Evening summary
We’re wrapping up our live US politics coverage for the evening, but my colleague Helen Sullivan in Australia is running our global liveblog on the coronavirus pandemic, if you’re looking for continued live news updates.
Major events today:
- There is growing public anger, frustration, and fear over the United States’ failure to test for coronavirus on a scale that could contain the outbreak and mitigate its most devastating impacts. My colleague Ed Pilkington has the full story.
- The White House said Donald Trump still has “no plans” to take a coronavirus test even though he’s come into contact with a Brazilian government aide who’s tested positive. Others political figures who were exposed during Jair Bolsonaro’s visit to Florida, including two Republican senators, two Florida mayors, and the Miami motorcycle police officers who helped provide security for Bolsonaro, are now in voluntary quarantine.
- A federal judge ordered Chelsea Manning released from jail in Virginia, where the former army analyst has been held since May last year for refusing to testify to a grand jury investigating Wikileaks. On Wednesday, representing Manning said she had attempted suicide.
- There has been a series of yet more cancellations of major events, from Trump campaign rallies to Broadway shows to the annual meeting of the National Rifle Association.
- The U.S. launched airstrikes in Iraq targeting the Iranian-backed Shia militia members believed responsible for a rocket attack that killed British and American troops, the Pentagon said.
National Rifle Association cancels annual meeting for members
The National Rifle Association announced that it is cancelling its annual meeting for members, which was scheduled for April 16 through 19 in Nashville.
This includes a cancellation of the meeting’s annual political forum, which typically features speeches from major conservative political figures, including, in recent years, President Trump.
Important Update: @NRA Annual Meeting pic.twitter.com/3NeDOELRrk
— NRA (@NRA) March 12, 2020
The NRA’s annual meeting, which the group estimates has attracted 70,000 or more attendees in recent years, attracts gun rights supporters of all ages, but the weekend-long event always includes large numbers of older men and elderly couples--people at particular risk for Coronavirus.
In announcing the cancellation, the NRA cited the fact that “earlier today, a state of emergency was declared in Tennessee.”
The NRA, long seen as an untouchably dominant group on the American right, has been beset by financial and political difficulties in the past year.
Updated
White House officials said there were no plans to test President Donald Trump for coronavirus, even though he was photographed standing next to an aide to the Brazilian president who tested positive for the virus this week.
But many other people who met with President Jair Bolsonaro and his communications secretary, Fabio Wajngarten, who tested positive, have already announced they will be self-quarantining as a precautionary measure.
- The Miami Police Department’s entire motorcycle patrol unit is going into self-quarantine, because they were served as security for Bolsonaro, and “were in contact during photo-ops or might have shaken hands,” Miami’s police chief told the Miami Herald.
- The mayor of Miami, and the mayor of nearby Miami-Dade County, are also isolating themselves after the visit, the Miami Herald reported.
- So are two Republican senators and Trump allies: Florida Sen. Rick Scott, and South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham.
19 times Trump downplayed the Coronavirus
The Washington Post has a new timeline, and video, of 19 times Trump downplayed the threat of Coronavirus.
19 times Trump downplayed the coronavirushttps://t.co/fswjvFlRoS pic.twitter.com/ucwyEvoVCg
— The Fix (@thefix) March 12, 2020
Among the entries:
Jan. 22: “We have it totally under control.”
Jan. 24: “It will all work out well.”
Feb. 24: “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. … Stock Market starting to look very good to me!”
March 11 (yesterday): “I think we’re going to get through it very well.”
When it comes to arts and culture, ‘Basically everything is cancelled’
In New York, Broadway has been shut down. And in the San Francisco Bay Area, “basically everything everywhere is canceled.”
Alright y'all.
— Gabe Meline (@gmeline) March 12, 2020
I've been chronicling Bay Area events for six days straight and I can say with authority that basically everything everywhere is canceled.
I'll add some of the big ones in a thread below. 👇🏼
Over 100 canceled events listed here:https://t.co/vqnIjhfYOa
That’s the latest evaluation from Gabe Meline, senior editor for Arts & Culture at KQED Public Radio, who has tracked the cancellation of more than 100 local events.
Trump rallies may be replaced with 'virtual town halls'
In place of his trademark in-person rallies, Trump is considering holding “virtual town halls” or “conference calls,” Jonathan Lemire reports for the Associated Press.
The president’s campaign has suspended all rallies, events and fundraisers for at least the next week.
NEW: President Trump is temporarily halting his trademark rallies as campaign bows to the coronavirus outbreak that is rapidly reshaping the nation’s political landscape.
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) March 12, 2020
Short term alternatives being considered: virtual town halls and conference calls https://t.co/xyNfuqZFxR
US launches airstrikes in Iraq, American officials say
The US has launched airstrikes in Iraq targeting the Iranian-backed Shia militia members believed responsible for the rocket attack that killed and wounded American and British troops at a base north of Baghdad, American officials told the Associated Press.
BREAKING: The U.S. has launched airstrikes in Iraq targeting the Iranian-backed Shia militia members believed responsible for a rocket attack Wednesday that killed and wounded American and British troops at a base north of Baghdad. https://t.co/AKqC6dRopl
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 12, 2020
The strikes were a joint operation with the British, one US official said.
Updated
San Francisco to close public schools for three weeks
San Francisco is closing public schools for the next three weeks in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The closure, which affects more than 54,000 students, will go into effect Monday until early April.
The decision came after the city issued a moratorium on large gatherings of 1,000 or more. Today, Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, recommended that all gatherings of 250 or more should be canceled or postponed until at least the end of March.
As of Thursday morning, there were 198 positive cases of coronavirus in California, and four coronavirus-related deaths.
Updated
The New York subway, empty
An eye-catching photo, posted on Instagram today, shows a completely empty New York City subway car.
As someone who lived in New York City for seven years, and left recently, I can tell you: only once, late at night, for just two or three stops, did I ever ride in a subway car that was otherwise empty.
