The president has begun by expressing condolences to tornado victims in the south. It was a “tough grouping of tornadoes”, he said, noting it was a “bad deal”.
Read more about the storms:
Updated
17:50
The White House coronavirus briefing has begun
Donald Trump is joined by Dr Anthony Fauci and Dr Deborah Birx.
17:41
Progressive groups ask Congress for $4bn to fund vote-by-mail efforts
More than 50 progressive advocacy groups, including Greenpeace USA, Planned Parenthood and Stand Up America have signed an open letter calling for $4bn in funding to boost mail-in voting efforts.
“None of us know how long this pandemic will last. Failing to provide states with this necessary funding puts the November election and the rights of every voter at risk,” the groups wrote. Congress has already allocated $400m in election assistance to states, but advocates say that’s not enough to make voting accessible to everyone.
Donald Trump, meanwhile, has repeatedly expressed disdain for expanding mail-in voting, having previously said that efforts to make it easier to vote would mean ‘you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again’
17:29
Sam Levin
My colleague Sam Levin in Los Angeles chatted with Bernie Sanders supporters in California about how they feel about their candidate dropping out of the presidential race, and what’s next:
Ana Gonzalez, 33, representative for state Democratic party in Rialto
“I just started crying, I didn’t know what to think. I felt devastated and heartbroken. And I’m angry at the Democratic National Committee, I feel like they made it more difficult for Bernie to win.
“The Biden supporters are saying, ‘Now you better get on board.’ But they are missing why we voted for Bernie. He earned our vote. Joe Biden hasn’t done that. Of course we don’t want Trump to win. But why am I going to vote for someone I don’t believe in? As a party leader, I obviously have to fall in line. But it’s going to be really hard for me to encourage voters to support Biden.”
Andres Garcia, 28, former Amazon warehouse worker in San Bernardino
“I was emotional. I took a moment to despair about it. It underscores why my generation has no faith in electoral politics. I’m getting ready for another four years of Trump. I don’t have a breath of confidence in Joe Biden. He’s just a wreck, altogether. He has been problematic for decades. A lot of people are really going to have to put on some hardcore blinders to stomach voting for him.
“I’m just going to have to turn my back on electoral politics and reach back into my community. That is more rewarding than trying to pour my heart and soul into some really crusty candidate. I’m not going to vote for Joe Biden.”
Assal Rad, 37, research fellow at the National Iranian American Council Action in Orange county
“To have him step down at such an important moment is really difficult to take. The cracks we see in the system because of this pandemic, he’s been speaking about these cracks for decades. One of the pillars of what he stands for is the working class, the people who are now suffering the most. We don’t have safety nets in place.
“I understand the impetus to say, ‘Vote blue, no matter who.’ But if Biden wants to galvanize the youth vote and get Bernie Sanders supporters, he needs to appeal to them. He needs to have messaging that doesn’t look to the past, but looks to the future. You can’t just yell at people to vote against something. Give them something to vote for.”
17:08
The Trump administration is asking Congress to push back a critical deadline to give it more time to conduct the 2020 census amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the Guardian’s Sam Levine reports.
Census data is used to determine how many congressional seats each state gets and federal law requires the census bureau to report those numbers to congress by 31 December.
Because delays have made it very difficult for the Census Bureau to collect information from people, the Trump administration wants Congress to give it until 30 April 2021. The bureau also wants to move the final deadline to respond to 31 October 2020. That deadline was originally 31 July and then it was pushed back to 14 August.
The Census Bureau is charged with capturing a snapshot of where every American household is on 1 April – a date also set by federal law. The further away from that date that operations continue, the more difficult it will be for the bureau to collect accurate information about where Americans were on 1 April.
The bureau and the Department of Commerce also said in a Monday statement that it was proposing to deliver the data states use for redistricting no later than 31 July 2021. The bureau has already suspended all of its field operations as Americans around the country are instructed not to leave their homes. The bureau and the commerce department said Monday said it was preparing to reopen field offices beginning 1 June of this year.
Rep Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat who chairs the House oversight committee, said in a statement Congress would consider the administration’s request, but needed more information. “The director of the Census Bureau was not even on today’s call, and the administration has refused for weeks to allow him to brief members of our committee, despite repeated requests,” she said.
“The constitution charges Congress with determining how the Census is conducted, so we need the administration to cooperate with our requests so we can make informed decisions on behalf of the American people.”
Updated
16:53
Hi, everyone it’s Maanvi Singh, blogging from the west Coast.
As we’ve covered, Bernie Sanders has endorsed Joe Biden. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that all of Sanders’ supporters will fall in line.
Briahna Joy Gray (@briebriejoy)
With the utmost respect for Bernie Sanders, who is an incredible human being & a genuine inspiration, I don’t endorse Joe Biden.
I supported Bernie Sanders because he backed ideas like #MedicareForAll, cancelling ALL student debt, & a wealth tax. Biden supports none of those.
April 13, 2020
Briahna Joy Gray, Sanders’ former national press secretary, said she doesn’t endorse Biden. “I supported Bernie Sanders because he backed ideas like #MedicareForAll, canceling ALL student debt, & a wealth tax. Biden supports none of those,” Gray tweeted.
Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, who was a Sanders campaign surrogate, has similarly expressed apprehension toward Biden’s policies – which are far more centrist than Sanders’ platform. “What I hope does not happen in this process is that everyone just tries to shoo it along and brush real policies … under the rug as an aesthetic difference of style,” the New York representative said in an interview with the New York Times.
