Summary
- New York governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed at least 11 women and violated state and federal law, an independent investigation found. The New York attorney general, Letitia James, announced the investigation’s findings at a press conference today. Based off contemporaneous notes and interviews with 179 people, the investigators’ report details how Cuomo inappropriately touched several state employees and made sexually suggestive comments to them.
- Cuomo denied the allegations, saying he “never touched anyone inappropriately”. “That is just not who I am, and that’s not who I have ever been,” Cuomo said, claiming that the independent investigation was flawed and politically motivated. James has strongly denied those claims.
- Joe Biden said he believes Cuomo should resign in response to the investigation’s findings. The president said back in March that Cuomo should resign and might be prosecuted if the investigation substantiated the allegations against him. When asked today if he still believes that, Biden said, “I stand by the statement.” When pressed on whether Cuomo should resign, Biden replied, “Yes.”
- Coronavirus hospitalizations in the US have reached the levels of last summer, with more than 50,000 Americans hospitalized as the Delta variant continues to spread. Almost all hospitalized patients are unvaccinated, and in a speech this afternoon, Biden again urged eligible Americans to get their shot as quickly as possible. Biden described the spread of the Delta variant as “a largely preventable tragedy that will get worse before it gets better”.
- New York will now require proof of vaccination to enter indoor restaurants and gyms, mayor Bill de Blasio announced at a press conference. The new policy will be phased in over the coming weeks and will take full effect starting the week of September 13. “It’s time for people to see vaccination as literally necessary to living a good and full and healthy life,” de Blasio said.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a ban on evictions for 60 days, in counties with high or substantial levels of coronavirus transmission. The moratorium “is intended to target specific areas of the country where cases are rapidly increasing, which likely would be exacerbated by mass evictions,” per the CDC.
– Joan E Greve and Maanvi Singh
Covid hospitalizations rise across US as hospitals say patients aren’t vaccinated
Covid-19 hospitalizations are surging across the US and stretched hospitals are warning that the overwhelming majority of coronavirus patients are unvaccinated and their serious sickness preventable.
More than 50,000 people were hospitalized across the US as of Monday, according to the US health department. This is significantly fewer people than during the peak in cases, deaths and hospitalizations this January, but similar to the rates last summer when coronavirus vaccines were still in development.
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr Rochelle Walensky, said on Monday: “While we desperately want to be done with this pandemic, Covid-19 is clearly not done with us, and so our battle must last a little longer.”
At least 70% of adults in the US have now received at least one Covid-19 vaccination shot, a threshold Joe Biden had hoped to reach by 4 July, when he had declared that America could expect to enjoy. The president was scheduled to discuss continued US vaccination efforts on Tuesday afternoon at the White House.
The CDC said 99.99% of people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 have not had a breakthrough case that resulted in hospitalization or death. As of 26 July, there were 6,587 known breakthrough cases, according to the CDC. Most of the cases, about 74%, occurred in adults 65 and older.
The US is seeing more new Covid-19 infections a day than it did last summer, with an average of 72,000 cases a day this month. Cases are still much lower than in January, when there were 250,000 new cases a day in the US.
Health officials are especially concerned about Florida, where cases are the highest they have been since the pandemic began.
On Monday, there were more Covid-19 hospitalizations in Florida than at any time in the pandemic. The chief executive of the Florida Hospital Association, Mary Mayhew, told MSNBC that about 95% of those hospitalized were unvaccinated.
In Louisiana, hospital workers are also warning that the increase in Covid-19 patients is overwhelming their facilities.
One of the state’s largest hospitals, Our Lady of the Lake medical center in Baton Rouge, enlisted the help of a 33-person federal disaster medical team to cope with the increase in patients. On Monday, the hospital said it was treating 155 Covid-19 patients and that each hour a person was being admitted with the infection.
“Our beds are full of patients with Covid-19 who are predominately unvaccinated,” said the hospital’s chief operating officer, Stephanie Manson, in a statement. “In the past two weeks, we have seen a rapid influx of younger patients under the age of 50 come into our hospitals with the Delta variant.”
Read more:
CDC issues eviction moratorium
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a ban on evictions for 60 days, in counties with high or substantial levels of coronavirus transmission.
From the CDC:
CDC is issuing a new order temporarily halting evictions in counties with heightened levels of community transmission in order to respond to recent, unexpected developments in the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the rise of the Delta variant. It is intended to target specific areas of the country where cases are rapidly increasing, which likely would be exacerbated by mass evictions.
Those violating the eviction moratorium will face fines and jail time.
Joe Biden said that a new eviction ban would probably face legal scrutiny, and would be a bit more limited and targeted than the previous ban.