There are -- or at least, there were -- always other people there.
Updated
Fact check: Trump incorrectly said that the insurance industry agreed to waive co-payments for treatment
Insurers agreed to cover the full cost of diagnostic tests to see whether people have Covid-19 - but that doesn’t mean that patients with the illness won’t rack up medical bills. America’s Health Insurance Plans, an insurance industry association, write in their guidelines: “Health insurance providers will cover the tests for their enrollees consistent with the terms of their plans and any emergency plans they have in place.”
“It’s testing not treatments,” that insurers have agreed to cover, AHIP said in a statement to the Guardian.
Updated
How has Trump responded to the coronavirus crisis? Not well, writes The Guardian’s Julian Borger:
Trump in a time of coronavirus is a lethal combination. Everything about the president – his reliance on his gut instincts in place of expertise, his overwhelming selfishness, and his unfailing tendency to lash out at others when things go wrong – make him the worst person imaginable to hold the world’s most powerful job in the face of pandemic.
Confronting the threat requires global cooperation, perhaps more than at any time since the second world war. But Trump and his junior imitators around the world have taken a sledgehammer to the very notion of international solidarity.
America’s closest allies were given no notice of his decision on Wednesday night to suspend flights from Europe. The EU mission in Washington only found out about it when journalists started calling.
The president has dealt with coronavirus the same way he approached every other challenge in his administration, first trying denial – and when that failed, blaming outsiders. The disease has slid from a Democratic “hoax” to the “foreign virus”. It came as little surprise that his speech had been written by Stephen Miller, the author of the administration’s cruellest anti-immigration policies.
Read the full analysis here:
Judge orders Chelsea Manning's release from jail
The Guardian’s Martin Pengelly reports:
A federal judge has ordered that Chelsea Manning be released from jail in Virginia.
The former US army analyst who leaked hundreds of thousands of documents to WikiLeaks in 2010 had been held since May last year, when she was taken back into custody for refusing to testify to a grand jury investigating the pro-transparency organisation.
A hearing had been due in the case on Friday. On Wednesday, representatives for Manning said she had attempted suicide.
In a statement, Manning’s representatives said she “has previously indicated that she will not betray her principles, even at risk of grave harm to herself.
“Her actions today evidence the strength of her convictions, as well as the profound harm she continues to suffer as a result of her ‘civil’ confinement.”
Maanvi Singh and Lois Beckett here, on the west coast.
First up, our colleague in DC brings us this: an internal Biden campaign memo says that all staff in the Philadelphia headquarters and in field offices across the country will work from home.
Wow. A new internal Biden campaign staff memo from Anita Dunn and Jen O'Malley Dillon says: "Starting Saturday, March 14, all Biden for President employees both in our Philadelphia headquarters and in field offices across the country will work from home."
— Daniel Strauss (@DanielStrauss4) March 12, 2020
The coronavirus crisis will test the campaigns’ ability to reach voters virtually.
Updated
The Guardian’s voting rights reporter Sam Levine reports:
Election officials in Ohio are scrambling to find poll workers for its March 17 primary as a significant number of people scheduled to work cancel amid concerns over the coronavirus, the Columbus Dispatch reported Thursday.
Franklin County, home of Columbus, is losing three poll workers for each one it gains, the paper reported.
The county has lost 223 poll workers in the last two days and is 291 people short of being fully staffed. Warren County, just north of Cincinnati, is 100 poll workers short.
Finding poll workers is a significant concern for election workers as they prepare or elections amid the coronavirus pandemic. Poll workers tend to be older Americans -- the demographic most likely to be significantly impacted by the virus.
Earlier this week, Ohio’s top election official ordered all polling locations in nursing homes or assisted living facilities to be relocated. The move is expected to affect 128 locations in the state.
The political day is far from over, so stay tuned, after this summary
It’s been a very eventful Thursday, handing the live blog to my Guardian west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, who will take you through the coming hours.
Here are the main events this afternoon:
- The Trump 2020 campaign slammed Bernie Sanders after the diehard left-winger called on the president to declare a national emergency and called on the nation to come together. Sanders said: “If there ever was a time in the modern history of our country when we are all in this together,” he said, “this is that moment.”
- The White House said Donald Trump still has “no plans” to take a coronavirus test even though he’s come into contact with a Brazilian government aide who’s tested positive, and some Republicans who are in voluntary quarantine.
- There are contrasting reports coming out of Brazil over whether president Jair Bolsonaro has caught coronavirus, though most reliable understanding this hour is that he has not tested positive for Covid-19 despite his press secretary’s diagnosis.
- Leading Democrats Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Nancy Pelosi have all today addressed the Trump administration’s response so far to coronavirus and been singularly unimpressed/outraged at the incompetence coming out of the White House.
Two senators, both Trump allies, have announced self-quarantine measures after being at Mar-a-Lago with the president and his Brazilian visitors last weekend.
Rick Scott of Florida was first and now Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has followed. According to a statement, Graham “has no recollection of direct contact with the president of Brazil, who is awaiting the results of a coronavirus test, or his spokesman who tested positive”.
But on the advice of his doctor and out of the usually cited abundance of caution, Graham will now work from home.
Trump’s office is of course also his home so he’s working from there too, the White House having said today there are no plans for the president to be tested like his Brazilian counterpart.
Here’s our report:
Dom Phillips reports from Rio de Janeiro:
Spanish-language twitter feeds have been reporting that Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro has tested positive for coronavirus after his press secretary was found to have the disease following a trip to the US – but the reports are being discredited as fake news and none of Brazil’s main media sites have confirmed them.
Bolsonaro has taken a test, however, according to local media, and results will be ready on Friday. His son Eduardo Bolsonaro, a congressman who was also on the trip, tweeted that his father “is not exhibiting any signs of the disease.”
