Summary
That’s all from me and my colleagues today. Here’s what we covered:
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg was hospitalized after she had a fever and chills, according to the supreme court. Ginsburg will receive antibiotic treatment for possible infection.
- Donald Trump said signed an executive order ending special status for Hong Kong, at a Rose Garden press conference. He also said he signed legislation sanctioning China for suppressing freedoms in Hong Kong, following a Chinese national security law that gives Beijing unprecedented power over Hong Kong. He spent most of the press conference criticizing Joe Biden, in what closely resembled a campaign speech.
- The Dakota Access pipeline was allowed to continue pumping oil after an appellate court issued a stay on a lower court order requiring that the pipeline stop operations by 5 August.
- Trump responded to a question on the police killing of George Floyd by saying more white Americans are killed by police. Asked in a CBS News interview why black Americans are “still dying at the hands of law enforcement in this country,” Trump replied, “So are white people. ... More people, by the way. More white people.” White Americans make up a majority of those killed by police, but black Americans are roughly 3.5 times more likely to be killed by law enforcement, according to a 2018 study.
- The Trump administration has agreed to rescind its controversial policy on foreign student visas. District Judge Allison Burroughs announced at a hearing today that the government reached an agreement with Harvard and MIT to rescind the policy, which would have required foreign students to leave the country if they are earning their degrees entirely online because of the coronavirus pandemic.
-
Ghislaine Maxwell was denied bail in New York. Maxwell also pleaded not guilty to changes linked to her alleged involvement in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking.
- Joe Biden unveiled his $2tn clean energy proposal aimed at reinvigorating the US economy, which has suffered greatly as a result of the pandemic. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee delivered a speech on the plan in Wilmington, Delaware, saying, “We won’t just tinker around the edges. We’re going to make historic investments that will seize the opportunity and meet this moment in history.”
- The US carried out its first federal execution in 17 years. Convicted murderer Daniel Lewis Lee was put to death at a federal prison in Indiana after the supreme court issued a late night, 5-4 decision allowing the execution to proceed.
Updated
Representative Steve Watkins, a Republican of Kansas, was charged with three felonies and a misdemeanor over allegations that he illegally voted in a 2019 municipal election.
Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay announced the charges as Watkins was scheduled to appear at a debate with his primary challengers. Watkins used a Topeka UPS store as his voter registration address in 2019, allegedly using an alternate address to obscure that he was living with his parents at the time. He has been accused of voting in the wrong district and interfering with law enforcement among other charges.
Dakota Access Pipeline allowed to remain operational for now, after an appellate court ruling
A federal appellate court agreed to temporarily freeze a lower court order shutting down the Dakota Access Pipeline, allowing the pipeline to stay operational.
Earlier this month, a federal judge ordered developers to shut down the pipeline by August 5. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an administrative stay, which allows the pipeline to operate for now while the court considers whether the pipeline can continue pumping oil through what could be a lengthy appeals process.
Updated
From policy to public response, multiple factors put Black and Latino Americans disproportionately at risk of contracting and dying of Covid-19.
As reports of community spread grew, trends in racial disparities among who was contracting and dying of the virus became clear across the country in places such as New Orleans, New York and Chicago.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released after the New York Times sued the agency, confirmed what many had already known: of the nearly 1.5 million coronavirus patients in America thus far, Black people and Latino communities are disproportionately at risk of contracting and dying from the coronavirus.
Black and Latino people in America represent nearly a third of all cases and have been nearly twice as likely to die from the virus as their White counterparts. Many health experts contend the data underscores how racial bias shapes not just policy, but also public behavior during health crises.
Not only are Black and Latino Americans more likely to lack health insurance or live in areas without quality facilities, unconscious racial bias among medical professionals can also contribute to unequal health outcomes, with patients of color more likely to have their symptoms overlooked or pain disbelieved. Some experts point to people of color who later died of Covid-19 who were previously turned away as evidence of bias playing out in the pandemic.
Updated
One week after police in Phoenix, Arizona, were caught on camera surrounding a parked car and killing a man inside, a young woman is coming forward with footage of a brutal assault by another officer in the department.
Mariah Valenzuela, 23, was pulled over one night in January for a minor traffic violation. Body-camera footage obtained by the Guardian shows that the officer involved, Michael McGillis, would not tell the unarmed woman why he stopped her, and that seconds after she said she didn’t have ID on her, he tackled and slammed her on to the ground, injuring her head, face, hands and legs.
Police footage also documents another officer instructing the policemen on the scene to “cover your ass” in the paperwork.
Following the incident, Valenzuela was taken to jail, accused of resisting arrest and “creating a substantial risk of physical injury” to an officer. She was also cited for DUI even though her blood alcohol content was well below the legal limit.
“He grabbed me and threw me on my car and kept slamming my head,” Valenzuela, a mother of two, said in a recent interview about the officer’s sudden use of force. “I was really afraid. It was dark and there was no one around.”
Throughout his speech, in attacking Joe Biden, Trump has repeated several false claims.
Trump: “Think of this: If we didn’t do testing — instead of testing over 40 million people, if we did half the testing we’d have half the cases.”
Fact: This is an obvious one, but testing fewer Americans doesn’t mean that we’d have fewer coronavirus cases, we’d just be reporting fewer of them. People with the infection who aren’t able to get tested could unknowingly spread the infection to others, exacerbating the crisis.
Trump: The president said Joe Biden’s son Hunter was “jobless” when he was appointed to the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company.
Fact: Hunter Biden was employed at a law firm, and as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University at the time. He was CEO of his own investment advisory company.
Trump: He said Biden would “abolish law enforcement as we know it.”
Fact: Joe Biden’s platform does not include any proposal to abolish law enforcement.
These are just a few fact-checks, of a slew of misleading and false statements from the president.