Constitutional scholars told him that a renewed moratorium on evictions was “not likely to pass constitutional muster” following a supreme court opinion from Brett Kavanaugh stating that an extension of the ban would require congressional approval.
But, he said, an extension may be issued anyway. Even if it’s challenged, it would offer some coverage to struggling Americans while they wait for rental assistance to reach them. “At a minimum, by the time it gets litigated, it will probably give some additional time while we’re getting that $45 billion out to people who are in fact behind in the rent and don’t have the money,” Biden said.
Updated
An officer has died after being stabbed today at a transit station outside the Pentagon, the AP reports:
The Pentagon, the headquarters of the US military, was temporarily placed on lockdown after gunshots were fired Tuesday morning near the entrance of the building.
A Pentagon police officer who was stabbed later died, according to officials who were not authorized to discuss the matter and spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
More details about the violence were expected at a Pentagon news conference. The connection between the shooting and the stabbing of the officer was not immediately clear. The authorities did not immediately provide details or the sequence of events.
The incident occurred on a Metro bus platform that is part of the Pentagon transit center, according to the Pentagon Force Protection Agency. The facility is just steps from the distinctive Pentagon building, which is in Arlington County, Virginia, just across the Potomac River from the US capital.
An Associated Press reporter near the building heard multiple gunshots, then a pause, then at least one additional shot. Another AP journalist heard police yelling “shooter”.
A Pentagon announcement said the facility was on lockdown due to “police activity”. The agency responsible for security at the building, the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, tweeted shortly before noon that the scene of the incident was secure. The lockdown was lifted except for the area around the crime scene.
Read more:
‘No one’s invincible’: fresh mask mandates and rising Delta cases hit California
Erin McCormick in San Francisco reports:
A surge in Covid-19 infections, driven by the highly contagious Delta variant, has prompted San Francisco and six other counties in California’s Bay Area to reimpose mask mandates for indoor spaces, less than two months after experts in the highly vaccinated region celebrated what they hoped would be a return to normal.
In recent days, San Francisco’s infection rates have surged to nearly 20 times what they were at their lowest point in June and two of the city’s hospitals have reported that more than 200 of their own workers have tested positive for the virus.
“It teaches us that no one is invincible,” said Dr Peter Chin-Hong, an associate dean at UCSF who specializes in infectious diseases.
The surge in cases comes as California and the nation have seen continued increases in infections, with federal officials acknowledging that “the war has changed” and the new Delta variant is as contagious as chicken pox.
The return to mask wearing sees the San Francisco Bay Area join other parts of the state, including Los Angeles and Sacramento, that have already reimposed mandates as cases climb across the state.
New California cases have jumped from fewer than 900 a day at the end of May to more than 9,000 a day now, according to state data. Nationally, new cases hit a low point in late June of about 12,000 per day, but they have now shot up to more than 78,000 a day, according to data from the New York Times.
Read more:
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:
- New York governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed at least 11 women and violated state and federal law, an independent investigation found. The New York attorney general, Letitia James, announced the investigation’s findings at a press conference today. Based off contemporaneous notes and interviews with 179 people, the investigators’ report details how Cuomo inappropriately touched several state employees and made sexually suggestive comments to them.
- Cuomo denied the allegations, saying he “never touched anyone inappropriately”. “That is just not who I am, and that’s not who I have ever been,” Cuomo said, claiming that the independent investigation was flawed and politically motivated. James has strongly denied those claims.
- Joe Biden said he believes Cuomo should resign in response to the investigation’s findings. The president said back in March that Cuomo should resign and might be prosecuted if the investigation substantiated the allegations against him. When asked today if he still believes that, Biden said, “I stand by the statement.” When pressed on whether Cuomo should resign, Biden replied, “Yes.”
- Coronavirus hospitalizations in the US have reached the levels of last summer, with more than 50,000 Americans hospitalized as the Delta variant continues to spread. Almost all hospitalized patients are unvaccinated, and in a speech this afternoon, Biden again urged eligible Americans to get their shot as quickly as possible. Biden described the spread of the Delta variant as “a largely preventable tragedy that will get worse before it gets better”.
- New York will now require proof of vaccination to enter indoor restaurants and gyms, mayor Bill de Blasio announced at a press conference. The new policy will be phased in over the coming weeks and will take full effect starting the week of September 13. “It’s time for people to see vaccination as literally necessary to living a good and full and healthy life,” de Blasio said.
Maanvi will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
Biden calls on Cuomo to resign after investigation corroborates harassment allegations
After concluding his prepared remarks, Joe Biden took several questions from reporters, and – no surprise – the first question was about New York governor Andrew Cuomo.