On Thursday the Brazilian government confirmed media reports that Bolsonaro’s press secretary Fabio Wajngarten tested positive following the US trip he was also on, along with ministers, congressmen and First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro, as well as Eduardo Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro dined with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night and videos and photos, including some on Wajngarten’s own Instagram account, showed the press secretary, Bolsonaro and Trump all in close proximity. “I’m not concerned,” Trump told reporters on Thursday.
The Intercept has reported that aside from Wajngarten, three other members of the delegation have also reported feeling flu-like symptoms and been tested, quoting an anonymous source. It did not name the three others.
Meanwhile conservative Brazilians planning pro-Bolsonaro demonstrations across Brazil on Sunday have begun sharing images of people wearing masks – but are insisting the protests, which Bolsonaro has endorsed, will go ahead. Bolsonaro has cancelled an interview for the launch of CNN Brasil due to air the same day, the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper site reported.
Updated
Trump campaign slams Sanders
Trump 2020 communications director Tim Murtaugh is back with another statement, this time slamming Bernie Sanders for his remarks on the coronavirus outbreak.
The Vermont senator, still in the running to be the Democratic nominee to face Trump in November, followed frontrunner Joe Biden in speaking about the public health crisis.
In his remarks, delivered from Burlington in his home state, Sanders called on Trump to declare a national emergency and called on the nation to come together.
“If there ever was a time in the modern history of our country when we are all in this together,” he said, “this is that moment.”
Sanders also called for support for the most needy in American society “from a health perspective and an economic perspective” and renewed his call for Medicare for All healthcare reform.
The Trump 2020 response was predictably pugilistic, Murtaugh saying “Sanders is the wrong prescription for fighting an outbreak like the coronavirus” and claiming “a government takeover of healthcare” would leave “America woefully unprepared for public health emergencies”.
Many say the US is woefully unprepared for this emergency thanks to cuts by the Trump administration and a slow and chaotic official response so far.
Murtaugh also sounded a familiar note from a president who has sought to blame the virus on other countries, saying Sanders has “said he would not even consider closing our borders to protect our people, even if it were necessary to control the spread of the virus”.
Trump has banned travel from Europe – though not the UK and Ireland – and has claimed his southern border wall is needed to combat coronavirus, despite the virus having entered the US by other routes entirely.
Murtaugh concluded by saying Sanders was “just another Democrat candidate for president trying to score political points by recklessly provoking anxiety and fear”.
Again, Trump has been widely accused of seeking to use the outbreak to score political points himself.
Sanders’ remarks can be found in full on YouTube:
Donald Trump on Thursday said he may declare the coronavirus pandemic an emergency by invoking a law known as the Stafford Act.
The following from the Associated Press explains how the Stafford Act works and what powers a declaration would unlock:
WHAT IS THE STAFFORD ACT?
The law, enacted in 1988, empowers the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to assist state and local governments during “natural catastrophes” and coordinate the nation’s response.
FEMA, an agency within the US Department of Homeland Security, controls more than $40 billion in federal funding set aside by Congress for disaster relief. FEMA could use that funding to help build medical facilities and transport patients, among other measures.
Only the president can declare a major disaster under the law.
“We have very strong emergency powers under the Stafford Act,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. “I have it memorized, practically, as to the powers in that act. And if I need to do something, I’ll do it. I have the right to do a lot of things that people don’t even know about.”
Trump has invoked the Stafford Act many times during his presidency, approving major disaster declarations to address flooding in the Midwest and wildfires in California, among other events.
FEMA is commonly associated with natural disaster response but the agency can also address pandemics.
In 2000, former President Bill Clinton used a Stafford Act emergency declaration to pay for mosquito control efforts to address outbreaks of the West Nile virus in New Jersey and New York.
DIDN’T THE US ALREADY DECLARE CORONAVIRUS AN EMERGENCY?
A different government agency, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, declared the coronavirus a public health emergency in late January and has been the lead agency addressing the pandemic.
HHS’s declaration, made under a different law than the Stafford Act, allowed US officials to impose restriction on individuals entering the country from China, among other measures.
Several state governments have declared emergencies.
Updated
Trump "no plans" for coronavirus test
The White House says Donald Trump has no plans to be tested for coronavirus or go into self-quarantine after attending events last weekend with a senior Brazilian official who tested positive for the illness, the AP writes.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s communications director tested positive just days after traveling with Bolsonaro to a meeting with Trump and senior aides in Florida.
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Thursday that “exposures from the case are being assessed, which will dictate next steps.”
Grisham says Trump and Vice President Mike Pence “had almost no interactions with the individual who tested positive and do not require being tested at this time.”
For the Guardian, Sonam Vashi in Atlanta reports:
Officials in Georgia have a bucolic solution for coronavirus quarantines. They have installed seven trailers for COVID-19 patients at Hard Labor Creek State Park, an hour east of Atlanta.
“I’m super extroverted, but as a truck driver, I’m used to being isolated from people for 11 hours on the road,” trailer resident Joey Camp told the Guardian.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that he is the first patient isolated there.
Camp says he’s in a 26-foot, pull-behind RV with a fridge, freezer, and Bluetooth stereo system, which he uses while watching Star Wars movies on his phone.
“It’s a bad draw of the cards,” he says of his situation. His symptoms are abating, and he’s surprised by how relatively mild the disease has been for him.
About two weeks ago, Camp started feeling sick: fever, chills, body aches. The 30-year-old resident of a town named Canton, north of Atlanta, didn’t have a car and often walked to his jobs as a Waffle House grill cook and truck driver, and he chalked it up to getting a cold.
He says he found out that he had tested ‘preliminary positive’ on Monday, and, when state officials asked if he wanted to go to a special isolation facility, he voluntarily agreed: He lived with a friend who has an infant, and he was worried about spreading the virus to the child.
