Daily Archives: April 9, 2020

President Donald Trump was accused of political favoritism in the administration's coronavirus response after only sending a fraction of the ventilators sought by Colorado's Democratic governor "at the request" of the state's Republican senator.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, has been pleading for the federal government to provide his state with 10,000 ventilators since last month.

"Colorado's COVID-19 death rate is rising faster than any other state right now; the pandemic is spreading so fast that lags in testing are masking the true conditions experienced by Coloradans across the state," Polis said in a letterto Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading the White House coronavirus task force.

Not only did the federal government not respond to the request, but Polis also told CNNjust days later the federal government seized an order of 500 ventilators bought by the state.

"We can't compete against our own federal government," he said. "So either work with us, or don't do anything at all. But this middle ground where they're buying stuff out from under us and not telling us what we're going to get, that's really challenging to manage our hospital surge and our safety of our health care workers in that kind of environment."

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But Trump announcedWednesday that his administration wouldbe "immediately sending 100 Ventilators to Colorado at the request of Senator [Cory] Gardner," a vulnerable Republican up for re-election.

The announcement came after Gardner spoke with the president personally, he told Fox News.

"The governor has been searching for ventilators and FEMA has also been searching for ventilators. I talked to the president last night about the Colorado need for ventilators, and of course, I'm very thankful that he provided that last night," Gardner said. "We're going to continue to work with the president for more and continue to meet Colorado's needs, but I think it's just a sign that we are fighting for Colorado."

Pence pushed back when asked whether Gardner's personal relationship with Trump led to Colorado getting life-saving equipment.

"We've been watching Denver very closely . . . We're beginning to see some encouraging news in our interactions with the governor and with local officials and with the senator," he told reporters at Wednesday's White House news briefing. "We've made an effort not only in Colorado, but around the country, to be particularly responsive to states where we've seen a growth in cases."

But Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Oversight and Investigations subcommittee, told CNNthat the move smells of political favoritism.

"It seems that way to me," she said when asked if it appeared to be a political favor to Gardner. "I was totally outraged."

DeGette, who has served in Congress for more than two decades, told the network that "this thing that happened with Sen. Gardner and President Trump is very disturbing."

In a private call with House Democrats on Wednesday, the congresswoman accused Pence of "lying" about the process for distributing ventilators, according to CNN.

"Nowhere did it say if a Republican senator calls up the president they can get it," she said, adding that the vulnerable Republicans then took "all kinds of credit on national TV."

Polis dodged questions about the issue when pressed Wednesdayby reporters.

"Well, you're not going to get my read on it,because I'm not here to do political analysis," he said. "I'm here to celebrate any ventilators that arrive in our state, andof course, we are grateful for 100 ventilators."

Officials in at least a half-dozenstates have complained that the federal government has seized equipment shipped to states and numerous governors, including Republicans in Maryland and Massachusetts, slammed the fedsfor bidding against states to acquire vital ventilators.

Details about the federal response from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released Wednesdayby the House Oversight Committeealso show that the federal government sent the same number of N95 respirator masks used by emergency workers to every state in its "final push" to get equipment from the national stockpile out before handing the task off to the private sector.As a result, Vermont received about 193 respirators per 1,000 residents while Texas received just five per 1,000 residents.

"Now that the national stockpile has been depleted of critical equipment, it appears that the administration is leaving states to fend for themselves, to scour the open market for these scarce supplies and to compete with each other and federal agencies in a chaotic, free-for-all bidding war," House Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., said in a statement. "The president failed to bring in FEMA early on, failed to name a national commander for this crisis and failed to fully utilize the authorities Congress gave him under the Defense Production Act to procure and manage the distribution of critical supplies. He must take action now to address these deficiencies."

Under fire from Democrats over the administration'sresponse, Trump has used the White House coronavirus press briefings to instead push conspiracy theorieshe hopes will boost hisre-election efforts.

Trump this week claimed,without evidence,that mail voting, which is used widely by numerous states, including Republican strongholds like Utah, is "corrupt" and used by Democrats to "cheat." There is no evidence of any widespread mail ballot fraud,and the only recent anecdotal evidence is a mail ballot fraud scheme orchestrated by a Republican operative in North Carolina.

