Summary
- Negotiations dragged on over the latest coronavirus relief bill. Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer held strong that they would not compromise on an extension for the $600 per week unemployment benefit that Republicans have wanted to cut down. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin remained in Pelosi’s office for hours as both sides strived to finalize a deal by the end of the week.
- A federal judge dismissed House Republicans lawsuit against Pelosi over rules that would allow lawmakers to vote by proxy during the pandemic. Even as legislative leaders debate the relief bill, the Senate as been adjourned till Monday and the House is on recess. It is unclear when lawmakers will vote on the relief package, as arriving at a deal by the Friday deadline that the White House and Democrats have set seems increasingly unlikely.
- Donald Trump signed an executive order directing some federal agencies only to purchase some types of drugs and medical supplies if they are manufactured in the US. The impact of the executive order is unclear - it tasks the Food and Drug Administration with developing a list of essential medications and supplies that would fall under the requirement. The move comes after the US faced shortages, and scambled to secure scarce supplies as the coronavirus pandemic struck.
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A judge in New York allowed a defamation suit from a woman who alleges that Trump sexually assaulted her to move forward. The state supreme court judge maintained that the sitting president is not immune from legal challenge.
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Another 1.18 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week. The figure marks a slight decline from a week before, but unemployment remains alarmingly high in the US, and economists warn many layoffs connected to the pandemic are now becoming permanent.
- The New York attorney general has filed a lawsuit against the National Rifle Association. The lawsuit accuses the NRA and its top leaders, including CEO Wayne LaPierre, of widespread misuse of charitable funds. New York attorney general Letitia James said she is seeking to dissolve the gun rights group.
- Ohio governor Mike DeWine tested positive for coronavirus. The Republican governor received a test because he was slated to greet Trump today as the president arrived in Cleveland. DeWine is the third politician in roughly a week to test positive for coronavirus as part of the White House screenings to protect the president, who has downplayed the importance of testing.
- Trump announced he had reimposed a 10% tariff on most Canadian imports of aluminum. The proclamation signed by Trump indicates he made the decision in consultation with the secretary of commerce following a “surge” of Canadian imports into the US.
- Trump said Joe Biden, a practicing Catholic, was “against God.” The president said during a short speech in Cleveland that Biden would “hurt God” and “hurt the Bible” if elected. “He’s against God, he’s against guns, he’s against energy,” Trump said. The Biden campaign denounced the comment, saying the former vice president’s faith “is at the core of who he is.”
Pelosi, Schumer, Meadows and Mnuchin are reportedly still in Pelosi’s office – where they have been for the past two hours negotiating the coronavirus relief bill. As the tense negotiations drag on, new numbers from the labor department have heaped on pressure.
The department reported than another 1.18m people filed for unemployment last week. The number of claims is beginning to slow after two weeks of increases. But the urgency to finalize a deal could mount further tomorrow when the department is expected to report how many jobs were created in July.
As coronavirus cases swell and states walk back initial steps to reopen the economy, that number is likely to be lower in July than it was in May, when the country began the recovery process that was ultimately thwarted by the virus’s resurgence.
Updated
For the Associated Press, Sarah Skidmore Sell and Paul Wiseman interviewed some of the Americans who have been collecting the extra $600-per-week jobless benefit that lawmakers are debating:
Some Republicans in Congress argue that the extra $600 in unemployment benefits is so generous that it is discouraging people from going back to work. Several university studies have cast doubt on that. Economists and labor experts say that the benefits certain jobs carry, such as health care, can be enough for people to go back to work even if the pay is low.
Bethany Racobs-Ashford, the makeup artist with two small children, said the $600 had been a “lifeline.”
The 32-year-old Dallas resident was just entering the busy wedding season, when she typically earns the bulk of her income, when the outbreak struck, and she lost her job. Her state unemployment aid amounts to only about $828 a month.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do now,” she said.
Fearing eviction from their home, Racobs-Ashford and her family moved in with her 70-year-old mother. She worries about taking on a new job that could compromise her family’s health.
Jackilyn Lopez of Tucson, Arizona, said the $600 had been a “godsend” for her family since she lost her job as a hygienist in March, when most dental practices shut down. She and her husband have an 18-month old daughter, and Lopez is due to give birth in three weeks.
Her employer has reopened but has yet to recall Lopez. She feels fortunate that her husband has kept his job as an assembly worker at a laser manufacturer. But Lopez, 30, just received her first weekly unemployment check without the $600, and it was only $213.
“Our groceries are more than that each week, with the diapers and formula,” she said.
Food banks, pantries and other safety net organizations report soaring demand from people in need. Charitable groups worry the problem will worsen with the end of the $600 and the expiration of coronavirus-era moratoriums on evictions.
Updated
Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have refused to back down from their stance on extending the jobless benefit.
The benefit is $600 a week. Republicans have opposed the measure, arguing that some families may earn slightly more with the unemployment benefit than they would if they worked, and GOP lawmakers have pushed to reduce the benefit to $200 per week. “They’re just demonstrating their condescension to American families,” Pelosi said at a news conference, indicating she was not willing to concede.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would not back down to reinstate the $600 weekly enhanced unemployment payments that have been a lifeline for people who lost their jobs in the pandemic https://t.co/GutnVVAQPP pic.twitter.com/1zKxi7Z7Cu
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 6, 2020
Updated
Senators have been sent home and the House is on recess while negotiations over the coronavirus relief bill continue.
Senate has adjourned until Monday at 3p. House is on recess. Members in both chambers told they will have 24 hours to come back for a vote on any stimulus deal. Open question about whether lawmakers return before September
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) August 6, 2020
A federal judge has dismissed the House Republicans’ lawsuit against speaker Nancy Pelosi that aimed to nix new rules allowing lawmakers to vote by proxy during the pandemic.
The lawsuit, spearheaded by House minority leader Kevin McCarthy of California, alleged that Pelosi’s measure to protect lawmakers from contracting coronavirus was unconstitutional because the constitution requires a majority of lawmakers to be present in order to conduct work.
Judge Rudolph Contreras ruled that Congress has “absolute immunity from civil suit” and threw out the legal challenge.
Updated
Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the US, has had to hire security to protect himself and his family after receiving death threats in response to his work to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus taskforce, told CNN that the pandemic has brought out “the best of people and the worst of people, and, you know, getting death threats for me and my family and harassing my daughters to the point where I have to get security”.
Donald Trump’s administration has consistently downplayed the public health threat of coronavirus, but Fauci has just as consistently rejected those efforts. Since the early days of the pandemic, Fauci has provided blunt assessments of the crisis in media appearances and in remarks at the White House, which have been less frequent in recent months.
“I wouldn’t have imagined in my wildest dreams that people who object to things that are pure public health principles are so set against it and don’t like what you and I say, namely in the world of science, that they actually threaten you,” said Fauci.
Defamation lawsuit from woman who alleges Trump sexually assaulted her is allowed to move forward
A judge in the New York state supreme court has allowed a defamation suit from a woman who alleges Donald Trump sexually assaulted her to go ahead, on grounds that the sitting president is not immune from legal action.