Camp doesn’t believe he’s allowed to leave his trailer—so he can’t enjoy the park—and he says health officials call him every few hours to ask how he is and what he needs. “I don’t like to make a fuss,” he says, so he’s mostly asked for coffee and snacks.
Updated
It's been an incredibly busy day in US politics. Latest summary.
There will be plenty more action to come, so stay tuned.
Here are some of the key events so far today:
- New York state is poised to ban large gatherings over 500 people. And Broadway shows are all suspended from 5pm today, as are events at Carnegie Hall, together the beating heart of America’s vibrant performing arts world.
- Joe Biden says America needs a stronger national response to coronavirus and demands no cover up on the numbers, no sparing of effort to test and treat. Trumps Trump with strong address from home state of Delaware.
- Top federal health official Anthony Fauci told Congress this morning that the US is “failing” in its efforts to conduct adequate testing of the nation for coronavirus.
- Donald Trump is considering extending travel restrictions to domestic travel between California and Washington. There is no confirmation and no details from the president on this yet.
- There is heightened concern at the White House after a picture emerged of a top Brazilian government aide, who has tested positive for coronavirus, standing right next to Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago last weekend.
- Donald Trump said the US wants to lose as few people as possible to the virus, predicted, once again, that it will “go away” and also that financial markets will rebound.
Virginia declares state of emergency, New York to ramp up testing
Here are some latest state-by-state developments:
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam declares state of emergency in response to COVID19 outbreak.
— Mel Leonor (@MelLeonor_) March 12, 2020
And in New York state:
New: NYS working around the clock to ramp up #coronavirus testing: @NYGovCuomo announces - pending FDA approval - measures for state to test 5,000+ people a day for #COVIDNY with goal of starting next week.
— Gareth Rhodes (@GarethRhodes) March 12, 2020
The Guardian’s Vivian Ho reports from California:
Governor Gavin Newsom is recommending that everyone cancel or postpone all gatherings of 250 people or more until at least the end of March to slow the spread of coronavirus.
His recommendation Wednesday night followed San Francisco and Santa Clara County fully banning all gatherings of 1,000 or more.
Changing our actions now will save lives in the days and weeks to come.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) March 12, 2020
To protect the public health, CA has issued an updated policy --
Gatherings with 250+ people should be rescheduled or canceled at least through the end of March.
MORE: https://t.co/u5A2WbHBO3
The state recommendation also called for venues that do not allow social distancing of six feet per person to cancel or postpone events.
As of Wednesday morning, California had 177 positive cases of coronavirus and three deaths.
Broadway theatres to shut
New York governor Andrew Cuomo is also about to announce the closing of Broadway shows in New York city.
Theatre industry meetings were underway earlier and it’s now about to be official, Broadway theatre, the famous “Great White Way” of lights and razzle dazzle and world-leading drama and musicals, will go dark for several weeks.
The Guardian’s Adrian Horton reports:
New York’s Broadway theatres have become the latest mass entertainment venues to temporarily shut down for coronavirus.
State governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled a plan to suspend shows as part of new regulations to prevent public gatherings over 500 people. Carnegie Hall, one of New York’s premier concert venues, will also suspend performances through 31 March, and the Metropolitan Museum of New York will close indefinitely from 13 March.
The decision is a reversal of sorts for Broadway, which seemed to anticipate a financial hit from the virus but have kept tickets on sale. Trade group The Broadway League, who held an emergency closed-door meeting today, previously reassured customers in a statement that “We have significantly increased the frequency of cleaning and disinfecting in all public and backstage areas beyond the standard daily schedule, and we have added alcohol-based sanitizer dispensers for public use in the lobby of every theatre. The League also discouraged anyone experiencing cold or flu symptoms from attending performances.
Updated
New York state poised to ban large gatherings
New York governor Andrew Cuomo is about to ban large events.
BREAKING: @NYGovCuomo announced closing of large public gethering of 500 or more in NYC because of #coronavirus fears
— Jesse McKinley (@jessemckinley) March 12, 2020
"We will lead with science" - Biden
Last night, Donald Trump gave a speech from the Oval Office about the coronavirus outbreak that was riddled with contradictions, confusing statements, falsehoods - or however one may label false information being delivered by a president to his nation during a public health crisis.
Joe Biden seized his moment on Thursday afternoon and managed to outperform Donald Trump in the “authoritative” stakes in the space of about 10 minutes at a little podium in Delaware just now.
“We will lead with science,” Biden said. A relief to the ears of those desperate for the US to listen to those global experts warning about the climate crisis, let along the coronavirus pandemic.
“We need to surge our capacity, both in prevention and treatment of coronavirus,” Biden said.
“We need to prepare our hospitals for the influx [of patients expected], we have been saying this for weeks.”
It is much easier to talk about a public health crisis in the hypothetical, of course, from the position of the opponent rather than the government dealing with it on the front line.
But the performance of Trump in the last week, from his CDC visit to the Oval Office address, in reassuring and reliably informing the American public has been poor by, surely, almost all standards.
Must be "no efforts to cover up" coronavirus spread in US - Biden
Biden said federal agencies, private labs and medical manufacturers “should be walking in lock step”, he said, with no effort spared.
“No-one should be hiding the true numbers” in order to serve political needs or the stock markets, he said.
Biden is objectively calm, clear and concise. Not especially charismatic, or, it must be said, presidential as such. But he’s making excellent sense.
He did not mention Trump in relation to the next sentence but was clearly pointed when he said, on the extent of the outbreak in the US, where there has been minimal testing for coronavirus compared with many other countries: “There must be “no efforts to cover it up.”
“We have to do everything to beat this challenge sooner rather than later,” he said. Which does sound more authoritative than Trump’s “we will defeat this virus”.
He later noted:
“It’s a national disgrace that so many of our workers do not have a single day of paid sick leave,” he said.
“We should be leading a global response, just like we did with the Ebola crisis,” he said.