"Mail-In Voting, which is 'RIPE for FRAUD,' and shouldn't be allowed!" Trump falsely claimedWednesday onTwitter.

"There is no evidence that voting by mail results in significant fraud. As with in-person voting, the threat is infinitesimally small," said a reportfrom New York University's Brennan Center for Justice. "Twenty-three percent of ballots were cast by mail in 2016, and twenty-six percent of ballots were cast by mail in 2018. Five states Hawaii, Utah, Oregon, Washingtonand Colorado will run all-mail elections this year. And in 28 states and the District of Columbia, any voter has the right to request a mail ballot without excuse in November."

But Trump has been surprisingly transparent about his opposition to mail voting, arguing that Republicans cannot win if large numbers of people vote.

Discussing a Democratic proposal to fund mail voting efforts amid the coronavirus pandemic, Trump told Fox Newsthat "you'd never have a Republican elected in this country again" if states expanded mail voting.

Trump has also used the briefings to push his agenda againstglobalorganizationsby picking a fight with the World Health Organization (WHO), accusing itof being "China-centric" while receiving a large portion of their funding from the U.S.

"The World WHO World Healthgot it wrong.I mean,they got it very wrong. Inmany ways, they were wrong. They also minimized the threat very strongly andnot good," Trump saidat Wednesday's briefing.

Taking its cues from Fox News hosts like Tucker Carlson, the White House is working on a possible plan to cut WHO funding as the pandemic rages on, NBC Newsreported.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general, appeared to respond to Trump's threats by condemning politicization of the crisis.

"The focus of all political parties should be to save their people. Please don't politicize this virus," he said at a Wednesday news briefing. "If you want to be exploited and if you want to have many more body bags then you do it. If you don't want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicizing it."

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Trump says he only gave Colorado 1% of the ventilators it needs after GOP senator asked for them - Salon

The challenge of implementing the small business loan program surfaced vividly last week, when the Small Business Administration delivered guidelines to banks just hours before they were due to turn on the spigot. As of Wednesday, banks said they still lacked critical information needed to close out loans and that SBA's loan authorization system continued to malfunction.

The flood of companies seeking assistance seems sure to compound the challenges facing banks, and the Treasury Department and SBA have done little to ease concerns that theyre getting on track.

The CARES Act included a provision meant to provide relief to companies by allowing them to get tax refunds by redoing their previous years taxes to include their current losses. There's one glaring problem: The companies are required to file for those refunds on paper and mail them in and most IRS employees are working from home. There's virtually no one there to pick up the mail.

There's also plenty of other guidance pending from the IRS, a typical problem in typical times but one sure to slow the impact of the CARES Act as companies struggle to survive.

Meanwhile, the IRS is still figuring out how to quickly parcel out the cash payments the new law promised to individuals and families across the country. The agency intends to deliver as many as possible via direct deposit, which would expedite those payments. But for many low-income Americans who don't file tax returns, the IRS would likely not have direct deposit info. So the agency is setting up a website to collect banking information in order to more quickly process the checks, but theres no timeline on when that will be up and running.

Planes are parked at Pinal Airpark on Wednesday in Red Rock, Ariz., as many passenger planes are being kept at the facility as airlines cut back on service due to the new coronavirus pandemic. | Ross D. Franklin/AP Photo

The CARES Act included $29 billion in an immediate infusion for passenger and cargo airlines, funding meant to quickly shore up the industry's cratering finances by paying workers' salaries and preventing layoffs. But even though the money was due to begin flowing earlier this week, it hasn't happened yet, and airlines are still in talks with the Trump administration over the terms.

Treasury released guidance for applying for the grants and loans last week, with the initial application deadline for grants last Friday. Airlines that missed that deadline won't get their applications considered as quickly. And perhaps most urgently, unions are concerned that some airlines could refuse the grants if the U.S. government insists on taking a stake in the airline as part of the tradeoff.

The law also includes another $29 billion in loans for airlines, part of the Treasury's $500 billion economic rescue fund. There's no deadline or timeframe for those funds to begin flowing, but there's no indication that any have moved yet. As of Monday, Treasury wasn't accepting applications for the loans.