Judge Verna Saunders on Thursday denied Trump’s motion to stay the defamation case brought by journalist E Jean Carroll who has accused the US president of sexually attacking her in Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan in the 1990s. Saunders allowed the case to proceed to its next hearing on 30 September.
In her ruling, the judge cited last month’s US supreme court ruling, Trump v Vance, which dismissed Trump’s claim that as president he was not obliged to show prosecutors his tax records.
Saunders quoted chief justice John Roberts who wrote the majority opinion in Trump v Vance. In it he said: “No citizen, not even the president, is categorically above the common duty to produce evidence when called upon in a criminal proceeding.”
Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, has just put out a statement welcoming the judge’s decision and saying they now intend to move quickly to discovery, “so that we can prove that Donald Trump defamed E Jean Carroll”.
At the heart of the case is Carroll’s claim that he damaged her reputation and career when he denied that he had assaulted her. He repeatedly called her a liar, demeaningly suggesting that she was “not my type”.
Until last year Carroll was the long-standing agony aunt for Elle magazine. She has said she was fired from her column after Trump ridiculed her.
Bitter negotiation for a coronavirus relief bill resumes
The Democratic leaders of the House and Senate met with the White House chief of staff and treasury secretary this evening, to continue negotiating a coronavirus relief bill. On the table: $100bn for schools and another round of $1,200 direct payments to most Americans.
Both sides have committed to finalizing a deal by Friday, but after a bitter back-and-forth, that seems increasingly unlikely. Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have held firm that they want to extend a $600 weekly joblessness benefit. Republicans have opposed the benefit, on grounds that some people might make more money by collecting unemployment than working. Pelosi and Schumer are also demanding childcare assistance, funds for food stamps and assistance for renters facing eviction.
Trump has threatened to use executive orders to address aspects of the bill, including the joblessness benefit, but it’s unclear what impact such a move would have. “I don’t think they know what they’re talking about,” Pelosi said at a news conference, indicating that executive orders were unlikely to achieve anything close to the comprehensive legislation that Congress could work out.
A vote may not come until next week. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell is sending lawmakers home rather than asking them to wait for a deal.
Updated
Democrats confront Trump's postmaster general in letter
In a letter to the postmaster general, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer say that he confirmed to them, despite public denials, that the postal service had instituted operational changes including reducing overtime for employees and reducing the equipment at processing centers.
“We believe these changes, made during the middle of a once-in-a-century pandemic, now threaten the timely delivery of mail – including medicines for seniors, paychecks for workers, and absentee ballots for voters – that is essential to millions of Americans,” the leaders of the House and Senate wrote to postmaster general Louis DeJoy. “While it is true that the postal service has and continues to face financial challenges, enacting these policies as cost-cutting or efficiency measures as the Covid-19 public health emergency continues is counterproductive and unacceptable.”
Voting rights groups have expressed concern that DeJoy – a major Trump donor – is undermining the postal service ahead of the elections, when most voters are expected to cast their ballots by mail amid the coronavirus pandemic. The agency has already lost billions in revenue as the pandemic-induced recession caused a dip in the amount of mail.
After recent operational changes were enacted, Americans have been reporting days-long delays in receiving letters and packages. Senator Gary Peters, a Democrat of Michigan, recently announced that the Senate homeland security and governmental affairs committee was investigating the impact of the changes.
The House oversight committee has also called on DeJoy to testify next month.
Updated
In a statement, NRA’s Wayne LaPierre indicated that the gun rights group is looking to fight the lawsuit from the New York attorney general, calling the suit “an affront to democracy and freedom”.
“This is an unconstitutional, premeditated attack aiming to dismantle and destroy the NRA – the fiercest defender of America’s freedom at the ballot box for decades,” he said. “We’re ready for the fight. Bring it on.”
(1/2) Statement from NRA CEO & EVP Wayne LaPierre:
— NRA (@NRA) August 6, 2020
“The NYAG’s actions are an affront to democracy and freedom. This is an unconstitutional, premeditated attack aiming to dismantle and destroy the NRA – the fiercest defender of America’s freedom at the ballot box for decades.
Updated
Trump executive order directs agencies to purchase American-made medical supplies and drugs
Trump signed an executive order directing some federal agencies only to purchase some types of drugs and medical supplies if they are manufactured in the US. The impact of the executive order is unclear. It tasks the Food and Drug Administration with creating “list of medicines, medical countermeasures, and critical inputs that are essential for public health in America”. Government agencies would then be directed to purchase domestically produced versions of those supplies.
The US has so far relied largely on supplies manufactured elsewhere. When the pandemic hit, the country faced shortages amid a global scramble to secure medical supplies.
Updated
Michelle Obama has said she has been suffering from “low-grade depression”, prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, racism in the US and what she describes as the “hypocrisy” of the Trump administration.
In the second edition of her podcast, which aired on Wednesday, the former first lady reflected on the change her family and others have had to deal with as a result of the pandemic.
“I know that I am dealing with some form of low-grade depression,” she said. “Not just because of the quarantine, but because of the racial strife, and just seeing this administration, watching the hypocrisy of it, day in and day out, is dispiriting.”
Obama said her sleep has been affected and has been waking up in the middle of the night “’cause I’m worrying about something, or there’s a heaviness”.
We’ve all been dealing with a lot of change in our lives and our communities. And I couldn't think of anyone better to talk to about this moment then my friend, @michele_norris. You can listen now on @Spotify: https://t.co/9GyFmLFAid #MichelleObamaPodcast pic.twitter.com/fmdOuJlsRO
— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) August 5, 2020
Updated
Today so far
That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- The New York attorney general has filed a lawsuit against the National Rifle Association. The lawsuit accuses the NRA and its top leaders, including CEO Wayne LaPierre, of widespread misuse of charitable funds. New York attorney general Letitia James said she is seeking to dissolve the gun rights group.
- Another 1.18 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week. The figure marks a slight decline from a week before, but unemployment remains alarmingly high in the US, and economists warn many layoffs connected to the pandemic are now becoming permanent.
- Ohio governor Mike DeWine tested positive for coronavirus. The Republican governor received a test because he was slated to greet Trump today as the president arrived in Cleveland. DeWine is the third politician in roughly a week to test positive for coronavirus as part of the White House screenings to protect the president, who has downplayed the importance of testing.
- Trump announced he had reimposed a 10% tariff on most Canadian imports of aluminum. The proclamation signed by Trump indicates he made the decision in consultation with the secretary of commerce following a “surge” of Canadian imports into the US.
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Trump said Joe Biden, a practicing Catholic, was “against God.” The president said during a short speech in Cleveland that Biden would “hurt God” and “hurt the Bible” if elected. “He’s against God, he’s against guns, he’s against energy,” Trump said. The Biden campaign denounced the comment, saying the former vice president’s faith “is at the core of who he is.”
Maanvi will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
The White House has released the proclamation Trump signed today to reimpose a 10% tariff on some Canadian aluminum imports.