“When I’m president the response will be better...we will lead with science. In the difficult days ahead I know this country will summon the spirit needed.”
"We need a national response" - Biden on coronavirus
Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden is speaking now, follow live at the top of our blog. He’s slamming Donald Trump’s response.
Says we must “rely on science”. The president is often notoriously dismissive of scientific facts, especially those that are not politically expedient for him.
Biden thanked “those making sacrifices to protect us.”
He accused the Trump administration of “downplaying, being overly dismissive” and spreading confusing information to the public.
Biden said there is no place for xenophobia around the coronavirus.
“Labeling Covid-19 a foreign virus does not cover for the missteps made by this administration.”
This virus has “laid bare” the shortcomings of the president, he said.
Biden also said: “This is going to require a national response. Not just elected leaders and health officials, but all of us.”
Updated
Joe Biden to speak on coronavirus
The former vice-president is running a little late but looks like he’ll get underway in an address from Wilmington, Delaware, moments from now. There’s a live steam at the top of the blog.
We expect Joe Biden, now the Democratic frontrunner for the 2020 nomination, to emerge from the wings soon.
Aides are fiddling with the gear to get the microphones right, and media are assembled and waiting as patiently as journalists on constant rolling deadlines can...
Updated
US "failing" on coronavirus testing - top health official.
America’s top infectious diseases doctor, Anthony Fauci, a key member of the Trump Administration’s task force (headed by VP Mike Pence) on tackling the coronavirus outbreak made a serious admission in Congress this morning.
Dr. Fauci on availability of coronavirus tests in the US:
— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 12, 2020
“The system is not really geared to what we need right now, what you are asking for. That is a failing … Let’s admit it.” pic.twitter.com/3P42gUapKd
FYI we’re waiting for Joe Biden to start talking in Delaware about the virus.
Updated
"Flying blind"
There is alarm on Capitol Hill about the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and the outbreak in theUS.
The AP writes:
House lawmakers expressed alarm Thursday after a private briefing with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the National Institute of Health’s infectious disease chief, and other public health officials, Lawmakers were particularly frustrated that U.S. officials have tested relatively few patients suspected to be infected.
“We’re basically, in my opinion, flying blind,” said Representative Susie Lee, Democrat of Nevada.
Others described the meeting as heated, testy with many lawmakers leaving flooded with graver concerns about the administration’s response.
“We should be exuding confidence nationally, said Representative Anna Eshoo, Democrat of California. “The confusion is damaging.”
Trump considering travel restrictions to California and Washington state
Washington DC, is straining for an ample response to the coronavirus outbreak that is testing the nation’s political and health care systems, the Associated Press writes.
Donald Trump restricted air travel from Europe, Congress ran into trouble approving an aid package and the centers of power the domed Capitol and stately White House are being shuttered to visitors.
Trump, in an Oval Office address to the nation Wednesday night, said the monthlong restriction on travel would begin late Friday at midnight.
After days of playing down the threat, he blamed Europe for not acting quickly enough to address the “foreign virus” and claimed that U.S. clusters were “seeded” by European travelers.
But he said Thursday that he is also considering restricting travel to domestic hot spots such as California and Washington state. “Is it a possibility? Yes,” he said.
The president was talking in the White House moments ago.
The president invited press questions while hosting Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in the Oval Office.
Updated
The Brazilian government has confirmed that President Jair Bolsonaro’s communications secretary, Fabio Wajngarten, has coronavirus just days after meeting Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, the Guardian’s Dom Phillips, in Rio de Janeiro, reports.
Confirming a newspaper report, it said:
The medical service of the presidency of the Republic adopted and is adopting all the necessary preventive measures to preserve the health of the president of the Republic and the entire presidential committee which accompanied him on the recent trip to the United States, as well as presidential palace staff.
It added:
This is because one of the members of the group, Fabio Wajngarten, secretary of communication of the presidency of the Republic, is carrying the new coronavirus Covid-19, confirmed in a control test.
Wajngarten shared photos of himself with Trump and Mike Pence during the trip, as well as Bolsonaro. The two presidents dined on Saturday at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. In one video, Wajngarten (wearing glasses) is seen just behind Trump and Bolsonaro.
The US government has been informed “so that they can adopt the necessary cautionary measures”, the statement said. Wajngarten is in home quarantine.
The guy standing to Trump’s left just tested positive for coronavirus, according to Brazilian media. Fabio Wajngarten posted this photo, taken during meetings at Mar-a-Lago, five days ago. pic.twitter.com/qioU4qIlxl
— Gabriel Stargardter (@gabstargardter) March 12, 2020
Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in voluntary quarantine after his wife exhibited flu-like symptoms.
We’ll have a lot of US coronavirus news in this blog today, for a wider sense of what’s going on internationally with the illness and the world’s response, do follow our dedicated global coronavirus live blog, HERE.
"We want to lose as few people as possible"
The president is still in an extemporaneous Q & A with pool reporters at the White House and he is now addressing the coronavirus outbreak at its core.
Trump is talking about the virus, the election and the markets.
He has just announced a likely further cancelation of 2020 campaign rallies. The recent cancellations by Trump and his Democratic opponents Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders have already upended the election campaign this month.
Trump mentions that rallies he’s planned to hold in Nevada as part of his election campaign have been canceled and looks like an upcoming one in Florida is off now, too.
“We canceled one in Las Vegas, and Reno, we had about three of them in Nevada, and four or five of them that we’re thinking about,” he said.
He said there is a rally planned in Tampa, Florida, (March 25) for which tickets have been selling well.
“But I think we will probably not do it,” he said.
And putting it all in context, the president added:
“We need a little separation. Until such time as this [coronavirus] goes away. It’s going to go away,” he reiterated. This is something he’s said frequently in recent days, assuming the virus will fade as the weather warms.
“Two months,” he said, without elaborating, but in the context of expecting the virus will peter out in the US in that time frame.