Donald Trump is continuing to deliver what sounds like a prepared campaign speech form the Rose Garden, revisiting unfounded allegations against Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden and attacking his Democratic opponent directly.
The top news line is Trump’s executive order, which ends Hong Kong’s favored trading status, in reaction to a Chinese national security law the administration says has undermined Hong Kong’s autonomy.
In late June, my colleague Lily Kuo reported on the developments in Hong Kong. The controversial national security law gives Beijing unprecedented powers over Hong Kong, laying out “penalties as severe as life imprisonment for the crimes secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces” she wrote:
The measure deals a devastating blow to Hong Kong’s autonomy as promised under the “one country, two systems” framework, the terms of the former British colony’s handover to Chinese control in 1997. Rights advocates and legal scholars believe the law will be used broadly to stifle dissent.
Read more background:
Updated
More on Ginsburg: The justice is “resting comfortably and will stay in the hospital for a few days to receive intravenous antibiotic treatment”, according to a statement from the supreme court.
She had a fever on Monday night and underwent a procedure to clean out a bile duct stent that was inserted in August, according to the statement. In May, Ginsburg underwent treatment for a gallbladder condition.
Updated
Trump has signed an executive order ending special status for Hong Kong
“Hong Kong will now be treated the same as mainland China. No special privileges, no special economic treatment and no export of sensitive technologies,” he said at the Rose Garden press conference.
From there, Trump went on to hit common campaign points, attacking Joe Biden for being weak on China and lashing out at Democrats. Trump also touted stock market gains, largely ignoring the coronavirus crisis so far.
Updated
Ginsburg is hospitalized
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is reportedly in the hospital, seeking treatment for a possible infection. Stay tuned for more details.
JUST IN: #SCOTUS Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg hospitalized. pic.twitter.com/6pZ5oShvyn
— Nicole Ninh (@nicninh) July 14, 2020
Ginsburg, 87, is the oldest judge on the supreme court, which just wrapped up a set of historic rulings in June.
Updated
Hi there, it’s Maanvi Singh - blogging from the West Coast.
We’re awaiting Donald Trump, who is set to speak at the Rose Garden shortly. Stay tuned for more live coverage.
Today so far
That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- Trump responded to a question on the police killing of George Floyd by saying more white Americans are killed by police. Asked in a CBS News interview why black Americans are “still dying at the hands of law enforcement in this country,” Trump replied, “So are white people. ... More people, by the way. More white people.” White Americans make up a majority of those killed by police, but black Americans are roughly 3.5 times more likely to be killed by law enforcement, according to a 2018 study.
- The Trump administration has agreed to rescind its controversial policy on foreign student visas. District Judge Allison Burroughs announced at a hearing today that the government reached an argreement with Harvard and MIT to rescind the policy, which would have required foreign students to leave the country if they are earning their degrees entirely online because of the coronavirus pandemic.
-
Ghislaine Maxwell was denied bailed in New York. Maxwell also pleaded not guilty to changes linked to her alleged involvement in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking.
- Joe Biden unveiled his $2tn clean energy proposal aimed at reinvigorating the US economy, which has suffered greatly as a result of the pandemic. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee delivered a speech on the plan in Wilmington, Delaware, saying, “We won’t just tinker around the edges. We’re going to make historic investments that will seize the opportunity and meet this moment in history.”
- The US carried out its first federal execution in 17 years. Convicted murderer Daniel Lewis Lee was put to death at a federal prison in Indiana after the supreme court issued a late night, 5-4 decision allowing the execution to proceed.
The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
Studies have repeatedly shown that black Americans are more likely to be killed by police than white Americans.
More Americans have become aware of that discrepancy in recent months, as protests in reponse to the police killing of George Floyd spread across the country.
According to an AP-NORC poll taken in June, 61% of Americans say police are more likely to use deadly force against black people, up from 49% in July 2015.
So when Trump downplays the disproportionately high threat faced by black Americans, he is out of step with a majority of the country.
Another study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine in 2016 found that white Americans make up a majority of those killed by police, but the study noted black Americans made up a disproportionately high percentage of the victims.
“Victims were majority white (52%) but disproportionately black (32%) with a fatality rate 2.8 times higher among blacks than whites,” the study reads.
“Most victims were reported to be armed (83%); however, black victims were more likely to be unarmed (14.8%) than white (9.4%) or Hispanic (5.8%) victims.”
Asked about George Floyd, Trump says white people also killed by police
Trump pushed back against a question on the police killing of George Floyd, whose death sparked nationwide protests over racism and police brutality.
In interview with @realDonaldTrump, @CBS_Herridge asked the president why he thinks African Americans are still dying at the hands of law enforcement in this country. His answer is revealing. See more on @cbseveningnews and @cbsthismorning. pic.twitter.com/6VQFpqB8AT
— Ed O'Keefe (@edokeefe) July 14, 2020
In a CBS News interview, Trump described the killing of Floyd as “terrible.” He was then asked by reporter Catherine Herridge why black Americans are “still dying at the hands of law enforcement in this country.”
Trump replied, “So are white people. So are white people. What a terrible question to ask. So are white people.” He added, “More people, by the way. More white people.”
But a 2018 study showed black Americans are roughly 3.5 times more likely to be killed by law enforcement than white Americans.
In the CBS interview, Trump also described the debate over displaying the Confederate flag as a freedom of speech issue.
“All I say is freedom of speech. It’s very simple. My attitude is freedom of speech,” Trump said. “Very strong views on the Confederate flag. With me, it’s freedom of speech. Very simple. Like it, don’t like it, it’s freedom of speech.”
Critics have argued the Confederate flag is a symbol of white supremacy that has no place in modern-day America, and Nascar recently announced the flag would be banned at their races.
