Trump news: President rages at reporter during coronavirus press conference and insists there will be no national lockdown
Chaotic week at White House as president scrambles to support Americans during worsening crisis
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Donald Trump has closed the US-Mexico border, put a hold on student loan repayments, suspended elementary school testing, extended the deadline for Americans to file their tax returns and cancelled June's G7 summit with world leaders as part of his administration’s bid to make up for lost time following the coronavirus outbreak.
A number of US senators, notably Republicans Richard Burr and Kelly Loeffler, are meanwhile facing calls to resign after being accused of “insider trading” after it emerged they dumped stock options in response to a briefing on the outbreak on 24 January, with even Fox News host Tucker Carlson joining in the outrage and demanding Burr step down.
The president has said that he was "not aware" of those reports but called the senators "very honourable people."
In California, 40m citizens are being ordered to stay indoors as the crisis deepens, while in New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo has ordered the closure of non-essential businesses across the state.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio warns that the city could run out of medical supplies within three weeks without "radical" action from the federal government as the mayor prepares the possibility of a "shelter-in-place" order.
Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden also has attacked the president's response, after he berated a reporter and has waffled on an emergency order that could mandate companies rush the manufacturing of critically needed medical supplies.
Susan Rice, who also served under the Obama administration, dismissed claims by the president that his predecessor was ill-equipped to respond to a pandemic and pointed to Mr Trump's dismissal of his own pandemic response team among his national security advisers.
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Donald Trump cancels June G7 summit as coronavirus crisis deepens
The president has cancelled the upcoming G7 summit with world leaders due to be held at Camp David in Maryland in June over the threat posed by the coronavirus.
"In order for each country to focus all of its resources on responding to the health and economic challenges of Covid-19 and at President Trump's direction, National Economic Council director and US Sherpa for the 2020 G7, Larry Kudlow, has informed his Sherpa colleagues that the G7 Leaders' Summit the US was set to host in June at Camp David will now be done by video-teleconference," White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere said in a statement.
"The White House also informed the other G7 members that in order to continue close co-ordination, the president will convene the leaders' via video teleconference in April and May just as he did this week."
Senators accused of 'insider trading' over stock dump
A number of US senators, notably Republicans Richard Burr and Kelly Loeffler, have been accused of “insider trading” after it emerged they had dumped stock options in response to a briefing on the outbreak on 24 January, with even Fox News host Tucker Carlson joining in the outrage and calling on Burr to resign.
Burr of North Carolina, head of the Senate’s Intelligence Committee, and Georgia’s Loeffler, both Republicans, sold off their shares well before it became publicly clear just how badly the coronavirus was about to affect the US.
As reported by Open Secrets, Burr and his wife sold roughly between $600,000 (£514,000) and $1.7m (£1.46m) in more than 30 separate transactions in late January and mid-February, many of them in companies likely to lose value, including hotel chains.
Most of the sales happened on 13 February. This was soon before Burr made a speech in North Carolina in which he predicted severe consequences from the virus, including closed schools and cutbacks in company travel.
Burr told the small (and affluent) audience the virus was "much more aggressive in its transmission than anything that we have seen in recent history" and "probably more akin to the 1918 pandemic."
His remarks were far more dire than those he had made publicly, and came as President Trump was still downplaying the severity of the virus.
Burr, Loeffler and other senators are continuing to protest their innocence but it is not a good look, to put it mildly.
When you've lost someone as partisan and unscrupulous as Tucker, you know you're in trouble.
But, it's not just the Republicans who've been profiteering in a crisis...
Here's Andrew Naughtie with the whole sordid story.
California orders all 40m residents to stay at home to avoid spreading contagion
The state's residents should stay home indefinitely and venture outside only for essential jobs, errands and some exercise, governor Gavin Newsom said on Thursday, warning that the coronavirus threatens to overwhelm the state's medical system.
The move, the most sweeping by any state so far, was an exclamation point at the end of a week of increasingly aggressive moves meant to keep the virus in check by forcing people to stay away from each other as often as possible.
"I can assure you home isolation is not my preferred choice, I know it's not yours, but it's a necessary one," Newsom said at an evening news conference streamed on social media.
