Daily Archives: May 6, 2020

President Donald Trump said Tuesday therell be more death related to the coronavirus pandemic as a growing number of states move to slowly relax their stay-at-home mandates in the coming months.

"It's possible there will be some because you won't be locked into an apartment or a house or whatever it is," Trump told ABC News in an exclusive interview while visiting a mask-making factory in Arizona. "But at the same time, we're going to practice social distancing, we're going to be washing hands, we're going to be doing a lot of the things that we've learned to do over the last period of time.

The president did not wear a mask during his tour of the factory. Honeywell spokeswoman Nina Krauss said that people who were interacting with Trump tested negative for COVID-19 before the event.

"Following White House recommended protocol, a small number of individuals directly interfacing with the President on Tuesday were tested for COVID-19 immediately prior to the event, received negative test results, and were permitted to not wear masks during portions of the visit based on that medical screening," she said. "All others present were wearing masks and social distancing in accordance with Honeywells site policy.

Trump has faced mounting criticism, largely from Democrats, about hastily moving to reopen the country as new coronavirus cases emerge in some areas and states, such as Georgia and Texas, move to reopen as cases appear to stabilize. Public health experts have also warned that reopening too soon could lead to more death and economic damage.

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The number of confirmed U.S. coronavirus cases is nearing 1.2 million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University as of Tuesday afternoon. There have been over 70,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins.

The president and the administrations coronavirus task force, which is slated to disband within the next month, laid out a blueprint in late April to reopen the country in phases. The plan includes provisions to expand state testing capacity and establish widespread monitoring systems.

Many of the nations governors and public health officials have said that without access to widespread testing it will make the scope of the disease harder to track until there is a vaccine.

However, in the ABC News interview, Trump claimed that the virus is going to pass without a vaccine.

There'll be more death, that the virus will pass, with or without a vaccine, Trump said. And I think we're doing very well on the vaccines but, with or without a vaccine, it's going to pass, and we're going to be back to normal.

Trump's administration is already working to fast-track a vaccine to be available by January 2021. The project, called "Operation Warp Speed," has 14 potential coronavirus vaccines under development.

That number was whittled down several weeks ago from 93 vaccines in development that were studied as part of the program, known as Operation Warp Speed, officials said.

Trump also claimed in the interview that anyone in the country who wants a test would be able to get one right now if they are afraid to return to work.

"They should have no problem," Trump said.

When pressed why he is urging a reopening even as government health experts, such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, warned that doing so too soon would be balancing death with the economy, Trump compared a rising coronavirus death toll to the nations suicide and drug overdose rate.

We have to get our country back, you know, people are dying the other way too when you look at what's happened with drugs, it goes up, when you look at suicides, Trump said. I mean take a look at what's going on. People are losing their jobs. We have to bring it back and that's what we're doing.

According to an April study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the suicide rate in the U.S. from 1999 to 2018 steadily increased from 10.5 per 100,000 residents to 14.2. or 35 percent. The CDC also found that deaths from drug overdose decreased by nearly 5 percent from 2017 to 2018.

Dartunorro Clark is a political reporter for NBC News.

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'There'll be more death': Trump says it's time to reopen country despite fears of coronavirus rebound - NBC News

Teenagers in the United States are informed about their political world and capable of effectively evaluating political leaders, including President Donald Trump.

This statement runs counter to stereotypes that adults tend to hold about teens. Ask most adults to describe the political abilities of the typical American adolescent and you may hear words like apathetic, uninformed and immature.

But a study I conducted in 2017 with Laura-Wray Lake of UCLA, Amy Syvertsen of the Search Institute and two of my graduate students, Lauren Alvis and Katelyn Romm, indicates that high school students are much more knowledgeable and have stronger feelings about their political world than they are usually given credit for.

We asked more than 1,400 high school students in grades 9 to 12 to evaluate President Trump and provide reasons for their approval or disapproval of the president. The teenagers came from Southern California near Los Angeles, suburban Minnesota and rural West Virginia. They were diverse 43% identified as Latino, 34% as white, 13% as African American and 6% as Asian American and lived in communities that support and oppose Trump.

Several key themes emerged from the responses.

One was enthusiasm. Teens had a lot to say about Trump. Both youth who approved of Trump and those who did not provided thoughtful reasons for their views of the president. Many youth wrote sophisticated responses that counter stereotypes of adolescents as indifferent to their political world.