Updated
Redfield: Fall and winter will be 'one of the most difficult times' in US public health
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offered a grim prediction for how coronvirus will impact the US in the months to come.
Speaking during a webinar with the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr Robert Redfield said, “I do think the fall and the winter of 2020 and 2021 are going to be the probably one of the most difficult times that we experienced in American public health.”
Redfield emphasized it was crucial that Americans do everything they can to avoid overwhelming the healthcare system. “Keeping the healthcare system from being overstretched, I think, is really going to be important,” Redfield said. “And the degree that we’re able to do that, I think, will define how well we get through the fall and winter.”
A number of public health experts have warned a “second wave” of coronavirus infections is likely later this year, but members of the Trump administration have downplayed or outright dismissed such predictions.
Updated
Trump administration agrees to rescind policy on foreign student visas
The Trump administration has agreed to rescind its controversial policy on foreign student visas during the coronavirus pandemic.
The policy had sparked multiple lawsuits, including one from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
According to Bloomberg News, District Judge Allison Burroughs announced at a hearing today that the government reached an argreement with Harvard and MIT to rescind the policy.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced last week that foreign students who were earning their degrees entirely online could not stay in the US.
That announcement sparked outcry from students, universities and Democratic lawmakers, with many critics insisting the policy was an attempt by the White House to pressure universities to reopen.
Trump has repeatedly urged universities and schools to welcome students back this fall, despite concerns about the potential spread of coronavirus in classrooms and on college campuses.
Ghislaine Maxwell denied bail
Ghislaine Maxwell has been denied bail in New York, over charges arising from her alleged involvement in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking of minor girls, to which she has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, Maxwell faces up to 35 years in federal prison.
Prosecutors said the Briton was an extreme flight risk. Defence attorneys said she would be endangered by Covid-19 if held in custody. The judge, Alison Nathan, sided with federal authorities.
A slow build-up to an inevitable conclusion: Bail denied.
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) July 14, 2020
"We are hereby adjourned."
Maxwell’s trial date is scheduled for 12 July 2021. It is expected to take about two weeks.
Ghislaine Maxwell is appearing (via video link) in court in Manhattan today, for her arraignment and bail hearing, facing up to 35 years in jail over her alleged involvement in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking of minor girls. She has pleaded not guilty.
Federal prosecutors do not want Maxwell to make bail, arguing she poses a flight risk. The defence argues Covid-19 will pose a serious risk to their client’s health, if she is held behind bars. No decision on that yet – the trial date has been set for June 2021.
Victoria Bekiempis is in court for the Guardian, and she has been filing updates.
Prosecutors read a statement from one of Maxwell’s accusers,” she writes, “identified as Jane Doe. Maxwell, the statement said, ‘enjoyed drawing her victims in with perceived caring’. The same accuser also described Maxwell’s ‘sociopathic manner’.
“An Epstein accuser, Annie Farmer, spoke to the court by phone. Maxwell ‘tormented her survivors’, she said.
Maxwell was arrested earlier this month at a remote property in New Hampshire. On Tuesday US attorney Alison Moe recounted a remarkable tale:
A real estate agent involved in the property’s sale in November 2019 told an FBI agent two people seeking to buy it who introduced themselves as Scott and Janet Marshall “both had British accents”. The man said he was “retired from the British military and currently working on a book”. The woman said she was a journalist.
The woman who introduced herself as Janet Marshall was in fact Ghislaine Maxwell, Moe said.
Here’s Victoria’s report in full:
Updated
Joe Biden has just concluded his remarks in Wilmington, Delaware, on his plan to rebuild the American economy, which has suffered greatly as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee argued investing in clean energy could revitalize the US economy, describing the climate crisis as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to jolt new life into our economy.”
Biden promised bold change, saying, “We won’t just tinker around the edges. We’re going to make historic investments that will seize the opportunity and meet this moment in history.”
The quote was noteworthy considering one of Biden’s former primary rivals, Eiizabeth Warren, has previously said Democrats “can’t afford to just tinker around the edges.” Warren has now been named as a potential running mate for Biden.
Joe Biden repeatedly mocked some of Trump’s past comments about clean energy, which the president has previously expressed skepticism of.
“He said he doesn’t like LED because quote: ‘The light’s no good. I always look orange,’” Biden said in Wilmington.
In Septemeber, Trump said of energy-efficient light blubs, “The bulb that we’re being forced to use, number one, to me, most importantly, I always look orange.”
Biden also mocked Trump for his baseless suggestion that the noise from windmills, one form of clean energy, can cause cancer.
Biden unveils $2tn clean energy proposal
Joe Biden unveiled a clean energy plan, the second part of his “Build Back Better” proposal, in his remarks from Delaware today.
“When Donald Trump thinks about climate change, the only word he can muster is, ‘hoax,’” Biden said, referring to Trump’s previous claims that the crisis is fake.
“When I think about climate change, the word I think of is ‘jobs,’” Biden added. He said his proposal would create 1 million jobs in construction, engineering and manufacturing, helping the country to regain some of the economic ground last during the coronavirus pandemic.
Joe Biden: "When Donald Trump thinks about climate change, the only word he can muster is 'hoax.' When I think about climate change, the word I think of is 'jobs.' Good-paying union jobs that put Americans to work." pic.twitter.com/K6MKJ1PUKr
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 14, 2020
The new proposal outlines $2tn for clean energy infrastructure and other climate solutions, to be spent as quickly as possible in the next four years, what would be the Democrat’s first term in office. Last year, he proposed $1.7tn in spending over 10 years.
The new goals align Biden more closely with three primary opponents, the Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, the Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren and Jay Inslee, the Washington governor.
They follow the recommendations of a unity taskforce of Sanders and Biden supporters that was co-chaired by the New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who co-sponsored the Green New Deal.
