of the wisdom of their arguments and positions:
— DEMOCRATS are the only ones who have passed a bill, and they haven’t really moved an inch from there. In truth, they seem to be waiting for Republicans to fold. Dems involved in the process believe that the pressure of the 2020 election — where vulnerable GOP senators are nervous about getting creamed — will get to Republicans. They may not be wrong. Sen. JOHN CORNYN (R-Texas), who is up comfortably in his race, suggested Monday the Senate should cancel the August recess.
JUST LISTEN HERE … PELOSI sounds like a leader confident in their negotiating position. PELOSI said this on a call with Democrats on Monday, per HEATHER CAGYLE: The two sides “are not together on an amount” for education funding. State and local cash is “still a zero” but Republicans will come their way, but they don’t “know it yet.” SNAP is “not where we need.” She said Dems and Republicans aren’t moving on unemployment benefits. Election money is a “big fight for us,” and she noted they were going back and forth on USPS money. PELOSI suggested no deal until next week.
— MEADOWS is bone tired with these negotiations, and seems to be ready for progress, or an escape hatch. HE IS GIVING THESE TALKS ANOTHER 24 HOURS, and then will try for a series of executive actions to solve some of the problems on the table — and, politically, claim unitary credit for President DONALD TRUMP.
— MNUCHIN, though, wants a deal, and is staunchly against executive actions — putting him in conflict with MEADOWS. He has cut two deals with Democrats, so he has some experience in these formats, and wants to keep talking.
IN THE CLOSED MEETING MONDAY AFTERNOON, SCHUMER ribbed the Republican negotiating pair. SCHUMER turned to MNUCHIN and said: You’re supposed to be a good influence on MEADOWS, he’s not supposed to be a bad influence on you. In other words,the MNUCHIN that cut deals with Democrats is being tempered by the conservative chief of staff.
MONDAY WAS YET ANOTHER modestly productive day. They ran through their policies, with Republicans questioning the Democrats’ numbers, and the Dems backing up what they had proposed.
THE MAIN STUMBLING BLOCK AT THIS POINT is still state and local money. SO IS SCHOOLS … Republicans and Democrats agree on the need, but disagree on how it should be applied.
REPUBLICANS have expressed interest in talking about SNAP — a big priority for Democrats — USPS money and broadband. There is some modest agreement on housing policy — eviction moratorium and mortgage forbearance — but still many loose ends to tie up.
UNTOUCHED, for the most part: the big policies like UI and a liability shield.
FRONTS: NYT… WSJ, with the story about TRUMP demanding a cut of the TikTok/Microsoft deal for the U.S.… N.Y. POST
Good Tuesday morning. TRUMP on JOHN LEWIS to Axios’ JONATHAN SWAN, in a terrific interview that aired on HBO last night. “He chose not to come to my inauguration”. 1:19 clip
TODAY,MEADOWS and MNUCHIN will be on Capitol Hill at 12:45 p.m. for the Senate GOP lunch, and then they’ll meet with PELOSI and SCHUMER at 3:30 p.m. Expect them to go over money — numbers — during the meeting. MEADOWS and MNUCHIN will then go to meet with Senate Majority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL.
CLASSIC CNN MANU RAJU: “As nation grapples with crisis, McConnell and Schumer aren’t negotiating — with each other”: “‘Ask him,’ Schumer told CNN on Monday when asked why he hasn’t been negotiating directly, one-on-one, with McConnell. Asked to characterize his relationship with McConnell, Schumer only said: ‘Look, he is the Senate leader, but he’s not in the room. And it’s hard to negotiate with someone who’s not in the room.’
“Schumer declined to comment further. ‘That’s all I’ll say,’ he said. In a brief interview last week, McConnell downplayed any rift in his relationship with Schumer. ‘Oh, I think it’s fine,’ McConnell told CNN when asked about their relationship. ‘We haven’t been able to have any real meetings lately, but it’s nothing personal in this.’
“Asked why the two of them aren’t trying to cut a deal, McConnell said: ‘Because you need the guy with the pen. You cannot make a deal unless you have the President involved. So the two power-centers on legislation are the President and the Democratic majority in the House and a substantial Democratic minority in the Senate.’”