So at a critical moment for the airline industry, the rescue law has done little in the way of providing relief.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. | Alex Brandon/AP Photo

The law included $31 billion in emergency education assistance, much of it earmarked for states, K-12 schools, universities and direct aid for college students. But so far, there's been no funding distributed by the Education Department and there's been no guidance about how or when that money might arrive.

Higher education groups and state officials have been urging the Trump administration to move more quickly to immediately disburse the funding amid unprecedented school and college closures across the country. Govs. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas and Jay Inslee of Washington over the weekend wrote a letter on behalf of governors, urging Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to provide the funding within the next two weeks. But DeVos hasnt given any indication shes on board, meaning the relief money is still just sitting there.

Meanwhile, there's also a push among some Senate Democrats to exclude for-profit colleges from eligibility or to impose stringent restrictions on how those companies can use the money but a whole new layer of such oversight seems unlikely to be accepted by Republicans.

The FCC appears to be one of the few agencies moving quickly adopting an order last month to tap $200 million in CARES Act funding for a "Covid-19 Telehealth Program," an effort to speed grants to health care providers to expand telehealth capabilities. At the same time, the FCC is skipping its normal competitive bidding requirements to ensure the money gets to where its needed speedily a decision that could mean a worse deal for taxpayers.

Meanwhile, there are plans for a separate pot of $100 million in broadband funding flowing through the Department of Agriculture to help build out internet infrastructure in rural areas, plus another $25 million for USDA's Distance Learning, Telemedicine and Broadband program. But this infusion has already stirred some concerns about exacerbating already existing problems with duplication and waste.

A Republican FCC commissioner has repeatedly raised concerns about the departments effort, worrying that the program has the potential to undermine and wastefully duplicate other broadband efforts, some of which may already receive financial help from the FCC.

Susannah Luthi, Brian Faler, Brianna Gurciullo, John Hendel, Michael Stratford and Zach Warmbrodt contributed to this report.

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Oversight sputters as Trump starts doling out billions in coronavirus aid - POLITICO

U.S. President Donald Trump listens as Vice President Mike Pence speaks during a news conference at the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House February 29, 2020 in Washington, DC.

Alex Wong | Getty Images

WASHINGTON Vice President Mike Pence's office is barring top public health officials from appearing on CNN until the news network agrees to air the White House's daily coronavirus briefings in their entirety, CNN reported on Thursday.

CNN often airs only the first portion of the daily briefings live, the part that is typically led by President Donald Trump, before returning to their news anchors during the second half of the briefing.

Only after Trump is finished speaking, taking questions from the press and calling on various experts to come up to the lectern, do Pence and other top officials have their own dedicated time to take questions and make announcements.

Health officials like Dr. Deborah Birx and Dr. Anthony Fauci are typically part of this second portion of the briefing. These are the officials that Pence is refusing to allow on CNN, although they regularly appear on other news networks and broadcast networks.

"When you guys cover the briefings with the health officials then you can expect them back on your air," a Pence spokesman told CNN, referring to the second portion of the briefing, according to the network's report.

CNBC reached out to the vice president's office and to CNN, neither of whom replied to questions about the report.

CNN has held weekly townhalls on Thursday nights for the past month, each of which has featured Fauci and CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta discussing the coronavirus pandemic.

In the past week, however, Pence's office has denied CNN's request to have Fauci appear on its April 9 town hall, according to CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy.

The tensions between CNN and the White House over the network's daily briefing coverage also reflect larger issues at play, however, in an administration where the chief executive has repeatedly sought to undermine, blame and denigrate the free press.

There is already a great deal of bad blood between the Trump White House and CNN, whose reporters have aggressively questioned the president during his time in office.

The White House press office has also previously rescinded the credentials of at least one CNN reporter, White House correspondent Jim Acosta in 2018. After CNN sued the White House over Acosta's revoked pass, and the Trump administration backed down and reinstated him.

But the present situationalso reflects a broader unease developing among news broadcasters over whether, and how, to air the daily press briefings, which can stretch to over two hours in length, and tend to paint a rosier picture of the deadly pandemic than many outside the administration believe is warranted.