The proclamation indicates the president made the decision in coordination with the secretary of commerce following a “surge” of Canadian imports into the US.
“In light of the Secretary’s information, I have determined that the measures agreed upon with Canada are not providing an effective alternative means to address the threatened impairment to our national security from imports of aluminum from Canada,” the proclamation says.
“Thus, I have determined that it is necessary and appropriate to re-impose the 10 percent ad valorem tariff proclaimed in Proclamation 9704, as amended, on imports of non-alloyed unwrought aluminum articles from Canada, commensurate with the tariff imposed on such articles imported from most countries.”
The new tariffs will go into effect on August 16, according to the proclamation. The news comes a month after the US-Mexican-Canadian trade agreement went into effect.
Updated
The president has now concluded his speech at the Whirlpool manufacturing plant in Clyde, Ohio.
During the official White House event, Trump repeatedly attacked Joe Biden and other Democrats, including congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
At one point, the president mocked Biden for previously mixing up the name of the state he was campaigning in.
That comment struck many as ironic, considering it came shortly after Trump mispronounced the name of the country Thailand as “Thigh-land.”
The president quickly corrected himself, but it appears the damage was already done, as “Thighland” has started trending on Twitter.
VIRAL MOMENT: President Trump pronounces Thailand "thighland" before correcting himself." pic.twitter.com/rZuzXuA54x
— The Hill (@thehill) August 6, 2020
Trump announces he is reimposing tariffs on Canadian aluminum
During his speech at the Whirlpool plant in Ohio, Trump confirmed he is reimposing tariffs on some Canadian aluminum imports.
“Earlier today I signed a proclamation that defends American industry by reimposing aluminum tariffs on Canada,” the president said. “Canada was taking advantage of us, as usual. And I signed it.”
Bloomberg News broke news of the expected decision shortly before Trump’s speech. Bloomberg reported:
Trump will announce as soon as Thursday that he’s removing Canada’s exemption from 10% tariffs on unalloyed, unwrought aluminum, said [several] people, who asked not to be named because the information isn’t public. The decision comes more than a month after U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer expressed concern about recent struggles by American aluminum producers, who have said they are hurting from a ‘surge’ of metal from Canada flowing into the U.S.
Speaking in Ohio, Trump warned about the dangers of a Joe Biden presidency, envisioning what the Democrat would do on drug prices if elected president.
“I don’t want to be watching that from some beautiful resort someplace in the world,” Trump said at the Whirlpool plant.
The president added, “I had such a beautiful life before I did this, but that’s okay.”
Trump has previously expressed longing for his life before he was elected president. He said in an interview late last month, “The best day of my life in terms of business, and life, and everything, was the day before I announced I was running for president. Everything was good.”
Trump is now delivering remarks on manufacturing and trade at a Whirlpool plant in Clyde, Ohio.
At the official White House event, the president railed against “the Obama-Biden administration” for allegedly failing to protect manufacturing jobs from moving to China.
Trump has previously been criticized for using White House events to attack Joe Biden, with many arguing the tactics are an inappropriate use of taxpayer funds.
It’s important to note the president’s speech is taking place in the swing state of Ohio, which Trump carried by 8 points in 2016 and almost certainly must win again in order to secure a second term.
The Commission on Presidential Debates has rejected the Trump campaign’s call for a fourth debate in early September.
The president and his allies have expressed concern about the first debate taking place after some states are slated to start sending out absentee ballots.
Trump tweeted this morning, “How can voters be sending in Ballots starting, in some cases, one month before the First Presidential Debate. Move the First Debate up.”
How can voters be sending in Ballots starting, in some cases, one month before the First Presidential Debate. Move the First Debate up. A debate, to me, is a Public Service. Joe Biden and I owe it to the American People!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 6, 2020
But in a letter to Trump adviser Rudy Giuliani, the CPB said, “While more people will likely vote by mail in 2020, the debate schedule has been and will be highly publicized. Any voter who wishes to watch one or more debates before voting will be well aware of that opportunity.
“The Commission has found that three 90-minute debates work well to fulfill the voter education purposes the debates are intended to serve.”
The CPB said it would consider adding a debate if both candidates expressed interest in doing so, although Joe Biden’s campaign has previously indicated they support the current debate schedule.
The first presidential debate is scheduled to take place on September 29 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Trump is now touring the Whirlpool manufacturing plant in Clyde, Ohio, where he will soon deliver remarks.
The White House pool saw the president wearing a black face mask as he toured the facility with some Whirlpool executives and a few lawmakers.
By my count, it's the 5th time Pres Trump has been seen wearing a face mask. pic.twitter.com/KXpoybL57O
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) August 6, 2020
Trump has only been seen wearing a mask a handful of times, after spending months refusing to endorse masks as a means of limiting the spread of coronavirus.
More recently, the president has embraced masks and strongly urged Americans to wear them to avoid contracting the virus, although he has still been seen in public not wearing a mask.
Joe Biden’s campaign pushed back after Trump claimed the Democratic presidential candidate was “against God.”
Biden spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement, “Joe Biden’s faith is at the core of who he is; he’s lived it with dignity his entire life, and it’s been a source of strength and comfort in times of extreme hardship.”
Bates went on to denounce the president’s controversial photo op at St John’s Church shortly after peaceful protesters were dispersed near the White House using tear gas.
“Donald Trump is the only president in our history to have tear-gassed peaceful Americans and thrown a priest out of his church just so he could profane it - and a Bible - for his own cynical optics as he sought to tear our nation apart at a moment of crisis and pain,” Bates said.
Trump on Biden: "No religion, no anything, hurt the Bible, hurt ... God. He's against God, he's against guns." pic.twitter.com/oiIdPcY2vl
— The Recount (@therecount) August 6, 2020
During a short campaign appearance in Cleveland today, Trump said Biden would “hurt God” and “hurt the Bible” if elected. “He’s against God, he’s against guns, he’s against energy,” Trump said.
Biden’s team noted Trump’s comments came one day after his reelection campaign released a negative ad that included a distorted picture of the former vice president praying at a church in Wilmington, Delaware.
Government lifts advisory on international travel out of US
The State Department has lifted a global health advisory imposed in March that advised US citizens to avoid all international travel because of the coronavirus pandemic, the government announced.
“With health and safety conditions improving in some countries and potentially deteriorating in others, the department is returning to our previous system of country-specific levels of travel advice,” the State Department said in a statement, Reuters reported.
The decision was made in close consultation with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the department said.
With the virus still not under control in the US, it is not immediately clear exactly what destination countries will make of this development.
.@StateDept on lifting Level 4 global health advisory pic.twitter.com/63qGv4X93V
— davidshepardson (@davidshepardson) August 6, 2020
Trump is using New York’s newly announced lawsuit against the National Rifle Association to criticize Joe Biden.
Just like Radical Left New York is trying to destroy the NRA, if Biden becomes President your GREAT SECOND AMENDMENT doesn’t have a chance. Your guns will be taken away, immediately and without notice. No police, no guns!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 6, 2020
“Just like Radical Left New York is trying to destroy the NRA, if Biden becomes President your GREAT SECOND AMENDMENT doesn’t have a chance. Your guns will be taken away, immediately and without notice,” Trump tweeted.