A CNN reporter asked the president whether he stood by his comments from March, when he said Cuomo should resign and might be prosecuted if an investigation substantiated the sexual harassment allegations against him.
“I stand by the statement,” Biden said. When pressed on whether Cuomo should resign, Biden replied, “Yes.”
Asked about Cuomo potentially being impeached, Biden said he was taking things one step at a time to see how the situation would unfold, although the governor has given no indication he intends to resign.
Biden also told reporters that he has not spoken to Cuomo since the New York attorney general announced the investigation had found that the governor sexually harassed at least 11 women.
Updated
Joe Biden criticized the Republican governors who have banned local leaders from implementing mask requirements, even as coronavirus case numbers rise due to the spread of the Delta variant.
“What are we doing?” Biden said, adding that the pandemic is a “national challenge” that requires the whole country to come together to address it.
The president noted that two states with relatively low vaccination rates, Florida and Texas, now account for one-third of all Covid cases in the country.
“I say to these governors: please help,” Biden said. “But if you aren’t going to help, at least get out of the way of the people who are trying to do the right thing. Use your power to save lives.”
Biden: Delta has created 'a largely preventable tragedy that will get worse before it gets better'
Joe Biden is now delivering remarks on his administration’s vaccination efforts, as hospitalizations rise in the US due to the spread of the Delta variant.
The president described the spread of the Delta in the US as “a largely preventable tragedy that will get worse before it gets better”.
Biden argued that this latest surge in cases is different from past surges because the US now has the tools to limit the spread of the virus, in the form of vaccines.
Underscoring the effectiveness of the coronavirus vaccines, the president noted that the recent rise in cases has not sparked a comparable rise in hospitalizations and deaths, even though hospitalizations have increased.
Data shows most of the Americans now being hospitalized and dying of coronavirus have not been vaccinated. The disparity has created what Biden called “a pandemic of the unvaccinated”.
Pelosi joins other prominent Democrats calling for Cuomo's resignation
House speaker Nancy Pelosi is the latest prominent Democrat to call for New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s resignation after an independent investigation found he had sexually harassed at least 11 women.
“Under Attorney General Letitia James, a comprehensive and independent investigation into the allegations against Governor Cuomo has been completed,” the Democratic speaker said in her short statement.
“As always, I commend the women who came forward to speak their truth. Recognizing his love of New York and the respect for the office he holds, I call upon the Governor to resign.”
Both of New York’s senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, have already called for Cuomo’s resignation, along with many other New York officials.
Joe Biden is expected to soon deliver remarks on his administration’s vaccination efforts and will then take questions from reporters, who will almost certainly press him on whether he believes Cuomo should resign. Stay tuned.
Biden expected to announce new federal eviction moratorium - reports
Joe Biden plans to announce a new federal moratorium on evictions for regions that have been hard hit by the Delta variant of coronavirus, according to multiple reports.
The New York Times reports:
White House aides and officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were working out details of a potential deal on Tuesday that could include a new freeze that would remain in place for up to 60 days, but officials involved in the process warned that the situation was in flux and no final decisions had been made.
The new ban would cover about 90 percent of renters in the country, according to a Democratic leadership aide briefed on the proposal.
Creating a new moratorium to deal with the recent spike in coronavirus rates is an attempt to deal with concerns that extending the previous moratorium without congressional approval would run afoul of the Supreme Court, the officials said.
The last moratorium, which had been repeatedly extended to protect renters who were financially impacted by the pandemic, expired on Saturday with no replacement in effect.
It’s still possible that the new moratorium could run into legal issues, as the supreme court ruled last month that an extension of the current moratorium beyond July 31 would require congressional authorization.
The news comes after a group of progressive lawmakers, led by congresswoman Cori Bush, spent days staying overnight on the Capitol steps to protest the expiration of the moratorium.
Albany county DA is conducting an 'ongoing criminal investigation' into Cuomo
The Albany county district attorney’s office confirmed it is conducting a criminal investigation into sexual harassment allegations against governor Andrew Cuomo.
“Along with the public, today we have been made aware of the final independent report from AG Letitia James’ office regarding Governor Cuomo’s conduct as they relate to violations of civil harassment statutes,” Albany county district attorney David Soares said in a statement.
“We will be formally requesting investigative materials obtained by the AG’s Office, and we welcome any victim to contact our office with additional information.”
Comment from Albany County District Attorney David Soares Regarding NYS Attorney General Final Report on Governor Cuomo ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/aSVBNzhebf
— Albany County District Attorney's Office (@AlbanyCountyDA) August 3, 2021
Soares added that his office will “refrain from any additional public comment at this time regarding the status of the ongoing criminal investigation”.