Trump has also used the briefings repeatedly to attack his political opponents, spread misinformation about the pandemic and tout unproven drugs and treatments.

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Pence bars top health experts Fauci and Birx from appearing on CNN, the network says - CNBC

On March 18th, researchers in France circulated a study about the promising experimental use of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug, in combination with azithromycin, an antibiotic, as a treatment for the disease caused by the coronavirus. The study was neither randomized nor peer-reviewed, and other scientists soon criticized its methodology. But Tucker Carlson, on Fox News, highlighted the work. The next day, President Trump promoted hydroxychloroquines very, very encouraging early results. He added, mentioning another unproven therapy, I think it could be, based on what I see, it could be a game changer.

At a White House press briefing on March 20th, a reporter asked Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, whether hydroxychloroquine could be effective in treating covid-19. The answer is no, Fauci said, before yielding the microphone to Trump, who countered, May work, may not. I feel good about it. Thats all it is, just a feeling, you know, smart guy. A few days later, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, said, Using untested drugs without the right evidence could raise false hope and even do more harm than good.

Trumps quackery was at once eccentric and terrifyinga reminder, if one was needed, of his scorn for rigorous science, even amid the worst pandemic to strike the country in a century. Yet his conduct typified his leadership as the crisis has intensified: his dependency on Fox News for ideas and message amplification, his unshakable belief in his own genius, and his understandable concern that his relection may be in danger if he does not soon discover a way to vanquish COVID-19 and reverse its devastation of the economy.

New York City now faces a troubling and astronomical increase in cases, according to Governor Andrew Cuomo, and the emergency is overwhelming hospitals, straining drug and equipment supplies, and threatening to cause a shortage of ventilators. The grim course of events in the city is a canary in the coal mine for the rest of the country, Cuomo said, and leaders elsewhere must take decisive action lest they, too, become inundated. Trump, though, spent much of last week promoting a contrarian gambit that has been percolating in the right-wing media. He said that, to revitalize the economy, he would like to lift travel restrictions and reopen workplaces across the country within weeks, perhaps by Easter, which is on April 12th, because, as he put it repeatedly, we cant let the cure be worse than the problem.

Public-health experts immediately warned against such a reversal of social-distancing rules. The virus will surge, many will fall ill, and there will be more deaths, William Schaffner, a specialist in preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University, told the Times. When a reporter asked the President whether any of the doctors on your team had advised him that a hasty reopening was the right path to pursue, he replied, If it were up to the doctors, they may say, Lets keep it shut down... lets keep it shut for a couple of years. Public-health specialists have said no such thing; they have spoken of a conditions-based approach (You dont make the timeline, the virus makes the timeline, Fauci has said), while advising that, to save the most lives, local leaders must wait to lift restrictions in their areas until the data show that the virus has stopped spreading. Trump said that any loosening of rules he might seek around the countryhe mentioned Nebraska and Idaho as possible siteswould be based on hard facts and data, but he also said that he chose Easter as a target date because he just thought it was a beautiful time.

It is true, as Trump also argued, that enormous job losses and an all but certain recession caused by the pandemic will harm many vulnerable Americans, and claim lives, as ill people without health insurance, for example, forgo care or struggle to get it at stressed clinics and hospitals. Yet, at least in the short term, over-all mortality rates fall during recessions; the reasons for this arent fully clear, but social scientists think they may include the public-health benefits of a decrease in pollution, as a result of the slowing economy. In any event, the case the President made for hurrying an economic revival against the advice of scientists was morally odious; it suggested that large numbers of otherwise avoidable deaths might have to be accepted as the price of job creation.