However, Biden’s gun control plan does not call for confiscating legally owned firearms. The former vice-president has instead expressed support for reinstating the ban on assault weapons and has proposed a voluntary gun buyback program.
Updated
Trump says Biden is 'against God'
Speaking to a small crowd at an airport in Cleveland, Trump claimed presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is “against God”.
Trump said Biden, a lifelong practicing Catholic, would “hurt the Bible” and “hurt God” if he were elected president.
Trump on Biden: "No religion, no anything, hurt the Bible, hurt ... God. He's against God, he's against guns." pic.twitter.com/oiIdPcY2vl
— The Recount (@therecount) August 6, 2020
“He’s against God, he’s against guns, he’s against energy,” Trump said. “I don’t think he’s going to do too well in Ohio.”
Recent polls indicate the president and Biden are virtually tied in Ohio, which Trump carried by eight points in 2016.
During his short appearance on the tarmac in Cleveland, Trump also offered his best wishes to Ohio’s governor, Mike DeWine, who has tested positive for coronavirus.
“We want to wish him the best. He’ll be fine,” Trump said.
Updated
Trump said he intended to sign an executive order on extending unemployment benefits tomorrow afternoon or Saturday morning.
Shortly before leaving for Ohio, the president tweeted, “I’ve notified my staff to continue working on an Executive Order with respect to Payroll Tax Cut, Eviction Protections, Unemployment Extensions, and Student Loan Repayment Options.”
Upon departing the Oval Office for Ohio, I’ve notified my staff to continue working on an Executive Order with respect to Payroll Tax Cut, Eviction Protections, Unemployment Extensions, and Student Loan Repayment Options.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 6, 2020
Asked about the potential executive order before boarding Air Force One, Trump told reporters he would sign the order “probably tomorrow afternoon” or Saturday morning.
The White House previously said it would stop negotiations on the next relief bill if a deal is not reached by tomorrow, pledging executive action if Congress cannot break its stalemate.
However, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer appeared to dismiss the White House’s deadline earlier today, pledging to continue working on a deal.
Asked about the potential executive order, House speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “I don’t think they know what they’re talking about.”
The White House offered Ohio governor Mike DeWine a “speedy and full recovery” from coronavirus, after the Republican official tested positive for the virus.
The President wishes Governor DeWine a speedy and full recovery and commends the job he’s doing for the great state of Ohio. https://t.co/NYj9I9bBIz
— Judd Deere (@JuddPDeere45) August 6, 2020
White House spokesperson Judd Deere said in a tweet: “The President wishes Governor DeWine a speedy and full recovery and commends the job he’s doing for the great state of Ohio.”
DeWine was scheduled to greet Trump in Cleveland, where the president will soon deliver a speech on “economic prosperity”.
The optics of touting the strength of the US economy in a state where the governor has just tested positive for coronavirus is almost certainly not the visual Trump was hoping for today.
Updated
Today so far
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- The New York attorney general has filed a lawsuit against the National Rifle Association. The lawsuit accuses the gun rights group of widespread fraud and misuse of charitable funds, and New York attorney general Letitia James said she is seeking to dissolve the organization.
- Ohio governor Mike DeWine has tested positive for coronavirus. The Republican governor was slated to greet Trump today as the president arrived in Cleveland for a speech on the economy. DeWine is the third politician in roughly a week to test positive for coronavirus as part of the White House screenings to protect the president, who has downplayed the importance of testing.
- Another 1.18 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week. The number marks a slight decline from the figures shared a week earlier, but unemployment remains alarmingly high in the US, and economists warn many layoffs connected to the pandemic are now becoming permanent.
The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
Updated
Ohio’s governor, Mike DeWine, becomes the third politician in a little over a week to test positive for coronavirus during White House screenings.
Republican congressman Louie Gohmert and Republican congressional candidate Wesley Hunt both tested positive before they were slated to participate in Trump’s trip to Texas last week.
All of this comes as the president downplays the importance of testing as a means of limiting the spread of coronavirus, even though the White House’s rigorous testing standards are uncovering previously unknown cases that could have exposed Trump to the virus.
Updated
Ohio governor tests positive for coronavirus
Ohio’s governor, Mike DeWine, has tested positive for coronavirus, the Republican leader’s office announced in a statement.
DeWine was tested because he was scheduled to greet Trump later today, as the president arrived in Cleveland to deliver a speech on the economy.
As part of the standard protocol to greet President Trump on the tarmac in Cleveland, I took a COVID test. I tested positive. I have no symptoms at this time. I’m following protocol and will quarantine at home for the next 14 days.
— Mike DeWine (@MikeDeWine) August 6, 2020
The statement from DeWine’s office said he has no symptoms at this time and will quarantine at his home in Cedarville for the next 14 days.
The news comes less than a month after Oklahoma’s governor, Kevin Stitt, announced he had tested positive for coronavirus, making him the first governor known to have contracted the virus.
Updated
While speaking to reporters before boarding Marine One, Trump reiterated he was “optimistic” about a coronavirus vaccine being developed by the end of the year.
The president was asked whether he thought the development of a vaccine would help his reelection prospects. “Wouldn’t hurt,” Trump replied.
The president was similarly asked earlier today whether he believed the vaccine would be developed before the November 3 election.
Trump responded: “I think in some cases, yes possible before, but right around that time.”
Updated
Before leaving for Ohio, Trump said he had “just heard” about the New York attorney general’s lawsuit against the NRA, according to a White House pool report.
The president described the lawsuit as a “terrible thing” and repeatedly suggested the gun rights group should “move to Texas and lead a ... beautiful life” there.
As he seeks re-election, Trump has repeatedly described himself as a champion for gun rights, and the NRA officially endorsed his relection bid last month.
Updated
Earlier today, the Democratic attorney general of the District of Columbia also filed a lawsuit against the NRA and its partner foundation.
The lawsuit claims the NRA and the NRA foundation, which is incorprated in Washington, violated District laws by allowing charitable funds to be used for noncharitable purposes.
“Charitable organizations function as public trusts – and District law requires them to use their funds to benefit the public, not to support political campaigns, lobbying, or private interests,” attorney general Karl Racine said in a statement.
“With this lawsuit, we aim to recover donated funds that the NRA Foundation wasted. District nonprofits should be on notice that the Office of the Attorney General will file suit if we find evidence of illegal behavior.”
Updated
At her press conference, New York attorney general Letitia James said NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre is the “central figure” in the alleged fraud and abuse crimes committed by the gun rights group.
“Mr LaPierre exploited the organization for his and his family’s financial benefit and the benefit of a close circle of NRA staff, board members and vendors,” James said.
The Democratic attorney general said LaPierre and his family took a number of “personal, private plane trips” using NRA funds.
James claimed LaPierre visited the Bahamas by private air charter at least eight times, costing the NRA more than $500,000.
