Tuesday, May 12, 2020

6:06 pm ET: Pelosi Unveils $3 Trillion Virus Bill, Warns Inaction Costs More 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled a more than $3 trillion coronavirus aid package Tuesday, a sweeping effort with $1 trillion for states and cities, “hazard pay” for essential workers, and a new round of cash payments to individuals.

The House is expected to vote on the package as soon as Friday. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said there is no “urgency.” The Senate will wait until after Memorial Day to consider options.

“We must think big, for the people, now," Pelosi said from the speaker's office at the Capitol. Read more...

— The Associated Press

5:51 pm ET: Sen. Blackburn Says 'Stop COVID Act' Will Let Citizens Sue China

Republican Senators Marsha Blackburn and Martha McSally have introduced legislation that would allow U.S. citizens to file lawsuits against the Chinese Communist Party over the COVID-19 pandemic.

The senators are calling it the Stop COVID Act, with "COVID" standing for "China-Originated Viral Infectious Diseases."

"This would allow the insertion of COVID-19 as a 'biological agent,'" Blackburn said, adding the change would be made to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. Read more...

— Taylor Craig

5:32 pm ET: Around the World In 90 Seconds

Just days after Russia reported record high COVID-19 cases, the country has eased its lockdown orders along with Singapore. Farmers in the United Kingdom are struggling to hire workers due to the coronavirus pandemic and travel restrictions. Meanwhile, in Chile Venzuelan migrants have camped outside of the country's embassy asking for economic relief amid the crisis and in Morocco a muralists is painting murals dedicated to healthcare workers on the frontlines.

5:15 pm ET: Wall Street Drops After Reopening Worries Lead to Late Slide

Worries about the downside of reopening the economy too soon are weighing on markets, and Wall Street fell Tuesday to its biggest loss since the start of the month.

The S&P 500 dropped 2.1% after spending much of the day drifting between small gains and losses, as investors debate whether the lifting of lockdowns across U.S. states and the world will drive an economic rebound or just more coronavirus infections.

The concerns were summed up in straightforward testimony from the top U.S. infectious diseases expert. Dr. Anthony Fauci told Congress that if the country reopens too soon, it could not only cause “some suffering and death that could be avoided but could even set you back on the road to try to get economic recovery.” Read more...

— The Associated Press

5:07 pm ET: 'A Pretty Scary Thing' Kid Illness Tied to Virus Worries New York

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday that New York is now investigating about 100 cases of the syndrome, which affects blood vessels and organs and has symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease and toxic shock. Three children in the state have died and Cuomo advised all hospitals to prioritize COVID-19 testing for children presenting with symptoms. Read more...

— The Associated Press

4:15 pm ET: Cruise Lines Will Have to Win Over Non-'Cruisers', Says Skift CEO

Carnival Cruise Lines saw a 200 percent year-over-year spike in sales recently when the company announced it will set sail again this August with massive discounts for travelers willing to give it a try.

However, the glut of travelers signing on may not mean all vacationers are willing to look past the glut of problems the industry faced at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Rafat Ali, founder and CEO Skift, a travel industry media and research company. Read more...

— McKenzie Marshall and Dina Ross

3:37 pm ET: Travel Industry Will Need Standard Protocols to Recover

The coronavirus pandemic forced many Americans to cancel their spring travel plans, but according to a new poll from YouGov 13 percent of Americans will be ready to hit the road even before lockdown restrictions are lifted.

Gloria Guevara, World Travel and Tourism Council CEO and president, told Cheddar on Tuesday that travel-related businesses are very eager for people to start taking trips again, however, opening the industry will need to be done in a coordinated way. Read more...

— McKenzie Marshall

12:08 pm ET: Fauci Warns of Serious Consequences if U.S. Reopens Too Soon

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, is warning Congress that if the country reopens too soon, "the consequences could be really serious.” Fauci is among the experts testifying to a Senate panel as its hearing opened on Tuesday. His testimony comes as President Donald Trump is pressuring states to reopen after the prolonged lock-down aimed at controlling the virus’ spread. With the U.S. economy in free-fall and more than 30 million people unemployed, Trump wants to restart the economy. Worldwide, the virus has infected nearly 4.2 million people and killed over 286,000. Some countries that have relaxed lock-down rules have seen new outbreaks. Read more...

— The Associated Press

11:03 am ET: Cubicle Comeback? Pandemic Will Reshape Office Life for Good

Office jobs are never going to be the same.

When workers around the world eventually return to their desks, they'll find many changes due to the pandemic. For a start, fewer people will go back to their offices as the coronavirus crisis makes working from home more accepted, health concerns linger and companies weigh up rent savings and productivity benefits.