Speaking at a press conference this morning, James deflected questions about whether Cuomo should be prosecuted over the allegations detailed in the report, saying that was a decision for law enforcement officials.
“Our work has concluded, and the document is now public,” James said.
De Blasio says Cuomo should resign and be impeached if necessary
New York mayor Bill de Blasio has added his name to the increasingly long list of politicians who are calling on governor Andrew Cuomo to resign after an investigation concluded he had sexually harassed at least 11 women.
“My first thoughts are with the women who were subject to this abhorrent behavior, and their bravery in stepping forward to share their stories,” the Democratic mayor said in a new statement.
My statement on the Attorney General’s report today: pic.twitter.com/mhn87JoOli
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) August 3, 2021
“The Attorney General’s detailed and thorough report substantiates many disturbing instances of severe misconduct. Andrew Cuomo committed sexual assault and sexual harassment, and intimidated a whistleblower. It is disqualifying,” de Blasio added.
“It is beyond clear that Andrew Cuomo is not fit to hold office and can no longer serve as Governor. He must resign, and if he continues to resist and attack the investigators who did their jobs, he should be impeached immediately.”
So far, Cuomo has given no indication that he intends to resign, but the New York state assembly does have the option to impeach him if he refuses to step down.
Updated
Asked about the pandemic-related eviction moratorium that expired over the weekend, Jen Psaki said the White House is continuing to look for ways to extend the moratorium and distribute more of the rent assistance from the American Rescue Plan.
One reporter asked the White House press secretary if Joe Biden is considering bringing Congress back from its recess to address the eviction issue, as Harry Truman did in 1948.
Psaki responded that Democrats would need the votes to pass a moratorium extension before that happened, and she referred questions about the vote count to House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office.
The White House and congressional Democrats are currently in a bit of a standoff over extending the moratorium. Congress wants the Biden administration to extend the moratorium, but the White House says that’s not possible because of a supreme court ruling on the issue last month. Meanwhile, it seems unlikely that an extension could attract enough Republican support to pass the Senate.
And as Democrats in Washington continue to play the blame game, millions of Americans are at risk of losing their homes unless the moratorium is extended.
The White House press secretary criticized Florida governor Ron DeSantis for pushing back against local ordinances aimed at limiting the spread of coronavirus, including mask requirements.
“Most Republican governors are doing exactly the right thing,” Jen Psaki said. “But if you aren’t going to help, if you aren’t going to abide by public health guidance, then get out of the way.”
Psaki also noted that Florida accounts for nearly a quarter of all current coronavirus hospitalizations in the US, even though the state represents only about 6.5% of the country’s total population.
The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, deflected questions about whether Joe Biden believes New York governor Andrew Cuomo should resign.
“The president just said that he is going to speak to this later this afternoon and share his views, so I’m not going to get ahead of his comments,” Psaki said at her daily briefing.
Q: "Does the president believe Governor Cuomo should resign?
— CSPAN (@cspan) August 3, 2021
.@PressSec: "The president just said that he is going to speak to this later this afternoon and share his views." pic.twitter.com/Yk8GbCxA0V
The press secretary said there have not been any conversations between the White House and the governor’s office today.
It’s worth noting Biden said back in March that Cuomo should resign and may face prosecution if the independent investigation corroborated the sexual harassment allegations against him.
Psaki said she personally found the allegations laid out this morning -- that Cuomo inappropriately touched several state employees and made sexually suggestive comments to them -- to be “abhorrent”.
'We continue to believe that the governor should resign,' New York senators say
The two US senators from New York, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, have released a statement again calling on governor Andrew Cuomo to resign after an independent investigator concluded he sexually harassed at least 11 women.
“As we have said before, the reported actions of the Governor were profoundly disturbing, inappropriate and completely unacceptable,” Schumer and Gillibrand said in a joint statement.
“Today’s report from the New York State Attorney General substantiated and corroborated the allegations of the brave women who came forward to share their stories -- and we commend the women for doing so.”
The two Democratic senators described the investigation conducted into the sexual harassment allegations as “independent, thorough and professional”.
“No elected official is above the law. The people of New York deserve better leadership in the governor’s office,” Schumer and Gillibrand said. “We continue to believe that the Governor should resign.”
Joe Biden declined to say whether he believes Andrew Cuomo should resign, promising to take questions from reporters after his remarks on vaccination efforts this afternoon.
Reporters were allowed to enter the room for the start of Biden and Kamala Harris’ meeting with Latino community leaders to discuss the economy, immigration reform and voting rights.
Journalists quickly started throwing questions at Biden about investigators’ conclusion that Cuomo sexually harassed at least 11 women, but the president said he would not address the matter until later today.
“I’m going to be speaking on Covid at 4 o’clock and will take questions on Covid and other issues after that,” Biden said.