Updated
Biden: 'Mr President, please listen to your public health experts'
Joe Biden is delivering remarks in Wilmington, Delaware, criticizing Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and outlining his plan for the country’s economic recovery.
Joe Biden: "It's gotten bad enough that even Pres. Trump finally decided to wear a mask in public."
— ABC News (@ABC) July 14, 2020
"I'm glad he made the shift—but Mr. President, it's not enough." https://t.co/gB6lBZI6X6 pic.twitter.com/M68jjM1jzT
“It’s gotten bad enough that even Donald Trump finally decided to wear a mask in public,” the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said of the recent surge in new coronavirus cases. “I’m glad he made the shift. But Mr. President, it’s not enough.”
Biden advised Trump to listen to public health experts, even though the White House has recently sought to cast doubt upon the credibility of Dr Anthony Fauci.
“Mr President, ‘Open everything now’ isn’t a strategy for success. It’s barely a slogan,” Biden said. “Mr President, please listen to your public health experts, instead of denigrating them. Do your job, Mr President. Because if we can’t deal with a public health crisis. we can’t deal with the economic crisis.”
The White House announced the president will hold a press conference in the Rose Garden at 5 pm ET today.
🚨🚨President @realDonaldTrump will hold a press conference in the @WhiteHouse Rose Garden today at 5PM.
— Judd Deere (@JuddPDeere45) July 14, 2020
It’s unclear whether Trump will actually take questions from White House reporters at the event, considering the president has not stayed for questions at some of his recent press conferences.
If Trump does take questions, he will likely be pressed on his push for schools to reopen this fall, despite the coronavirus pandemic, and the White House’s recent efforts to cast doubt upon the credibility of Dr Anthony Fauci.
Maxwell pleads not guilty to involvement in Epstein sex trafficking
Ghislaine Maxwell appeared in Manhattan federal court via video feed on Tuesday, for arraignment and bail arguments regarding her alleged involvement in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking of minor girls.
The video feed featured four panels, one showing Maxwell, one showing her defense team, one showing the judge, and one panel showing prosecutors. The audio kept cutting out.
The judge told Maxwell to inform her if the audio feed didn’t work.
“Thank you, your honor, I will do that,” Maxwell said with a refined voice.
The proceeding moved to Maxwell’s arraignment shortly thereafter.
“Ms Maxwell, have you had an opportunity to discuss the indictment in this case with your attorney?” the judge asked.
“I have, your honor...I have been able to discuss it, your honor, with my attorney.”
Maxwell waived a public reading of the indictment.
“And how do you plead?” the judge asked.
“Not guilty, your honor.”
Republican congressman Morgan Griffith announced he has tested positive for coronavirus, days after participating in a press conference on the need to reopen schools.
— Morgan Griffith (@RepMGriffith) July 14, 2020
“Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) today was informed that he tested positive for COVID-19,” Griffith’s office said in a statement.
“Upon developing possible symptoms, he took the test and has since been self-isolating. Although he does not currently have significant symptoms, he will continue to self-isolate as he performs his duties on behalf of Virginia’s Ninth Congressional District.”
The news comes less than a week after Griffith participated in a press conference to urge schools to reopen this fall, despite concerns about the spread of coronavirus in the classroom.
Griffith defended calls from the president and his allies to reopen schools by saying, “It’s about making sure that we mitigate the risks, which we can easily do. We can take care of the students; we can take care of the teachers.”
Rep. Morgan Griffith: "We also heard it's not a matter of safe versus unsafe. It's about making sure that we mitigate the risks which we can easily do, we can take care of the students, we can take care of the teachers." pic.twitter.com/C5xpc930Ti
— The Hill (@thehill) July 9, 2020
Today so far
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- The US carried out its first federal execution in 17 years. Convicted murderer Daniel Lewis Lee was put to death at a federal prison in Indiana after the supreme court issued a late night, 5-4 decision allowing the execution to proceed.
- Florida reported a record 132 coronavirus deaths in a single day. The grim figure brings Florida’s total coronavirus death toll to 4,409, as the state struggles to respond to a recent surge in new cases.
- Adm. Brett Giroir pushed back against a baseless claim, retweeted by the president, that the CDC is lying about coronavirus. Giroir, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, acknowledged mistakes in the government’s response to the pandemic, but he added, “None of us lie. We are completely transparent with the American people.”
The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
New York is expanding the list of states on its travel advisory, telling travelers from 22 states that they must quarantine for 14 days upon arrival.
New York's travel advisory has been expanded to 22 states.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) July 14, 2020
If you're traveling to NY from the following states you must self-quarantine for 14 days:
The states are: AL, AR, AZ, CA, FL, GA, IA, ID, KS, LA, MN, MS, NC, NM, NV, OH, OK, SC, TN, TX, UT, WI.
Cuomo, along with the governors or New Jersey and Connecticut, announced last month that travelers from states with high levels of community spread of coronavirus would have to quarantine after arriving.
Today, New York added Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio and Wisconsin to the list of impacted states and removed Delaware from the list.
The update comes one day after Cuomo announced out-of-state travelers would be required to provide their contact information upon arrival in New York. The Democratic governor warned those who refuse to do so could face a $2,000 fine.
Attorney general William Barr said “justice was done” in the execution of Daniel Lewis Lee, which took place this morning, making it the first federal execution since 2003.
Statement by Attorney General William P. Barr on the Execution of Daniel Lewis Lee https://t.co/J62ZoG5Pna
— Justice Department (@TheJusticeDept) July 14, 2020
“Today, Lee finally faced the justice he deserved,” Barr said in a statement released by the justice department.
“The American people have made the considered choice to permit capital punishment for the most egregious federal crimes, and justice was done today in implementing the sentence for Lee’s horrific offenses.”