“In the meantime we want to lose as few people as possible. This morning, is it 32?”
As of this morning the death toll from the virus in the US was 38, but the number of deaths and cases changes sometimes by the hour.
Trump points out the death toll in the US is much lower than most other countries so far.
Trump speaking at the White House
Moments ago he was having one of those off-the-cuff Q & As with pool journalists in the White House, while Donald Trump was meeting Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar.
The president was talking about Elizabeth Warren, oil prices, mentions obliquely the coronavirus isolation zone around the suburban New York community in New Rochelle....
Unclear if he talked more directly about the coronavirus outbreak in the US and he cut off reporters’ shouted questions pretty quickly.
He’s still talking.
No word yet on his response to the fact that the press secretary to Brazil’s leader Jair Bolsonaro has tested positive for Covid-19, days after he (Fabio Wajngarten) was pictured next to Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
Updated
Brazilian leader's aide, who recently met with Trump, has Covid-19
Jair Bolsonaro’s communications secretary has tested positive for coronavirus just days after accompanying the Brazilian president on a trip to the US where they met Donald Trump.
The two leaders dined together at Mar-a-Lago in Florida last Saturday night and Bolsonaro and ministers who were on the trip are reportedly under observation.
The news was revealed by Fabio Wajngarten’s wife Sophie on a WhatsApp group of parents at the school their children attend, the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper reported on Thursday.
“My husband returned from the trip to Miami yesterday and did the Covid exam which was positive,” she wrote, referring to the novel strain of coronavirus involved in the current outbreak, Covid-19.
She added that he is “taking all care at home and since his return he has been isolated in a room, following all the quarantine protocol.”
The guy standing to Trump’s left just tested positive for coronavirus, according to Brazilian media. Fabio Wajngarten posted this photo, taken during meetings at Mar-a-Lago, five days ago. pic.twitter.com/qioU4qIlxl
— Gabriel Stargardter (@gabstargardter) March 12, 2020
Wajngarten had attacked Brazilian media yesterday after reports he had been tested for the virus. “I’m well,” he tweeted.
During the US trip Wajngarten shared a photo of himself, Trump, US vice-president Mike Pence and Brazilian TV presenter Alvaro Garnero on his Instagram.
On Wednesday Bolsonaro once again downplayed the coronavirus crisis. “Other flues kill more than this,” he said. He has also called it “oversized”.
Updated
Donald Trump didn’t warn European leaders before imposing his latest coronavirus-related travel restrictions and announcing it to the world from the Oval Office last night.
The move is reported to have caused uproar in European leadership circles. Here’s Trump on this at the White House moments ago.
NOW: In the Oval Office, Trump, asked why European leaders were not consulted before he announced travel ban: "We had to make a decision, and we didn't want to take time." (via pool)
— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) March 12, 2020
Updated
Albright endorses Biden
We’ll definitely do more on this a bit later, but #ICYMI, former secretary of state Madeleine Albright has endorsed Joe Biden for the 2020 Democratic party nomination.
Trump - markets going to be "fine"
The president, without evidence/crystal ball, has asserted that the markets are going to be fine.
At arrival of Irish PM at White House, President Trump tells reporters “markets are gonna be just fine.” pic.twitter.com/qcQrzV8JiQ
— Fred Lucas (@FredLucasWH) March 12, 2020
Markets are in turmoil. For all the developments, do follow our dedicated business live blog.
Coronavirus sufferer rubbed shoulders with Trump - report
Literally. This picture has just been posted on Twitter by a Reuters reporter in Brazil.
The guy standing to Trump’s left just tested positive for coronavirus, according to Brazilian media. Fabio Wajngarten posted this photo, taken during meetings at Mar-a-Lago, five days ago. pic.twitter.com/qioU4qIlxl
— Gabriel Stargardter (@gabstargardter) March 12, 2020
Updated
Speaker jabs at Trump EU travel suspension
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is trying to wrap up her press conference. She’s been talking up the new legislation the Democrats introduced in the House this morning but she’s also not especially impressed by Donald Trump’s suspending entry for most passengers arriving in the US from Europe.
As many have pointed out, by leaving Britain out of the temporary travel ban, it leaves a gaping loophole in the president’s plan.
“You just get in the Chunnel and you will be in the UK,” Pelosi pointed out.
That’s the Channel Tunnel that connects south-east England with north-west France, of course, which runs passenger trains and is also a route for goods vehicles and passenger cars/buses/caravans traveling between the European continent and Brexitised Britain.
As my Washington, DC, colleague David Smith pointed out overnight, is Brexit now the new TSA PreCheck [the pre-approved airport flight checks for entering the US]?
Pelosi: "Testing, testing, testing"
She’s not trying out the microphone, she’s talking about dealing with the coronavirus outbreak in the US.
The House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is holding her press conference right now.
She urges more widespread testing for coronavirus, which has been woefully limited in the US, a tiny fraction of testing that has happened in come other countries.
“Testing, testing, testing,” so very important,” said Pelosi.
Before, unfortunately, getting out a hankie and blowing her nose.
“It’s like the house is on fire,” she added, about the sense of emergency now unfolding in the country.
Trump to sign disaster declaration?
The latest chatter is that the president may sign a disaster declaration today.
NEW — @larry_kudlow told Republicans on a party call this morning that PRESIDENT TRUMP may sign a disaster declaration under the Stafford Act today.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) March 12, 2020
Larry Kudlow is director of the White House’s National Economic Council.
The Stafford Act is otherwise known as the Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act and is essentially a federal law designed to bring an orderly and systemic means of federal natural disaster assistance for state and local governments in carrying out their responsibilities to aid citizens.
It’s a little on the nose, perhaps, but here’s former Pittsburgh Post-Gazette cartoonist Rob Rogers’ take on all this today.
