Trump news: President claims US doing ‘sooo much better on testing’ than any other country as coronavirus cases pass 1m and death toll surpasses Vietnam War
White House pushes for meatpacking plants to reopen as Covid-19 deaths reach another grim milestone
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Donald Trump declared, without evidence, that the US is “doing sooo much better than any other country in the world” in testing for coronavirus after pledging at the White House that America would “soon” have the capacity to test 5m people per day.
But on Wednesday, less than 24 hours later, he falsely claimed that he never said the US would be testing at that rate.
The president’s optimism came despite the country passing 1m cases of Covid-19 and 60,000 deaths, a grim marker that officials initially said the US wouldn't reach until August.
Within four months of the outbreak, the nation's death toll has surpassed the total deaths from conflicts leading up to and during the Vietnam War over two decades.
Mr Trump has meanwhile invoked the Defense Production Act to keep American meatpacking plants open, despite declining to do so for the sake of ventilators or personal protective equipment, as his vice president Mike Pence finds himself in hot water for refusing to wear a mask during an official visit to the Mayo Clinic medical facility in Minnesota on Tuesday.
For the third day in a row, the president met with business leaders to discuss the coronavirus response and reopening plans as states begin to preparations to "reopen" against the warnings of health officials and epidemiologists.
He also claimed that coronavirus is "going to leave" despite, even without a vaccine.
"It's gonna be eradicated," he said. "It might take longer, it might be in smaller sections. It won't be what we had."
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Video shows Trump's contrasting statements about if the US could test 5 million per day
The president attempted to walk back his statements yesterday that the US was going to be "there very soon" when it came to testing 5m residents per day.
He was asked this question after Harvard University released a report stating that number was needed by June for the country to safely reopen and contain the coronavirus.
Now Trump is, unsurprisingly, walking back his claims.
FDA to announce emergency use of experimental drug after 'very optimistic' study
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to authorise the emergency use of remdesivir to treat those infected with the coronavirus.
The experimental antiviral drug is being tested on patients as a treatment for Covid-19.
Both Dr Anthony Fauci and President Donald Trump have expressed optimism about early results from the trials.
Oliver O'Connell with the breaking news:
Nancy Pelosi announces seven Democrats to sit on coronavirus committee
Speaker Nancy Pelosi has named the seven Democrats who will sit on the House Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis that will oversee the government's roll-out of trillions of dollars in aid to states, small businesses, and health care workers.
Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is expected to announce his five Republican picks later this week.
Griffin Connolly with the report:
Jared Kushner claims 'we have all the testing we need'
Jared Kushner claimed the US is ready to begin opening back up amid the coronavirus pandemic, suggesting in a new interview 'we have all the testing we need' -- as experts said the exact opposite.
The senior White House adviser and son-in-law to Donald Trump told Fox News on Wednesday morning: "I'm very confident we have all the testing we need to start reopening the country."
"Everyone's talking about testing," the 39-year-old said. "I have to say the work that's been done over the last 60 days on testing has been absolutely extraordinary."
Chris Riotta on this:
New York's public transit to enhance cleaning schedule
The Metropolitan Transit Association (MTA) has come under fire in recent days following reports of issues with cleanliness and homeless people on subways and busses throughout New York City.
Officials initially considered closing the MTA amid the coronavirus pandemic to curb the spread of the novel virus. But it was later determined an essential component to the city so frontline workers could get to and from work.
Ken Lovett, the senior adviser to the MTA chairman and CEO, issued a statement Wednesday: "We fully agree that we must do everything we can to keep our system and trains and buses as clean and as safe as possible. Following on our aggressive plan of disinfecting our stations twice each day and our full fleet every 72 hours, we are completing a plan to further enhance and increase the frequency of our cleaning. We will deliver that plan to the governor as he requested."
The statement came after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he was putting pressure on the MTA to submit a new cleaning plan to his office. He wanted to assure all frontline workers they were safe when traveling to work each day.
Ideally, Mr Cuomo said he wanted passengers to know every subway car was cleaned the previous evening. But he did not say whether cleaning areas every 24 hours would be possible.
FBI documents show extensive communications between Roger Stone and Julian Assange
Newly released FBI documents have revealed communications between Donald Trump ally Roger Stone and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in the investigation into the Russian interference in the 2016 election.
In one Twitter message between Mr Stone and Mr Assange, the president's ally vowed to "bring down the entire house of cards" if prosecutors came after him, according to FBI documents.
Mr Assange runs the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks and is known for publishing Democrat emails to and from Hillary Clinton at the time she was Secretary of State while she was running in the 2016 presidential election.
Full story here:
Federal Reserve pledges to keep interest rates close to zero
The Federal Reserve has agreed on Wednesday to keep its interest rates anchored at a historic low during the coronavirus pandemic. Currently, the interest rate was near zero.
It also vowed to use its "full range of tools" to assist the US economy as the novel virus continues its attack on states.
"The coronavirus outbreak is causing tremendous human and economic hardship across the United States and around the world," the committee said in a statement. "The virus and the measures taken to protect public health are inducing sharp declines in economic activity and a surge in job losses."
VP candidate Stacey Abrams defends Joe Biden over sexual assault accusations
A top Democratic vice presidential candidate defended Joe Biden against allegations he sexually assaulted an aide in the early 1990s, as more evidence supporting the claim emerged.
Stacey Abrams, a former Georgia gubernatorial candidate, told CNN's Don Lemon on Tuesday that women deserve to be heard and listened to, "but".
"I also believe that those allegations have to be investigated by credible sources," she said during the episode of CNN Tonight.
Justin Vallejo reports:
US coronavirus death toll tops 60,000
The United States reached a grim milestone on Wednesday after its coronavirus death toll topped 60,000 people, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Deaths due to Covid-19 are already higher than the number of lives lost during the Vietnam War.
At the beginning of April, health experts and the Trump administration said the US was expected to only reach 60,000 by the end of summer due to how well social distancing measures have worked. But the president amended his estimate this week, saying the US would now reach about 70,000 deaths.
But now more and more states are rushing to lift social distancing and stay-at-home measures in a a bid to reopen their economies. Health experts have warned reopening areas too soon could cause a resurgence in the virus.
It is unclear how much the reopening of specific areas could impact the death toll.
Meat packing employees sceptical that many will return to work
Meat plant workers are reportedly predicting that employees won’t show up to work after Donald Trump announced an executive order to compel the factories to remain open amidst the coronavirus.
On Tuesday the president announced he intends to sign an executive order to force the industry to stay open under the Defence Production Act.
“All I know is, this is crazy to me, because I can’t see all these people going back into work,” Donald, a worker at Tyson’s Waterloo, Iowa facility told CNN.
Louise Hall reports:
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