Coronavirus US live: Cuomo says New York 'paid a tremendous price to control this beast' as death toll stays flat

New York governor Andrew Cuomo said he would not shy away from the truth when he meets with Trump at the White House later today.

“Life is a fine line,” Cuomo said. “Being in government is a fine line … I tell you how I negotiate the fine line: you tell the truth.”

On the subject of testing, Cuomo said he agreed with Trump that expanding capacity should be mostly left up to the states, but he added the federal government stil needed to be involved.

“I think in many ways, we’re talking past each other,” Cuomo said.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo addressed Maryland governor Larry Hogan’s announcement that the state had obtained 500,000 coronavirus tests from South Korea.

Cuomo applauded Hogan for thinking “outside the box” and getting “very creative” to help his state, but the governor said the federal government should help states manage those kinds of negotiations to expand testing capacity.

“It’s not what states are normally responsible for,” Cuomo said. The governor added the federal government should step in to help manage those overseas supply chains.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo said elective outpatient treatments could resume at some hospitals that do not face a high risk of a coronavirus surge.

The Democratic governor has been emphasizing today that various parts of the state will be impacted differently by the virus and will hit their peak number of cases at different points.

Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams criticized the state’s Republican governor, Brian Kemp, for allowing a number of businesses to reopen starting Friday.

“There’s nothing about this that makes sense,” Abrams told MSNBC this morning. “The mayors of Atlanta, Albany and Savannah have all questioned the wisdom of doing this. And the fact is the governor didn’t consult with mayors before making this decision.”

The former Democratic legislator warned the move could endanger the employees of businesses looking to reopen later this week.

“The responsibility of a business owner is to first protect your workers,” Abrams said. “That cannot happen when you have a nail salon, when there’s no possible way for that technician to be distant from their customer, when you are running a restaurant that requires face-to-face service.”

Abrams similarly criticized Kemp’s decision in a tweet yesterday after he announced his plan, calling the move “dangerously incompetent.”

Abrams also addressed the rampant speculation about whether presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden might select her as his running mate for the November election.

“All I can say is that if asked to serve, I’d be honored,” Abrams said.

The White House released a statement on Trump’s tweet about plans to ban all immigration amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“President Trump is committed to protecting the health and economic well-being of American citizens as we face unprecedented times,” said newly installed White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany.

“As President Trump has said, ‘Decades of record immigration have produced lower wages and higher unemployment for our citizens, especially for African-American and Latino workers.’ At a time when Americans are looking to get back to work, action is necessary.”

Economists disagree on whether immigration actually depresses wages, with some saying it affects certain groups of workers and others saying it has a very minor (if any) effect.

And as the Wall Street Journal has noted, Trump’s proposal to ban all immigration amid the pandemic would have very little impact considering most visa processing has already been halted as a result of the crisis.

The Guardian’s Sam Levine reports:

At least 7 Milwaukee residents so far have contracted Covid-19 as a result of “election-related” activities, the city’s health commissioner said Monday. Six of the people were voters and one was a poll worker, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Jeanette Kowalik, the Milwaukee health commissioner, said in an email the city only had 30% of the data from April 7, the date of the election, onward, and hoped to have more information by the end of the week. State health officials said Monday they have not seen evidence linking Covid-19 cases related to the election, according to the Journal Sentinel.

Wisconsin Republicans faced heavy criticism for refusing to call off in-person voting for the state’s April 7 election. Many saw that effort as a political calculation — fewer people would turn out because of the virus, which would benefit a Republican-backed candidate for the state supreme court. That calculation ultimately proved to be incorrect. Daniel Kelly, the Republican-backed candidate, wound up losing his seat on the supreme court to Jill Karofsky, a liberal challenger.

Wisconsin officials say 4,499 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the state so far, and 230 have died because of the virus. Nearly 60% of those deaths have been in Milwaukee, which has accounted for nearly half of the cases in the state.

As is often the case, the president provided few details on his latest idea, a potential bailout of the oil and gas industry as oil prices continue to drop.

But Trump’s proposal would almost certainly need congressional approval, which would be difficult to secure considering the House is controlled by Democrats.

The administration could try to get funding for oil and gas companies included in a follow-up coronavirus relief bill, but that would almost certainly be a deal-breaker for the many congressional Democrats who have called for stricter regulation of the fossil fuel industry to help address climate change.

At least 75 publicly traded companies received loans from the small business loan program established by the stimulus package, known as the Paycheck Protection Program, according to an AP investigation.

The AP reports:

The Paycheck Protection Program was supposed to infuse small businesses, which typically have less access to quick cash and credit, with $349 billion in emergency loans that could help keep workers on the job and bills paid on time.

But at least 75 companies that received the aid were publicly traded, the AP found, and some had market values well over $100 million. And 25% of the companies had warned investors months ago — while the economy was humming along — that their ability to remain viable was in question.

By combing through thousands of regulatory filings, the AP identified the 75 companies as recipients of a combined $300 million in low-interest, taxpayer-backed loans.

Eight companies, or their subsidiaries, received the maximum $10 million possible, including a California software company that settled a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation late last year into accounting errors that overstated its revenue.

The burger chain Shake Shack announced yesterday that it would return the $10 million loan it received from the program, amid criticism about larger businesses taking government funding as PPP has run out of money.

Congressional Democratic leadership and the White House are currently trying to strike a deal on providing PPP and hospitals with more funds through another coronavirus relief bill, but it’s unclear whether an agreement has been reached.

This is Joan Greve in Washington, taking over for Martin Pengelly.

