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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Sam Levin (now), Joan E Greve and Martin Belam (earlier)

Romney announces support for supreme court nominee – as it happened

Cindy McCain intends to endorse presidential candidate Joe Biden.
Cindy McCain intends to endorse presidential candidate Joe Biden. Photograph: Ross D Franklin/AP

Summary

We’re ending our live coverage for today, thanks for following along. Some links and developments:

Updated

Trump spreads Covid misinformation in Pennsylvania

At his Pittsburgh rally, which is ongoing, the president has continued to spread misleading and dangerous claims about the Covid crisis. A few examples so far:

  • He claimed Democrats are “trying to make our numbers look bad” by implementing Covid restrictions, in this case encouraging the crowd to boo the governor of Pennsylvania for adopting public health measures.
  • The president mocked Joe Biden for wearing a mask and for practicing social distancing on the campaign trail, again casting doubt about those tools that remain vital to slowing the spread of the virus.
  • In a bizarre aside, Trump also claimed that he used the racist “China virus” label because the word “coronavirus” reminds him of Italy and makes him think of a “beautiful villa”.
  • Trump said “we did a great job” handling the coronavirus and drew a misleading comparison to the Obama administration’s handling of H1N1.

Updated

The vice president’s plane has hit a bird, according to reporters traveling with Mike Pence:

Air Force Two, on the way to Washington, apparently turned around after taking off from New Hampshire “out of an abundance of caution”.

Cindy McCain has made her endorsement of Joe Biden official:

Biden said earlier today that Cindy McCain was motivated to support him in part by the recent reports that the president had privately called dead soldiers “losers” and suckers” and that he had canceled a visit to pay respects at a military cemetery.

Kamala Harris criticizes Trump's rallies and anti-mask comments

Vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris has criticized the president for his handling of the coronavirus, noting that he continues to discourage mask use even after 200,000 people have died.

Speaking in Detroit tonight, she noted that he has continued to hold large rallies where people don’t wear masks, according to CNN:

We are looking at now the marker, the sad, awful marker of 200,000 lives that have perished in just the last several months. Almost 7 million people who have contracted the virus and to this day. We have a commander in chief of the United States of America who is holding rallies, with no masks because you see he has convinced everyone that you’re on one side of his ledger if you wear a mask, and you’re on the other side of his ledger if you don’t, making value judgments about people who are concerned with not dying. We’re talking about the President of the United States. We deserve better.”

Updated

Trump's Pittsburgh rally begins with falsehoods

The president’s Pittsburgh rally has begun with predictable falsehoods and misinformation about Joe Biden.

Trump again said the Democratic nominee is “against God”, an attack that Biden has called “shameful”. The president also made misleading and false claims about Biden’s position on fracking, saying he would immediately end all fracking. Biden has repeatedly reiterated that is not his stance, recently saying, “I am not banning fracking. Let me say that again. I am not banning fracking. No matter how many times Donald Trump lies about me.”

The president also criticized Biden for wearing masks, a line of attack that has continued to raise concerns from public health officials.

Trump refuses to answer question about 200,000 Covid deaths

The president has refused to comment on the Covid death toll in the US exceeding 200,000 deaths.

“Why haven’t you said anything about the US hitting 200,000 deaths from Covid?” a reporter asked, twice.

Trump looked away and ignored the journalist: “Go ahead, uh, anybody else?”

The number of dead in the US is now equivalent to a 9/11 attack every day for 67 days, as some have noted.

Vice-president Mike Pence has argued that the Senate needs to “quickly” confirm Trump’s supreme court nominee so that the president’s pick will be seated in time to “resolve” any issues that arise from a contested election:

This line of argument has raised significant alarm and backlash given that the president has already spread falsehoods about mail-in voting in an effort to undermine trust in the election and to set the groundwork for possibly contesting the results.

After Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, the White House is now making the argument that she needs to be immediately replaced so the president’s own pick can be seated on the bench to potentially rule on an election case.

Updated

Trump’s Pittsburgh rally is due to start any minute. Here’s a snapshot of the crowd:

US warns 'foreign actors' will try to discredit mail-in voting

US federal law enforcement and cybersecurity agencies warned today that “foreign actors” and “cybercriminals” will likely try to discredit the November presidential election by taking advantage of the slow counting of mail-in ballots, Reuters reports.

The expected delays in counting mail-in ballots “could leave officials with incomplete results on election night,” the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in a joint public service announcement. It continued:

Foreign actors and cybercriminals could exploit the time required to certify and announce elections’ results by disseminating disinformation that includes reports of voter suppression, cyber attacks targeting election infrastructure, voter or ballot fraud.”

Trump himself has repeatedly made false claims about mail-in voting in his own effort to raise doubts about the legitimacy of the results. In August, the Trump campaign failed to produce any evidence of vote-by-mail fraud in Pennsylvania after a federal judge ordered it do so. Here’s a recent fact-check from the Guardian’s voting rights expert:

Pelosi announces budget deal with Republicans

House speaker Nancy Pelosi says she has reached an agreement with Republicans to add nearly $8 billion in nutrition assistance.

The bill, known as the continuing resolution (CR), is meant to avert a government shutdown.

Cindy McCain to endorse Joe Biden, candidate confirms

Joe Biden has told supporters at a fundraiser that Cindy McCain will be endorsing him for the first time:

McCain, the widow of the late GOP senator John McCain, appeared in a video during the Democratic National Convention talking about Biden and her husband’s relationship, but she did not formally endorse him then. Biden said Cindy McCain was motivated in part by the recent reports that the president had privately called dead soldiers “losers” and suckers” and that he had canceled a visit to pay respects at a military cemetery.

Trump publicly criticized John McCain on numerous occasions and was enraged when the senator voted against an effort to overturn Obamacare. During his campaign, Trump infamously said of McCain: “He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured ... He lost and let us down. I’ve never liked him as much after that. I don’t like losers.”

A scene from the campaign trail in Chandler, Arizona today where Trump supporters packed into a ballroom to see Donald Trump Jr and his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle:

Supporters were indoors, not wearing masks and not social distancing, raising concerns once again about the potential spread of Covid-19, which remains a significant threat in Arizona.

CIA says Putin likely seeking to boost Trump in election, reports say

Vladimir Putin is likely continuing to try and influence the US election in favor of Donald Trump, a recent CIA analysis found, according to multiple news reports today.

The Washington Post, New York Times and NBC News have all reported on the CIA assessment today, citing various unnamed officials. The Post, the first to report on the CIA’s finding (citing “two sources who reviewed” the analysis), said that Putin and his top aides are “probably directing” a Russian foreign influence operation to interfere in the election against Joe Biden.

Trump’s press secretary defended the president’s record on Russia, saying no one has been tougher, but her comments came one day after Trump said, “I like Putin, he likes me.”

Gynecologist accused of misconduct won't treat detainees anymore, Ice says

Immigration authorities have stopped sending detained migrant women to a rural Georgia gynecologist accused of performing surgeries without consent, a government spokesman told the Associated Press today.

Dr Mahendra Amin faces allegations that he administered hysterectomies and other procedures that women held at the Irwin county detention center didn’t seek or fully understand. Amin has seen at least 60 detained women, said Andrew Free, a lawyer investigating the medical care at the Ice jail alongside other civil rights attorneys, told the AP today.

Bryan Cox, a spokesman for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), confirmed to the AP that Amin would no longer see patients, but declined to comment further, citing an ongoing inspector general investigation. Amin’s lawyer did not respond to an inquiry on Tuesday.