NYT, A1: MAGGIE HABERMAN, EMILY COCHRANE and JIM TANKERSLEY: “With Jobless Aid Expired, Trump Sidelines Himself in Stimulus Talks”: “White House officials describe Mr. Trump as interested in the talks, but from a distance. He calls Mr. Meadows, a former House member, for updates nearly a dozen times on some days, and in general gets briefed in 10-minute increments from other aides.”
NEW: SUSAN PAGE’S new biography of PELOSI has a title, and a cover: “Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Power.” It will be out April 6, 2021. Page tells us that she’s had eight extended conversations so far with Pelosi and that she’s interviewed more than 150 people for the book, including her high school boyfriend in Baltimore and former President Barack Obama. The book will cover events through Election Day 2020.
— PAGE SAYS: “My goal has been to explain how Nancy D’Alesandro Pelosi became the most powerful woman in American history and to explore how she’s used that power. The book details how she’s managed to hold onto power against all challengers, and in showdowns with a series of presidents. It also shows a personal side to her that she rarely reveals.”
SEAN HANNITY talks to the L.A. TIMES’ STEPHEN BATTAGLIO.
STEVEN SHEPARD: “Census Bureau will finish count earlier than expected, deliver data to Trump”: “The Census Bureau said late on Monday that it would finish collecting data for the decennial count next month and work to deliver population tallies to President Donald Trump that meet his constitutionally questionable order to exclude undocumented immigrants for the purpose of congressional apportionment.
“The agency, which is part of the Commerce Department, had said this spring that it would require more time to complete its data collection because of the coronavirus pandemic. But amid a renewed push by Trump to remove those in the country without documentation from the count, Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham now says the data will be sent to the president by the end of the year — and not next spring, when Joe Biden could be in the Oval Office.”
YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS … WSJ ED BOARD ran an editorial with this headline: “Will Joe Biden Duck the Debates? There are growing calls to shield the former Veep from having to perform.” The only evidence they cite for these “growing calls” is an op-ed from Elizabeth Drew.
PRIMARY DAY — “Kansas set to decide Kobach’s fate — and possibly the Senate,’” by James Arkin and Ally Mutnick: “Republicans are about to learn if they have a serious problem in Kansas — and another major threat to their teetering Senate majority.
“In Tuesday’s primary, GOP voters will decide between hard-line conservative Kris Kobach and Rep. Roger Marshall as their nominee for an open Senate seat. Democrats haven’t won a Senate race in Kansas in nearly a century. But both parties think Kobach as the nominee would put the race squarely on the map, stretching Republican resources thinner as they’re already spending to protect a half-dozen vulnerable incumbents.
“Also on the ballot, House GOP operatives are paying close attention to embattled Rep. Steve Watkins (R-Kan.), who’s up against two primary challengers and a barrage of bad headlines over alleged ethical transgressions. If Watkins hangs on, Democrats are ready to pounce, despite the district’s pronounced pro-Trump tilt.” POLITICO
TRUMP’S TUESDAY — The president will participate in a signing ceremony for H.R. 1957 — the Great American Outdoors Act — at 10:30 a.m. in the East Room. He will have lunch at 12:45 p.m. with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the private dining room. Trump will receive his intel briefing at 2 p.m. in the Oval Office.
— KAYLEIGH MCENANY will hold a press briefing at noon.
PLAYBOOK READS
BETSY WOODRUFF SWAN: “Democrats to introduce legislation to tighten DHS intel oversight”: “Members of Congress responsible for oversight of the Department of Homeland Security will introduce legislation strengthening its internal civil rights office, they announced Monday. The move comes after POLITICO reported that a top DHS official limited the ability of that office to oversee the work of the department’s intelligence arm.
“Several months ago, the department’s second-in-command constrained the ability of DHS’ Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) to review intelligence products from the department’s Office of Intelligence & Analysis (I&A). After making that change, I&A released intelligence reports to law enforcement partners with information about journalists and protesters — sparking national criticism.”