For the rest, changes will begin with the commute as workers arrive in staggered shifts to avoid rush hour crowds. Staff might take turns working alternate days in the office to reduce crowding. Floor markings or digital sensors could remind people to stand apart and cubicles might even make a comeback. Read more...

— The Associated Press

10:31 am ET: Wall Street Mixed in Early Trading, With Enthusiasm Checked

Stocks are mixed in tentative early trading on Wall Street Tuesday, as investors wait to see how well the lifting of lockdowns around the world goes.

The S&P 500 and other U.S. indexes were flipping between small gains and losses, following up on mixed performances in Europe and Asia. Treasury yields were down slightly, but a measure of nervousness in the U.S. stock market also touched its lowest level in two months. Read more...

— The Associated Press

10:27 am ET: Telethon Raises $115M for New Yorkers Impacted by COVID-19

Tina Fey shed tears after announcing that more than $115 million was raised toward supporting New Yorkers impacted by COVID-19 during a virtual telethon.

“Thank you, thank you,” said a tearful Fey, the host of the Rise Up New York! event Monday evening. The Emmy-winning actress along with other A-list celebrities from Barbra Streisand, Jennifer Lopez, and Michael Strahan asked for donations to help relief and recovery efforts. Read more...

— The Associated Press

8:07 am ET: Need2Know: Fauci's Warning, Back to Baseball & the Magic of Live Music

Get your news over easy every morning by listening to the Need 2 Know podcast (Stitcher, iTunes) and signing up for our morning newsletter.

COVID-19: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: The U.S. coronavirus death toll has surpassed 80,000, and researchers are warning that if the country reopens too quickly the second wave of the virus may not wait until fall. Dr. Fauci plans to tell the Senate today that if things happen too fast, Americans will experience “needless suffering and death.” Meanwhile, after at least two staffers tested positive, the White House has ordered employees who work in the West Wing to wear masks. The president and the vice president are excluded. NY TIMES

WUHAN CLUSTER: After more than a month without any new infections in Wuhan, China, authorities are baffled by six new positive cases in the last two days. The city will now test all 11 million residents for the virus by the end of next week. BBC

MORE TEST APPROVALS: The FDA has granted an emergency use authorization for an antibody test made by Abbott Labs, which will help people who think they may have had COVID-19 to determine whether they have developed the antibodies. Abbott plans to ship 30 million tests to laboratories this month and 60 million more in June. The FDA also granted ‘EUAs’ for a diagnostic test using saliva and the first coronavirus antigen test, both of which could help scale up the country’s testing capacity. CNBC

AHMAUD ARBERY SHOOTING: The Justice Dept. is considering federal hate-crime charges in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, the 25-year-old black jogger who was shot and killed in Georgia in February. The state attorney general has named a new prosecutor to handle the case -- the fourth in the two-and-a-half months since Arbery was killed. Joyette Holmes, a DA in metro Atlanta, will take over the prosecution. NPR

APPLE WARMS TO INDIA: Apple is reportedly in discussions to move as much as a fifth of its production ⁠— $40 billion worth of iPhones and other devices ⁠— from China to India, a move that would be a major blow to China’s economy as well as a major boost to India’s. Apple, like many other U.S. companies that depend on cheap Chinese labor, is said to be growing nervous about depending too heavily on China, where the coronavirus outbreak began. INDIA ECON TIMES

MUSK VS. CALIFORNIA: Elon Musk said he would be personally helping to restart the Tesla factory in Fremont, Calif. in defiance of county orders that it remain closed. Musk tweeted that he’d be “on the line with everyone else” and essentially dared police to arrest him. TECHCRUNCH

BACK TO BASEBALL: Major League Baseball owners have reportedly agreed on a plan that would have players back on the field (albeit in empty stadiums) by early July. Today, owners will present that plan to the player’s union, which is likely to push back on the financial terms. Owners are proposing a 50-50 revenue split with players; players want their prorated salaries depending on how many games are played. The results of those negotiations will determine whether there’s a 2020 MLB season at all. ESPN

QUIBI'S ROCKY LAUNCH: Quibi co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg blames the coronavirus for the subpar rollout of his mobile streaming service: “I attribute everything that’s gone wrong to coronavirus. Everything. But we own it,” he says in a new interview. Analysts estimate the Quibi app has been downloaded about 3 million times, including those who are using free trials. That’s “not close to what we wanted,” Katzenberg conceded. THE WRAP

SPOTTED...an unrecognizable Tom Hardy as Al Capone in the trailer for the new biopic that tells the story of the last year of the famous mobster’s life: WATCH

LEFTOVERS: KEEP ON ROCKIN': If you love (and miss) going to concerts, Dave Grohl feels your pain. In an essay for The Atlantic, the Foo Fighters frontman perfectly captures the shared experience of live music, why he misses it so much, and how he hopes to be rocking out again soon: READ IT

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