He assured residents that they "can still take your kids outside, practicing common sense and social distancing. You can still walk your dog." Restaurant meals can still be delivered to homes.
The announcement came after the release of a letter to President Trump where Newsom warned the virus was spreading quickly and eventually could infect more than half the state's population. A spokesman later clarified that the figure did not take into account the aggressive mitigation efforts that have been made.
The governor said he doesn't expect police will be needed to enforce his stay-at-home order, saying "social pressure" already has led to social distancing throughout the state.
"I don't believe the people of California need to be told through law enforcement that it's appropriate just to home isolate," he said.
The Democrat who is barely a year into his first term also called up 500 National Guard troops to help distribute food. The move comes after panic buying led to massive lines at some grocery stores.
Newsom also outlined a series of steps aimed at providing more space for hospital patients.
He said the state has taken over a 357-bed bankrupt hospital in the San Francisco Bay Area, soon will announce the purchase of a similarly sized hospital in Southern California and may use dormitories at the state's public colleges and universities. He also asked Trump to dock the Navy's 1,000-patient Mercy hospital ship in the Port of Los Angeles.
The coronavirus is spread through sneezes and coughs. There are at least 1,030 confirmed cases in California and 18 people have died, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
Newsom's statewide order came after counties and communities covering about half the state's population already had issued similar edicts. He said the restriction is "open-ended" because it could raise false hopes if he included an end date.
However, he did offer a glimmer by saying he didn't expect it would last "many, many months."
Just before Newsom's statewide declaration, Los Angeles announced what officials there called a "Safer at Home" order that carried the same restrictions.
"We're about to enter into a new way of living here in Los Angeles," Mayor Eric Garcetti said. "What we do and how we do it and if we get this right will determine how long this crisis lasts."
In the letter to Trump seeking the hospital ship, Newsom said California's infection rates are doubling every four days in some areas and that 56 per cent of the state's population could contract the virus in the next eight weeks, which would be more than 22m people. He later said the "overwhelming majority won't have symptoms" and will be fine but that up to 20 per cent could be hospitalised.
"If we meet this moment we can truly bend the curve" of escalating cases, Newsom said.
Also Thursday, Newsom asked US House and Senate leaders for $1bn (£849m) to support state and local health systems. He said that money would be needed to do things like set up state-run and mobile hospitals, housing options to help people socially distance and testing and treatment for people without health insurance.
He also asked for assistance so the state can extend unemployment benefits beyond the usual 26-week limit, expand food assistance programs, resources for the homeless and tribal communities and boost childcare programs. He further asked for assistance for schools, aid to local and state budgets and transportation relief.
"While California has prudently built a sizable Rainy Day Fund over the past ten years, the economic effects of this emergency are certain to mean that the state and its 58 counties will struggle to maintain essential programs and services," he wrote.
Newsom earlier announced $150m (£127m) of a $1bn emergency state appropriation would go toward getting homeless people off the streets. He has estimated up to 60,000 of the state's homeless could get infected.
Here's Louise Hall with more on the state.
US citizens warned against overseas travel
The Trump administration has upgraded its already dire warning to Americans against all international travel as the coronavirus outbreak spreads. At the same time, the State Department disclosed the first positive cornovirus test in a Washington-based employee and announced new restrictions the issuance of passports to US citizens.
The department issued a new travel alert on Thursday urging Americans not to go abroad under any circumstances and to return home if they are already abroad unless they plan to remain overseas. It then said passport applications for US citizens at home and abroad would be severely curtailed.
"The Department of State advises US citizens to avoid all international travel due to the global impact of Covid-19," it said in the new advice. "In countries where commercial departure options remain available, US citizens who live in the United States should arrange for immediate return to the United States, unless they are prepared to remain abroad for an indefinite period. US citizens who live abroad should avoid all international travel."
Until the upgrade, the department's advice to US citizens was to "reconsider" all international travel under what is known as a "level three" alert. The global "level four" warning was unprecedented as such alerts are generally reserved for specific countries embroiled in conflict, natural disasters or where Americans face specific risks.