Another theme was knowledge. Teens supported their views by pointing to specific policies or statements by the president. Many of them justified their opinions by mentioning Trumps policies on social and political issues such as economic policy, abortion and relationships with foreign countries.

A large percentage of teens mentioned immigration, pointing to specific Trump statements or policy proposals, like the construction of a border wall between the United States and Mexico.

An 18-year-old female, for example, expressed her approval of Trumps immigration policies: Regarding issues with immigrants and stuff, I am not completely against it. I think we should be more aware of who and what kind of people we are allowing into our country, to keep everyone safe.

A 15-year-old white female had this to say about Trumps border policies: I just dont understand how that would make us great again. Because America is made up of immigrants, so it wouldnt be America if he didnt allow immigrants.

Teenagers also demonstrated knowledge of the presidents leadership style and background. Many of them mentioned Trumps business portfolio or his extensive Twitter use as a communication tool.

I feel that [Trump] will bring more jobs to the economy since he is a businessman, said a 17-year-old Latina.

On the other hand, youth who disapproved of Trump pointed to his lack of political experience.

Political beliefs varied greatly among adolescents, with many teens expressing strong approval or disapproval of the president in a way that echoed the range of views we see among adult voters.

Trump is going to do many things such as lower taxes, repeal Obamacare and try to institute the travel ban, wrote an 18-year-old white male. He also is not going to be a gun control freak.

A 17-year-old African American female said: I give [Trump] some credit because he is against abortion and gay marriage.

By contrast, a 15-year-old white female from Minnesota wrote: President Trump is a climate change denier. He also is in support of defending the Second Amendment, which I also believe in. However, I also understand that gun violence is rampant in the United States and needs to be regulated more heavily.

The responses we gathered help counter another stereotype about American adolescents: that they are overwhelmingly liberal and likely to vote for Democratic candidates.

Yes, younger generations lean more liberal on some social and political issues compared to older generations. But our study indicates that its inaccurate to generalize about teens political inclinations, because they hold a full range of views.

Teen views of Trump, like those of adults, were strongly related to where they live. Overwhelming majorities of adolescents in Southern California (85%) and Minnesota (84%) disapproved of Trump, but a majority of youth in West Virginia held positive views (66%). Adolescents with more conservative parents were more likely to approve of Trump, while youth from more liberal homes more strongly disapproved of the president. White youth generally held more favorable views of Trump, while females and black and Latino youth tended to reject him.

Our study also helps counter the notion that adolescents are not directly affected by political activity, that they have no skin in the game.

Adolescents in rural West Virginia underlined how Trumps energy policies could directly affect family members employed by power plants or coal mines. This is how one 14-year-old white female put it: I am happy Donald Trump is our president because my dad works for a power company, and that is how we made the majority of our money. Without his job we would have a hard time buying medicines and taking care of everyone in my family.

Many teen Trump skeptics from Southern California noted how his proposed immigration policies could threaten their families or neighborhoods. A 15-year-old Latina, for instance, noted: I am very scared [Trump] will harm my family. My parents are not from this country, but they do the best they can to be here with us and have us live the American dream.

One final theme present in our study highlights issues that will weigh on younger voters in the 2020 election and beyond. A large percentage of responses were framed around issues of racism, sexism and homophobia. Over half of the youth who dismiss Trump viewed his policies as potentially biased or loaded with discriminatory rhetoric, which is consistent with data indicating that younger generations are more attuned to issues of equity.

These concerns were not limited to any one group of teens. For example, an 18-year-old white male from West Virginia said, [Trump] is misogynistic and sexually offensive as audio clips of Donald Trump would prove more than once going as far to make fun of a disabled man in front of national television.

As this response shows, teenagers are more politically informed and opinionated than is usually assumed. This should encourage parents and teachers to engage teens in political discussion and anticipate that they will be able to effectively share informed views.

Additionally, our findings may be interesting to several U.S. districts mulling whether to lower the voting age from 18 to 16.

At very least, this study may help to counter concerns that youth dont care or will arrive at polls uninformed.

[Youre too busy to read everything. We get it. Thats why weve got a weekly newsletter. Sign up for good Sunday reading. ]

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Teenagers reveal what they really think of Donald Trump - The Conversation US

President Donald Trump thinks all the states that need Congress to provide emergency relief funding are "run by Democrats in every case" and he charged it's because they have been fiscally mismanaged.