Asked if he thinks Gov. Cuomo should resign, President Biden tells reporters he will speak on Covid at 4pm and intends to take questions then. pic.twitter.com/kTBVuvC1Z8
— Jenny Leonard (@jendeben) August 3, 2021
Updated
Cuomo can surely expect at the least to be showered with lawsuits in short order by some of his alleged victims.
An interesting point, though, is that New York attorney general Letitia James chose not to refer her report directly to any criminal authorities, such as a district attorney.
She said that her office’s work was done and effectively indicated that if there are to be any criminal charges, law enforcement will have to take the initiative.
James referred to Cuomo violating federal and state laws, from her investigation’s point of view, and she means civil laws against harassment and retaliation.
There is also a chance that if Cuomo doesn’t resign - as he shows no indication of doing at this point - that he could be impeached at the state level.
Andrew Cuomo said in an address from the New York state capital of Albany that he has put out his own report on his website, countering allegations leveled at him a little earlier by state attorney general Letitia James that he has harassed multiple women.
“Over the past several months you have heard a number of complaints brought against me....it has been a hard and painful period for me and my family, especially as others feed ugly stories to the press.”
He continued: “But I cooperated with the review and I can now finally share the truth. My attorney, who is a non-political former federal prosecutor has done a response to each allegation and the facts are much different than what has been portrayed. That document is on my website.”
Cuomo asked the public to look and decide for themselves.
“I want you to know directly from me that I never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances. I am 63-years-old, I have lived my entire adult life in public view. That is just not who I am and that is not who I have ever been.”
Cuomo: "I never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances. That is just not who I am" https://t.co/5gMbotH34x pic.twitter.com/gkw1qd1loK
— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) August 3, 2021
The contrast between Cuomo’s blanket denials and James’s toe-curling allegations is breathtaking.
Updated
Cuomo is now refuting allegations of sexual harassment, some point by point, and alleged victim by alleged victim, after a state investigation found that he behaved inappropriately towards women who worked for him, with unwanted, intimate touching and grabbing.
Cuomo is now flashing up pictures showing him kissing and hugging and touching politicians, family, friends and associates.
“I do kiss people on the forehead, I do kiss people on the cheek, men and women,” he said. “I do sometimes slip and call people sweetheart or honey...I do sometimes tell jokes...I try to put people at ease.”
Cuomo said he is the same person in public as he is in private - not a person who harasses people.
New York attorney general Letitia James said that Cuomo ran a “toxic workplace” and that she had been told by alleged victims that he was a bully and a sexual harasser.
Cuomo denies harassment
New York governor Andrew Cuomo is speaking live from the state capital, Albany, now and denying wrongdoing.
“I have never touched anyone inappropriately,” he said. He continued that “it is not who I am”.
He has refuted a damning report just issued by the New York attorney general, Letitia James, alleging that the Democratic governor harassed “multiple woman” and had violated federal and state civil laws.
James’s staff said at least one complaint by a woman, who said Cuomo groped her breast, has been made to the police in Albany.
New York Democratic members of Congress call for Cuomo to resign
New York’s US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has just said she believes her state governor, Andrew Cuomo, should resign.
NEW: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York says she’s still reading the NY AG’s report on Cuomo but calls it “deeply, deeply disturbing.”
— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) August 3, 2021
“I do believe he should resign.” pic.twitter.com/OcTJvXweI4
New York representative and freshman in Congress, Mondaire Jones, also opined that the governor is not fit and should quit.
Gillibrand, approached by reporters in the halls of Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, this morning said: “These allegations are deeply disturbing. I’m just reading the report now and...these facts have been corroborated, and the fact that there are 11 women coming forward, is deeply, deeply disturbing. These actions are inappropriate for the governor of New York state and I do believe he should resign.”
She continued: “My heart goes out to the women who have come forward, to their families, and I think them for their courage. This is a very serious and damning report.”
Also on Capitol Hill, New York congressman Mondaire Jones said in a live interview with CNN that: “This is something no-one should ever have to experience, and I’m thinking of my sisters and my friends who work in politics, and all of the people who are at risk of people like Governor Cuomo’s conduct.”
Jones added: “We have to stop this. We have to set a standard and I’m hopeful that we can resolve this in short order at the legislative level if nothing else, in terms of removing him from office.”
Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY) on Gov. Cuomo harassment report:
— The Recount (@therecount) August 3, 2021
“We have to stop this. We have to set a standard. And I’m hopeful that we can resolve this in short order at the legislative level, if nothing else.” pic.twitter.com/iI7Q7TJNAx
Today so far
Here’s where the day stands so far:
-
New York governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed at least 11 women and violated state and federal law, an independent investigation found. The New York attorney general, Letitia James, announced the investigation’s findings at a press conference today. Based off contemporaneous notes and interviews with 179 people, the investigators’ report details how Cuomo inappropriately touched state employees and made sexually suggestive comments to them.