Updated
New York attorney general seeks to dissolve NRA
New York attorney general Letitia James is seeking to dissolve the NRA after an investigation by her office uncovered “years of self-dealing and illegal conduct”, the Democratic official said.
#BREAKING: I filed a lawsuit to dissolve the National Rifle Association for years of self-dealing and illegal conduct.
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) August 6, 2020
The @NRA is fraught with fraud and abuse.
No organization is above the law.
“The NRA’s influence has been so powerful that the organization went unchecked for decades while top executives funneled millions into their own pockets,” James said in a statement.
“The NRA is fraught with fraud and abuse, which is why, today, we seek to dissolve the NRA, because no organization is above the law.”
Updated
The Washington Post has more on the lawsuit:
In her lawsuit, Attorney General Letitia James called for the dissolution of the NRA and the removal of CEO Wayne LaPierre from the leadership post he has held for the past 39 years, saying he and others used the group’s funds to finance a luxury lifestyle.
She also asked a New York court to force LaPierre and three key deputies to repay NRA members for the ill-gotten funds and inflated salaries that her investigation found they took.
James accused the NRA leaders of flouting state and federal laws and signing off on reports and statements they knew were fraudulent, while diverting millions of dollars away from the NRA’s charitable mission to benefit themselves and their allies.
New York attorney general suing the NRA
The attorney general of New York is suing the National Rifle Association, according to newly filed court documents.
BREAKING: The People v. the @NRA has been filed by NY AG Letitia James. Here we go... pic.twitter.com/75fCplrby8
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) August 6, 2020
New York attorney general Letitia James is scheduled to soon hold a press conference, where she will likely address the lawsuit.
As Nancy Pelosi left her weekly press conference, the House speaker was asked if she would consider a short-term extension of unemployment benefits if negotiations collapse for the next coronavirus relief bill.
Pelosi came back to the mic to say, “We’re not having a short-term extension.”
The speaker repeatedly emphasized Democrats are looking to continue the additional unemployment benefits at their previous level of $600 per week.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows suggested negotiations would end tomorrow if they could not reach a deal, but Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer appeared to reject that deadline during the press conference.
House speaker Nancy Pelosi accused Republicans of “nickel-and-diming” American families who are financially suffering because of the coronavirus pandemic.
During her weekly press conference, Pelosi emphasized that Congress needs to extend the additional $600 per week unemployment benefits that expired last week, saying Democrats would not settle for less.
Pelosi says Republicans are "nickel-and-diming" families that are struggling during the pandemic and need unemployment benefits: "These families are crying out for the $600" https://t.co/Nj065CIsxp pic.twitter.com/DTK0ctXwao
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 6, 2020
“These families are crying out for the $600,” Pelosi told reporters, arguing that Republicans are ignoring the needs of American children looking to return to school. “They’re nickel-and-diming the economic security of children’s families.”
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer also dismissed a suggestion from White House chief of staff Mark Meadows that negotiations would cease after tomorrow.
“We’re not quitting,” Schumer said. “We’re ready to work. We’re going to keep working.”
When asked about the White House proposing executive action to end the legislative stalemate, Pelosi said, “I don’t think they know what they’re talking about.”
Updated
Senior White House adviser Kellyanne Conway dismissed the idea of inviting congressional Democratic leaders to the White House for a meeting on negotiations over the next coronavirus relief bill.
“They’re always welcome here, but we have found in the past there’s never really fruit that’s borne of that,” Conway said.
Conway also defended Trump’s visit to Ohio today, as the president’s advisers and congressional negotiators struggle to reach an agreement on the next relief package.
“His phone works,” Conway said. “He’s got his negotiators on Capitol Hill.”
The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, slammed Republicans during a CNBC interview this morning, when she was pressed on Congress’s struggles to reach a deal on the next coronavirus relief package.
CNBC host Jim Cramer suggested that the late congressman John Lewis, who died last month, would want Congress to pass a deal to help the most vulnerable Americans who are disproportionately feeling the effects of the pandemic and the related financial fallout, many of whom are people of color.
Pelosi responded by saying of Republicans: “Perhaps you have mistook them for somebody who gives a damn for what you just described.”
On Squawk Box, @jimcramer says @SpeakerPelosi could urge GOP in talks to remember the late John Lewis, needs for minorities, disenfranchised.
— Claudia Grisales (@cgrisales) August 6, 2020
Pelosi: "Perhaps you have mistook them for somebody who gives a damn for what you just described.” Sounds like Cramer responds “Oh, Jeez.” pic.twitter.com/nSqq0Der80
The Democratic speaker went on to say: “They don’t believe in governance, and that requires some acts of government to do that.”
Meanwhile, Republicans have accused Democrats of taking too hard a line in the negotiations over the next relief package.
Updated
Joe Biden made clear this morning that Senator Kamala Harris is still “very much in contention” to become his running mate.
During an interview for the virtual convention jointly held by the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Biden was asked about his running mate search as it enters its final weeks.
Specifically, Biden was pressed on recent reports that one of his advisers suggested Harris was not contrite enough about attacking the former vice president during the Democratic primary race.
#veepstakes @JoeBiden confirms @KamalaHarris is “very much in contention.” And says he doesn’t hold grudges.#NABJNAHJ20 pic.twitter.com/HlSfDJLxIJ
— errol barnett (@errolbarnett) August 6, 2020
Biden said, “I don’t hold grudges, and I’ve made it really clear that I don’t hold grudges. I think it was a debate. It’s as simple as that. And she’s very much in contention.”
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has promised to choose a woman as his running mate, and he is expected to announce his decision next week, days before the start of the party’s nominating convention.
In a new interview, Mike Pence criticized supreme court Chief Justice John Roberts for being a “disappointment to conservatives.”
The vice president told Christian Broadcasting Network, “We have great respect for the institution of the supreme court of the United States, but Chief Justice John Roberts has been a disappointment to conservatives whether it be the Obamacare decision or whether it be a spate of recent decisions.”
EXCLUSIVE: Vice President Mike Pence calls out Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts by name. He says, "Chief Justice Roberts has been a disappointment to conservatives." Watch from my interview with @VP in Florida today. Full report on @700club Thursday + clips on @CBNNews pic.twitter.com/z6IANVONr5
— David Brody (@DavidBrodyCBN) August 6, 2020
Roberts sided with his four liberal colleagues in a spate of recent decisions, including cases involving abortion access in Louisiana and job protections for LGBTQ Americans. Those rulings enraged social conservatives, many of whom specifically blamed Roberts for the decisions.
“I think several cases out of the Supreme Court are a reminder of just how important this election is for the future of the Supreme Court,” Pence told CBN.
Trump has promised to release a list of names of potential conservative judges to nominate to the supreme court as a way to rally Republicans in support of his campaign, as he did in 2016.
Biden criticizes Trump's Ohio trip as a way to 'distract from his own failures'
This is Joan Greve in Washington, taking over for Martin Belam.
Joe Biden has released a scathing statement criticizing Trump’s trip today to Ohio, where the president will speak at a Whirlpool Corporation manufacturing plant and attend a fundraiser.
