Monday, April 13, 2020
7:55 pm ET: Trump Claims 'Total' Authority Over Easing Restrictions
President Donald Trump claimed the authority Monday to decide how and when to reopen the economy after weeks of tough social distancing guidelines aimed at fighting the new coronavirus. But governors from both parties were quick to push back, noting they have the primary constitutional responsibility for ensuring public safety in their states and would decide when it's safe to begin a return to normal operations.Democratic leaders in the Northeast and along the West Coast announced separate state compacts to coordinate their efforts to scale back stay-at-home orders or reopen businesses on their own timetables, even as Trump tried to say it's his call.“When somebody is president of the United States, the authority is total," Trump said at Monday's White House coronavirus briefing. “The governors know that."Read more...
5:30 pm ET: New Jersey Gov. Prohibits Shutoff of Internet, Phone Services
On the heels of an announcement that New Jersey and five other East Coast states would coordinate on developing a plan on when and how to slowly re-open the region, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced he had banned pausing internet and phone service and offered condolences to the families who had lost loved ones due to the novel coronavirus. "People actually need to stay connected," he said, noting kids need the internet for remote learning, individuals need to be able to telework, and families need to be able to stay informed and in touch. The Democratic governor said the executive order would prohibit internet and phone services from being shut off until 30 days after the public health emergency is eventually lifted. He also said any services that had been disconnected due to unpaid bills after March 16 would be restored. Murphy also announced that New Jersey had 3,219 new cases and 94 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total case count to nearly 65,000 and the death toll to 2,443. However, the governor also noted that the rate of spread appeared to be slowing. "Our jobs right now, collectively, first and foremost, is to put the fire out in the house, and we are still not there yet," he said. "We have got to hit that plateau and then aggressively bring it down." Before reaching that plateau, the Garden State is still in search of more vital protective and lifesaving equipment. Murphy said over the weekend the state had received 200 ventilators from the national strategic stockpile and 100,000 masks from Taiwan. "I'm begging with everyone … stay home," the governor added.— Lauren Sonnenberg
5:24 pm ET: Best Western CEO: CARES Act a 'Bandage on a Bigger Problem'
The spread of the coronavirus is taking quite a toll on the hospitality industry, slashing revenue across the sector by 90 percent. David Kong, the president and CEO of Best Western Hotels and Resorts, has closed hundreds of U.S. locations due to the stay-at-home orders issued in multiple states throughout the country. "The PPP program is a good one," Kong told Cheddar, regarding the Paycheck Protection Program, "but the reality is [it's] hardly enough to solve our problems."Hotel occupancy rates have dropped more than 67 percent since the coronavirus pandemic began, causing many hotel companies, like Hyatt and Marriott, to furlough or layoff employees.A group of hospitality CEOs, including Kong, met with the president earlier in the outbreak to discuss federal assistance. Kong said the meeting was a positive experience, noting that the Trump Administration had been easy to work with thus far. So far, Kong told Cheddar, "I've been very heartened with the government response."— Courtney McGee
5:19 pm ET: Transit Workers 'Overexposed' to Coronavirus, Says Union Leader
Transit unions are calling for greater protections for their employees, as coronavirus has taken a heavy toll on bus drivers and train operators working on the frontlines.
In New York City, a total of 2,000 transit union members have tested positive and 40 have died, according to John A. Costa, international president of the Amalgamated Transit Union. Read more...
— Alex Vuocolo
5:07 pm ET: Storm Tears Through South Amid Pandemic; More Than 30 Dead
Storms that killed more than 30 people in the Southeast, piling fresh misery atop a pandemic, spread across the eastern United States on Monday, leaving more than 1 million homes and businesses without power amid floods and mudslides.
In Alabama, people seeking shelter from tornadoes huddled in community shelters, protective masks covering their faces to guard against the new coronavirus. A twister demolished a Mississippi home save for a concrete room where a married couple and their children survived unharmed, but 11 others died in the state. Read more...