Updated
16:31
Today so far
That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
The New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, announced several north-east states would work together on determining when to reopen the economy. Cuomo said each of the six states would participate in a working group to make decisions on how and when stay-at-home orders can be relaxed without jeopardizing public health. The governors of California, Oregon and Washington announced a similar project for the west coast.
Bernie Sanders endorsed Joe Biden’s bid for president. The announcement comes five days after Sanders withdrew from the Democratic primary, and the former candidate told his supporters today, “We’ve got to make Trump a one-term president.”
Play Video
2:07
‘We need you in the White House’: Bernie Sanders endorses Joe Biden for president – video
The White House said Trump had no plans to fire Dr Anthony Fauci, even though the president reshared a tweet last night that suggested the infectious disease expert should be dismissed.
New York’s coronavirus death toll has surpassed 10,000. An additional 671 New Yorkers died of the virus yesterday, bringing the state’s total death toll to 10,056. But Cuomo said today that a plateauing of hospitalizations suggests “the worst” is over in New York.
Trump said he has the power to restart the economy at the federal level, a claim that was contradicted by constitutional experts. The power to force businesses to close (and thus allow them to reopen) amid a public health crisis lies with governors, and Trump himself has repeatedly voiced that interpretation of the Constitution in recent weeks.
Maanvi will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
Updated
16:20
The Guardian’s Kari Paul reports:
Republican congressman Jim Jordan called on Democrats to stop using Zoom video conferencing service, citing ongoing privacy issues around its security.
“Given the concerns surrounding Zoom’s security, it is clear Zoom is not an appropriate platform for Committee business, which may be particularly sensitive during the COVID-19 pandemic”, Jordan, the top Republican on the House oversight committee, said in a letter on Monday.
He requested Democrats “immediately suspend” all use of Zoom and evaluate the committee’s internal cybersecurity preparedness to prevent hackers from accessing sensitive committee information.
Jordan’s request referenced a warning from the Senate sergeant at arms last week and other general security concerns. He also said House oversight Democrats had been “Zoom-bombed,” a common practice in which hackers infiltrate meetings shouting racial epithets and other offensive slurs, a claim Democrats denied.
Zoom has faced an onslaught of privacy concerns in recent weeks, including an inquiry from the New York state attorney general and warnings from the FBI over Zoom bombing. Zoom has promised to improve its security and implemented a number of immediate fixes, including automatically requiring passwords for calls.
16:11
House not expected to return until May 4
The House is not expected to return to session until May 4 at the earliest, majority leader Steny Hoyer confirmed in a new statement.
“Members are advised that absent an emergency, the House is not expected to meet prior to Monday, May 4, 2020,” Hoyer said in a statement.
“Members are further advised that if the House is required to take action on critical legislation related to the coronavirus response or other legislative priorities, Members will be given sufficient notice to return to Washington, DC.”
House appropriations committee chairwoman Nita Lowey said earlier today that she did not think it was possible to return by April 20, as previously planned.
“Unless it’s safe, I think we are better off doing our work, as we have been doing, passing bills by unanimous consent,” Lowey told C-SPAN.
15:59
The Guardian’s Mario Koran reports on the latest from California:
Along with the west coast states of Oregon and Washington, California is starting the conversation about when to reopen state economies, governor Gavin Newsom announced at his daily press conference.
The three west coast states announced they would work together to determine when the states can start relaxing stay-at-home” orders.
States will base decisions on data on infections and hospitalizations, among other measures. It’s too early to provide a timeline for when restrictions should be lifted, Newsom said, but the governor’s details on a “bottom-up plan” should be released tomorrow.
Newsom said it was crucial for California to take a regional approach to lifting stay-at-home orders. “You can’t build walls around it and you can’t deny fundamental facts”, he said of the virus.
The talks to reopen come as the number of coronavirus cases appears to have slowed. Admissions to ICUs in California ticked up by 2.9% over the weekend, a modest rise compared to days past. By all accounts, stay-at-home orders appeared to have worked, Newsom said.
Meantime, one model has predicted that California will see its peak this week, on April 15. The forecast comes from just one model; earlier models suggested the state would reach its peak in late-May, before it falls off in June.
A public health expert said that while numbers appear to be stabilizing in the aggregate, it’s crucial to keep eyes on various parts of the state, which may experience sudden rises hidden within the state’s total numbers of infections.
15:40
Washington, Oregon and California said they would work together to establish a west coast plan to reopen the economy.
In a joint statement, Washington governor Jay Inslee, California governor Gavin Newsom and Oregon governor Kate Brown said they would prioritize residents’ health when deciding how to ease “stay at home” orders.
Governor Jay Inslee (@GovInslee)
The West Coast is ahead of the curve on COVID-19. We’re going to make sure that stays true.
WA, OR and CA will work together on a shared approach for reopening our economies. #WeGotThisWA
April 13, 2020
“We are announcing that California, Oregon and Washington have agreed to work together on a shared approach for reopening our economies – one that identifies clear indicators for communities to restart public life and business,” the statement said.
The governors also made clear that they would not allow politics to drive the decisions about reopening the economy, while Trump reportedly looks to open the economy by the end of the month, despite concerns from health experts.
The governors’ statement comes shortly after New York governor Andrew Cuomo announced several Northeast governors are forming a working group to determine when to reopen the economy.