Barr announced last year that the federal government was resuming capital punishment, which has only been carried out three times since the federal policy was reinstated in 1988.
The Trump administration faced a number of legal hurdles in advancing the policy, but the supreme court said Lee’s execution should move forward in a late night, 5-4 decision.
Ghislaine Maxwell is due to appear on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court via video feed for arraignment and bail arguments involving her alleged participation in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking of minor girls.
The British friend of Epstein is requesting bail, while prosecutors are fighting her release before trial.
The media presence at court prior to Maxwell’s appearance was quieter than one would expect. There was a queue outside the Downtown building, but not the thick throngs of journalists one often saw at major proceedings prior to COVID.
There were also fewer gawkers than normal. One couple walking by wondered aloud what was happening. “Oh, wait, I think that Jeffrey Epstein s--t” one of them remarked. Then, they kept walking.
The White House has released its readout of Trump’s call yesterday with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and the readout, unlike Canada’s, interestingly includes no mention of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The White House readout says, in full, “Yesterday, President Donald J. Trump spoke with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada. The two leaders recognized the significance of the historic United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) recently entered into force on July 1, 2020.
“President Trump reiterated that USMCA is an unprecedented achievement for all three countries that will help ensure our economies emerge stronger from coronavirus. President Trump also underscored concerns regarding China’s deceptive and coercive behavior.”
This morning, I spoke on the phone with @POTUS Trump. We focused on the new NAFTA, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ongoing situation in Hong Kong. We also discussed the Black Lives Matter movement and the need to end systemic racism. More on our call: https://t.co/hjOtnjNbvm pic.twitter.com/3ddXndf6wr
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) July 13, 2020
In contrast, Trudeau tweeted yesterday that the two leaders “also discussed the Black Lives Matter movement and the need to end systemic racism.”
The call comes less than two months after George Floyd was killed in police custody, sparking protests across the country and a nationwide reckoning over racism and police brutality.
Trudeau participated in a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Ottawa last month, during which protesters called on the Canadian prime minister to stand up to Trump on issues of racism.
Ivanka Trump is holding an event at the White House this morning aimed at encouraging unemployed Americans to “find something new” in their careers.
According to the White House, the president’s daughter and senior adviser will hold a virtual roundtable this morning with IBM executive chair Ginni Rometty and Apple CEO Tim Cook to mark the launch of her “Find Something New” ad campaign.
The AP has more on the ad campaign:
The opening ad in the ‘Find Something New’ campaign beginning Tuesday features ordinary people sharing their stories. A companion website provides links to training and other resources.
The Trump administration has long emphasized skills-based job and vocational training as an alternative to two- or four-year college degree programs, arguing that college isn’t for everyone and that many jobs don’t require a degree.
But the long-in-the-works effort has taken on a new sense of urgency after the coronavirus outbreak cost millions of people their jobs, many of which may be lost forever.
The campaign quickly attracted the mockery of liberal commentators, many of whom argued the slogan was callous in the middle of a recession caused by a global pandemic.
From a former National Security Council spokesperson under Barack Obama:
Telling people to get out there and "Find Something New" during a pandemic and depression is some of the most tone-deaf shit I have ever heard. Surprised the logo isn't @IvankaTrump stepping on a peasant as she struts into her castle. https://t.co/d8CSjG7cq3
— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) July 14, 2020
From a New York Times columnist:
Honestly just realized that #findsomethingnew is the actual White House hashtag for its response to the unemployment crisis and not a dark joke https://t.co/ny9xv7xzvC
— Michelle Goldberg (@michelleinbklyn) July 14, 2020
From an editor at large for the Daily Beast:
Ivanka will have to #FindSomethingNew when her dad loses his re-election this November.
— Molly Jong-Fast🏡 (@MollyJongFast) July 14, 2020
Florida sets new record in single-day coronavirus death toll
Florida has set a new record for the number of residents lost in a single day to coronavirus, as the state struggles to respond to a surge in new cases.
This morning, Florida reported 132 coronavirus deaths in the past day, bringing the state’s total death toll from the virus to 4,409.
Trump and other senior administration officials have pushed back against questions about the recent surge in cases by noting the death toll has not been rising as sharply.
However, a number of public health experts, including Dr Anthony Fauci, have noted the number of deaths often lags behind the number of new cases and warned the death toll could still see a sharp increase.
That grim predication now appears to be playing out in Florida, and other states may soon see similarly alarming numbers.
Louisiana’s attorney general will not be present to welcome Vice President Mike Pence today because he has reportedly tested positive for coronavirus.
The Advocate newspaper in Baton Rouge reports:
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry won’t be on the tarmac to greet Vice President Mike Pence later Tuesday morning because he has tested positive for coronavirus, according to an email blast to employees of the state Department of Justice.
‘Out of an overabundance of caution with the Vice President coming to our state, I was tested for Cornavirus,’ Landry wrote in the Tuesday email. ‘Though experiencing no symptoms, I tested positive for COVID-19.’
Landry wrote that he is quarantining, taking medications and remains asymptomatic. He contacted staffers in which he was in contact.
The news is likely not the backdrop Pence wanted as he travels to Louisiana to tour an emergency operations center and hold a roundtable discussion on reopening universities this fall.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany repeated a false claim about Joe Biden and the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee’s stance on police reform.
“Our police officers are selfless heroes, but ... Joe Biden calls them ‘the ENEMY,’” McEnany said in a tweet from her personal Twitter account.
Our police officers are selfless heroes, but
— Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) July 14, 2020
❌ Joe Biden calls them “the ENEMY”
❌ Ilhan Omar calls them “CANCER “
❌ AOC says must “DEFUND”
Police secure our streets and keep the peace. The radical left can’t have their way!