The Amin scandal has renewed attention on the conditions inside Ice jails where migrants have long alleged that they face abuse, medical neglect, mistreatment and other human rights violations. Those concerns have escalated dramatically during the Covid crisis. Here’s a recent story on Irwin:

Poll: Biden leading in Michigan, tied with Trump in North Carolina

Joe Biden led President Trump by 5% among likely voters in Michigan, while the two were even in North Carolina, according to Reuters/Ipsos opinion polls released today.

In Michigan, 50% of voters said Biden would be better at handling the coronavirus pandemic while 44% said Trump would be better, according to the poll on the critical battleground state. In North Carolina, 47% said Biden would be better at handling the coronavirus pandemic versus 45% who answered Trump.

In both states, a higher percentage of voters said Trump would be better at handling the economy. You can see the full details here. And here’s the Guardian’s poll tracker, which we published yesterday and will be regularly updated:

'State of emergency' in Louisville before Breonna Taylor decision

Hi all - Sam Levin here, writing from Los Angeles, and taking over our live coverage for the rest of the day. One story we’re closely following: Authorities in Louisville, Kentucky have preemptively declared a “state of emergency” in anticipation of protests following an imminent grand jury decision on the police killing of Breonna Taylor.

Taylor, 26, was killed on 13 March by police serving a no-knock warrant as part of an investigation into an ex-boyfriend. Her death has inspired national protests for months, with activists across the country calling for the officers to face criminal prosecution.

Louisville’s mayor, Greg Fischer, said his emergency order was put in place “due to the potential for civil unrest, which allows him to exercise any of his emergency powers, including those to hire or contract for services, and implementing curfews and other restrictions”.

Civil rights groups have raised concerns that the order will be used to clamp down on protests in violation of free speech rights, and that the order could lead to brutality against demonstrators.

Here’s a recent analysis of the possible criminal case, published in the Guardian:

Today so far

That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Sam Levin, will take over the blog for the next few hours.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • The US coronavirus death toll surpassed 200,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The US has the highest death toll of any country in the world and accounts for about 21% of the global coronavirus death toll, even though it represents only 4% of the world’s population.
  • Senator Mitt Romney said he would support moving forward with Trump’s supreme court nominee. The Republican senator’s announcement virtually guarantees Trump’s nominee to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be confirmed, likely before election day on November 3.
  • Trump said he would announce his supreme court nominee on Saturday. The announcement will follow ceremonies honoring Ginsburg, who will lie in repose at the supreme court and lie in state at the US Capitol this week.
  • Mitch McConnell remained non-commital about the timing of a supreme court confirmation vote. Trump has said he wants the final vote to happen before election day, but McConnell said he would not know the timing of the vote until the nomination makes it out of the Senate judiciary committee.
  • The FDA is reportedly expected to soon release strict guidelines on the emergency authorization of a coronavirus vaccine. According to the Washington Post, the guidelines would make it highly unlikely that a vaccine will be approved before election day. Trump has promised a vaccine will be released in the coming weeks, but the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the Senate last week that a vaccine will not be widely available to the American public until mid to late 2021.

Sam will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

FDA to release strict guidelines for emergency authorization of coronavirus vaccine - report

The Food and Drug Administration is reportedly expected to soon release strict guidelines on the emergency authorization of a coronavirus vaccine, making it very unlikely a vaccine will be released before election day, on November 3.

The Washington Post reports:

The agency is issuing the guidance to boost transparency and public trust as it approaches the momentous decision of whether a prospective vaccine is safe and effective. Public health experts are increasingly worried that President Trump’s repeated predictions of a coronavirus vaccine by Nov. 3, coupled with the administration’s interference in federal science agencies, may prompt Americans to reject any vaccine as rushed and potentially tainted. ...

The guidance, which is far more rigorous than what was used for emergency clearance of hydroxychloroquine or convalescent plasma, is an effort to shore up confidence in an agency that has made missteps during the pandemic. With the vaccines, the FDA is expected to ask manufacturers seeking an emergency authorization — a far quicker process than a formal approval — to follow participants in late-stage clinical trials for a median of at least two months, starting after they receive a second vaccine shot, according to two individuals familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss information before it is made public.

As a sign the vaccine works, the agency also is looking for at least five severe cases of covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, in the placebo group for each trial, as well as some cases of the disease in older people. These standards, plus the time it will take companies to prepare their applications and the agency to review the data, make it highly improbable for any vaccine to be authorized before the election. The agency has previously said any vaccine would have to be 50 percent more effective than a placebo.

The news comes as polls have indicated declining confidence among Americans in both parties about the safety of a coronavirus vaccine, which Democrats have blamed on Trump politicizing the process.

Trump has repeatedly suggested a vaccine would be released in the coming weeks, but the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the Senate last week that a vaccine would not be widely available to the American public until mid to late 2021.

The president claimed the CDC director was “confused” when he made that prediction, but other health experts have offered similar timelines for the distribution of a vaccine.

Senator Susan Collins confirmed she would oppose Trump’s supreme court nominee if the final vote occurs before election day.

The Republican senator, who is facing a difficult reelection in Maine, previously said she did not support holding a vote on a nominee before the November 3 elections.

Senator Susan Collins speaks to reporters at the US Capitol.
Senator Susan Collins speaks to reporters at the US Capitol. Photograph: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images

However, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell now appears to have enough support to move forward without Collins’ vote. But Collins confirmed that, if the nomination process does move forward, she would not support Trump’s pick.

“My statement was a model of clarity. ... I made it very clear, yes, that I did not think there should be a vote prior to the election. And if there is one, I would oppose the nominee,” Collins told reporters, per the Hill.

“Not because I might not support that nominee under normal circumstances, but we’re simply too close to the election, and in the interest of being fair to the American people,” Collins said.

Collins noted she also disagreed with McConnell’s decision to block Barack Obama’s supreme court nominee in 2016, Merrick Garland.

“The decision was made not to proceed, a decision that I disagreed with, but my position did not prevail. I now think we need to play by the same set of rules,” she added.

The Guardian’s Sam Levine reports:

More than 40,000 people registered to vote last weekend after the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday, according to new data from vote.org, a non-profit that helps register voters on its website.

The organization saw 40,771 new voter registrations on Saturday and Sunday, a 68% increase from the previous weekend. The group also saw 139,046 people verify their registrations, a 118% increase from the previous weekend. The organization also reported a spike in mail-in ballots, noting more than 35,000 people requested them last week.

In addition to Ginsburg’s death, there may be several other reasons that explain the jump in voter activity. There generally tends to be a spike in voter registration and verification as the country gets closer to election day.

Ginsburg’s death placed the direction of the Supreme Court front and center of the presidential race. Democrats have said the winner of the presidential election should choose Ginsburg’s replacement, but Republicans have pledged to move ahead and fill the seat regardless. Ginsburg reportedly said just before she died that she did not want to have her seat filled “until a new president is installed.”

The Senate cannot even pass a nonbinding resolution to honor the legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg without debate devolving into partisan bickering.

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer attempted to pass the resolution while adding a line noting Ginsburg’s dying wish was that the new president would choose her supreme court replacement.

Senator Ted Cruz objected to that proposal and instead suggested adding a quote from Ginsburg criticizing the idea of court packing.

Schumer told Cruz, “I think Justice Ginsburg would easily see through the legal sophistry.”