That's not the case. Numerous Republican-led states are facing coronavirus-caused financial crises, just like the Democrats.

Less than 24 hours after conducting an interview with The New York Post in which Trump made those remarks, the president took off to visit a mask-making plant in Arizona a Republican-led state that by its own projections could face a shortfall ranging from $600 million to $1.6 billion by the end of the next fiscal year.

Arizona is not alone.

COVID-19 has led to dramatic decreases in revenue for state governments across the country regardless of which party has its hand on the wheel. While many states are still crunching their numbers ahead of the next fiscal year, which begins in the summer for most, a handful of GOP-led states already have made clear the budget woes that face them.

The latest came on Tuesday afternoon when Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, announced that the past two months have led his state to miss its budget estimates by $776.9 million and that he is cutting $775 million in spending as a response. Those cuts, which include $210 million to Medicaid and $465 million in education spending, must be made within the next two months, he said.

"While we do not know what the coming months will hold, we do know that COVID-19 is here with us and will be here for quite some time," DeWine said. "Nevertheless, it does not exempt us from balancing our budget, which we are legally obligated to do."

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Ohio has a rainy day fund, but DeWine decided against drawing from it.

With the COVID-19 outbreak shutting down large swathes of the economy, all sorts of revenue sources for the states have dwindled significantly, including sales, income and other taxes.

In Maryland, state budget officials outlined a nearly $3 billion shortfall they're projecting in the final quarter of this fiscal year. As chairman of the National Governors Association, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, has called for $500 billion in federal funding to state governments to account for budget shortfalls.

Hogan said in a recent statement that if Congress doesn't fulfill that request, "states will have to confront the prospect of significant reductions to critically important services all across this country."

Other GOP-helmed states are feeling the effects, too.

Exacerbated by the oil market collapse, Oklahoma budget officials told NBC News they're projecting a shortfall of $1.3 billion. In Alaska, similar economic conditions, coupled with prior woes, have led budget officials to project total state revenue this year will be slashed nearly in half from $11.2 billion to $6.6 billion. The amount of revenue won't recover to 2019 levels for at least the next decade, that projection shows.

In Arkansas, revenue forecasts now project a shortfall of more than $530 million, while in Wyoming, revenue shortfall projections range from $555 million to $2.8 billion through the end of fiscal year 2022. And in West Virginia, state revenue officials forecast a possible $500 million deficit as a result of the pandemic. A Moodys Analytics report concluded the state's financial picture could be worse, with a shortfall of up to $1.9 billion.

"I truly believe were going to have a backfill from the federal government," West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican, said at a press conference last month.

In Texas, state Comptroller Glenn Hegar, who provides revenue projections to state leaders, told The Austin American-Statesman that the Lone Star State will need to tap its rainy day funds to keep up with a shortfall amounting to billions, adding that although the state is well-positioned to do so through the end of this fiscal year, there is still great uncertainty surrounding the virus' impact on his state's bottom line.

Trump's New York Post comments come as the next major legislative battle in Congress appears to be centered on whether emergency relief for state and local governments will be passed.

"It's not fair to the Republicans because all the states that need help they're run by Democrats in every case," Trump told the outlet. "Florida is doing phenomenal, Texas is doing phenomenal, the Midwest is, you know, fantastic very little debt."

Tuesday afternoon, Trump tweeted: "Well run States should not be bailing out poorly run States, using CoronaVirus as the excuse!"

"The elimination of Sanctuary Cities, Payroll Taxes, and perhaps Capital Gains Taxes, must be put on the table," he said. "Also lawsuit indemnification & business deductions for restaurants & ent."

On Capitol Hill Tuesday, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, held a chart reading, "Blue states arent the only ones getting screwed," which showed a number of Republican-led states facing budget crunches.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., initially said he'd prefer for states and localities to be able to declare bankruptcy rather than receive emergency funding. He later said any such legislation approving emergency funding to states and municipalities must also include a provision removing legal liability for companies that bring workers back amid the coronavirus outbreak something House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Democrats would "not be inclined to" support.

States received $150 billion in emergency funding in earlier COVID-19 legislation, but the Treasury Department has said that money can only be used to cover costs directly associated with the pandemic, not on filling budget gaps.

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Trump says only blue states have budget woes. He couldn't be more wrong. - NBC News