Trump is at his evil best when he has a human enemy to target. Unfortunately, he has no clue how to attack an infectious disease. https://t.co/NPxRsur09E #Trump #coronavirus #CoronavirusPandemic #Ukraine #CDC #Biden pic.twitter.com/PffQCr82Xw
— Rob Rogers (@Rob_Rogers) March 12, 2020
To refresh, here’s Rob’s story:
Republicans slam new coronavirus legislation
There’s a fight breaking out on Capitol Hill about the new bill to tackle the coronavirus outbreak in the US, unveiled by Democrats today.
House Democrats earlier unveiled an ambitious set of measures to provide free testing for the coronavirus, paid sick leave and strengthened unemployment insurance as a response to the worsening outbreak’s economic impact on people across the United States, the AP reports.
The House legislation related to the virus is slated for a vote in the Democratic-controlled House on Thursday.
The legislation includes requiring private health insurance plans to provide free coronavirus testing and waiving cost-sharing rules for testing provided to people covered by Medicare, Medicaid and federal retirement programs.
It establishes an unprecedented but temporary federal sick leave benefit paid through the Social Security program. Workers with the coronavirus or caring for family members with it would receive two-thirds of their wages for up to three months. The benefit would expire in January 2021.
It also creates a federally mandated sick leave benefit for private businesses that would require all employers to allow their workers to accrue seven days of paid sick leave, with an additional 14 days available immediately in the event of public health emergencies such as the current coronavirus crisis.
It provides $1.3 billion in emergency food aid for low-income pregnant women and their young children, senior citizens and food banks. It allows states to provide food stamps to make up for lost school lunch benefits if their children are kept home from school.
Later Thursday morning, Reuters reports:
The top Republican in the House expressed strong opposition to legislation addressing the coronavirus that the Democrat-led chamber is expected to vote on on Thursday.
“The legislation that Speaker Pelosi (Nancy Pelosi) introduced at 11pm last night, written by her staff and her staff alone, and plans to vote on just 12 hours later is not only completely partisan. It is unworkable,” Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy wrote in a tweet.
McCarthy has been heavily criticized for biased language around Covid-19.
With demands from some for apologies.
Tourist rout at Capitol
The US Capitol in Washington, DC, is normally crowded with excited tourists admiring the seat of power both outside and inside, and sometimes getting to go into the chambers of the House or Senate to watch proceedings.
Members of both houses of Congress have been increasingly worried about the crowds in and around the Capitol who have flown across the country (or world) to be there.
Well that was yesterday. Here’s today
Marked change at the Capitol. Yesterday it was crawling with tourists. Today:
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) March 12, 2020
-Cones around the entire front to create separation from passersby.
-Visitors place items in disposable plastic bags to go through security, rather than shared bins. pic.twitter.com/f3woX6oPxy
Updated
Hello US politics watchers, Joanna Walters in New York, taking the blog from my colleagues in London.
It’s going to be a busy day in a week that feels like a tipping point both in America’s response to the coronavirus outbreak and in the 2020 Democratic nominating race and maybe the entire election.
Coming up later this morning we have:
- Nancy Pelosi’s press conference in Washington at 10.45 am ET. The president has already indirectly attacked her on Twitter already this morning, by retweeting criticism from Fox News.
- Federal health chiefs Robert Redfield and Anthony Fauci testifying in front of the House oversight committee at 11am.
- Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden is talking from Wilmington, Delaware, at 1pm, his home state. He will be talking about the US response to coronavirus and no doubt realizes how vital it is that he appear Obama-presidential (not Trump-presidential or Biden-streetfighter presidential).
- Bernie Sanders is preparing for his crucial debate appearance alongside Biden in Phoenix on Sunday, where he has to justify staying in the race and give a convincing argument for advancing his left-wing movement by doing so.
Do stay tuned.
The markets opened…and then trading was halted
S&P 500 Index drops 7%, U.S. stock trading halted https://t.co/t5Y1zEa8b2 pic.twitter.com/oWXcnKk6ig
— Bloomberg Markets (@markets) March 12, 2020
It will resume in 15 minutes.
Updated
House Democrats unveil ambitious coronavirus measures
House Democrats have unveiled an ambitious set of measures to provide free testing for the coronavirus, paid sick leave and strengthened unemployment insurance as a response to the worsening outbreak’s economic impact on people across the United States, the AP reports.
The House legislation related to the virus is slated for a vote in the Democratic-controlled House on Thursday.
The legislation includes requiring private health insurance plans to provide free coronavirus testing and waiving cost-sharing rules for testing provided to people covered by Medicare, Medicaid and federal retirement programs.
It establishes an unprecedented but temporary federal sick leave benefit paid through the Social Security program. Workers with the coronavirus or caring for family members with it would receive two-thirds of their wages for up to three months. The benefit would expire in January 2021.
It also creates a federally mandated sick leave benefit for private businesses that would require all employers to allow their workers to accrue seven days of paid sick leave, with an additional 14 days available immediately in the event of public health emergencies such as the current coronavirus crisis.
It provides $1.3 billion in emergency food aid for low-income pregnant women and their young children, senior citizens and food banks. It allows states to provide food stamps to make up for lost school lunch benefits if their children are kept home from school.
Workers laid off because of the coronavirus outbreak are already eligible for unemployment benefits, but the legislation provides $1 billion for additional caseloads and administrative costs to encourage temporarily furloughed workers to obtain unemployment benefits.
General Kenneth McKenzie, who is responsible for Afghanistan, Iraq and the Mid East is testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Two US soldiers were killed in a rocket attack in Iraq last night.
You can watch his appearance here:
Senator Cotton closes Washington office over coronavirus - blames China
Republican Senator Tom Cotton has announced that he is temporarily closing his Washington office in response to the coronavirus.