That divisiveness likely foreshadows how the next month will go, as Republicans attempt to confirm Trump’s supreme court nominee before election day, on November 3.

New public health emergency in Wisconsin

Wisconsin governor Tony Evers has declared a new public health emergency and extended a face-coverings mandate into November to fight a flare-up of coronavirus cases, as the US surpassed the grim milestone of 200,000 Covid-19 deaths this morning.

In-person social gatherings led to cases skyrocketing among people aged 18 to 24, Evers said, as he pleaded with students who returned to colleges for the fall semester to stay out of bars and wear masks, Reuters writes.

“We are seeing an alarming increase in cases across our state, especially on campus,” the governor said in a statement announcing his decision.

Evers’ previous mask mandate, part of a second public health emergency he issued in late July, was due to expire on Monday and has been challenged in court by a conservative group arguing the governor, a Democrat, violated state law in using emergency powers more than once.

Wisconsin has experienced one of the highest percentage increases of coronavirus cases nationwide over the past two weeks, and has the second-highest rate of positive coronavirus tests in the nation at 17%, according to a Reuters tally.

The United States continues to have the world’s highest number of Covid-19 deaths. On a weekly average, it is losing about 800 lives each day to the virus, according to a Reuters tally. That is down from a peak of 2,806 daily deaths recorded on April 15 during the first peak of infections.

Wisconsin governor Tony Evers (L) and lieutenant governor Mandela Barnes at a news conference in Kenosha last month.
Wisconsin governor Tony Evers (L) and lieutenant governor Mandela Barnes at a news conference in Kenosha last month. Photograph: Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Olivia Troye, the former member of the White House coronavirus task force who has been publicly criticizing Donald Trump’s response to the pandemic since leaving, has just come back against former boss Keith Kellogg.

Kellogg, national security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence put Troye down at a briefing earlier today. Troye’s having none of it.

Troye has accused the president of putting his own supporters at risk when they turn out for his campaign rallies.

And here’s a throwback to what Troye said on a Republican Voters Against Trump ad:

Meanwhile:

Updated

A spokesperson for Nancy Pelosi said the House speaker will soon lead a moment of silence to commemorate the loss of 200,000 Americans to coronavirus.

The US coronavirus death toll hit 200,000 earlier today, representing a far higher death toll than that of any other country in the world.

Asked this afternoon if Trump would be doing anything to mark the tragic milestone, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany dodged the question.

At his own press conference, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer denounced Republicans’ efforts to push through a supreme court nomination using “brute political force”.

“If that becomes the standard in the Senate, how can we expect to trust the other side again?” Schumer asked.

The Democratic leader argued Republicans were rushing to confirm a supreme court nominee who could “change the complexion of the court for a generation.”

“Everything Americans value hangs in the balance,” Schumer said, accusing Republicans of having “pulled the federal judiciary to their far-right side.”

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell was asked how he could justify moving forward with a supreme court vote, when Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s reported dying wish was for the new president to fill her seat.

McConnell replied, “I prefer another thing she said recently, which was she thought the number of the supreme court ought to be nine.”

It should be noted McConnell kept the supreme court stuck at eight justices for more than a year as he refused to consider Barack Obama’s nominee in 2016.

McConnell remains noncommittal on timeline of supreme court vote

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell remained noncommittal about the timing of a final vote on the confirmation of Trump’s supreme court nominee.

McConnell said Lindsey Graham, the chairman of the Senate judiciary committee, would first lay out the panel’s timing for confirmation hearings after the nominee is announced.

“When the nomination comes out of committee, then I’ll decide when and how to proceed,” McConnell said.

Trump has said he wants the final vote to happen before election day, but McConnell has been more vague, saying yesterday that the vote will happen “this year.”

McConnell also dismissed one reporter’s question about polling showing a majority of Americans believe the Senate should wait until after the election to hold a confirmation vote.

The Republican leader insisted the Senate has a “constitutional obligation” to take up the nomination, even though McConnell refused to consider Barack Obama’s supreme court nominee in 2016.

Senator Joni Ernst, who is facing a difficult reelection in Iowa, said she looked forward to vetting Trump’s supreme court nominee.

Ernst, a member of the Senate judiciary committee, pledged, “I will do my duty as a member of that committee.”

A poll taken days before Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death showed Ernst trailing Democratic candidate Theresa Greenfield by 3 points among Iowa’s likely voters, representing a virtual tie given the survey’s 3.8-point margin of error.

At the Republicans’ press conference, Senate majority whip John Thune said senators had been elected for “big moments like this ... to fill seats on the supreme court.”

Senator John Barrasso also noted that Trump’s supreme court nominee would likely be someone who had already been vetted by the Senate, indicating the nominee will be a federal judge.

Senate Republican leadership is holding a press conference on Capitol Hill, addressing the supreme court confirmation hearings and the government funding bill.

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell started the press conference by noting they expected to receive Trump’s nomination later this week, and they anticipated the nominee would be an “extremely well qualified woman.”

Before handing the mic over to Senate majority whip John Thune, McConnell took a moment to criticize House Democrats’ stopgap government funding bill.

McConnell noted the bill, which would keep the government funded until December 11, did not include the $30 billion bailout for farmers that Republicans have requested.

“It basically is a message to farm country to drop dead,” McConnell said.

Judge Amy Coney Barrett has reportedly emerged as Trump’s favorite to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

CNN reports:

Trump has not finalized his decision, and with days to go until he announces his pick on Saturday, his thinking could change.

The White House is currently working to schedule a meeting between Trump and Judge Barbara Lagoa while he’s in the Miami area Friday, two sources tell CNN.

Lagoa is one of five female candidates the President is considering as a replacement, but two sources said her chances have dimmed significantly since the weekend.

But for now, Barrett -- currently sitting on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago -- is his clear front-runner and is viewed inside the White House as the likely nominee. ...

Officials said Trump seemed very enthusiastic about Barrett after their [Monday] meeting, which lasted for several hours. He told people afterward he believes Barrett will be very well received by ‘his people,’ one official said. While no one close to the process would go so far as to say Barrett is the pick, Trump is giving people the impression he is completely sold on her.

Many progressives fear that, if Barrett is confirmed, she will vote to overturn Roe v Wade, the landmark 1973 supreme court case that established a woman’s right to abortion access.

White House denounces former staffer criticizing Trump's pandemic response

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany brought Keith Kellogg, the national security advisor to Vice President Mike Pence, up to the briefing room podium to denounce Olivia Troye.

Troye, a former member of the White House coronavirus task force, has been publicly criticizing Trump’s response to the pandemic.

She said in an interview released today that she felt compelled to speak out against the president because “I think American lives were continuing to be on the line.”

Kellogg said he supervised Troye at the White House and fired her because of her declining work performance.

“What she has said, I have never heard,” Kellogg said. “That never happened.”

Kellogg also dismissed Troye as a “back-bencher” for the task force, although Dr Anthony Fauci has described her as a “good person” and an “important” member of the team.

“I’m very proud of the president of the United States,” Kellogg said. “I’m not proud of Olivia Troye.”

McEnany briefly took the podium again to dismiss Troye as a “disgruntled former detailee.” With that, she concluded the briefing without taking additional questions about Troye.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Trump’s long-awaited health care plan will be coming in the next two weeks.

A reporter asked McEnany when the president would release his plan, noting that some Democrats have suggested it does not exist.

McEnany replied, “It certainly does exist. The president in the next week or so will be laying out his vision for health care.”