- Coronavirus hospitalizations in the US have reached the levels of last summer, with more than 50,000 Americans hospitalized as the Delta variant continues to spread. Almost all hospitalized patients are unvaccinated, and Joe Biden is scheduled to deliver another speech on his administration’s vaccination efforts this afternoon.
- New York will now require proof of vaccination to enter indoor restaurants and gyms, mayor Bill de Blasio announced at a press conference. The new policy will be phased in over the coming weeks and will take full effect starting the week of September 13. “It’s time for people to see vaccination as literally necessary to living a good and full and healthy life,” de Blasio said.
The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
It seems likely that every prominent Democrat will be asked today whether New York governor Andrew Cuomo should resign after an independent investigation found he had sexually harassed at least 11 women.
Joe Biden previously said he believed the investigation into Cuomo should continue. In March, ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos asked Biden whether Cuomo should resign if the investigation corroborated the allegations against him.
“Yes,” the president said at the time. “I think he’ll probably end up being prosecuted, too.”
The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, will hold her daily briefing in about two hours, and she will almost certainly be asked whether Biden stands by that stance now that the investigation has concluded.
There’s always a tweet: Cuomo edition. After New York attorney general Letitia James announced an investigation concluded Andrew Cuomo had sexually harassed at least 11 women, this 2013 tweet from the governor started recirculating on Twitter:
“There should be a zero tolerance policy when it comes to sexual harassment & must send a clear message that this behavior is not tolerated.”
There should be a zero tolerance policy when it comes to sexual harassment & must send a clear message that this behavior is not tolerated.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) May 17, 2013
New York attorney general Letitia James deflected questions about whether governor Andrew Cuomo should be prosecuted over the findings of the independent investigation.
James emphasized that the investigation was a civil matter, and decisions about potential criminal charges will be left to law enforcement.
“Our work has concluded, and the document is now public,” James said.
When asked whether Cuomo should resign, James said, “That decision ultimately is up to the governor of the state of New York. The report speaks for itself.”
The New York attorney general, Letitia James, criticized governor Andrew Cuomo for suggesting the independent investigation of the sexual harassment allegations against him was politically motivated.
“There were attempts to undermine and to politicize this investigation, and there were attacks on me as well as members of the team, which I find offensive,” James said at the press conference.
“And our focus again should be on the bravery and the courage of these 11 women, and of the others who came forward. These allegations were substantiated.”
James defended the work of the lead investigators, describing them as “professionals who are widely respected” in New York and across the country.
“I support their work, will defend their work. And I believe these women,” James said.
Investigators found that New York governor Andrew Cuomo and his senior aides retaliated against at least one woman who came forward with her harassment allegations, Lindsey Boylan.
The investigators confirmed earlier reports that current and former state employees circulated a draft op-ed or letter attacking Boylan’s credibility. It was ultimately never published.
“We also find that the draft letter or op-ed attacking Ms. Boylan—particularly when combined with the release of the confidential internal records to the press—constitutes retaliation,” the report says.
“There were several iterations of the letter, the first of which a number of witnesses have testified was drafted by the Governor.”
Updated
One New York state trooper told investigators that governor Andrew Cuomo repeatedly touched her inappropriately and made sexually suggestive comments to her.
On one occasion, Cuomo asked the trooper to help him find a girlfriend, and he described his criteria for a girlfriend as someone who “[c]an handle pain”.
According to the investigators’ report, the troop said she found these experiences to be “offensive and uncomfortable,” as well as “markedly different” from how male troopers were treated by Cuomo.
NEW: Cuomo harassing a female state trooper pic.twitter.com/YtvWB5ixjV
— Harry Siegel (@harrysiegel) August 3, 2021
New York attorney general Letitia James said the independent investigation found that governor Andrew Cuomo “fostered a toxic workplace that enabled harassment and created a hostile work environment”.
Investigators concluded that Cuomo’s office created “a climate of fear,” which made the victims of the governor’s sexual harassment hesitant to come forward.
Letitia thanked the women who spoke to investigators to describe their experiences with Cuomo, crediting them with allowing the truth to come to light.
Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women and violated state and federal law, investigation finds
An independent investigation has concluded that New York governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women and violated state and federal law.
The New York attorney general, Letitia James, announced the investigation’s findings at a press conference this morning.
According to James, the investigation relied on contemporaneous notes and interviews with with 179 people to determine that Cuomo sexually harassed current and former state government employees.