MEDIAWATCH — THE KNIGHT FOUNDATION and GALLUP are out this morning with a new poll surveying 20,000 Americans about their views on the news media. Top findings: 84% think the media is critical or very important to democracy. 49% think the media is very biased. 8% think the media is trying to destroy society. And REPUBLICANS distrust the media much more than DEMOCRATS. The report
— PBS is premiering a new documentary from the MILLER CENTER, “Statecraft: The Bush 41 Team,” tonight at 10 p.m. The film centers on President George H.W. Bush’s foreign policy team through the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Gulf War, the collapse of the Soviet Union and more. Details
TRANSITIONS — Katherine Schneider will be deputy comms director for Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.). She currently is deputy comms director for Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas). … Ellen Sciales is now press secretary for Barbara Bollier’s Senate campaign in Kansas. She previously was an organizer for Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign in New Hampshire and North Carolina. …
… The Brookings Institution is adding Kristen Broady as policy director of the Hamilton Project and Sanjay Patnaik as director of the Center on Regulation and Markets. Broady previously was dean of Dillard University’s College of Business. Patnaik previously was an assistant professor at George Washington University.
WEEKEND WEDDINGS — Amanda House, director of video and deputy political editor at Breitbart News, and Nicholas Lombardi, an associate at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, got married Saturday at St. Rita Catholic Church, with a reception at Woodlawn, both in Alexandria, Va. They were introduced at a staged birthday party in Queens thrown solely for them to meet. They originally planned to marry in April before postponing due to the pandemic. Pic… Another pic
— Lauren Claffey, president of Claffey Communications and a Trump DHS and Saxby Chambliss alum, recently married Brock Tomlinson, head of acquisitions at Bozzuto. They met at the D.C. jazz bar Soto in January 2018, and were married in front of their mask-wearing immediate family at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in D.C. Pic
BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Bob Cusack, editor-in-chief of The Hill. A trend he thinks doesn’t get enough attention: “The amount of missing and murdered Native American women in the U.S. The numbers are staggering.” Playbook Q&A
BIRTHDAYS: Former President Barack Obama is 59 … Sheldon Adelson is 87 … Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is 5-0 … Rep. Tom Rice (R-S.C.) is 63 … Rep. Jim Hagedorn (R-Minn.) is 58 … Bret Baier is 5-0 … WaPo’s Seung Min Kim … Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is 61 … Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is 58 … former A.G. Alberto Gonzales, now dean of Belmont University law school, is 65 … WaPo’s Joby Warrick is 6-0 … John Edgell (h/t Jon Haber) … Something Major’s Randi Braun … CBS’ Katie Watson … Kristine Bucci … Richard Carlbom, founder at United Strategies … Andrei Cherny is 45 … Caren Auchman, SVP and head of Lewis’ D.C. office … Alex Mallin of ABC … Minnesota A.G. Keith Ellison is 57 … Joel Bailey, chief of staff for Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) (h/t Mitchell Rivard) … Andrea Hechavarria of 3M (h/t Jeff Grappone) … Daniel Moss, columnist at Bloomberg Opinion … Amelia Irvine … CNN’s Cristina Alesci and Greg Krieg … Pete Brodnitz …
… USA Today’s Deirdre Shesgreen … Amazon’s Kartik Das is 3-0 (h/t Nihal Krishan) … Washingtonian editor Michael Schafferis 47 … POLITICO’s Ashley Ryan … Fritz Fitzpatrick … former U.S. Treasurer Rosario Marin is 62 … Susan Whitson … Robert Tuttle … Sinan Salaheddin Mahmoud … Brett Loper, EVP at American Express … David FitzSimmons … Jordan Maynard of Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker’s office … Nick Wing, media strategist at the Justice Collaborative, is 33 … Kate Michelman … IMG’s Maura McGreevy … Edelman’s Helen Lapkovsky … WaPo’s Mike Madden is 44 … Wendy Cohen … former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland is 79 … Daniel Son … Reagan Anderson … Jonathan Green … Sam Carmody … former Rep. Rob Andrews (D-N.J.) is 63 … Kaci Sturgeon … Derek Dash … Uber’s Hayley Prim … Valerie McCabe … Steve Rudin … Emil Hill … Chad Kolton is 47 … Martha Love … Anna Bennett … Lina Brunton (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) … Steve Kean … Paige Shipman
These companies have “brought a sense of crisis to US elites, which shows that China’s top companies have the ability to move to the forefront of the world in technology,” the Global Times said.