The press secretary went on to say, “The president will be laying out some additional health care steps in the coming, I would say, two weeks.”

The answer recalled this classic 2017 piece from Bloomberg News on the Trump administration: “In Trump’s White House, Everything’s Coming in ‘Two Weeks.’”

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany repeatedly insisted that Trump has been transparent with the American people on the issue of coronavirus.

“The president never downplayed critical health information,” McEnany said at her briefing.

But again, Trump admitted to journalist Bob Woodward back in March that he was working to downplay the threat of the virus.

“I wanted to always play it down,” Trump told Woodward on March 19. “I still like playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic.”

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany rejected the notion that Trump was responsible for the US coronavirus death toll, which hit 200,000 today.

Asked what she would say to Americans who blame Trump for the country’s death toll, McEnany argued the death toll could have been much higher and the president deserved credit for his response.

The US coronavirus death toll is higher than that of any other country in the world. While the US makes up 4% of the world’s population, the country represents about 21% of the global coronavirus death toll.

McEnany was also pressed on Trump’s false claim at his rally last night that coronavirus “affects virtually nobody” below the age of 18.

Asked why the president was not telling the truth to the American people, McEnany responded, “The president is telling people the truth.”

Trump previously acknowledged to journalist Bob Woodward that he had worked to downplay the coronavirus pandemic.

McEnany also would not say whether Trump would address the country hitting the grim milestone of 200,000 Americans lost to coronavirus.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany insisted Trump has the full authority to fill the supreme court vacancy.

“There is nothing in the Constitution that says the president stops being the president in an election year,” McEnany said.

Again, Republicans blocked Barack Obama from filling a supreme court seat in 2016 on the basis that it should not be filled until after the presidential election.

McEnany attacks Democrats over supreme court vacancy

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany is holding a briefing, and she opened her remarks by attacking Democratic lawmakers over the supreme court vacancy.

McEnany claimed House speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have “blatantly shown their disregard for the US Constiution” after they refused to rule out the possibility of impeaching Trump again to slow down the nomination process.

McEnany quoted the Constitution saying the president “shall nominate” supreme court justices, even though Republicans blocked Barack Obama from doing so in 2016.

Senator Cory Booker criticized Trump for using him as a “boogeyman” to stir up fear about Democratic policies among suburban voters.

“I’m tired, I really am exhausted, at the end of this man’s time as president,” Booker told MSNBC. “He has pushed every racially divisive nerve possible in this country.”

At his Ohio rally last night, Trump once again warned (with no evidence) that Joe Biden would “destroy suburbia” if elected president.

“You know who’s in charge? You know who’s in charge of the program? Cory Booker!” Trump said.

Booker is one of three black members of the US Senate.

Today so far

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • The US coronavirus death toll surpassed 200,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The US has the highest death toll of any country in the world and accounts for about 21% of the global death toll, even though it represents only 4% of the world’s population.
  • Senator Mitt Romney said he would support moving forward with Trump’s supreme court nominee. The Republican senator’s announcement virtually guarantees Trump’s nominee to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be confirmed, likely before election day on November 3.
  • Trump said he would announce his supreme court nominee on Saturday. The announcement will follow ceremonies honoring Ginsburg, who will lie in repose at the supreme court and lie in state at the US Capitol this week.

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

Trump will reportedly meet with one of the judges being considered for the supreme court seat on Friday.

Axios reports:

President Trump plans to meet with shortlisted Supreme Court candidate Barbara Lagoa during a campaign visit to Florida on Friday, according to two sources familiar with his plans.

What we’re hearing: Sources who know both Trump and Lagoa say they still expect the president to pick Judge Amy Coney Barrett, but they view the Lagoa meeting as a wild card because they say she has a charismatic personality that would appeal to Trump.

Lagoa is the daughter of Cuban immigrants, and some commentators have speculated her background could appeal to Trump as he attempts to win Florida, with the help of Cuban-American voters, in November.

Asked yesterday if politics and his reelection bid were affecting his supreme court choice, Trump said, “I think probably automatically it is. Even if you’re not wanting to do that, it becomes a little automatic.”

There is a Groundhog Day quality to the American experience of Covid-19. Back in March there was public outcry that, under Trump, protective gear to keep health workers safe was in critically short supply, testing for coronavirus was woefully inadequate and black Americans were dying in grotesquely disproportionate numbers.

Today, six months later, exactly the same laments can be heard. “There is a theme here,” said Eric Topol, professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research in San Diego. “Recreate the crime. We keep on doing it, over and over again.”

With autumn on the horizon, when colder weather is likely to drive millions back indoors where the virus can spread more easily and with returning colleges acting as giant disease incubators, the US is poised for another rude awakening. There is simply no chance of containing the contagion when new cases are still running at about 35,000 a day.

In March the Guardian asked Jeremy Konyndyk, a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development who was at the forefront of the US government response to Ebola in 2014, to give his take on how the pandemic was being handled. He called the Trump administration’s effort “one of the greatest failures of basic governance in modern times”.

We went back to Konyndyk to ask how he sees it now as the country passes the devastating 200,000 deaths mark. “I think my analysis has borne out extremely well,” he said. “We’re on track to have a quarter-million dead Americans by the end of the year with absolutely no reason it had to happen. It was all preventable. So yes, this is a leadership failure of astounding proportions.”

It has been less than six months since the US coronavirus death toll hit 1,000. Today, it surpassed 200,000.

Democratic nominee Joe Biden tweeted this graphic today, demonstrating how the country’s coronavirus death toll has continued to steadily climb while other countries’ have stabilized.

The US has reached another tragic landmark in deaths from Covid-19, with more than 200,000 people now believed to have died because of the virus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Deaths have reached at least 200,005, according to the count by the university’s coronavirus resource center.

The US has the most Covid-19 deaths in the world, ahead of other nations with high death tolls including Brazil, India and Mexico.

A recent update of an analysis by the Brookings Insitution of the response to Covid-19 of OECD countries said that virus caseloads and deaths in the US at first declined and then surged again, starting in June. It concluded: “Employment and health outcomes for the US during the pandemic have been worse than in almost any other high-income country in the world.

“New virus cases in September in the US are 60% higher than in the average OECD country, and new deaths are five times higher.’”

California has the most cases of any US state, followed by Texas and Florida. In recent weeks there has been concern around the growth of cases in the midwest, including Iowa.

Experts have said the next few months will be vital in determining how the US will cope with the pandemic through the winter.

US coronavirus death toll surpasses 200,000

The US has officially lost more than 200,000 Americans to coronavirus, representing a far higher death toll than any other nation in the world.

According to Johns Hopkins University, at least 200,005 Americans have died of coroanvirus since the pandemic started in March.

That number represents about one-fifth of the global coronavirus death toll. Brazil has seen the second-highest national death toll, losing 137,272 people to the virus so far.

For more coronavirus updates, follow the Guardian’s global live blog:

The Republican chairman of the Senate judiciary committee said he believed a supreme court confirmation vote would happen before election day.

Senator Lindsey Graham told reporters that he planned to hold confirmation hearings over three days next month.

Asked whether the final vote would happen before November 3, Graham said, “I think so.”

Trump addresses the UN General Assembly

As Mitt Romney announced his support for advancing a supreme court nomination, Trump addressed the United Nations General Assembly in a pre-recorded video.

In his speech, the US president attacked China, blaming Beijing for the coronavirus pandemic, and celebrated his “America First” agenda.