Public-health officials spoke frankly to the press about the catastrophic prospects of the Presidents Easter folly. (President Trump will have blood on his hands, Keith Martin, the director of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health, told the Times.) Trump responded on Twitter by lashing out at the LameStream Media for reporting such forecasts, calling the press the dominant force in trying to get me to keep our Country closed as long as possible in the hope that it will be detrimental to my election success. Last Wednesday, after Mitt Romney, the only Republican who voted to convict the President, on a charge of abuse of power, during the Senate impeachment trial, announced that he had tested negative for COVID-19, Trump tweeted mockingly, Im so happy I can barely speak. At the White House briefings, surrounded by the sorts of civil servants and experts he habitually disdains, Trump has adapted awkwardly to the role of solemn unifier. When he leaves the podium to tweet nonsense at his perceived enemies, he at least provides his opponents among the countrys homebound, screen-addled, and anxious citizenry with a galvanizing dose of his immutable obnoxiousnessa splash of the old new normal.

The journal Science asked Fauci why he doesnt step in when the President makes false statements in the briefings. I cant jump in front of the microphone and push him down, he said. Americas public-health system is fragmented and market-driven, conditions that only compound the challenge of quashing COVID-19. In the Trump era, however, decentralization has a benefit: the President is not solely in charge, and in the months ahead governors and mayors will continue to shape the odds of life or death for great numbers of Americans. Last week, Trump reviewed the possibilities for quarantine in New York City, his ravaged home town. He rambled about the stock exchange (Its incredible what they can do), before going on to pledge, If we open up, and when we open up... were giving the governors a lot of leeway to decide how this should be done. We can only hope so.

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The Meaning of Donald Trumps Coronavirus Quackery - The New Yorker

Rep. Ilhan Omar at 'Impeachment Now!' rally on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol, Sept. 26, 2019. (Paul Morigi/Getty Images for MoveOn Political Action)

(CNSNews.com) -Rep. Ilhan Omar (D.-Minn.) sent out a tweet on Wednesday calling on Americans to participate in this years election and vote President Donald Trump out of office and end the rise of fascism in this country.

For those who plan to sit this election out or vote for Trump, just stop, Omar said.

The livelihoods of millions of marginalized people are at stake, she said.

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We must fight like hell to get Donald Trump out of the White House and end the rise of fascism in this country, she said.

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Ilhan Omar: 'We Must All Fight Like Hell to Get Donald Trump Out of the White House and End the Rise of Fascism in This Country' - CNSNews.com

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LIVE: President Donald Trump and the Coronavirus Task Force press briefing - FOX10 News

While the unprecedented outbreak of deadly coronavirus continues to tighten its grip around the world, United States President Donald Trump shared an optimistic vision forhis country after it reopens. Recently, the US recorded a jump of at least 2000 deaths in just 24 hours, and Trump tweeted on April 8 that once his great country reopens and the lockdown is lifted, their economy will boom in a way that people have not seen before. As of April 9, US has confirmed over 435,120 cases of COVID-19 infection with at least 14,795 fatalities. The US President even said that except the people who lost their family to coronavirus infection the the horror of the invisible enemy shall be forgotten.

After originating from Chinas wet markets, the coronavirus has now claimed over 88,516 lives worldwide as of April 9. According to the tally by international news agency, the pandemic has now spread to 209 countries and has infected at least 1,518,970 people. Out of the total infections, 330,697 have been recovered but the easily spread virus is continuing to disrupt many lives. Major cities have been put under lockdown in almost all countries and the economy is struggling.

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After #ClapForBoris fueled criticism against UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, #AmericaWorksTogether backfired on United States President Donald Trump in a similar manner. During daily coronavirus briefing on April 8, while the coronavirus cases are still increasing in the country, Trump urged Americans to share your stories that showcase patriotism as well as citizenship under the hashtag. With the death toll in the US rising rapidly, the netizens chose to criticise Trump with the same hashtag.

Twitter users lashed out at the Republican US President for issues ranging from his response to the global health crisis to all the statements he has made in the press briefings. One of the internet users even said American works together, "only without Trump". Many resorted to blunt statements like calling Trump "fool" and "racist". One of them even accused the US President to be "greedy" and cited his dire wish to reopen America. However, there were few tweets that showcased support towards Trump and called him "most hardworking President ever".

Read -Donald Trump Suggests He May Resolve Ongoing Navy Crisis Over COVID-19 Handling

Read -COVID-19: Donald Trump Says Major Chunk Of Hydroxychloroquine Doses Came From India

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Donald Trump says Americas economy will boom like never before once US reopens - Republic World - Republic World