Trump news: President shrugs off White House shooting mid-briefing as he doubles down on wild Covid claims and attacks Biden's faith
Secret Service reportedly shoots suspect as president repeats false claim about children and coronavirus
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Donald Trump was whisked out of his daily weekday press briefing by a Secret Service officer following a shooting outside the White House on Monday.
The US Secret Service confirmed that law enforcement had shot a person blocks away from the White House, prompting the president to abruptly end a press briefing as he was escorted to the Oval Office.
He returned several minutes later announcing that a person had been shot and sent to a nearby hospital
The president continued to falsely claim that children are nearly immune from coronavirus, despite a new report that found nearly 100,000 young people were infected within the last two weeks of July alone, as schools prepare to open across the US.
Last week, Facebook and Twitter removed videos shared by the president in which he claimed that children are "virtually immune" from Covid-19, though Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reports show that children are as vulnerable to being able to transmit the virus as adults.
As lawmakers debate additional emergency relief legislation for millions of Americans during a looming eviction crisis and mass unemployment, the president has faced intense scrutiny from Democrats challenging the constitutionality of a series of executive orders that undermine congressional efforts.
Treasury Secretary told reporters that states can access extended unemployment relief "in the next week or two" despite governors signalling that the federal government, not the states, should be responsible for the additional funds.
Secretary Mnuchin also said he has not met with Democrats to repair the stalled emergency relief funding talks, despite House Democrats authoring and passing legislation to do so and meeting Republican resistance, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's accusation that Democrats are "obstructing" relief efforts.
"If they want to meet and want to negotiate and have a new proposal, we'll be happy to meet," Mr Mnuchin said.
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Trump to hold coronavirus press briefing today
Donald Trump announced he would be holding another coronavirus press briefing at 5:30pm on Monday.
The briefing would likely address his executive orders the signed over the weekend and what that will mean for talks on Capitol Hill for the coronavirus stimulus package.
Willie Brown urges Kamala Harris to decline offer to be Joe Biden's VP
Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown has advised senator Kamala Harris to "politely decline" if Joe Biden makes her an offer to be his presidential running mate.
The former mayor wrote in an opinion article for The San Fransisco Chronicle that the vice presidency is a "dead end" and "not the job she should go for".
Louise Hall has the full story:
Mitch McConnell says Senate will be in session all week for coronavirus stimulus package
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell confirmed the Senate would be in session all week, CNN reports.
It was initially planned for the senators to have their recess this week, and a majority of them are gone from Capitol Hill. But now the senators have to be prepared to come back to Washington DC within 24 hours if a vote was scheduled on the coronavirus stimulus package.
Congressional members were pushing for an agreement to be reached between the White House, Republicans, and Democrats last week prior to the scheduled recess. But talks broke up after they could not reach an agreement specific items in the package, such as unemployment benefits and funding towards state and local governments.
Mr McConnell would not confirm to CNN if he was planning to negotiate with Democrats this week.
'We can do better': American doctor in Canada says Medicare for All would have saved lives during coronavirus crisis
Health advocates and progressive Democrats have revived calls for the US to consider expanding Medicare to millions of Americans during the coronavirus pandemic, while the White House threatens the federal health programme and Democrats draft their vision for the next four years in the party's 2020 agenda.
The US public health emergency from Covid-19 has laid bare several institutional crises, renewing calls for a nationalised healthcare system, free at the point of service, to address inequities in care along the long road to the nation's recovery.
In a column published by USA Today last week, Khati Hendry – an American physician who moved to Canada in 2004 – said she has "never felt more grateful to work in a universal healthcare system than during the Covid-19 pandemic".
Secret Service ushers president away from press briefing
After renewing attacks against mail-in voting by raising false claims about rampant voter fraud and foreign interference, Donald Trump was ushered away from his Monday press briefing at the White House by a secret service agent.
Minutes after the briefing started, an agent asked the president to step outside before escorting the president out of the room.
"Excuse me," the president told reporters.
Shooting outside White House prompts Trump to cut press briefing short
A shooting outside the White House prompted Secret Service to escort Donald Trump away from his in-progress press briefing, the president said.
"Somebody has been taken to the hospital," he said after he returned several minutes later. "I don't know the condition of the person."
He said Secret Service has it "under control" and that a person "was shot by Secret Service" and taken to the hospital.
"Do I seem rattled?" he said.
Video shows shooting aftermath outside White House
Secret Service officers reportedly shot an armed person outside the White House on Monday, prompting agents to escort Donald Trump away from an in-progress press briefing.
States could receive extended coronavirus relief within 'next week or two'
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said states can expect a round of coronavirus unemployment relief "within the next week or two" following Donald Trump's executive orders over the weekend.
The president appeared to cut him off and introduce another person in the room.
Most governors have said their states wouldn't be able to resume emergency payments.
Asked whether governors have signed off, the president said it "depends on the individual state, but a lot of money will be going to a lot of people very quickly."
Trump repeats false claim that children are 'immune' from coronavirus despite 97,000 infections among young people within last two weeks of July
Donald Trump, asked whether a new report showing at least 97,000 children were infected with Covid-19 within the last two weeks of July gives him pause to reopen schools, said: "No. There may be a case, a tiny, a tiny fraction of death, tiny fraction, and they get better very quickly."
Last week, social media platforms forced him and his campaign to remove videos in which he said children are "virtually immune" to the virus, which is false.
Asked if he still believes that, he said: "For the most part, yeah."
Mnuchin has not talked to Democrats during coronavirus relief crisis
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said he has not met with Democrats to repair the stalled emergency relief funding talks, despite House Democrats authoring and passing legislation to do so and meeting Republican resistance.
"If they want to meet and want to negotiate and have a new proposal, we'll be happy to meet," he said.
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