Trump abruptly ended his remarks after seven minutes, using less than half his allocated time.

Julian Borger, the Guardian’s world affairs editor, said this of Trump’s remarks:

Trump’s speech was a barnstorming seven minutes, less than half the time he was allotted, and in a tone just short of yelling. It was a speech designed for a virtual campaign rally and that is its destiny, to be played on repeat on Republican social media.

Much of the speech was a ferocious attack on China. He named the country 11 times in all. In the first few seconds he had named Covid-19 the ‘China virus’, and called for Beijing to be held accountable.

Having dismissed the pandemic as affecting ‘virtually nobody’ at a rally yesterday, he called the fight against it as a ‘great global struggle’ comparable to the second world war. And Trump went on to make a series of false claims about what the US government was doing about the pandemic.

The first was the biggest. He said ‘we launched the most aggressive mobilization, since the second world war.’

In fact, the federal government has handed over leadership to the states, and its main impact was to broadcast misleading information, downplaying the threat. Trump was speaking just after the US passed the milestone of 200,000 dead from the pandemic - a statistic he did not mention.

There will be some relief in the UN, where there were fears that the US president would announce the severing of more US funding of the organisation. Instead the hostile fire was directed mostly on China. The brevity of the speech limited the number of targets.

For more updates on the UN General Assembly, follow the Guardian’s live blog:

Updated

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer appears to be declaring all-out war against majority leader Mitch McConnell, as Republicans move steadily toward confirming Trump’s supreme court nominee.

“Leader McConnell has defiled the Senate like no one in this generation, and Leader McConnell may very well destroy it,” Schumer said, accusing Republicans of stealing two supreme court seats.

As a reminder, control of the Senate is up for grabs in the November elections. If Democrats win the White House, they need to flip three Senate seats to take control of the chamber. If Joe Biden loses, they will need to flip four seats.

Senator Mitt Romney argued that it was “appropriate” for the court to have a more conservative bent to represent a “center right” country.

“It’s also appropriate for a nation that is, if you will, center right to have a court which reflects center right points of view,” Romney told reporters on Capitol Hill.

But as a Daily Beast reporter noted, both Trump and Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, lost the popular vote by millions of votes.

And while Republicans make up a majority of the Senate, they actually represent a minority of the country, so it’s unclear the US is truly “center right.”

It has been a rather remarkable year in terms of the relationship between Trump and Mitt Romney.

In February, Romney became the only Republican senator to support removing Trump from office during the president’s impeachment trial.

Less than eight months later, Romney now says that same president should be able to nominate a supreme court nominee, with six weeks to go until election day.

Senator Mitt Romney told reporters that he made his decision to move forward with a supreme court nominee based on “precedent.”

“The decision to proceed now with President Trump’s nominee is also consistent with history,” Romney said.

Romney also argued that it is sensible to have a court with “more of a conservative bent than it’s had over the last few decades.”

“My liberal friends over many decades have gotten very used to the idea of having a liberal court, but that’s not written in the stars,” Romney said.

Capitol Hill reporters pressed Mitt Romney on his statement supporting advancing a supreme court nomination, but the Republican senator dodged questions about voting in a lame-duck session and Mitch McConnell’s refusal to consider Barack Obama’s supreme court nominee in 2016.

Senator Mitt Romney’s announcement that he will support moving forward with a supreme court nomination, virtually guaranteeing a confirmation, has intensified demands for Democrats to embrace packing the court.

From a legal writer for Slate:

Senator Mitt Romney’s announcement that he will support moving forward with Trump’s supreme court nomination increases the likelihood that the vote will happen before election day, on November 3.

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell pledged yesterday that a vote would happen “this year,” but he did not specify whether it would occur before or after election day.

The president has said he would prefer that the nominee to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg be confirmed before November 3.

With likely 51 Republican senators backing McConnell’s proposal to move forward, the nomination is likely to sail through.

Updated

Romney supports moving forward with supreme court nomination

Senator Mitt Romney announced he would support moving forward with Trump’s supreme court nominee.

“I intend to follow the Constitution and precedent in considering the president’s nominee. If the nominee reaches the floor, I intend to vote based upon their qualifications,” Romney said.

Romney was considered the last major question mark in Republicans’ plans to move forward with the nomination, after Cory Gardner announced yesterday that he also supported moving forward with the nomination.

Only two Republican senators -- Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska -- have called for waiting to confirm a nominee until after election day, on November 3.

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell now has 51 likely votes, one more than necessary, to confirm Trump’s eventual nominee.

Updated

A new Georgia poll out this morning shows Trump and Joe Biden tied in the traditionally Republican state.

The poll, conducted by the University of Georgia’s School of Public and International Affairs for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, found Trump and Biden each attracting the support of 47% of the state’s likely voters.

Trump won Georgia by 5 points in 2016, and he almost certainly needs to carry the state again to secure a second term.

The state’s two Senate races are also hotly contested. Senator David Perdue and Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff are virtually tied, with Perdue at 47% and Ossoff at 45%, within the poll’s 4-point margin of error.

The special election for Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler’s seat is also very close. Loeffler leads with 24%, but both Republican congressman Doug Collins and Democratic candidate Raphael Warnock are at 20%.

Trump confirms supreme court pick will be announced Saturday

Trump has confirmed that he will announce his nominee to fill the supreme court of Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Saturday at the White House.

The president had previously said he would announce his choice either Friday or Saturday, following this week’s ceremonies honoring Ginsburg.

Ginsburg will lie in repose at the supreme court on Wednesday and Thursday and lie in state at the Capitol on Friday.

This is Joan Greve in Washington, taking over for Martin Belam.

Olivia Troye, a former aide to Vice President Mike Pence who has been speaking out about her time at the Trump White House, said the president’s comments about coronavirus “disappearing” were “frightening.”

Troye told MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell, “When you’re the president, words matter.”

Asked why she decided to speak out now, Troye said, “I felt that in my heart and my entire being, I think American lives were continuing to be on the line.”

Troye expressed alarm that Trump was more focused on his personal agenda than protecting the country from coronavirus, which has now claimed nearly 200,000 American lives.

Troye, a former member of the White House coronavirus task force, also noted the team held a meeting “late January” about how dangerous the coronavirus could be for the country.

The former aide also confirmed Trump argued coronavirus could be a positive thing because he wouldn’t have to shake hands with people anymore.

Troyte told Mitchell, “He said when you’re a politician, you have to shake a lot of hands. You have to shake a lot of hands. And these people are disgusting. It’s gross. And so maybe, Covid’s probably a good thing, right? I don’t have to shake hands. I don’t have to do that anymore.”

The vice president has dismissed Troye as a “disgruntled employee,” but Dr Anthony Fauci described her as a “good person” and an “important” member of the task force.

Daniel Chaitin, the breaking news editor at the Washington Examiner, seems to indicate that Saturday is going to be the day for Trump’s pick.

And that is it from me today, I’ll be back tomorrow, I’m handing over now to Joan…

We’d had reports of some of the details already, but Today has put up some clips of the first TV interview with Olivia Troye, who worked as an adviser to vice [resident Mike Pence before quitting Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force. She was being interviewed by NBC senior Washington correspondent Andrea Mitchell.

Troy is described as a lifelong Republican who worked at the Pentagon, was detailed to Iraq, and who worked at the National Counterterrorism centre before joining the coronavirus task force.

In the clip she says she spoke out because “I felt that, in my heart, and in my entire being, American lives were continuing to be on the line.”