“When similar things happen time and again, the US will take steps closer to its decline. The US is a pioneer in global internet and has created Google, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. But in recent years, the US’ internet structure has been rigid,” it added.
U.S. moves against Chinese technology companies are happening as tensions between world’s two largest economies continue to rise. Some commentators have dubbed their relationship as the “new Cold War.”
Technology has been a key part of the dispute between the two nations, and TikTok is the latest to be dragged into the fight.
The social media app is perhaps one of the few Chinese companies to have found success in the American market. With Chinese technology firms expanding globally, one analyst recently told CNBC that the TikTok saga is part of Washington’s strategy to push back against the competition.
These companies have “brought a sense of crisis to US elites, which shows that China’s top companies have the ability to move to the forefront of the world in technology,” the Global Times said.
“When similar things happen time and again, the US will take steps closer to its decline. The US is a pioneer in global internet and has created Google, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. But in recent years, the US’ internet structure has been rigid,” it added.
U.S. moves against Chinese technology companies are happening as tensions between world’s two largest economies continue to rise. Some commentators have dubbed their relationship as the “new Cold War.”
Technology has been a key part of the dispute between the two nations, and TikTok is the latest to be dragged into the fight.
The social media app is perhaps one of the few Chinese companies to have found success in the American market. With Chinese technology firms expanding globally, one analyst recently told CNBC that the TikTok saga is part of Washington’s strategy to push back against the competition.
In order to meet that deadline, Dillingham said, “field data collection” will conclude by Sept. 30. Professional staff at the bureau has said that finishing the count by the end of next month is not possible after a pandemic-prompted delay in operations earlier this year.
Dillingham also said the bureau “continues its work on meeting the requirements” of two Trump orders: a July 2019 executive order that asked administrative agencies to collect data on undocumented immigrants in order to provide counts that states could use to draw state legislative maps that did not include those people; and a presidential memorandum from last month instructing the Census Bureau to calculate apportionment counts — the number of congressional seats each state will have in the next decade — without undocumented immigrants included.
“A team of experts are examining methodologies and options to be employed for this purpose,” Dillingham said.
Excluding these immigrants would likely benefit Republicans in future elections for Congress and the presidency. According to the University of Virginia Center for Politics, a count that did not include undocumented immigrants would mean California would lose two House seats, not the one seat the state is projected to lose in the next decade. Fast-growing Texas, increasingly a competitive state, would gain two seats instead of three. New Jersey would lose a seat.
Alabama and Ohio, meanwhile, would each gain a seat under a count that excluded undocumented immigrants — though they are not currently projected to gain seats under a conventional count.
Democrats and other groups have already moved to challenge Trump’s recent order, arguing that the Constitution does not allow the census to count some people in the country for the purposes of House apportionment and not others based on immigration status. The 14th Amendment says the House seats should be divided among the states “according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed.”
In his memorandum last month, Trump wrote that the Constitution “has never been understood to include in the apportionment base every individual physically present within a State’s boundaries at the time of the census. Instead, the term ‘persons in each State’ has been interpreted to mean that only the ‘inhabitants’ of each State should be included. Determining which persons should be considered ‘inhabitants‘ for the purpose of apportionment requires the exercise of judgment.“
Eric Holder, a former attorney general under President Barack Obama who leads the National Democratic Redistricting Committee and its affiliated nonprofit, said last month that Trump’s order “clearly” violated the Constitution.
“This latest scheme is nothing more than a partisan attempt at manipulating the census to benefit the president’s allies, but it plainly violates the U.S. Constitution and federal laws, and cannot stand,” said Holder, whose nonprofit group is supporting a lawsuit seeking to halt the administration’s move.
Trump has made numerous efforts to exclude undocumented immigrants from the count for the purposes of political representation. After the Supreme Court smacked down a move to add a citizenship question to the census last year, Trump‘s 2019 order asked other government agencies to provide data on citizenship that could be used to create a count of noncitizens.
At the time, administration officials said citizenship data could be used by the states to draw state legislative districts of equal population of citizens instead of all people — which would likely shift power from more densely populated cities to rural areas.
Like many aspects of public- and private-sector organizations, the coronavirus outbreak has roiled the Census Bureau‘s operations.In April, the bureau asked Congress to delay the requirement to submit apportionment data until the end of April 2021. But since then — as Trump’s poll numbers have faltered — the administration has pushed to meet its original deadlines.