Vice President Mike Pence also made the “enemy” claim in a tweet last week, but fact-checkers have said the claim takes Biden’s comment out of context.
Biden was specifically talking about police officers coming into neighborhoods with military-grade equipment when he said last week, “Surplus military equipment for law enforcement: they don’t need that. The last thing you need is an up-armored Humvee coming into a neighborhood; it’s like the military invading. They don’t know anybody, they become the enemy; they’re supposed to be protecting these people.”
As the number of coronavirus cases continue to climb in many states, Trump is busy attacking the media on Twitter.
“Would be so great if the Media would get the word out to the people in a ‘fair and balanced’ way,” Trump said. “We will win anyway, but they are a far more difficult adversary than their Radical Left Do Nothing Democrat Partner!”
Would be so great if the Media would get the word out to the people in a “fair and balanced” way. We will win anyway, but they are a far more difficult adversary than their Radical Left Do Nothing Democrat Partner!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2020
“Fair and balanced” is the former motto of Fox News, Trump’s favorite new network that he has recently criticized for featuring commentators who challenge the president’s handling of the pandemic.
The president’s tweet comes as a number of battleground state polls show Joe Biden leading or running neck and neck with Trump, sparking fear among Repubicans that the president is running out of time to change the course of the election.
Four former directors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention penned an op-ed criticizing lawmakers for politicizing the health agency.
The four former directors -- Tom Frieden, Jeffrey Koplan, David Satcher and Richard Besser -- write in the Washington Post:
As America begins the formidable task of getting our kids back to school and all of us back to work safely amid a pandemic that is only getting worse, public health experts face two opponents: covid-19, but also political leaders and others attempting to undermine the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As the debate last week around reopening schools more safely showed, these repeated efforts to subvert sound public health guidelines introduce chaos and uncertainty while unnecessarily putting lives at risk.
The op-ed comes one day after Trump retweeted a message that accused the CDC (without evidence) of lying about coronavirus.
The White House has also recently sought to cast doubts upon the credibility of Dr Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert.
This is Joan Greve in Washington, taking over for Martin Belam.
The latest challenge in the country’s coronavirus crisis centers on whether schools should reopen this fall, with the president and many of his advisers pushing for schools to resume in-person instruction.
However, many school districts have said they don’t have the money to safely reopen next month and have urged lawmakers to allocate additional funds for education in the next coronavirus relief bill.
Trump initially took the opposite approach, instead threatening to withhold government funding from schools that don’t reopen.
However, the president and his team now appear to be changing their tune. Senior White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said yesterday that Trump was willing to consider additional funding for states and localities where schools have reopened.
Speaking to governors yesterday, Vice President Mike Pence reportedly said, “We’re in active discussions with leadership in the Congress about additional education funding support in the upcoming relief bill.”
But it’s still unclear how much money Congress will approve and when the House and the Senate will be able to come to an agreement on the bill.
"None of us lie" - member of coronavirus task force in Trump retweet rebuke
Adm. Brett Giroir has been doing the TV round this morning, and gave a pretty snappy response when he was asked about the accusation that Donald Trump retweeted yesterday that the CDC and “most” doctors were lying about the coronavirus outbreak.
Asked directly on NBC’s Today whether the CDC and other doctors are lying, Giroir, a top member of the White House coronavirus task force, said that mistakes have been made and that public guidance is updated when more is learned about the virus, “but none of us lie. We are completely transparent with the American people.”
Trump has said on several occasion that the virus will “just disappear.” Giroir said that is unlikely “unless we take active steps to make it disappear.” He appealed to people to wear masks, practice social distancing and to avoid bars and other tightly packed areas.
Asked by NBC News if he was bothered by the White House’s treatment of Dr Anthony Fauci over the last few days - the president has singled him out for criticism and there has been a negative briefing operation about him - Giroir didn’t answer directly, but said “none of us are always right and that’s just the way things are.”
Giroir also appeared to disagree with Trump and education secretary Betsy DeVos over school reopenings. Giroir said it was important to “get the virus under control” first. “And if we get the virus under better control, clearly kids can get back into school safely,” he said.
You can watch the interview segment here: Trump testing czar Brett Giroir – ‘None of us lie’ about coronavirus crisis
Richard Wolffe has a new column for us today - where he argues that Donald Trump may be no good at leading America – but he’s really, really good at lying
Credibility was one of the most potent weapons in America’s arsenal of soft power. The kind of potency that allowed Kennedy’s secretary of state to convince Charles de Gaulle to support his case against the Soviet Union in the Cuban missile crisis. Based on Kennedy’s word, not the photographic evidence. Today America’s credibility has been contorted to protect the feelings of one man-child, not the security of a nation. That’s why someone like Anthony Fauci is so deeply offensive to the factory of fraud built inside this White House.
Read it here: Richard Wolffe – Trump may be no good at leading America – but he’s really, really good at lying
US carries out first federal execution for 17 years
Associated Press are reporting that the US government on Tuesday carried out the first federal execution in almost two decades, putting to death a man who killed an Arkansas family in the 1990s in a plot to build a whites-only nation in the Pacific Northwest. The execution came over the objection of the victim’s family.
Daniel Lewis Lee, 47, of Yukon, Oklahoma, died by lethal injection at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.
“I didn’t do it,” Lee said before he was executed. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, but I’m not a murderer. You’re killing an innocent man.”
The decision to move forward with the execution - the first by the Bureau of Prisons since 2003 - drew scrutiny from civil rights groups and the relatives of Lee’s victims, who had sued to try to halt it, citing concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.
A late night 5-4 vote by the supreme court allowed the execution to proceed.
Executions on the federal level have been rare and the government has put to death only three defendants since restoring the federal death penalty in 1988, most recently in 2003.