She said that president Trump was mainly focussed on how the virus would affect his PR and image, rather than the agenda of the taskforce, and at one point said coronavirus might be a good thing as he’d have to shake fewer hands. She added “I can’t imagine how any honestly normal human being would ever say that out loud in the middle of a pandemic.”

She confirmed that Donald Trump was briefed in late January that coronavirus was going to be “big”, at a point where he continued to dismiss it in public. Troye described watching the president say it was just going to “go away” was “frightening”.

“You know, when you’re the president,” she said, “words matter.”

You can watch the clip here: Today – Former Pence aide speaks out about Trump’s ‘frightening’ response to coronavirus

Nancy Pelosi will later on this morning be attending the Covid Memorial Project’s interfaith memorial service at the National Mall. The project has installed 20,000 Americans flags on the northeast quadrant of the Washington Monument, facing the White House, to mark 200,000 deaths in the US from the coronavirus.

Supporters of the Covid Memorial Project place 20,000 American flags on the National Mall as the US coronavirus death toll approaches 200,000 lives lost to date.
Supporters of the Covid Memorial Project place 20,000 American flags on the National Mall as the US coronavirus death toll approaches 200,000 lives lost to date. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

Zoe Williams has written for us today on how the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg has put the issue of abortion centre-stage in the US presidential election, and she urges campaigners to seize the opportunity:

More of Trump’s supporters have this as a “very important” factor in the way they’ll vote. This is a classic issue of asymmetric polarisation – it pleases the moderate to say there are extremists on both sides, yet the pro-choice side should never have accepted that premise. The anti-abortionists, at their extremes, want to curtail this right for every woman, in every circumstance. There isn’t a pro-choice activist on Earth who wants all pregnancies to end in termination. If the past five years have taught us anything, it’s that the most polarised have the most to gain, politically, from a calcified debate.

Precisely because it is insoluble, the issue has an obliterative quality, scorching everything around it. Who wants to talk about tax bands and green energy subsidies, when there is life and death at stake? This, again, appears to play better for Trump, since the left wins when it builds a plausible, detailed, coherent plan for a different future, whereas the right wins when it offers up absolutes and asks the voter to build an identity round one or the other.

Read it here: Zoe Williams – Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death means pro-choicers have a fight on their hands

Poll: Trump and Biden tied in Iowa battleground – numbers show stark gender divide

News this morning of a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa poll which sees Trump and Biden “locked in a tie just six weeks to Election Day”. The paper reports:

Forty-seven percent of likely voters say they would support Trump for president, and 47% say they would support Biden. Another 4% would vote for someone else and 3% are unsure.

A stark gender divide appears to be driving the race as men of nearly every demographic cast their support for Trump, a Republican, and women do the same for Biden, a Democrat.

“I don’t know that there’s any race in the history of presidential polling in Iowa that shows this kind of division,” said J. Ann Selzer, president of Selzer & Co., the firm that conducted the poll.

Trump leads by 21 percentage points with men, 57% to 36% over Biden. And Biden leads by 20 percentage points with women, 57% to 37% over Trump.

Trump carried Iowa easily in 2016 with a ten point lead of Hillary Clinton.

Read more here: Des Moines Register – Iowa Poll: Donald Trump and Joe Biden are locked in a dead heat six weeks to Election Day

Poll: Only 39% of Americans say they would take a first generation Covid vaccine

Donald Trump has been pushing for it and promising it, but the American public seem increasingly unenthusiastic about the prospect of an imminent vaccine against the coronavirus according to the latest findings of the Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index. Just 13% say they’d definitely be willing to try it immediately.

Margaret Talev writes that the trend is taking place among Republicans as well as Democrats, and that “It’s another warning of the potential difficulties health authorities will face in convincing enough Americans that a vaccine is safe and effective.”

In all, sixty percent say it is not very, or not at all, likely they would get the first generation vaccine, while 39% report that they were very likely or somewhat likely to take it. Ipsos report this represents an eight percentage point drop from last month, when 47% said they would get the first vaccine.

The poll also finds that 60% of Americans do not trust pharmaceutical companies to look out for their best interests.

Cliff Young, president of Ipsos US Public Affairs, suggests the growing concerns around the vaccine reflect a combination of scientists urging patience and the “political ping-pong” that surrounds it.

Read more here: Axios – Vaccine resistance grows

If you are above a certain age, you may not have grasped what TikTok is, and why it has become so popular among young Americans.

And even if you have grasped that, you still might be somewhat baffled as to why the Trump administration has intervened into the ownership of the social media video sharing app.

Fortunately, my colleague Helen Davidson has got you covered, answering why TikTok is for sale, and how the deal for it get so complicated:

Donald Trump has accused the video-sharing social networking service of being a threat to national security. He claims its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, would give the Chinese government access to user data upon request. TikTok denies the accusation.

The US president has demanded a full sale of TikTok to an American owner. But China complicated a potential sale, with an amendment to its export restrictions requiring companies to seek government approval before exporting Chinese tech. It was widely believed to be aimed at the technology driving TikTok’s algorithm – AI interfaces, voice recognition, and content recommendation analysis.

There’s a lot more here: TikTok – why it is being sold and who will own it

Kamala Harris to visit Flint and Detroit in Michigan today

Kamala Harris is making a campaign stop in Michigan today, where she will visit Flint and Detroit. Flint came to national attention with the scandal over its water supply. As the Detroit Free Press reports in advance of her visit:

In Washington, Harris is working to address issues that affect residents in Michigan cities such as Flint, where a state-led change in the city’s municipal water supply in 2014 exposed residents — many of them children — to lead. The state agreed in August to a $600-million preliminary settlement of civil lawsuits brought by residents harmed by lead during the water crisis.

In July, Harris introduced a bill ensuring American citizens, especially those in at-risk communities like Flint, had access to clean drinking water. The “Water Justice Act” would invest $220 billion for safe water programs.

Michigan was narrowly won by Donald Trump last time out by around 10,000 votes, securing him 16 Electoral College votes. Our US election polls tracker currently puts Biden 7 points up this time around. The state can expect a few more visits from both sides before November rolls around.

But Flint wasn’t a one-off in the US with regards to water, and we’ve had a whole series looking at the issue of the affordability and quality of water in the country called America’s water crisis. In the latest instalment, Nina Lakhani has been in Martin county, Kentucky.

The tap water smells strongly of chlorine, like a swimming pool, and residents frequently report problems with bad taste, discolouration, sediment and irritated or burning skin after bathing.

“In Martin county nobody drinks the tap water unless they have to, you can’t trust it, and you can’t trust the water department,” said Reed, a former teacher’s assistant who lives off $780 a month in benefits.

Reed ostensibly pays two water bills: $60 to $70 a month to the public utility and $30 or so to the store for bottled water. Her grandson Chance Crum, 18, has never tasted the tap water.

“It makes you sick to my stomach,” says Florence Reed, “I would never let my baby drink it, it smells bad and it tastes bad. It’s nasty, but sometimes I have no choice.”

Read it here: ‘It smells bad, it tastes bad’: how Americans stopped trusting their water

Secretary of state Mike Pompeo has tweeted this morning of pride in the leading role of the US in helping to set up the United Nations 75 years ago.

The UN General Assembly opens today, although in a rather different and more virtual format than previous years due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Donald Trump will be addressing the UN via a pre-recorded speech on a bill that also features Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, China’s Xi Jinping, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. That’s quite the programming choice from whoever was putting the agenda together. We’ll have a separate live blog for that closer to the time – it starts at 9am.