However, the upgrade will likely have little practical effect because it is not mandatory and there are now limited transportation options for international travel. The only way to ban Americans from going abroad would be to invalidate the use of US passports for such travel, a bar that is currently in place only for North Korea.
In addition, the main impact of State Department travel alerts is to cause insurance companies to increase premiums or cancel travel policies for group and individual tours, many of which had been scrapped even before the alert was raised to level three earlier this week.
The department has already advised Americans that many US embassies and consulates abroad are operating with reduced staff and hours due to the Covid-19 outbreak and that services for Americans in need of assistance are limited.
Shortly after the travel alert was updated, the department announced that beginning on Friday, it would "only accept passport applications from customers with life-or-death emergencies who plan to travel within 72 hours." It also said that expedited passport issuance would be suspended and that some application centers, such as public libraries, court clerks and post offices, may stop accepting applications altogether.
The new passport issuance restrictions came after the first Washington-based State Department employee tested positive for the virus, known as Covid-19. The department did not identify where in Washington the employee works, but officials familiar with the matter said it is in annex known as SA-17 that houses the main passport office. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.
"Staff who work in the impacted area were directed by supervisors, in coordination with the Bureau of Medical Services, to take the necessary precautions," the department said. "The space has been assessed and is being deliberately and professionally disinfected today (and) will be ready for occupancy tomorrow."
Pelosi and Schumer warn $1trn bailout proposal 'too pro-business' as talks begin
Members of Trump's economic team will reconvene on Friday on Capitol Hill to launch negotiations with Senate Republicans and Democrats racing to draft a $1 trillion (£849bn)-plus economic rescue package amid the coronavirus outbreak.
It's the biggest effort yet to shore up households and the US economy as the pandemic and its nationwide shutdown hurtles the country toward a likely recession.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell unveiled the Republican opening offer to pump $1,200 (£1,018) direct checks to taxpayers, $300bn (£255bn) for small businesses to keep idled workers on payroll and $208bn (£176.5bn) in loans to airlines and other industries.
The GOP leader's effort builds on Trump's request for Congress to "go big."
"We need to take bold and swift action as soon as possible," McConnell said on Thursday, announcing his plan on the Senate floor.
The 247-page McConnell CARES Act puts the leader's imprint on opening talks with Democrats in Congress as lawmakers prepare to work through the weekend to fast-track perhaps the most urgent legislative undertaking since the 2008 financial crisis.
The negotiations are certain to encounter difficulties ahead, despite the pressure on Washington to act. Trump's treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin and economic adviser Larry Kudlow will meet behind closed doors with Senate leaders. Democrats say the Republican plan does not go far enough and some Senate Republicans object to certain provisions.
"We are beginning to review Senator McConnell's proposal and on first reading, it is not at all pro-worker and instead puts corporations way ahead of workers," said a joint statement from House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
The GOP leader's plan aims to shore up households, businesses and the healthcare industry, which is bracing for an expected onslaught of patients falling ill from the virus that causes Covid-19.
The one-time $1,200 stipends would be sent to individuals - $2,400 (£2,037) for couples - phased out at income thresholds of $75,000 (£66,000) for individuals and $150,000 (£127,000) per couple. Additionally, there would be $500 (£424) payments for each child.
Additionally, the McConnell bill would provide $300bn (£255bn) to small businesses, with loans that would eventually be forgiven for employers who use them to meet payroll expenses.
To shore up industry, McConnell's plan would provide $208bn (£176.5bn) in loans and loan guarantees to distressed sectors, including $50bn (£50bn) for commercial airlines, $8bn (£6.8bn) for air cargo carriers and $150bn (£127bn) for other eligible businesses, but those loans would have to be paid back.
Businesses would also be allowed to defer payment of the 6.2 per cent employer payroll tax.
The proposal also includes a specific provision to allow the Treasury secretary to "participate in the gains," through stock options or other financial instruments, of companies that receive federal aid.
At the same time, caring for the expected surge of sick Americans is a priority for Congress.
The McConnell proposal contains a raft of healthcare provisions - including permanent liability protection for the manufacturers of respirators and other desperately needed medical gear to handle the pandemic.