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said, “Today, as families across Ohio continue to suffer in the face of the pandemic and the economic pain it has caused, Donald Trump is visiting Ohio, not to extend a hand to struggling families, but to try to paper over his record of broken promises to workers and raise money for his campaign.”
Trump’s trip comes as Congress continues to struggle to reach a deal on a new coronavirus relief package after additional unemployment benefits expired last week.
“Donald Trump is desperate to distract from his own failures,” Biden said. “It’s time for a leader who will tell the truth, lead with integrity, and fight to make Ohioans’ lives better every single day.”
Trump carried Ohio by 8 points in 2016, and he had previously been favored to win the state again in November. However, recent polls have shown the president and Biden virtually tied in Ohio.
The family of the late civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis have taken out a full page print ad in the Washington Post today, to thank the city for their support.
family of John Lewis posts this in @washingtonpost this morning “Thank you for rocking with him until the end...please keep the faith..” pic.twitter.com/bAlri9EA11
— Judy Woodruff (@JudyWoodruff) August 6, 2020
The message reads:
Everybody has a story. I’m so blessed that my father’s story – as a servant leader and champion for civil and human rights – was shared with you, the people of DC.
Thank you for honoring his legacy. Thank you for rocking with him until the end. Please keep the faith and remember to get in “Good Trouble.” My Pops is counting on us.
It is signed by John-Miles Lewis and the Lewis Family.
And that’s it from me for today. I’m handing over to my colleague Joan Greve in Washington, and I will see you again tomorrow. Take care and stay safe.
Biden launches new campaign ad aimed at Black Americans
Joe Biden’s Democratic presidential campaign has launched a new national ad focused on Black Americans, urging them to stand up to Donald Trump the way their community stood up to “violent racists of a generation ago.”
The one-minute ad, which was shared exclusively with the Associated Press before its release on Thursday, is titled “Better America”. It also takes a direct swipe at Trump, while avoiding mentioning him by name.
Opening with a narrator saying “The story of Black America IS the story of America” and that it is the story of a people pushing the country to live up to its stated ideals, the ad goes on to say:
We must choose to fight for that better America. And just like our ancestors who stood up to the violent racists of a generation ago, we will stand up to this president and say, ‘No more,’ because America is better than him. So we choose to be bigger. We choose to be bolder. We choose to bring back justice, respect and dignity to this country.
It is part of the Biden campaign’s huge $280 million digital and television ad buy that was announced yesterday.
The Washington Post’s Dave Weigel is somewhat underwhelmed by it.
Biden's ad strategy doesn't get much criticism bc he's winning, but I get the same focus group vapors I got with Clinton ads. Biden's rolled out a detailed black economic/civil rights agenda that isn't in this ad at all. https://t.co/Vikdr6cCln
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) August 6, 2020
Updated
Voting rights continue to be a bone of contention leading up to the 2020 election. Sam Levine has our latest piece looking at the systematic attempts to suppress the ability of some quarters of the population to vote in the US: How Republicans gutted the biggest voting rights victory in recent history
For nearly two decades, activists had been pushing to end Florida’s longstanding policy of preventing anyone with a felony conviction from voting. First implemented in the 19th century, the policy was used as a cudgel of white supremacy during the Jim Crow era to disenfranchise African Americans. On election night in 2018, 64.5% of Floridians had voted in favor of a constitutional amendment to end the policy. But more than a year and a half after amendment 4 went into effect, hundreds of thousands of people still remain blocked from voting. The promise of amendment 4 remains largely unfulfilled because Republicans in Florida moved aggressively to gut it. They passed a law that put insurmountable hurdles in front of those with felony convictions and required them to navigate a byzantine bureaucracy to get their voting rights back.
Read it here: How Republicans gutted the biggest voting rights victory in recent history
1.18 million people filed for unemployment benefits last week
The jobless numbers are out. Another 1.18 million people filed for unemployment benefits last week. Claims dipped after two weeks of rises, but the latest figures marked the 19th week in a row that claims have topped 1m.
Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims
— US Labor Department (@USDOL) August 6, 2020
Initial claims were 1,186,000 for the week ending 8/1 (-249,000).
Insured unemployment was 16,107,000 for the week ending 7/25 (-844,000).https://t.co/ys7Eg5LKAW
Read our full report here: Another 1.18m Americans file for unemployment as benefits expire
We’ll also, as ever, have global market reaction to the US economy figures on our business live blog.
Ohio’s Rep. Jim Jordan has just waded in on Twitter with his coronavirus wisdom.
Places #COVIDー19 thrives according to Democrats:
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) August 6, 2020
-Church
-Work
-School
-Voting booths
-Bars after 10 p.m.
Places #COVIDー19 ceases to exist according to Democrats:
-Protests
-Liquor stores
-Marijuana shops
-Bars before 10 p.m.
Ohio has currently had a 7-day average of at least 1,200 new coronavirus cases every day since 12 July, and according to the New York Times database, the state has seen at least 96,305 cases and 3,596 deaths in Ohio since the beginning of the pandemic.
Belarusian president Lukashenko says number of US nationals detained ahead of election there
There’s not much detail on this yet, but Reuters are reporting that Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko has said this morning that a number of US nationals have been detained before the controversial presidential election there on Sunday, but he declined to say when or why.
The veteran leader is facing the biggest challenge in years to his long rule and has launched a crackdown on opposition protesters whom he accuses of plotting with foreign backers to overthrow him.
Belarus has sought to mend fences with the Washington as ties fray with their traditional ally Moscow, and in February the country hosted Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the most senior US official to visit in more than two decades.
“Some people were detained with American passports, married to Americans, working in the State Department,” the Belta news agency quoted Lukashenko as saying.
The US embassy in the capital Minsk did not immediately reply to a request from Reuters for comment.
Jake Sherman has gone on a bit of a tweeting spree from the Politico playbook this morning about where he understands the coronavirus relief negotiations to be.
Good morning. A few things from Playbook this morning on Covid negotiations: "‘We continue to be trillions of dollars apart’”@SpeakerPelosi wed to reporters: “I feel optimistic that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but how long that tunnel is remains to be seen.”
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) August 6, 2020
It includes this blunt assessment of the situation
BY THE WAY, TALKS are still stalled, and zero progress was made Wednesday. It seems unlikely that a deal in principle or in theory will be reached by Friday.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) August 6, 2020
And this zinger from Nancy Pelosi.
-- REPUBLICANS OFFERED to prepare a regulatory fix to pass-through entities affected by SALT caps to sweeten their $200 billion ($150 billion) offer. PELOSI said: “That’s more like salt in the wound.”
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) August 6, 2020
Seattle city council rejects "Defund the police" campaign, but votes to reduce police department by up to 100 officers
Also on a police front, Minneapolis may have slowed down the initiative towards dismantling their police department, but yesterday Seattle city council moved forward a little bit with plans to reduce their police department by up to 100 officers.
The council voted unanimously for this to be achieved through layoffs and attrition, in a move pushed by Black Lives Matter marched in the city following George Floyd’s killing.