Our world affairs editor Julian Borger has written this scene-setter for us, encouragingly titled: Why the UN’s 75th general assembly could be worse than the world’s worst Zoom meeting

Michael Bloomberg helps raise millions to aid Florida felons restore their voting rights

Associated Press report that after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis won a court victory to keep felons from voting until they’ve paid off debts, Democratic billionaire and former presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg has stepped in as part of an effort that has raised more than $20 million dollars on their behalf in order to allow them to vote.

That’s in addition to the $100 million Bloomberg has pledged to help Biden win Florida.

A federal appellate court ruled on 11 September that in addition to serving their sentences, Florida felons must pay all fines, restitution and legal fees before they can regain their right to vote. The case could have broad implications for the November elections.

Under Amendment 4, which Florida voters passed overwhelmingly in 2018, felons who have completed their sentences would have voting rights restored. Republican lawmakers then moved to define what it means to complete a sentence.

In addition to prison time served, lawmakers directed that all legal financial obligations, including unpaid fines and restitution, would also have to be settled before a felon could be eligible to vote.

With Bloomberg’s help, the Florida Rights Restitution Council is trying to get this accomplished. The group had raised about $5 million before Bloomberg made calls to raise almost $17 million more, according to Bloomberg advisers who weren’t authorized to speak to AP on the record because the announcement hadn’t been made yet.

The money is targeted for felons who registered to vote while the law was in question and who owe $1,500 or less. That accounts for about 31,100 people, Bloomberg advisers say. In a state that decided the 2000 presidential election by 537 votes, that could be critical in a year when polls show Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden in a dead heat.

Organizers for the group say they aren’t targeting people registered with a particular political party.

“To hell with politics, to hell with any other implications or inuations, at the end of the day it’s about real people, real lives, American citizens who want to be a part of this,” said Desmond Meade, the group’s executive director. “People with felony convictions have had their voices silenced for so long.”

The Florida Rights Restitution Council said other donors include John Legend, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, MTV, Comedy Central, VH1, Ben & Jerry’s, Levi Strauss & Co., the Miami Dolphins, the Orlando Magic, the Miami Heat and Stephen Spielberg.

Pentagon used taxpayer funds meant for Covid masks and swabs to make jet engine parts and body armor – reports

This has just dropped from the Washington Post: Pentagon used taxpayer money meant for masks and swabs to make jet engine parts and body armor

A $1 billion fund Congress gave the Pentagon in March to build up the country’s supplies of medical equipment has instead been mostly funneled to defense contractors and used for making things such as jet engine parts, body armor and dress uniforms.

The change illustrates how one taxpayer-backed effort to battle the novel coronavirus was instead diverted toward patching up long-standing perceived gaps in military supplies.

The Cares Act, which Congress passed earlier this year, gave the Pentagon money to “prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus.” But a few weeks later, the Defense Department began reshaping how it would award the money in a way that represented a major departure from Congress’s original intent. The payments were made even though US health officials believe there are still major funding gaps in responding to the pandemic.

The Post report that:

Defense Department lawyers quickly determined that the funds could be used for defense production, a conclusion that Congress later disputed. Among the awards: $183 million to firms including Rolls-Royce and ArcelorMittal to maintain the shipbuilding industry; tens of millions of dollars for satellite, drone and space surveillance technology; $80 million to a Kansas aircraft parts business suffering from the Boeing 737 Max grounding and the global slowdown in air travel; and $2 million for a domestic manufacturer of Army dress uniform fabric.

Read more here: Washington Post – Pentagon used taxpayer money meant for masks and swabs to make jet engine parts and body armor

"We’ve got the votes" – Lindsey Graham confident whoever Trump nominates for supreme court will be confirmed

The Democratic party had pinned some of their hopes on stalling a replacement for supreme court justice Ruth Barder Ginsburg until after the election on their being enough Republican Senators too cautious to push the confirmation through before election day. That seems now not to be the case.

Last night Senator Lindsey Graham told Fox News: “We’ve got the votes to confirm justice Ginsburg’s replacement before the election. We’re going to move forward in the committee; we’re going to report the nomination out of the committee to the floor of the United States Senate so we can vote before the election.”

Crucially, while Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joined Susan Collins of Maine in saying that they would not back moves to replace Ginsburg until the next president was elected, Charles Grassley of Iowa and Cory Gardner of Colorado, two of the three remaining Republicans who might have opposed filling the seat, announced that they would support moving ahead.

That only leaves Mitt Romney in the balance. “Before I have any comment, I’m going to meet with my colleagues, which I’ll be doing tomorrow,” he told reporters. But his dissent alone would not be enough to derail Mitch McConnell’s plans to push the nomination through.

Updated

Steve Contorno writes for the Tampa Bay Times today that Ginsburg’s death may help Trump and Republicans dismantle the Affordable Care Act. But, Contorno goes on to ask, will that hurt him in the most important swing state?

With his third appointment to the high court, Republicans hope President Donald Trump can deliver the final blow to the Affordable Care Act after a decade of GOP efforts to dismantle the federal health care law. The supreme court is scheduled to revisit the law a week after election day in November.

But the timing of that case coupled with the vacancy created by Ginsburg’s passing has the potential to alter the political landscape in Florida, the country’s largest battleground and where more people purchase coverage through the Affordable Care Act than in any other state. Former Vice President Joe Biden and his Democratic allies have for months sought to frame the race here around the healthcare fight, and their case is much clearer with the supreme court down a justice who has repeatedly voted to uphold the law.

“For those Floridians, if they understand that Trump’s pick or his reelection means they lose their health care, that’s a game-changer,” said Rep. Kathy Castor, a Tampa Democrat. “Justice Ginsburg’s death is going to be a wake-up call when they hear that their health care weighs in the balance.”

Read more here: Tampa Bay Times – How the Supreme Court vacancy could turn Florida presidential race into a fight over health care

A Joe Biden win in Florida would significantly narrow Donald Trump’s possible paths to Electoral College victory in November. Francisco Alvarado has been in Miami reporting for us on the fight for Florida’s Latino voters.

Recent polls show Biden has lost ground among Florida’s Latino voters compared to his predecessors Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, both of whom outperformed their Republican rivals among this key voting bloc.

Trump and Biden are virtually tied in Florida, prompting the former vice-president to make his first campaign trip as his party’s earlier this week. Around the same time Mike Bloomberg announced he was committing $100m to turn this crucial swing state blue on 3 November. The “never-Trump” Republican outfit the Lincoln Project also announced it would produce ads targeting Florida’s Latino voters.

Meanwhile, Trump is galvanizing his base of Latino conservative voters, especially Cuban Americans in strongholds like Hialeah, by undoing much of Obama’s historic policy to restore relations with Cuba, his hardline approach opposing the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and smearing Biden and the Democratic party as communists and socialists hellbent on destroying America.

Read it here: The fight for Florida’s Latino voters: Biden courts Puerto Ricans as Trump rallies Cubans

Jeff Mason and Tim Reid from Reuters offer this analysis on what the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg has done for the direction of the Trump campaign.

They say that Trump aides are pleased the focus of the election has moved, at least temporarily, to the supreme court rather than the president’s response to the coronavirus.

“Trump would much rather make his campaign about the Supreme Court than a referendum on ... his handling of Covid,” Republican strategist Alex Conant told them.