— Associated Press
3:32 pm ET: Social Workers at NYC Hospital Fight to Work From Home
As New York City public hospitals struggle to meet the demands of the coronavirus pandemic while still protecting their own employees, one group of healthcare professionals is trying to make the case that they would be safer working from home.
Social workers at Woodhull Hospital in Brooklyn are urging hospital administrators to let them work from home but say they are coming up against a company line that maintains every health care worker needs to do their part and show up in person, whether their job demands it or not. Read more...
— Alex Vuocolo
3:00 pm ET: Six States to Work Together on Reopening Economy
The governors of six states — New York, Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island — held a press conference Monday afternoon to announce their intention to start work "immediately" on a shared regional plan to reopen the economy. The working group will "study the data, study the research, study the experience of other countries, and give us guidelines and parameters to go forward," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. The goal is for the states to avoid hurting one another in the process of opening up their already deeply entangled economies.
— Alex Vuocolo
2:16 pm ET: Market Headlines
Major indices are down two percent today even after the historic oil production cut of nearly 10 million barrels that happened over the weekend. However, investors are looking forward to the earnings season, which kicks off this week with JPMorgan Chase reporting on April 14.
Ford Motors stock is down about 5 percent after reporting its preliminary results that showed its revenue is expected to come in at $34 billion versus more than the $40 billion that the company reported at the same time last year.
The stock market is still up about 28 percent from its low on March 23.
2:07 pm ET: Stimulus Checks Spotlight Fintech's Promise to Bank the Unbanked
Fintech companies have long touted their ability to bank the unbanked, but the coronavirus pandemic is giving them a chance to put their money where their mouths are. With an immediate need for Americans to receive coronavirus stimulus checks — whether they have bank accounts of not — it is separating the nice-to-have apps, geared toward the affluent, from innovative products that can help a broader audience.
Square and PayPal both operate successful person-to-person money transfer services that already include a direct deposit feature, making users' cash balances, from which they're encouraged to spend, function as checking accounts. Now both companies are promoting that feature for the 8.4 million U.S. households, including 14.1 million adults, that don't have bank accounts. Many may be expecting the coronavirus stimulus check promised in the CARES Act, but want to avoid waiting for a paper check to arrive in the mail. Read more...
— Tanaya Macheel
1:27 pm ET: Circle K Donates to Food Banks Amid 25 Percent Drop in Sales
Circle K, the international convenience store chain, is donating a meal to those in need with every fuel transaction, even as the company's own sales have fallen precipitously due to coronavirus.
"We've seen local food bank demand just spike throughout this crisis," CEO Brian Hannasch told Cheddar on Monday. "Circle K is committed to being a part of the solution." Read more...
— Alex Vuocolo
12:46 pm ET: Papa John's in a Hiring Spree as Delivery Demand Continues
Papa John's is set to hire up to 20,000 new employees in an effort to keep up with the demand for "no-contact" delivery, company CEO Rob Lynch told Cheddar Monday.
Lynch said Papa John's has brought on "thousands of workers just in the last couple weeks," with available positions still yet to be filled.
"We will continue to hire as long as people continue to apply," he said. Read more...
— Lauren Sonnenberg
12:45 pm ET: New York Reaches 10,000 Deaths on Easter Sunday
The coronavirus in New York has taken more than 10,000 lives, said Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a Monday press conference. Out of that total, 671 people died on Easter Sunday.
The governor said the "worst is over" and that "the curve continues to flatten," but that the state should continue on its present course to avoid a reversal in the trend.
There were 1,958 newly hospitalized coronavirus patients on Sunday, the lowest in two weeks. The total number of cases is more than 195,000.
Cuomo repeated his prediction, shared by the FDA and White House Coronavirus Task Force member Dr. Anthony Fauci, that a vaccine would be available in 12 to 18 months.