The Seattle Times reports final votes on the proposals will happen come next week. The council, though, rejected a push to “defund” the department’s remaining 2020 budget by 50% and reinvest that money, as many Black Lives Matter protesters had urged.
The amendments passed in a committee are expected to save only about $3 million of the departments $400 million annual budget this year, report the Associated Press.
Council members said they were sending a message as they voted 9-0 on the midyear budget amendments that Mayor Jenny Durkan and police Chief Carmen Best have opposed.
“We’re not going to be bullied into doing nothing,” Council member Teresa Mosqueda said.
In a statement Wednesday, a Durkan spokesperson criticized the council for voting to reduce the force, cut Best’s salary and remove officers from the city’s homeless encampment-removal team after only “a few hours of discussion.”
A march to City Hall in support of police cuts Wednesday drew hundreds of people, with supporters demanding that policing money be reallocated to other public safety approaches, housing, social services and programs led by Black people.
A group of University of Utah police officers made inappropriate comments about explicit photos of a student who had submitted the pictures as evidence in an extortion case shortly before her shooting death, an investigation found yesterday.
Athlete Lauren McCluskey was shot and killed on campus in October 2018.
Utah’s Department of Public Safety opened an investigation after the Salt Lake Tribune unearthed allegations that an officer had shown off the images of the 21-year-old.
Her shooting death at the hands of a man she had briefly dated has roiled the institution and raised serious questions about how it handled her repeated reports that the man was harassing her before her death, including extorting her with the images she had sent him when they were involved.
McCluskey had contacted university police more than 20 times before her death to report harassment by a man she had dated, Melvin Shawn Rowland.
Her family says in a lawsuit that those reports were not taken seriously by campus police, who should have quickly discovered he was a registered sex offender on parole who had been lying to her about his name, age and history. Instead, he fatally shot her with a borrowed gun on campus and later killed himself.
An attorney for Officer Miguel Deras has previously denied bragging about the photos. He did show them during a routine briefing, but only to ask how they should be handled and stored and did not make inappropriate comments, his attorney Jeremy Jones said.
“From my client’s recollection, he never participated in that. He showed the photos in briefing, he didn’t ‘smoke and joke’ about the photos at any time,” he said. The probe found no evidence Deras inappropriately downloaded or electronically transferred the photos.
Chief Rodney Chatman, who is new to the role, did not name Deras specifically but said he’s disappointed in the “small group” of officers who commented about the pictures around the time of a shift-change briefing, and those who did not report the comments.
“It is inexcusable for any law enforcement officer to discuss photos or information provided by a victim outside of clear and legitimate law enforcement reasons,” he said. Chatman said he would pursue action against individual officers, but he said the exact discipline will be confidential.
Nina Lakhani has been in Pikeville, Kentucky for us, looking at the economic impact of the coronavirus there, and how residents feel about it.
Statewide restrictions were eased amid steady infection rates, and by the end of June unemployment was back down close to pre-pandemic levels. Pikeville launched a subsidized rent initiative to woo entrepreneurs to rent empty stores on Main Street. But Kentucky is now on the brink: statewide reported cases began rising sharply in early July, and there’s been a steady increase in the percentage of overall positive tests.
She’s spoken both to people who think the restrictions and their economic consequences have been an over-reaction, and those who fear the worst, and that without drastic moves the state could become “another Florida”
Read it here: ‘The economy is a bigger mess than Covid’: Kentucky fears new shutdown
More on the confusion over Covid-19 numbers in California. The state says it has stopped removing or adding to a list of counties facing more restrictions on businesses and schools, as it tries to resolve a technical problem with the coronavirus testing database.
“Back in February and March when we didn’t have enough testing, I would say we felt blind,” Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara County’s public health director, told Associated Press. “I would say now we’re back to feeling blind. We don’t know how the epidemic is trending.”
The incomplete data in the nation’s most populous state has hampered public health officials’ ability to follow up with those who test positive and contact people who have been around them to limit the spread.
The CalREDIE system collects data from testing labs around California. The state uses data such as infection rates to determine which counties land on a watch list. Counties must come off the list for 14 days to be able to reopen certain businesses and offer in-classroom instruction for elementary students. There are 38 counties on the list, including Los Angeles and every other major county.
The state’s infection rate, a harbinger of how much hospitalisations are likely to increase, has dropped rapidly in the last week, when the data problem became apparent. It stood at 5.5% on Wednesday, but it’s unclear if when the additional data is added the decline will be as pronounced.
In a statement, the state Department of Public Health said as it works to “assess the impact of the data issues on disease transmission metrics,” no counties would be moved on or off the list “until further notice.”
“From a disease control standpoint, the more time people have walking around who are infected and infectious without getting isolated, the more people that are going to get exposed,” said Dr. George Rutherford, epidemiologist at University of California, San Francisco.
The state has recorded a highest-in-the-nation 525,000 positive tests. But California health officials say the true number is even higher.
Some sharp words from Stephen Collinson in an analysis piece over at CNN this morning on how Trump is approaching the 2020 election, with his outbursts on mail-in voting, and the floated plan to deliver his convention address from the South Lawn of the White House, “obliterating the tradition of presidents seeking to safeguard their office from politicization.”
For his entire life in business before he entered politics, Trump bent rules, laws, traditions and ethics. His willingness to do so now signals that he is prepared to do anything within his power to win the election. And it suggests that he’s also willing to drag the country through a corrosive period of legal and political brinkmanship if the election is close.
Read it here: CNN – Trump’s mail-in voting falsehoods are part of a wide campaign to discredit the election
Debra Winter writes for us this morning her take on the white, middle-class Pinterest moms who believe Plandemic
My friend was the third person, along with a work colleague and neighbor who is a doctor, to recently jump into the conspiracy theory abyss. I often dismissed conspiracy adherents as delusional cult members. But this was different. I knew these women. They were bright and led full, busy lives. All three fit the same profile: college-educated, white women, middle class. All organic, health food advocates with aversions to mandatory child vaccinations. Additionally, in the midst of this pandemic, these women flipped from Democrats to Trump supporters. Historically anti-vaxxers swing far-left politically, but more recently they’ve embraced Trump. He has been promoting anti-vaxxer content for years, and now, as our nation loses its fight against Covid, Trump’s constituents believe that our conspirator in chief understands and cares about their concerns about vaccines.
Read it here: Debra Winter – Meet the white, middle-class Pinterest moms who believe Plandemic
“Who ya gonna believe? Me, or your own eyes?” is one famous Marx axiom that could be applied to the Trump campaign ad that debuted yesterday. It has been accused of manipulating photos of Joe Biden to show him following the Trump narrative that he’s alone in a basement somewhere.
About that new Trump ad alleging that Biden is “Alone. Hiding. Diminished.”
— Philip Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) August 5, 2020
The clip at the four second mark is edited to make it look like he is sitting on the floor of his basement alone.
But it’s from an Iowa event last December. The room was full. See below: pic.twitter.com/t6ZcUHUXfZ
Of course there’s no law against photoshop, but its yet another indication of the Trump campaign using Biden taking Covid-19 precautions seriously and campaigning less in person as a stick to beat him with.