The Republican National Committee on Monday sent talking points to state party officials - aimed at Trump’s core evangelical and conservative base - stating that Trump had “an obligation to fill the seat” and that his court choices “will uphold the Constitution and rule of law.”

The court vacancy could also play a significant and unpredictable role in races for the Senate, which the Republicans hold by a slim 53-47 majority.

Steve Schmidt, a co-founder of the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump group of Republicans and former Republicans, said pushing through a nominee would endanger the party’s control of the Senate.

“All the analysis that this is good for Republicans is wrong. It’s not good for Republicans. It’s terrible,” said Schmidt, who helped steer the confirmations of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito during the George W. Bush years.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Sunday found that 62% of American adults want the winner of the November presidential election to name the new justice, while 23% disagreed and the rest said they were not sure.

The Lincoln Project has announced a TV advertising campaign targeting Senator Lindsey Graham, who is seeking re-election in South Carolina.

Graham opposed efforts by Barack Obama to fill a vacant Supreme Court seat in 2016, arguing it was inappropriate to do so in an election year. The Republican has of course flipped his views in 2020, and said he will support any move by Trump to fill Ginsburg’s seat.

A Democratic Senate strategist who asked not to be named told Reuters that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee will be pouring money into races that could impact any vote on Ginsburg’s replacement, including in Colorado, where Senator Cory Gardner is vulnerable.

The focus this week is very much on the supreme court seat vacated by the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but as Tom McCarthy writes for us, Donald Trump’s success at appointing more than 200 conservative judges already in his first term amounts to a towering legacy.

“I’m going to be up to 280 judges very soon,” Trump bragged to the journalist Bob Woodward in remarks that Woodward captured on tape and released Sunday. “Nobody’s ever had that. Two hundred and eighty. You know? Nobody’s ever had that.”

Trump’s number was characteristically inflated: the number of judges he has placed on district- and circuit-court benches and the supreme court totals 214 (out of 865 total); a Ginsburg replacement would make 215.

But Trump was exactly right that “nobody’s ever had that” many appointees to the bench so quickly – meaning that no president has done more to shape the future of American life under the law on issues from discrimination claims to marriage equality to gun control.

Read it here: ‘Fill that seat’: why Trump’s courts power grab is more than just a political win

Speaking of Russian interference in the 2016 US election, Adrian Horton has written for us about Agents of Chaos. It is a two-part series from Alex Gibney attempts to definitively explain Russian interference, from troll factories to hacking to a mutual ‘seduction’ of greed.

Agents of Chaos, a two-part investigative HBO series on Russian interference in the 2016 election, confirms some of the most damning findings of the Senate report – for one, extensive contacts between the Trump campaign, particularly former manager Paul Manafort, and “a cadre of individuals ostensibly operating outside of the Russian government but who nonetheless implement Kremlin-directed influence operations.” But the series, from Oscar-winning film-maker Alex Gibney, also visualizes, with first-person interviews from some of the major figures, what the rare bipartisan consensus (on facts, not narrative) cannot: the diffuse, dubiously quantifiable efforts by the Russian government – sometimes tightly organized, sometimes slapdash – to sow chaos in Ukraine and then America, the profit motives which compelled bumbling Trump figures into a “collusion” of mutual interest, and the head-spinning vertigo for average American consumers over what even happened four years ago.

Read more here: Agents of Chaos: a shocking look at what really happened in the 2016 election

The Washington Post this morning has got some details from Andrew Weissmann’s book. They describe it as “an explosive tell-all that offers the most detailed account yet of what happened behind the scenes during Mueller’s two-year investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election”.

A former prosecutor on special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s team writes in a new book that the group failed to fully investigate President Trump’s financial ties and should have stated explicitly that they believed he obstructed justice, claiming that their efforts were limited by the ever-present threat of Trump disbanding their office and by their own reluctance to be aggressive.

He lays particular blame on Mueller’s top deputy, Aaron Zebley, for stopping investigators from taking a broad look at Trump’s finances and writes that he now wonders whether investigators had “given it our all,” knowing they left many important questions unanswered.

“As proud as I am of the work our team did — the unprecedented number of people we indicted and convicted and in record speed for any similar investigation — I know the hard answer to that simple question: We could have done more,” Weissmann writes.

Read more here: Washington Post – Mueller prosecutor says special counsel ‘could have done more’ to hold Trump accountable

Woman arrested on suspicion of sending a ricin-filled envelope to the White House to appear in court

Reuters report that a woman arrested on suspicion of sending a ricin-filled envelope to the White House and to five other addresses in Texas will appear before a federal court in Buffalo, New York, later today.

She was arrested on the Canada-US border on Sunday and is due to make her initial appearance at 4pm ET. She has yet not been officially identified. Canadian police on Monday searched an apartment in a Montreal suburb linked to the woman. She has joint Canadian and French citizenship, two sources told Reuters.

The woman is suspected of sending a total of six letters, with the other five addressed to law enforcement and detention facilities in South Texas, according to a US law enforcement source. So far no links to political or terrorist groups have been found, but the investigation is ongoing, the source said.

Here’s a reminder of how yesterday Republican Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell clashed with Democratic minority leader Chuck Schumer over the controversial timing of nominating and confirming a replacement for the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of US politics for Tuesday. Here’s where we are, and what we might expect next.

  • Trump cast doubts on Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dying wish, claiming without any evidence whatsoever that leading Democrats wrote it.
  • Republicans will move to fill the vacant supreme court seat as soon as possible, with Trump making his nomination on Friday or Saturday, despite polling shows a majority of the public thinks the nomination should be made by the winner of the presidential election.
  • Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will become the first woman to lie in state in the US Capitol on Friday. Rosa Parks was the first woman to lie in honor at the Capitol, a designation for non-office-holding citizens. There will be a private interment service for Ginsburg next week at Arlington National Cemetery.
  • Democratic donors smashed fundraising records over the weekend, funneling more than $90m to candidates and progressive groups after the death of Ginsburg.
  • There were 428 new coronavirus deaths and 54,875 new cases reported yesterday, which is an average of 7% more new daily cases than there were a fortnight ago. 17 states and Puerto Rico are seeing cases rise and stay high. Johns Hopkins University reports that the total death toll in the US stands at 199,886.
  • The CDC removed information on the potential airborne transmission of coronavirus from its website. The agency had posted an update on Friday but it was then removed Monday, with the CDC claiming the update was posted in error. The news follows reports that Trump administration officials trying to interfere with CDC reports to paint a rosier picture about the pandemic.
  • The Bobcat fire has become one of the largest in Los Angeles county history, with 156 sq miles burning.
  • Video was released showing Utah police shooting at a boy with autism nearly a dozen times – his mother had called 911, requesting a mental health worker.
  • After a summer where the president has angrily campaigned against calls to defund the police, the Department of Justice has labelled New York, Portland and Seattle ‘anarchist jurisdictions’, and plans to withdraw federal funds from the three cities.
  • House Democrats released their stopgap government funding bill, which would keep the government open until 11 December. But Mitch McConnell quickly signaled he would not support the bill. The government is currently set to close on 30 September if a bill is not passed.
  • Donald Trump will deliver remarks remotely to the UN General Assembly, which opens today. Also on the bill are Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, China’s Xi Jinping, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
  • Later on, in person, the president will be campaigning in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
  • Kamala Harris is visiting Detroit and Flint today.

I’m Martin Belam, you can get in touch with me at martin.belam@theguardian.com

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