At a hearing last week before the Democratic-controlled House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Dillingham repeatedly declined to say whether the bureau stood by its original request for an extension.
The House has already approved a provision extending the deadline. But the Republican coronavirus relief proposal in the Senate, on which the chamber has not acted, did not include an extension.
According to Dillingham’s statement, “nearly 63 percent of all households” have completed the census thus far.
“We will improve the speed of our count without sacrificing completeness,“ Dillingham said, adding that the bureau would “provide awards“ to employees “in recognition of those who maximize hours worked.“
WASHINGTON – The president on Monday said he was weighing executive action as Congress and the White House struggle to break the impasse over another emergency relief package to counter the coronavirus’ impact on U.S. families and the economy.
Negotiators on Monday signaled they’d made progress hashing out differences between Republican and Democratic proposals for the next stimulus package, though a deal remains far out out of reach and millions of unemployed Americans remain in financial limbo after a $600 weekly unemployment benefit expired on Friday.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Congress’ top Democrats, met again Monday with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for several hours, where they examined the competing proposals and went through specific dollar amounts in various areas in the two bills.
“It was productive, we’re moving down the track,” Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters after the meeting in her Capitol Hill office. “But we still have our differences. We’re trying to have a clearer understanding of what the needs are.”
Mnuchin said both sides were “a little bit” closer to a deal but Meadows noted that they were still far apart.
It was the latest meeting between the four, who worked last week and through the weekend to discuss any potential middle ground between the Democrats’ $3 trillion bill and a $1 trillion Republican proposal.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump on Monday floated the possibility of taking unilateral action if a deal could not be made with Democrats, claiming he has the power to step in and curtail Congress should there be a need. The president specifically noted the moratorium on housing evictions that recently expired.
“A lot of people are going to be evicted but I’m going to stop it because I’ll do it myself if I have to,” Trump said at the White House. “I have a lot of powers with respect to executive orders and we’re looking at that very seriously right now.”
Later Monday, Trump also said he was examining executive action on a payroll tax cut, something he has repeatedly demanded be part of various coronavirus legislation but has been met with blunt rejection from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. It is not clear whether Trump has the power to make such a move, and it would likely be challenged legally.
“I can do that also through an executive order so we’ll be talking about that but we’re having a very good discussion with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer,” the president said at a press conference Monday evening.
He noted the hurdles and his opposition to Democrats wanting to send more funds to state and local governments that have had their budgets decimated due to the pandemic.
“The problem is they want to do bailouts of their various Democrat-run states and cities,” Trump said. “We don’t think that’s fair.”
As the talks continue on Capitol Hill, big divisions remain on the $600 boost to unemployment, which Democrats want to extend until at least January and Republicans have argued is too high and disincentivizes Americans from going back to work. The bonus bolsters state benefits that average nationally about $370 a week.
There are also differences on a host of items, from funds for state and local governments and the post office, areas important to Democrats, and liability insurance for businesses, something Republicans have said is a requirement in any next bill.
The Senate this week is set to take action on the expired boosted unemployment benefit but it’s unclear whether any measure will pass as Democrats have dug in their heels against a piecemeal approach to passing additional funds to counter the pandemic. Senate Republicans last week attempted to pass a one-week extension on the $600 benefit but Democrats blocked the proposal, arguing it would still lead to lapses in funds getting to families and stressed for Republicans to work with them on a long-term solution.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., assailed Democrats Monday in a Senate floor speech, arguing it is “time for the Democratic leadership to get serious about making law for the American people.”
“The Speaker of the House and the Democratic Leader are continuing to say our way or the highway with the massive wish-list for left-wing lobbyists they slapped together a few weeks ago and called a coronavirus bill,” he said. “These are not the tactics that would build a bipartisan result. These are not the tactics that will get more cash in Americans’ pockets, more help to the unemployed, and more assistance for schools to re-open.”
Is the Trump campaign under pressure to reset before the election? Trump 2020 campaign press communications director Erin Perrine responds.
Former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign is leaving themselves room to keep the former vice president and presumptive Democratic nominee out of this fall’s scheduled presidential debates, Trump 2020 media communications director Erin Perrine told “The Story” Monday.