In a statement which very squarely attempts to blame China for the emergence of the virus, he finishes by saying:
We are a great people. We rise to every challenge, we vanquish every foe, and we come through adversity even better than before. I have every confidence America will once again marshal the resolve, toughness, and genius of our people to overcome the serious threat to our health and well-being posed by the Wuhan coronavirus. We will emerge stronger from this challenge, we will hold accountable those who inflicted it on the world, and we will prosper in the new day.
Cotton says his Arkansas office remains open.
The World Health Organisation have designated the illness caused by the coronavirus as Covid-19, and strongly discourage the use of geographic locations in the naming of illnesses.
“I’m hoping that we can just get a lot of facts out in the few minutes we have together”
Savannah Guthrie is picking up praise on social media for the way she tackled Mike Pence this morning on TV. The vice president was doing the rounds of the morning shows, trying to reassure the nation that the administration is on top on the coronavirus outbreak. You can watch the eight minute segment here:
It’s a rare moment when a journalist effectively cuts through Pence’s filibusters. This by @SavannahGuthrie is well done. pic.twitter.com/nxA5mjCKJQ
— Adam Wren (@adamwren) March 12, 2020
Pence said that for senior citizens with serious underlying health conditions in the US the illness represents a threat of “very serious consequences”. Americans returning from Europe are being asked to self-quarantine for 14 days.
Far from Trump’s claim a couple of weeks ago that the 15 cases would soon be nearer zero, Pence said we know that “there will be thousands more cases”.
It is going to be a rough ride on Wall Street today - if Trump intended to calm world markets with a message that the US was on top of the coronavirus outbreak, that certainly did not happen. Dow Jones futures are down more than 1,000 points as the market braces for more losses when it opens. On Wednesday, the Dow dropped 1,464 points, dragging it 20% below the record set last month and putting the index in a bear market.
European and Asian markets have been tumbling already today - you can follow the rout over on our live business blog.
Bernie Sanders sounded determined as he announced he was sticking with the race to win the Democratic nomination after his disappointing results in Tuesday’s votes. Politico this morning have been looking at how next week’s vote in Florida may prove to be the crucial step too far for the Vermont senator.
More than a quarter of the Democratic primary electorate is traditionally African American, Biden’s base. Two-thirds are typically 50 or older, also Biden’s stronghold. And about 60 percent in polls consider themselves moderates or even conservatives — ditto, advantage Biden. But it gets worse for Sanders. Hispanic voters have been a bright spot for the Vermont senator in several states that have already voted. But the opposite is true in Florida.
Marc Caputo looks at how a poll released yesterday showed Florida Hispanics, by a 34-point margin, look unfavourably upon Sanders. It’s not just the “socialist” tag, he angered many of the state’s Hispanic voters with last month’s “60 Minutes” interview where he praised Fidel Castro’s literacy and healthcare record in Cuba - airbrushing over the human rights concerns over the regime.
Read it here - Politico: Florida poised to stamp out Sanders campaign
There’s inevitably been a lot of focus over the last weeks during the Democratic primaries on whether black voters are turning out for Joe Biden or for Bernie Sanders. But that analysis often takes for granted that the black vote will back the Democrats. That isn’t the case:
As analysts debunk the myth of the black voter monolith, some black Republicans are stepping forward to counter stereotypes and assert a political identity very different from the usual assumption that all black Americans are Democrats, especially in the era of President Donald Trump.
My colleague Kenya Evelyn in New York has been looking at how black Republicans are debunking the myth of a voter monolith.
The Associated Press have been looking at how the coronavirus outbreak will impact the election campaign.
“If coronavirus has the lasting impact that we all fear it will, it will also dramatically reshape the way a presidential campaign unfolds,” Jesse Ferguson, a veteran Democratic strategist and former spokesman for Hillary Clinton’s campaign, told AP.
“Politics is fundamentally about leaders interacting with the people who they represent, and if a pandemic forecloses that ability, it changes everything how you campaign, how you knock doors, how you do events and how you do the retail part of politics.”
The weekend’s TV debate between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders will now take place without a studio audience.
Coronavirus restrictions could severely stifle the remainder of the Sanders campaign in particular. Steve Schmidt was John McCain’s top adviser when his 2008 campaign was interrupted by the financial crisis. He told AP:
“The raw politics of this is that it freezes the Democratic race in place for Bernie Sanders, who is on his last legs. You can’t have a revolution without rallies,” he said.
“The Trump show is sustained by rallies,” he added.
Yesterday feels like the day that the US suddenly began to get to grips with the idea that widespread disruption from the coronavirus outbreak was inevitable. No St Patrick’s Day parades. No NBA. No college. A prime-time address from the Oval Office, and the news that Trump has cancelled campaign events. Mike Pence, in charge of the administration’s efforts to combat the virus, will be on CBS News this morning to talk about the outbreak.
We’ve got full live coverage of the coronavirus crisis as it unfolds over here:
Good morning. On 26 February Donald Trump said that the US had 15 cases of the coronavirus, and that “the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that’s a pretty good job we’ve done.”
It is now 15 days later, the US has 1,312 cases, and has seen 38 deaths. The NBA season has been suspended. Today’s news is likely to be dominated by the administration’s continued efforts to get on top of the crisis, and the fall-out from the sweeping travel ban for visitors from Europe that Trump announced last night.
European markets, airline stocks and the pirce of oil have all tumbled after the announcement. It could be turbulent again when Wall Street opens this morning.
Somewhat ironically - the president will be busy greeting a guest from Europe this morning - Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar. Ireland is not covered by the ban. What Trump said in his address, and what has actually been written down in Proclamation 9984 are slightly at odds. Here’s an explainer of what it means in practice.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be having her weekly press conference, then is hosting the annual Friends of Ireland luncheon, with Varadkar as a guest at 11.30am.
Democratic front runner Joe Biden will be in Wilmington, Delaware, at lunchtime, where he is expected to talk about the coronavirus pandemic.
We might also get some further administration reaction to the news that two American service members were killed last night by a rocket attack on a military base in Iraq.