There’s a fuller write-up here: Huffington Post – Trump campaign busted for deceptively manipulating Biden photos in new ad
Andrew Taylor of the Associated Press offers this analysis this morning of where the gaps are between the Democratic and Republican negotiating teams in getting a coronavirus stimulus package over the line:
Jobless benefits: Nancy Pelosi is staking out a hard line on extending a $600-per-week supplemental pandemic federal jobless benefit, which lapsed last week. Republicans offered to extend the benefit into December and cut it to $400, according to leaks. The unemployment insurance issue is perhaps the most important to resolve.
Aid to state and local governments: The White House has offered Democrats $150bn in new appropriations to help state and local governments. That matches the amount appropriated after a huge behind-the-scenes battle during negotiations on the previous bill from March. Much of that original money is left over, and all sides want greater flexibility in using it, but Pelosi is demanding far more, almost $1 trillion. Some key Republicans – Susan Collins, Cory Gardner, Mitt Romney – are pressing for more as well.
Cash/economic stimulus: Pelosi and Trump agree on another $1,200 direct payment to most Americans, making the idea all but certain to be included in the final agreement, at a cost in the $300 billion range. Democrats are also pressing for help for renters and homeowners having difficulty making housing payments
Education: One of the areas in which both sides are eager to display generosity, but the White House is pressing for more money for schools that return students to the classroom. Very tricky talks remain.
Liability shield: Mitch McConnell continues to insist that the legislation include some sort of liability shield against lawsuits brought against businesses, schools and universities, and charities that operate during the pandemic. Pelosi is opposed for now.
Black Lives Matter demonstrators held a vigil last night in North Carolina to demand justice for a Black man who died days after his arrest. More than 70 participants used their phones as flashlights and sang songs during the vigil for John Neville in Winston-Salem
⏩ WATCH LIVE: People are gathered in Winston-Salem to honor the life of John Neville. https://t.co/OqA0QfMwyA
— WXII 12 News (@WXII) August 6, 2020
According to reports from the Associated Press and the Winston-Salem Journal, Neville’s son, Tremaine Stubbs, spoke to the crowd about parts of the bodycam footage of events leading up to Neville’s death released on Wednesday.
“There is no reason that a grown man should be calling for his mama when she is no longer with us,” Stubbs said. “I can’t breathe man,” he added. “My daddy is gone for no reason.”
His father died at a hospital of a brain injury on 4 December, three days after his arrest on a warrant accusing him of assaulting a woman. The struggle with the guards happened while he was booked in Forsyth County jail.
Five former jail officers and a nurse were charged last month with involuntary manslaughter in his death.
“White supremacy continues to have its way in this city, in this state, in this country and in this world,” Terrance Hawkins, an activist in the city, said. “We want justice, and we want it now.”
Hawkins said he was disturbed it took the Forsyth County District Attorney’s Office months to bring charges in Neville’s death and to release the jail video.
The body camera videos show Neville, 56, calling out for his mother and yelling “I can’t breathe” more than 20 times as guards restrained him.
Mike Grace, an attorney for the Neville family, said the video evoked tears.
“I didn’t know Mr. Neville before his death, and I wept,” Grace said. “My partner didn’t know him, and my partner is a 45-year-old white man and he wept. I wept like a baby.”
Grace said there have been others who didn’t see a problem with the way Neville was treated, but he said it’s that kind of insensitivity that led to his death.
“It was a very definite lack of respect for human dignity, for human life, especially a Black human life in jail,” he said.
Grace described Neville’s death as one of commission, not of omission. “The video won’t show anyone kicking Mr. Neville or hitting Mr. Neville or actively attacking him,” he said.
“They just didn’t give a damn about him, and I don’t know which is worse. It was a life, according to the coroner, that he shouldn’t have died. Didn’t have to die.”
On Tuesday, Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough apologised to Neville’s family during a news conference for the man’s death, saying he too cried after seeing the video. He said Neville’s death has led to changes in training involving medical care providers, and that he would name a portion of the jail for Neville.
A North Carolina man has pleaded guilty to threatening to burn down a Black church in Virginia days after one of the church’s leaders took part in a vigil for George Floyd.
John Malcolm Bareswill, 63, entered the plea Wednesday, nearly two months after he was arrested on charges related to his alleged threat, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said in a news release.
Authorities said Bareswill, who lived in Catawba, North Carolina, also made racist remarks when he called the Baptist church in Virginia Beach to make the threats on 7 June. He could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison during his hearing in November, the release said.
“I think both sides want to get to an outcome. That’s the good news. The bad news is we’re a long way apart,” Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told Fox News Channel yesterday, on the prospects for a coronavirus rescue package being agreed.
But he’s not been directly involved in the negotiations – which has struck some people as odd, reports Alexander Bolton for The Hill this morning in a piece titled “McConnell goes hands-off on bill”
Senate Republicans say McConnell has proceeded cautiously because any deal that emerges is likely to divide the Senate GOP conference. They note the GOP leader has made it a practice in recent years to avoid taking up issues that divide Republicans if possible. McConnell’s goal has been to diffuse responsibility for getting a deal to the broader Senate Republican Conference, which has the dual benefit of letting GOP colleagues feel more involved while insulating himself from a potential backlash if the resulting bill sparks the anger of fiscal hawks.
Read it here: The Hill – McConnell goes hands-off on bill
Welcome to our live coverage today of US politics, the coronavirus crisis and the Black Lives Matter protest movement. Here’s a quick round-up of where we are and a taste of what we can expect today.
- At least 1,252 new coronavirus deaths and 53,633 new Covid-19 cases were reported in the US on 5 August. New cases are still down compared to a fortnight ago. States including Nebraska, Illinois, Hawaii and Massachusetts still seem to be on an upward trajectory though. Trump again claimed Covid-19 will ‘go away’ as Fauci warned of the long road ahead
- A video in which Trump wrongly said kids were ‘almost immune’ from Covid-19 prompted Twitter to ban president’s re-election campaign account and Facebook to remove a post from Donald Trump’s page for spreading false information
- The New York Attorney General, Letitia James, has announced that she will make a “major national announcement” on Thursday at 11.30am EDT – most likely related to Trump.
- Minneapolis will not put dismantling of police department on the November ballot. A commission decided to take more time to review a city council amendment in the wake of George Floyd’s killing
- Former first lady Michelle Obama has said in her podcast that she is suffering from ‘low-grade depression’ over the pandemic, racial issues in the US, and the Trump presidency
- Joe Biden, who has said he will not travel to Milwaukee for the Democratic convention, will be delivering remarks at the virtual National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference today
- Trump is in Cleveland, Ohio, to talk about ‘economic prosperity’ at the Whirlpool Corporation Manufacturing Plant. He’ll also be doing fund-raising activities
- We’ll get the weekly jobless figures this morning as well
I’ll be here with you for a couple of hours – you can contact me at martin.belam@theguardian.com