The blog will have more details coming up, so stay tuned.
New York Attorney General Letitia James announces investigation into sexual harassment claims found “Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women and in doing so violated federal and state law.” pic.twitter.com/bjyWfk4MM3
— The Recount (@therecount) August 3, 2021
Meatpacking company Tyson Foods has announced that it will require all of its 120,000 US workers to be vaccinated starting November 1.
Tyson’s front-line employees are also receiving a $200 bonus once their fully vaccinated status is confirmed by the company.
Nothing is more important than our team members’ health and safety. We're taking the next step in fighting this pandemic and requiring all U.S. team members to be fully vaccinated by November 1, subject to discussions with locations represented by unions. https://t.co/5F1hDkZef8 pic.twitter.com/PK9A0EveZd
— Tyson Foods (@TysonFoods) August 3, 2021
“We did not take this decision lightly. We have spent months encouraging our team members to get vaccinated – today, under half of our team members are,” Tyson Foods CEO Donnie King said in a memo to employees.
“We take this step today because nothing is more important than our team members’ health and safety, and we thank them for the work they do, every day, to help us feed this country, and our world.”
The announcement makes Tyson one of the country’s largest private-sector employers to create a vaccine requirement. Some of the company’s plants have been temporarily shut down over the past year and a half because of coronavirus outbreaks.
Andy Slavitt, a former senior adviser to the Biden administration’s pandemic response team, praised New York mayor Bill de Blasio’s decision to require vaccinations for indoor dining and gyms.
Slavitt noted that many Americans cannot get vaccinated right now because they are too young or have compromised immune systems, and he said those people “must take a priority” as the US navigates its pandemic response.
Former White House COVID Response Senior Advisor @ASlavitt says he expects New York City's new policy of requiring vaccination for many indoors activities "will be copied around the country" https://t.co/yBFu3t6L9e pic.twitter.com/ICboEhOWZD
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 3, 2021
“It is putting those people and their needs higher than people who have choices that are not taking them that’s so essential,” Slavitt said.
Slavitt predicted that the new “Key to NYC Pass” program will be “copied around the country” to encourage more Americans to get vaccinated.
“So I want to thank the mayor for his leadership today,” Slavitt said. “It is a great way to strike a blow against the real enemy, and that enemy is not one another. That enemy is a virus that seeks to incapacitate or kill many of our fellow citizens, and by stepping up this way we’re protecting them.”
NYC to require proof of vaccination for indoor restaurants and gyms, de Blasio confirms
New York mayor Bill de Blasio has officially announced that proof of vaccination will now be required to enter the city’s indoor restaurants, gyms and performance venues.
The “Key to NYC Pass” will allow anyone who has at least one vaccine dose to gain access to those indoor businesses, and the policy will be phased in over the coming weeks. It will be fully enforced starting the week of September 13.
“It’s time for people to see vaccination as literally necessary to living a good and full and healthy life,” de Blasio said. “This is crucial because we know that this will encourage a lot more vaccination. We’ve seen it already.”
BREAKING: NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio announces first-in-the-nation policy requiring COVID vaccination for indoor activities like restaurants, fitness and entertainment. It will be phased in through August and enforcement officially begins September 13 https://t.co/Nj065CIsxp pic.twitter.com/SHPeIPFLT5
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 3, 2021
De Blasio noted that the city’s existing policies, including a vaccine mandate for city workers and $100 incentive payments, have already contributed to a rise in vaccinations.
As of today, 5 million New Yorkers have gotten at least one vaccine dose, and over 11,000 New Yorkers have claimed the $100 incentive to get their first dose.
De Blasio described the “Key to NYC Pass” as a “first-in-the-nation approach” that will help build upon the significant progress New York has already made in terms of vaccinations.
“If you want to participate in our society fully, you’ve got to get vaccinated,” de Blasio said. “So it’s time, and this is going to send that message clearly.”
Updated
NYC to require proof of vaccination for indoor dining and gyms - report
New York mayor Bill de Blasio reportedly plans to announce that proof of vaccination will be required to enter the city’s indoor restaurants, gyms and performance venues.
The New York Times reports:
The policy is similar to mandates issued in France and Italy last month and is believed to be the first of its kind in the United States.
The program will start later this month, and after a transition period enforcement will begin in mid-September, when schools are expected to reopen and more workers could return to offices in Manhattan. ...
As part of the new program, New York City will create a health pass called the ‘Key to NYC Pass’ to provide proof of vaccination required for workers and customers at indoor dining, gyms, entertainment and performances.
De Blasio is scheduled to soon hold a press conference, where he is expected to announce the new policy, so stay tuned.
The majority of the 110 million vaccine doses that the US has sent abroad have been shipped through Covax, according to the fact sheet from the White House.
