Biden calls on Cuomo to resign after report corroborates harassment allegations – live

Erin McCormick in San Francisco reports:

A surge in Covid-19 infections, driven by the highly contagious Delta variant, has prompted San Francisco and six other counties in California’s Bay Area to reimpose mask mandates for indoor spaces, less than two months after experts in the highly vaccinated region celebrated what they hoped would be a return to normal.

In recent days, San Francisco’s infection rates have surged to nearly 20 times what they were at their lowest point in June and two of the city’s hospitals have reported that more than 200 of their own workers have tested positive for the virus.

“It teaches us that no one is invincible,” said Dr Peter Chin-Hong, an associate dean at UCSF who specializes in infectious diseases.

The surge in cases comes as California and the nation have seen continued increases in infections, with federal officials acknowledging that “the war has changed” and the new Delta variant is as contagious as chicken pox.

The return to mask wearing sees the San Francisco Bay Area join other parts of the state, including Los Angeles and Sacramento, that have already reimposed mandates as cases climb across the state.

New California cases have jumped from fewer than 900 a day at the end of May to more than 9,000 a day now, according to state data. Nationally, new cases hit a low point in late June of about 12,000 per day, but they have now shot up to more than 78,000 a day, according to data from the New York Times.

Read more:

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:

• New York governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed at least 11 women and violated state and federal law, an independent investigation found. The New York attorney general, Letitia James, announced the investigation’s findings at a press conference today. Based off contemporaneous notes and interviews with 179 people, the investigators’ report details how Cuomo inappropriately touched several state employees and made sexually suggestive comments to them.
• Cuomo denied the allegations, saying he “never touched anyone inappropriately”. “That is just not who I am, and that’s not who I have ever been,” Cuomo said, claiming that the independent investigation was flawed and politically motivated. James has strongly denied those claims.
• Joe Biden said he believes Cuomo should resign in response to the investigation’s findings. The president said back in March that Cuomo should resign and might be prosecuted if the investigation substantiated the allegations against him. When asked today if he still believes that, Biden said, “I stand by the statement.” When pressed on whether Cuomo should resign, Biden replied, “Yes.”
• Coronavirus hospitalizations in the US have reached the levels of last summer, with more than 50,000 Americans hospitalized as the Delta variant continues to spread. Almost all hospitalized patients are unvaccinated, and in a speech this afternoon, Biden again urged eligible Americans to get their shot as quickly as possible. Biden described the spread of the Delta variant as “a largely preventable tragedy that will get worse before it gets better”.
• New York will now require proof of vaccination to enter indoor restaurants and gyms, mayor Bill de Blasio announced at a press conference. The new policy will be phased in over the coming weeks and will take full effect starting the week of September 13. “It’s time for people to see vaccination as literally necessary to living a good and full and healthy life,” de Blasio said.

Maanvi will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

After concluding his prepared remarks, Joe Biden took several questions from reporters, and – no surprise – the first question was about New York governor Andrew Cuomo.

A CNN reporter asked the president whether he stood by his comments from March, when he said Cuomo should resign and might be prosecuted if an investigation substantiated the sexual harassment allegations against him.

“I stand by the statement,” Biden said. When pressed on whether Cuomo should resign, Biden replied, “Yes.”

Asked about Cuomo potentially being impeached, Biden said he was taking things one step at a time to see how the situation would unfold, although the governor has given no indication he intends to resign.

Biden also told reporters that he has not spoken to Cuomo since the New York attorney general announced the investigation had found that the governor sexually harassed at least 11 women.

Joe Biden is now delivering remarks on his administration’s vaccination efforts, as hospitalizations rise in the US due to the spread of the Delta variant.

The president described the spread of the Delta in the US as “a largely preventable tragedy that will get worse before it gets better”.

Biden argued that this latest surge in cases is different from past surges because the US now has the tools to limit the spread of the virus, in the form of vaccines.

Underscoring the effectiveness of the coronavirus vaccines, the president noted that the recent rise in cases has not sparked a comparable rise in hospitalizations and deaths, even though hospitalizations have increased.