Until a successful vaccine is produced, he noted that this crisis will not have a single end-point.
"There will be points of resolution over time," he said.
On that point, Cuomo said that reopening the economy will be a steady process of "recalibrating" what is considered essential. He said another announcement on a regional plan to restore the economy is set for later this afternoon.
— Alex Vuocolo
12:02 pm ET: Navy Reports First Coronavirus Death From Roosevelt Crew
A member of the crew of the coronavirus-infected USS Theodore Roosevelt died Monday of complications related to the disease, the Navy said, just weeks after the aircraft carrier's captain was fired for pressing his concern that the Navy had done too little to safeguard his crew.
The sailor, whose name and other identifying information were not publicly released pending notification of relatives, had tested positive for coronavirus on March 30 and was taken off the ship and placed in “isolation housing” along with four other sailors at the U.S. Navy base on Guam. On April 9, he was found unresponsive during a medical check and was moved to a local hospital’s intensive care unit.
Over the weekend, four additional Roosevelt crew members were admitted to the hospital for monitoring of coronavirus symptoms, the Navy said. All are in stable condition and none are in intensive care or on ventilators. Read more...
— Associated Press
11:00 am ET: Supreme Court to Hold May Arguments By Teleconference
The Supreme Court said Monday it will hold arguments by teleconference in May in key cases, including President Donald Trump's bid to shield his tax and other financial records.
The court will make live audio of the arguments available for the first time. It had previously postponed courtroom arguments for March and April because of the coronavirus.
The court will hear 10 cases in all between May 4 and May 13. In addition to fights over subpoenas for Trump's financial records, they include two cases about whether presidential electors are required to cast their Electoral College ballots for the candidate who won their state.
Six of the nine justices are 65 and older, at higher risk of getting very sick from the illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 87, and Stephen Breyer, 81, are the oldest members of the court. Read more...
— Associated Press
10:50 am ET: OPEC+ Agrees to Cut Oil Production
OPEC and its allies this weekend agreed to cut production next month by nearly 10 million barrels per day, a move aimed at shoring-up sagging oil prices amid the global response to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The agreement, led by OPEC's leading member Saudi Arabia, and the organization's chief counterpart, Russia, capped a weekend of furious negotiations involving not only the cartel but the Group of 20. President Trump reportedly helped broker the agreement between the Saudis and the Russians, who had been at odds since Moscow last month declined to renew a production cut agreement with OPEC. Read more...
— Alan Neuhauser
9:45 am ET: Markets Open Lower After Last Week's Historic Gains
Stocks opened lower on Monday, reversing some of last week's gains. The Federal Reserve's massive stimulus package, and an OPEC agreement to cut oil production 10 percent, fueled the bounceback, but markets remain uncertain on where the coronavirus outbreak will leave the economy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped nearly 300 points. The S&P 500 dropped 1 percent, and the Nasdaq dropped .4 percent.
Somewhat mixed messages came out of U.S. health and economic leaders. White House Coronavirus Task Force member Dr. Anthony Fauci said parts of the economy could start reopening in May. Meanwhile, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Neel Kashkari, said Americans should brace themselves for at least 18 months of shutdowns.
— Alex Vuocolo
8:23 am ET: Need2Know: 20K U.S. Deaths, Testing For Antibodies & Diddy’s Dance-A-Thon
Get your news over easy every morning by listening to the Need 2 Know podcast (Stitcher, iTunes) and signing up for our morning newsletter.