The Biden administration has also worked with regional partners, such as the African Union and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), to get doses to specific parts of the world.
Covax is the international program created to help deliver coronavirus vaccines to low-income countries that may otherwise struggle to gain access to the life-saving medicine.
However, Covax has been riddled with problems as it has tried to get shots in arms, as the New York Times revealed in a story this week.
The Times reports:
Deaths from Covid-19 were surging across Africa in June when 100,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine arrived in Chad. The delivery seemed proof that the United Nations-backed program to immunize the world could get the most desirable vaccines to the least developed nations. Yet five weeks later, Chad’s health minister said, 94,000 doses remained unused. ...
The vaccine pileup illustrates one of the most serious but largely unrecognized problems facing the immunization program as it tries to recover from months of missteps and disappointments: difficulty getting doses from airport tarmacs into people’s arms. ...
Instead, Covax has struggled to acquire doses: It stands half a billion short of its goal. Poor countries are dangerously unprotected as the Delta variant runs rampant, just the scenario that Covax was created to prevent.
US has shipped more than 110 million vaccine doses abroad, White House says
The US has now shipped more than 110 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to more than 60 countries, the White House said this morning.
According to a fact sheet from the White House, the United Nations has said the US vaccine donations surpass those of all other countries combined.
The countries that have received the vaccine donations range from Ecuador to Nigeria and Vietnam. Indonesia has received the highest number of vaccines from the US, with 8,000,000 doses going to the Southeast Asian country.
“In June, the President committed to donate at least 80 million vaccines from the U.S. supply to countries throughout the world, and he promised to continue to share as we are able,” the White House said.
“Today’s announcement is a fulfillment of his promise and a significant down payment on hundreds of millions of more doses that the U.S. will deliver in the coming weeks.”
The White House described the donations as “just the beginning” of the Biden administration’s efforts to vaccinate more people around the world. Starting later this month, the administration will begin shipping 500 million Pfizer vaccine doses to 100 low-income countries.
Biden is scheduled to deliver a speech this afternoon on his administration’s ongoing vaccination efforts, and he will likely tout this accomplishment.
Richard Luscombe reports for the Guardian:
At least 70% of adults in the US have now received at least one Covid-19 vaccination shot, the White House announced on Monday, reaching a target Joe Biden originally said he had hoped to achieve by 4 July.
The administration reported the news in a tweet hailing “Milestone Monday” by Cyrus Shahpar, the government’s Covid-19 data director, who said the seven-day average of people receiving their first dose – 320,000 – was the highest since the Independence Day holiday.
Health and government officials have in recent days painted the resurgence of coronavirus as a “pandemic of the unvaccinated”, highlighting that areas of the country with the most spread were those with lower than average vaccination rates, and almost all hospitalizations and deaths are now among those declining to be vaccinated.
“Communities that are fully vaccinated are generally faring well,” Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said, noting that “breakthrough” infections in vaccinated people were rare.
But with unvaccinated people increasingly at risk, Walensky said at the White House coronavirus team briefing on Monday: “While we desperately want to be done with this pandemic, Covid-19 is clearly not done with us, and so our battle must last a little longer.”
Covid hospitalizations climb to levels of last summer as Biden pleads with unvaccinated Americans
Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.
Coronavirus hospitalizations continue to climb in the US, now reaching the levels of last summer’s surge in cases, as the highly transmissible Delta variant continues to spread across the country.
More than 51,000 Americans are currently hospitalized with coronavirus, according to Eric Topol, the executive vice president of Scripps Research. Topol said he expects this latest surge to surpass the first and second wave in terms of hospitalizations, but the current numbers are still lower than the deadly January wave.
Update today, >51,000
— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) August 3, 2021
Why can't the @CDCgov curate the data and partition it by vaccination status, as done in other countries?
We know it's >>90% unvaccinated, but this needs close tracking to determine extent of breakthrough illness, demographics, time from vaccination, etc pic.twitter.com/cBNx2hnZJK
The sobering news comes as millions of eligible Americans remain unvaccinated. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 49.7% of all Americans are now fully vaccinated.
The data also shows that 70% of American adults now have at least one vaccine dose, which means the US has surpassed the milestone that Joe Biden had hoped to hit by July 4.
The president continues to plead with unvaccinated Americans to get their shot as quickly as possible, repeatedly noting that almost all coronavirus hospitalizations and deaths are occurring among unvaccinated people.
“This is an American tragedy,” Biden said last week. “People are dying and will die who don’t have to die. If you’re out there unvaccinated, you don’t have to die.”
Biden will deliver another speech on his administration’s vaccination efforts this afternoon, so stay tuned.