A new poll shows a majority of Americans give Trump a negative review when it comes to his handling of the current crisis, and an even larger portion of the country does not expect the country to reopen until the summer.

The Washington Post/University of Maryland poll found that 54% of Americans have a negative opinion on Trump’s handling of the crisis, while 72% say the nation’s governments have managed their states well amid the pandemic.

In another example of how everything is now political, the question of when Americans expect social distancing guidelines to be relaxed splits along partisan lines. Overall, 65% of Americans say they do not expect gatherings of 10 people or more to be safe until June or later. That number includes 77% of Democrats and 51% of Republicans.

Just 10% of Americans say they expect the guidelines to be relaxed by the end of April or earlier, despite recent protests against stay-at-home orders in states like Michigan and Minnesota.

However, the most alarming divide in the poll may not be political but racial. About one in three Americans are concerned about paying their bills and affording basic necessities over next month, but that number includes 48% of Hispanics and 39% of blacks, in comparison to 23% of whites.

I can’t really justify making this a key event, so I’ll write a headline here:

Brady in a bunch of trouble with Parks and Recreation

Bizarre if somehow amusing news from Tampa, where perhaps the greatest NFL quarterback of all time has been ejected from a public park which is closed to the public because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Associated Press reports:

Six Super Bowl rings may get you special treatment in a lot of places but former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady learned Monday that it won’t get you anything when you’re caught working out in a park that is closed to the public due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Tampa mayor Jane Castor said the new Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback was spotted working out by himself at a park downtown by staff patrol. The staffer went over to tell him he had to leave and she recognized the man to be the 42-year-old Brady.

“He’s been sighted,” Castor said.

The City of Tampa tweeted: “Sorry @TomBrady! Our @tampaparksrec team can’t wait to welcome you and our entire community back with even bigger smiles – until then, stay safe and stay home as much as you can to help flatten the curve.“

Brady recently moved his family into a mansion he’s renting from former New York Yankees star Derek Jeter. The four-time Super Bowl MVP left the Patriots and signed a two-year, $50m contract with the Bucs in free agency, joining a team with the worst winning percentage in league history.

Apropos of not very much, Donald Trump is a huge fan of Tom Brady. Here’s Politico’s report of a White House meeting with recovered Covid-19 patients last week, at which the quarterback’s name came up a lot.

The Wall Street Journal has some interesting context on Trump’s tweeted promise to suspend all immigration to the US:

The promised executive order isn’t expected to substantially alter US policy, the paper writes, as “the administration has already all but ceased nearly every form of immigration. Most visa processing has been halted, meaning almost no one can apply for a visa to visit or move to the US. Visa interviews and citizenship ceremonies have been postponed and the refugee program paused.”

Furthermore, the Journal reports that the order “is expected to include exceptions for migrant farmworkers, who make up about a 10th of the workforce on US farms, and healthcare workers, particularly those helping treat coronavirus patients … It is not expected to address the removal of immigrants already in the US or the visa renewal process.”

And another note: “As with past efforts by the president to curb immigration, the executive order will likely face legal challenges.”

So you might say a Trump executive order “banning all immigration”, if signed, might in an election year be a mostly political exercise…

Here’s David Smith’s report:

The president is talking to the television again, and the television is talking back to him. Just another day in Donald Trump’s America, in the middle of a pandemic which has killed more than 42,000 Americans.

In the form of a not-quite Socratic dialogue, then:

Donald Trump: “Watched the first 5 minutes of poorly rated Morning Psycho on MSDNC* just to see if he is as ‘nuts’ as people are saying. He’s worse. Such hatred and contempt! I used to do his show all the time before the 2016 election, then cut him off. Wasn’t worth the effort, his mind is shot!”

(*Trump calls MSNBC “MSDNC” as a joke on the initials of the Democratic National Committee.)

Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe: “Donald, thanks for being our most loyal viewer*. Now please get to work. Over 40,000 Americans have died from the pandemic. America has the most gifted scientists, doctors, and technology leaders. Please use them and take charge of testing so we can get America working again! #USA.”

(*Trump and Morning Joe’s hosts have a long and … not particularly dignified … history.)

Donald Trump: “It is amazing that I became President of the United States with such a totally corrupt and dishonest Lamestream Media going after me all day, and all night. Either I’m really good, far better than the Fake News wants to admit, or they don’t have nearly the power as once thought!”

Mica Brzezinski, co-host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe and also Mrs Joe: “Since u are watching, can you imagine a president who would allow a pandemic to sweep in on his watch, fail to prepare, tens of thousands die, refuse to do national testing and drive the economy into the ground .. Oh wait…”

Donald Trump: “I’ve had great ‘ratings’ my whole life, there’s nothing unusual about that for me. The White House News Conference ratings are ‘through the roof’(Monday Night Football, Bachelor Finale , @nytimes) but I don’t care about that. I care about going around the Fake News to the PEOPLE!”

… and there, pausing to notice that Trump’s claim to not care about ratings seems a bit, uh, dubious based on the contents of the sentence in which me made it, you have it. A few other anchors have started addressing Trump personally, hoping to reach the president directly and somehow appeal to his better nature. Doesn’t seem to work.

This, by the by, is the New York Times piece about “ratings” for Trump’s daily briefings which Trump likes to quote so often.

“On Monday,” Michael Grynbaum wrote on 25 March, “nearly 12.2 million people watched Mr Trump’s briefing on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC, according to Nielsen – ‘Monday Night Football’ numbers.”

But Grynbaum also wrote: “…the audience is expanding even as Mr Trump has repeatedly delivered information that doctors and public health officials have called ill informed, misleading or downright wrong.”