Earlier on Fox News, Biden deputy campaign manager and communications director Kate Bedingifeld told “America’s Newsroom” that Biden was the “one candidate in this race who has agreed to three debates”.
“The Trump campaign has actually not agreed yet to participate in the debates set by the presidential debate commission.”
Perrine told host Sandra Smith Monday night on “The Story,” that Bedingfield’s comment was misguided, saying that “President Trump will be debating Joe Biden if Joe Biden decides to show up.”
“Kate left herself a little bit of a trap door there in not concretely saying Joe Biden will actually debate President Trump,” Perrine said of Bedingfield. “She said he agreed to the debates but not actually if he would show up.”
“The American people deserve to see that exchange of ideas …,” Perrine continued. “We should be having those earlier because of the structure of the election process [and] early voting.
“We need to be able to have that exchange of ideas [and] show the stark contrast that exists between President Trump’s America First policies and Joe Biden’s plagiarism and policies of the past.”
New York City and most of the tri-state region are under a tropical storm warning through Wednesday morning, according to the National Weather Service. A flash flood watch was also issued from 6 a.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Wednesday.
Prior to Isaias’ arrival, a Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued for Queens, Brooklyn, Nassau County and parts of Suffolk County, expiring at 9:45 p.m. Monday. Fairfield, New Haven and parts of Middlesex counties were under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning until 10:45 p.m., as well as parts of Westchester and Putnam counties.
“We expect impacts (heavy rain, wind, dangerous seas) to begin Tuesday into Wednesday,” the National Weather Service said.
New York City’s Office of Emergency Management issued a coastal flood watch for parts of Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, from 8 p.m. Tuesday through 2 a.m. Wednesday.
Isaias weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm Saturday, but strengthened as expected Monday will likely bring heavy rain and flooding along the East Coast this week. The threat of tornadoes is also possible.
Bands of heavy rain from the tropical storm lashed Florida’s east coast Sunday.
Officials in Myrtle Beach ordered swimmers out of the water Monday and downtown Charleston braced for potential flooding.
In North Carolina, officials were wrapping up evacuations of Ocracoke Island, which took a beating last year from Hurricane Dorian.
Impact on New York, New Jersey
The National Hurricane Center expects Isaias to arrive in the tri-state area Tuesday.
Heavy rain and gusty winds will begin Tuesday morning and increase by the afternoon and into the evening.
Rainfall of between 2 and 4 inches, with locally higher amounts possible, is predicted for New York City, coastal New Jersey, Long Island and Connecticut. Over western New Jersey and the interior Hudson Valley, 4 to 6 inches of rain are possible.
Coastal flooding will be possible during times of high tide Tuesday, before the system moves out of the area overnight into Wednesday.
Winds of 35 to 40 mph, with higher gusts near 50 to 60 mph, could cause damage to structures, bring down tress and power lines and cause outages.
Gov. Phil Murphy reminded New Jersey residents to avoid unnecessary travel and report power outages.
“There is the possibility for some trees to come down and power outages. If you experience a power outage, please call it in immediately to your electric utility,” Murphy said during a coronavirus briefing Monday. “Do not attempt to drive into any flood waters.”
New York City Office of Emergency Management has activated its flash flood plan. Crews have been clearing streets and catch basins in flood-prone areas of the five boroughs since Saturday.
The OEM’s downed tree task force has been put on alert and crews have installed flood barriers along a one-mile stretch of lower Manhattan, where a storm surge of about 1 to 2 feet is possible, according to OEM Commissioner Deanne Criswell.
Officials with Con Edison, meanwhile, are urging customers to register on the utility’s website to make reporting power outages easier. Customers can sign up to receive power outage alerts and updates on their phones.
Generators, pumps, large-scale vehicles and other storm-related equipment are being moved downstate ahead of the storm’s projected arrival, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
The MTA is also warning New Yorkers to avoid unnecessary travel on Tuesday. Commuters may experience significant delays or disruptions in service on Tuesday and should plan extra travel time.
The Metro-North Railroad will run on a weekend schedule Tuesday.
The authority also banned empty tractor-trailers and tandem trucks from MTA bridges due to the predictaed strong winds.
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