U.S. UPDATE: The U.S. has officially surpassed Italy in both reported cases and deaths. More than 20,000 Americans have now died from the virus. For the first time in history, all 50 states have declared disasters and can call on the federal government to assist as needed. While numbers continue to give a grim outlook of the situation across the country, top health officials say we're entering a ‘leveling off’ period as reported cases and deaths per day begin to trend down. In the epicenter, a conflict between New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo exploded into view over the weekend, stemming from a disagreement over when and if city schools will reopen this academic year. Elsewhere, one of the country’s largest pork processing plants has shut its doors due to outbreaks of coronavirus. Smithfield says several employees have tested positive and warns that the country’s meat supply could be in danger as other companies face the same fate. CNN
GLOBAL IMPACT: Nearly two million people worldwide have contracted the coronavirus and more than 114,000 have died. As China begins to relax its restrictions on the population, more than 100 new cases were reported. Officials say the new cases were imported from Chinese residents returning from Russia. Health experts say a second wave of infections could be likely. Spain, another country with a high death rate, is also rolling back some of its restrictions and allowing some industries to return to work. In the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is out of the hospital after spending several days in the ICU for coronavirus-related complications. NYTIMES
OPEC DEAL: A global effort by oil-producing countries to slash output has been reached. In a new deal with OPEC, several countries have agreed to cut oil production by nearly 10 million barrels. The deal aims to boost plummeting oil prices stemming from the coronavirus pandemic and feuding between Russia and Saudi Arabia. NPR
TEXAS ABORTION FIGHT: Courts are grappling with restrictions to abortion access weeks after Texas Governor Greg Abbott deemed them non-essential procedures. He cited the need for PPE to be used for health workers fighting the pandemic rather than those performing abortions. Courts have gone back and forth. Now the U.S. Supreme Court has been asked to weigh in. WASH POST
WIKILEAKS FOUNDER FATHERED TWO KIDS: Julian Assange reportedly fathered two children with his lawyer while the two fought U.S. extradition at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. The news comes as Stella Morris, Assange’s lawyer and now fiancée, seeks his release from prison as the coronavirus spreads through the UK, citing his high risk to die from poor health. Assange was jailed in April 2019 for violating bail conditions. BBC
DISNEY'S FURLOUGH: Workers at Walt Disney World will stop receiving pay next week after the company decided to furlough an additional 43,000 people. Employees will be able to retain benefits through the furlough period or up to a year. Of Disney’s 77,000 employees in Orlando, just 200 have been deemed essential workers. USA TODAY
TESTING FOR COVID-19 ANTIBODIES: Experts are increasingly of the opinion that blood testing is key to reopening the country. Health officials are proposing testing for COVID-19 antibodies before schools and workplaces reopen. The goal is to figure out if people have built up an immunity to the virus; however, in South Korea it has been reported that some patients who recovered from the virus have tested positive again. PBS
SEVERE STORMS RAVAGE THE SOUTH: Several tornadoes have been reported across the south including in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi. At least six people have died in the storms. The threat of severe weather will continue today in the south and in the east. The storms come as states tend to the growing number of coronavirus cases. MSN
NBA'S H-O-R-S-E CHALLENGE: The first round of the NBA’s HORSE competition aired this weekend on ESPN and it was...something? The contest included a mix of current talent and even featured some of the NBA’s best retired players. ESPN graded the players’ performances, but we have to give the NBA an ‘A’ for giving fans some sort of action while the regular season remains on standby. The semi-finals and championship rounds will air on April 16th on ESPN. ESPN
SNL'S QUARANTINE EPISODE: Saturday Night Live returned in a slightly different setting from its usual studio audience-packed set in Rockefeller Center. Instead, the show took a now-familiar work-from-home approach. Tom Hanks returned to the show as host and asked viewers to bare along as the crew worked out inevitable kinks. WATCH THE MONOLOGUE
LEFTOVERS: DIDDY'S VIRTUAL DANCE PARTY: In an effort to raise relief funds for coronavirus, Diddy held an Instagram Dance-A-Thon. What is a Diddy party without a star-studded cast to join in on the fun? Among celebrities to show up on his Instagram Live: LeBron James, DJ Khaled, Drake, and even a special appearance from J.Lo and A-Rod. The event raised more than $3 million in the first hour for the non-profit Direct Relief which will supply PPE to impoverished communities impacted by the virus. WATCH