At the consumer level, McConnell's bill would put into federal law the commitment from insurers that coronavirus tests will be cost-free to policy holders. Additionally, the bill requires coverage of coronavirus vaccines, at no cost to patients.
For the healthcare industry, the bill would establish a new Medicare payment for treating Covid-19 patients. It would suspend through the end of this year a 2 per cent Medicare payment cut to providers under previously set budget restraints.
Pelosi and Schumer said in statement they looked forward to working with Republicans "in a bipartisan way to deliver for the American people as soon as humanly possible."
The Democratic leaders said, however, their priority is to "make sure all workers are protected from the loss of a paycheck or that no family falls into financial ruin because of this pandemic."
The Democratic leaders called on Trump to ramp up production of medical supplies and rapidly erect temporary field hospitals under new authorities he has invoked in the Defense Production Act.
Keeping paycheques flowing for idled workers as jobless claims skyrocket is a top priority for both Republican and Democratic plans emerging from Congress.
But how best to send direct payments to Americans - as one-time stipends, ongoing payroll support or unemployment checks - is a crucial debate.
Democrats have other ideas for ushering aid to Americans by pushing more money into the existing unemployment insurance system. Schumer called it "employment insurance" -which he characterized as "unemployment insurance on steroids."
Some GOP senators panned the idea of direct one-time checks, preferring instead to use the federal dollars to keep workers who are asked to stay home on business payrolls.
"What I want is income, not one cheque," said Lindsey Graham.
Meanwhile, industries of all kinds are lining up for help. The total price tag is sure to grow beyond $1 trillion, lawmakers said.
Trump has already signed into law a $100bn (£85bn)-plus bill to boost testing for the coronavirus and guarantee paid sick leave for millions of workers hit by it. Earlier, Trump signed an initial $8.3bn (£7bn) package from Congress.
Melania Trump addresses nation: 'This is not how we'll live forever'
The first lady was doing her bit for the nation last night, urging citizens to stay calm, stay in touch with loved ones and stay in doors.
Three Americans in four say lives upended by coronavirus but surprise majority approve of Trump response, new poll finds
A new survey by ABC News/Ipsos finds 72 per cent of Americans saying their lives have been completely turned upside down by the outbreak.
Perhaps more surprisingly, the poll reveals a slight uptick week-on-week in public approval of Trump's handling of the situation, with 55 per cent backing him and 43 per cent expressing disapproval.
Those figures were almost exactly opposite a week ago, suggesting the president's switch to a more statesmanlike tone is having the desired effect with the electorate. That's relatively speaking - he's still found time to rebrand the disease the "Chinese virus" in an a fairly blatant example of dogwhistle racism for the MAGA crowd.
The poll also reveals a huge surge in anxiety over the virus, indicating the messaging is finally getting through, with 79 per cent of Americans admittting they are "very concerned" or "somewhat concerned" about catching the infection. Last week, only 66 per cent said they were worried.
There's still a worrying partisan divide, however. Among Democrats, 87 per cent are concerned but just 66 per cent of Republicans make the same admisson.
New York City to run out of medical supplies within three weeks, Bill de Blasio warns
New York City is just two to three weeks away from running out of essential medical supplies, mayor Bill de Blasio has warned.
The city needs three million N95 masks, 50 million surgical masks, 15,000 ventilators and 25 million each of personal protective equipment, surgical gowns, coveralls, gloves and face masks, to deal with rising coronavirus cases.
De Blasio told reporters: "I don’t have the perfect day for you, we’re assessing all the time but it is a day, two weeks from now or three weeks from now where we must, by then, have had a very substantial resupply.
Dave Maclean has this report.
CDC advises health workers to use homemade masks or bandanas as ‘last resort’
As healthcare workers and hospitals face shortages across the United States amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released new guidelines for using face masks.
Shortages in surgical and respirator masks started after citizens panic bought boxes in stores and online so they could wear when out. But this decision has since left hospitals short of the necessary facial guard.
Now the CDC is advising using homemade masks, such as a bandana or scarf, as a “last resort” to treat patients with Covid-19. This guideline is recommended only if no other face masks are available to the healthcare worker.
Danielle Zoellner has this.
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