Data shows most of the Americans now being hospitalized and dying of coronavirus have not been vaccinated. The disparity has created what Biden called “a pandemic of the unvaccinated”.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi is the latest prominent Democrat to call for New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s resignation after an independent investigation found he had sexually harassed at least 11 women.

“Under Attorney General Letitia James, a comprehensive and independent investigation into the allegations against Governor Cuomo has been completed,” the Democratic speaker said in her short statement.

“As always, I commend the women who came forward to speak their truth. Recognizing his love of New York and the respect for the office he holds, I call upon the Governor to resign.”

Both of New York’s senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, have already called for Cuomo’s resignation, along with many other New York officials.

Joe Biden is expected to soon deliver remarks on his administration’s vaccination efforts and will then take questions from reporters, who will almost certainly press him on whether he believes Cuomo should resign. Stay tuned.

Joe Biden plans to announce a new federal moratorium on evictions for regions that have been hard hit by the Delta variant of coronavirus, according to multiple reports.

The New York Times reports:

White House aides and officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were working out details of a potential deal on Tuesday that could include a new freeze that would remain in place for up to 60 days, but officials involved in the process warned that the situation was in flux and no final decisions had been made.

The new ban would cover about 90 percent of renters in the country, according to a Democratic leadership aide briefed on the proposal.

Creating a new moratorium to deal with the recent spike in coronavirus rates is an attempt to deal with concerns that extending the previous moratorium without congressional approval would run afoul of the Supreme Court, the officials said.

The last moratorium, which had been repeatedly extended to protect renters who were financially impacted by the pandemic, expired on Saturday with no replacement in effect.

It’s still possible that the new moratorium could run into legal issues, as the supreme court ruled last month that an extension of the current moratorium beyond July 31 would require congressional authorization.

The news comes after a group of progressive lawmakers, led by congresswoman Cori Bush, spent days staying overnight on the Capitol steps to protest the expiration of the moratorium.

The Albany county district attorney’s office confirmed it is conducting a criminal investigation into sexual harassment allegations against governor Andrew Cuomo.

“Along with the public, today we have been made aware of the final independent report from AG Letitia James’ office regarding Governor Cuomo’s conduct as they relate to violations of civil harassment statutes,” Albany county district attorney David Soares said in a statement.

“We will be formally requesting investigative materials obtained by the AG’s Office, and we welcome any victim to contact our office with additional information.”

Soares added that his office will “refrain from any additional public comment at this time regarding the status of the ongoing criminal investigation”.

Speaking at a press conference this morning, James deflected questions about whether Cuomo should be prosecuted over the allegations detailed in the report, saying that was a decision for law enforcement officials.

“Our work has concluded, and the document is now public,” James said.

New York mayor Bill de Blasio has added his name to the increasingly long list of politicians who are calling on governor Andrew Cuomo to resign after an investigation concluded he had sexually harassed at least 11 women.

“My first thoughts are with the women who were subject to this abhorrent behavior, and their bravery in stepping forward to share their stories,” the Democratic mayor said in a new statement.

“The Attorney General’s detailed and thorough report substantiates many disturbing instances of severe misconduct. Andrew Cuomo committed sexual assault and sexual harassment, and intimidated a whistleblower. It is disqualifying,” de Blasio added.

“It is beyond clear that Andrew Cuomo is not fit to hold office and can no longer serve as Governor. He must resign, and if he continues to resist and attack the investigators who did their jobs, he should be impeached immediately.”

So far, Cuomo has given no indication that he intends to resign, but the New York state assembly does have the option to impeach him if he refuses to step down.

The two US senators from New York, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, have released a statement again calling on governor Andrew Cuomo to resign after an independent investigator concluded he sexually harassed at least 11 women.

“As we have said before, the reported actions of the Governor were profoundly disturbing, inappropriate and completely unacceptable,” Schumer and Gillibrand said in a joint statement.

“Today’s report from the New York State Attorney General substantiated and corroborated the allegations of the brave women who came forward to share their stories — and we commend the women for doing so.”

The two Democratic senators described the investigation conducted into the sexual harassment allegations as “independent, thorough and professional”.

“No elected official is above the law. The people of New York deserve better leadership in the governor’s office,” Schumer and Gillibrand said. “We continue to believe that the Governor should resign.”