Updated
Joe Biden to air his first general election campaign ad in Texas
Joe Biden is putting his first general election ad out in Texas today - a state which has been solidly Republican since 1980 but which polling numbers recently suggest may be in play in November. It’s tight, but some polls have even shown Biden with a lead.
Texas is one of the states being hardest hit with coronavirus at the moment, and that’s the focus of the ad, which is titled “Tough”.
In it, Biden says:
We can stop the spread but it’s up to all of us to do it. We have to step up and do both the simple things and the hard things to keep our families and our neighbors safe. Wear a mask. Wash your hands. Stay home if you can and socially distance when you go out
I want every single American to know, if you’re sick, if you’re struggling, if you’re worried about how you’re going to get through the day, I will not abandon you. We’re all in this together. We’ll fight this together, and together we’ll emerge from this stronger than we were before we began.
The spot will also air in North Carolina, Florida and Arizona.
Updated
Away from coronavirus for a moment, there’s still an election to be fought, and today Texas, Alabama and Maine have primaries going on. With the main attraction settled as Trump vs Biden, and the impact of Covid-19, there are a little more low-key than normal.
There are still a few interesting battles to watch out for though.
Jeff Sessions is trying to re-ignite his political career in Alabama, where he is in a run-off with former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville for a chance to unseat vulnerable Democratic Sen. Doug Jones. Given their high profile falling out, it is no surprise that Donald Trump has endorsed Tuberville.
Former White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson is also putting himself out there. He finished second in the 15-person field earlier in the year, and now is up against Josh Winegarner. The prize is a seat in a heavily-Republican district.
Candace Valenzuela is in the running for a Democratic nomination in Texas. Should she win and get elected, she would be the first Afro Latina in Congress
There’s more here: CNN – Primary elections and runoffs in Texas, Alabama and Maine: 9 things to watch in Tuesday’s down-ballot races
Geoffrey Kabaservice has written for us this morning about how he is not surprised about Florida’s reaction to the Covid-19 crisis. He identifies several factors peculiar to the state which may have had an impact:
Partisanship is hard-edged here, and not wearing a mask has become a mark of Republican tribal identity. Skepticism of science and experts, along with ingrained contrarianism – some otherwise sane Floridians I know resolutely maintain that the virus is a hoax, or no worse than seasonal flu – surely plays a role in some cases as well.
Floridians historically have shown a ferocious individualism and an unwillingness to abide by state government restrictions. In addition, the severe economic damage inflicted by the shutdown surely has made people more willing to engage in magical thinking about how the dangers of the virus have been inflated by the media and the establishment, including the mistaken belief that hot weather prevents virus spread.
Kabaservice also wonders about the long-term implications for US politics
The pandemic laid bare the incompetence of the Trump administration, which took much too long to put widespread testing in place and has yet to implement contact tracing on the scale that’s needed. But the pandemic also has shown the weakness of America’s federal structure and its insufficient state capacity relative to other developed countries, where governments have implemented more uniform and effective national responses. Perhaps one of the pandemic’s legacies will be greater citizen insistence on competent government.
Read it here: Geoffrey Kabaservice – I’m from Florida. Our coronavirus crisis doesn’t surprise me
Yesterday evening Orange County education leaders voted to recommend reopening schools without the mandatory use of masks or increased social distancing - although they do suggest there should be daily temperature checks, frequent handwashing and the use of hand sanitizer, alongside the nightly disinfection of classrooms
Jocelyn Gecker has been reporting for Associated Press from California on the school reopening debate. As she puts it, on one side are parents saying, let kids be kids. They object to masks and social distancing in classrooms arguing both could hurt their children’s well-being.
On the other side are parents and teachers who call for safeguards that would have been unimaginable before the coronavirus pandemic: part-time school, face coverings for all or a fully online curriculum.
“Don’t tell me my kid has to wear a mask,” Kim Sherman, a mother of three in the central California city of Clovis who describes herself as very conservative and very pro-Trump, told Gecker. “I don’t need to be dictated to to tell me how best to raise my kids.”
Some parents have threatened to pull their children and the funding they provide if masks are required. Hillary Salway, a mother of three in Orange County, California, is part of a vocal minority calling for schools to fully open with “normal social interaction.”
If the district requires masks for her son’s kindergarten class, she says, “I don’t know if my son will be starting his educational career in the public school system this fall.”
She wants him to feel free to hug his teacher and friends and can’t imagine sending him to a school where he’ll get reprimanded for sharing a toy. She started a petition last month urging her district to “keep facial expressions visually available” and helped organize a protest of over 100 people outside the district office, with signs saying, “No to masks, Yes to recess,” and “Let me breathe.”
Supporters argue that face coverings are ineffective, give a false sense of security, and are potentially detrimental.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says masks may help prevent infected people from spreading the virus to others and urged students and teachers to wear them whenever feasible. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered Californians to wear them in public.
Brooke Aston Harper, a liberal parent who attended a particularly spirited Orange County education board meeting recently, said it was “horrifying” that speakers were “imposing their small worldview on all of us.”
“I’m not looking for a fight, I just want us to take precautions,” said Harper, whose children are 4 and 6.
She also started a petition, calling on schools to follow state guidelines that include masks for teachers and students, constant social distancing on campuses and other measures.
“For each school board, the question is going to be: What does our community want, and who is the loudest?” she said.
“I will be wearing a mask, a face shield, possibly gloves, and I’m even considering getting some type of body covering to wear,” says Stacey Pugh, a fifth-grade teacher in suburban Houston. She hopes her Aldine district will mandate masks for students. “Come the fall, we’re going to be the front-line workers,” said Pugh.
Many small, rural communities argue they shouldn’t have to comply with the same rules as big cities, where infection rates are higher.
Craig Guensler, superintendent of a small district in California’s mostly rural Yuba County, says officials will try to follow state mandates. They have spent $25,000 on what he calls “spit guards, for lack of a better term” - clear Plexiglas dividers to separate desks at Wheatland Unified School District’s four schools.
Eighty-five percent of parents said in a survey they want their kids in school full time. Officials will space out desks as much as possible but still expect up to 28 in each classroom, Guensler said. Many parents are adamant their children not wear masks, and he suspects they will find loopholes if California requires them.
“Our expectation is we’re going to get pummelled with pediatricians writing notes, saying, ‘My child can’t wear a mask,’” he said.
Talking of fall reopenings, vice president Mike Pence is due in Baton Rouge, Louisiana today, and one of the items on his agenda is a visit to Louisiana State University’s Tiger Stadium to discuss colleges reopening, and how to get college sport up and running again.
His visit comes as the state becomes one of the nation’s coronavirus hotspots. It has seen an 18% increase in reported new daily cases over the last week, and has had nearly 80,000 confirmed cases since its first positive coronavirus test in March. Public health experts, though, say the actual infection rate is likely much higher.
Pence is also scheduled to meet with Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, members of the congressional delegation, and state health officials to talk about the state’s response to Covid-19, report the Associated Press.
“Louisiana has been on the radar, literally front and center, of the White House Coronavirus Task Force since the very beginning. We’ve never come off of that radar,” Edwards said. “I think that’s a big reason why the vice president chose to come to Baton Rouge and to Louisiana.”
In response to the spike in virus cases and hospitalizations, the Democratic governor enacted a statewide mask mandate for people ages 8 and older that took effect Monday. He also returned bars to take-out and delivery only. Restaurants, casinos, gyms, salons and other businesses remain open with occupancy restrictions.
Poll: 71% of Americans say sending kids back to school this fall is a "large or moderate risk"
There’s some new figures from Ipsos/Mori this morning having surveyed the American public about their attitude to coronavirus.
One the headline numbers is that a large majority of parents - 71% - say sending their child to school in the fall is a large or moderate risk. The Trump administration has been pushing hard for school to reopen, but it doesn’t seem like they are carrying the public with them on the issue. Only 8% reported thinking there was ‘no risk’.
Masks have also been a contentious issue. Ipsos/Mori found that 62% of people report wearing a mask at all times when leaving the home, with an additional 23% saying they sometimes wearing a mask. This is, Ipsos/Mori say, the highest level of mask use since tracking began in April.
The figures are based on 1,063 interviews which took place between 10 July and 13 July.
You can read the full report here: Ipsos/Mori – Despite seeing great risk, Americans slow to make major changes to deal with Covid-19
Kenya Evelyn has been in Washington for us reporting on the multiple factors that are putting Black and Latino Americans disproportionately at risk of contracting and dying of Covid-19.
Black and Latino people in America represent nearly a third of all cases and have been nearly twice as likely to die from the virus as their White counterparts. Many health experts contend the data underscores how racial bias shapes not just policy, but also public behavior during health crises. Not only are Black and Latino Americans more likely to lack health insurance or live in areas without quality facilities, unconscious racial bias among medical professionals can also contribute to unequal health outcomes, with patients of color more likely to have their symptoms overlooked or pain disbelieved. Some experts point to people of color who later died of Covid-19 who were previously turned away as evidence of bias playing out in the pandemic.
Read it here: ‘A slap in the face’: how racial bias dogs US coronavirus response at every level
One of the things about the spread of the coronavirus is that it has not been even across the country. Some states have been badly affected and are approaching their full ICU capacity - others seem relatively unscathed. The Washington Post has been tracking which states currently have the highest new daily incidences of Covid-19 cases per capita.
- Florida – 52 new daily cases per 100,000 residents
- Arizona – 48
- Louisiana – 42
- South Carolina – 34
- Texas – 33
- Georgia – 32
- Alabama – 30
- Idaho – 28
- Tennessee – 28
- Nevada – 27
- Mississippi – 26
- Arkansas – 23
- Utah – 21
- California – 21
The states least affected at the moment, with six or fewer new daily cases are Rhode Island, Puerto Rico, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wyoming, Hawaii, New Hampshire and Maine.
Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are also experiencing very low new daily case figures at the moment - three or fewer - though these states are coming down from very high peaks earlier in the year.
Bear in mind though that for once the Donald Trump argument about the more you test, the more you detect, is in play here. If there are two states with the same baseline incidence of Covid-19, the state with the more efficient testing regime will discover more of the cases. The numbers are still a useful guide though for the comparative impact on each state.
Hi, welcome to our live coverage of US politics and the coronavirus crisis for today. Here’s a quick run-through of the key points from yesterday and overnight, and a little bit of what we can expect today. There’s quite a bit on.
- There’s no coronavirus respite in sight. Yesterday the US recorded 61,492 new Covid-19 cases, the second highest day on record. Montana, North Dakota, Hawaii, Alaska and Idaho are among states seeing the fastest daily increases.
- Alabama, Maine and Texas have their primaries today. Jeff Sessions is running against Tommy Tuberville for a shot at his old seat in Alabama
- Roger Stone spoke to Fox News in his first interview since commutation
- Mary Trump’s explosive book about the president comes out today - yesterday a judge ruled that she was no longer gagged from talking about it or promoting it
- Ghislane Maxwell is due to appear in court via a video link
- Also in court, a judge permanently blocked Georgia’s six-week abortion ban, ruling that it violates the constitution
- Joe Biden will be announcing the environmental components of his “Build back better” policy platform later on
- Donald Trump is meeting Mike Pompeo this afternoon. Presumably China will be high up the agenda after the Chinese government imposed retaliatory sanctions on some US officials yesterday
I’m Martin Belam and I’ll be with you for the next few hours. You can get in touch with me at martin.belam@theguardian.com
