The Rundown: Coronavirus Deaths Fall In New York

New York, which has been the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., reported its lowest daily death toll since the pandemic began in the U.S., Governor Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday.

There were 73 deaths in the state on Monday with Cuomo saying, "In this absurd new reality, that is good news." At the height of the state's outbreak, the number of daily deaths rate was close to 800. As the death rate, new hospitalizations and new cases have been going down over the past few weeks, all parts of New York have now begun or will this week begin the first phase of reopening except for New York City, which still needs to see some lower numbers before it can join start reopening. The positive news for New York comes as the national death toll nears 100,000. As of last night, 98,900 people have died, according to the Johns Hopkins University count, and there have been 1,680,000 confirmed cases.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has posted new guidance on its website cautioning that antibody tests meant to determine if someone has been infected with the coronavirus in the past might be wrong up to half the time. Because of that, the CDC said the tests shouldn't be used to make important policy decisions, such as people returning to work or being admitted to group settings like schools, dorms or prisons. They also reminded that it's not yet known if having antibodies provides immunity and if so, for how long, stating, "It cannot be assumed that individuals with truly positive antibody test results are protected from future infection."

In other developments:

• Dow Closes Up More than 500 Points: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up nearly 530 points, or 2.2 percent, yesterday, rising due to optimism about the reopening economy and a potential coronavirus vaccine. That came as the New York Stock Exchange reopened its trading floor for the first time since March, with only 25 percent of the normal number of traders allowed, and masks and social distancing required.
• Top Pence Aide Who Tested Positive Back at Work: A top aide to Vice President Mike Pence who was one of two White House workers who tested positive for the coronavirus earlier this month has returned to work. Press secretary Katie Miller tweeted yesterday, "Back at work today after three NEGATIVE COVID tests." Miller, who is married to Stephen Miller, a senior adviser to President Trump, also revealed that she's pregnant, saying in the tweet, "I couldn’t have done it without my amazing husband who took great care of his pregnant wife." Miller has not said how ill she was with the virus. There doesn't seem to be any serious increased risk to pregnant women or their unborn children from the coronavirus, but it's not known for sure.

➤FOUR MINNEAPOLIS POLICE OFFICERS FIRED AFTER DEATH OF BLACK MAN WHO HAD OFFICER'S KNEE ON HIS NECK: Four Minneapolis police officers were fired Tuesday (May 26th) after the death of a 46-year-old black man who was seen in a video handcuffed on the ground with the knee of one of the officers on his neck as he repeatedly said he couldn't breathe and then stopped moving. Mayor Jacob Frey announced on Twitter the firings of the four officers involved in the Monday night arrest, and apologized to the black community, saying, "Being Black in America should not be a death sentence." State law enforcement officials and the FBI are both investigating. 

"I CAN'T BREATHE": Video shows George Floyd, a black man that police say was a possible "forgery" suspect, pleading with Minneapolis cops for air as they press a knee into his neck. Floyd loses consciousness and later dies.

Click here for the full video: https://t.co/gD3hBFhbgL pic.twitter.com/h5SabBHR7M

— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 26, 2020

Police said George Floyd matched the description of a suspect in a forgery at a grocery store, and that he resisted arrest. During the video, Floyd repeatedly pleads with the officer. He's heard saying, "Please, please, please, I can’t breathe," moaning, calling for his mother, and saying, "My stomach hurts, my neck hurts, everything hurts . . . I can’t breathe." In response to bystanders shouting about Floyd not being able to breathe, one officer says, "He's talking, so he's breathing." Floyd eventually stops talking and slowly becomes motionless, with the officer not removing his knee from his neck until paramedics put him on a gurney. His cause of death is still pending.

Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said they would conduct a full investigation, while the police union urged before the officers were fired against a, quote, "rush to judgment." Police didn't identify the officers, but an attorney for the one who had his knee on Floyd's neck confirmed he's representing Derek Chauvin. Protesters gathered yesterday evening in the street where Floyd died and then marched two-and-a-half miles to a police precinct, with some damaging windows and a police car and spraying graffiti on the building. Police in riot gear confronted them and fired tear gas and projectiles. The crowd eventually began to dissipate, but there were skirmishes into the evening.

➤WIFE OF UCONN STUDENT FUGITIVE'S FIRST VICTIM SAYS HE WAS LOOKING FOR WOMAN HE KNEW: The wife of the first of two people that a 23-year-old University of Connecticut student is alleged to have killed said Tuesday that Peter Manfredonia, who is on the run from police, was looking for a woman he knew who is their neighbor.

Cyndi DeMers, whose 62-year-old husband Ted DeMers was killed in Willington, Connecticut, on Friday, said Manfredonia was looking for the woman when he walked down the road in front of their home wearing a motorcycle helmet. He said his motorcycle had broken down, and when Ted DeMers gave him a ride back to his bike, he killed him with a machete.

DeMers said, "I think [Ted] got in the way of what he was going to do. He was clearly walking to her home with a mission, with a machete in his backpack." DeMers said she'd talked to the woman's father, who said they'd been considering getting a restraining order against Manfredonia, who'd come to the home before. Another neighbor who came to Ted DeMers' aid was attacked and injured, and Manfredonia is also alleged to have killed his high school friend, 23-year-old Nicholas Eisele, on Sunday in Derby, Connecticut.

He also allegedly kidnapped Eisele's girlfriend and took her car before freeing her in New Jersey. Manfredonia was last reported seen in East Stroudsberg, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, having taken an Uber there. An attorney for Manfredonia's family says he's struggled with mental health issues.

➤NHL TO DITCH REST OF SEASON, GO INTO 24-TEAM PLAYOFF: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said Tuesday (May 26th) that they won't play the 189 games that were left in the regular season and will instead go straight into the playoffs with 24 teams instead of 16 if and when the league returns to play from its coronavirus suspension. The playoff games would be held in two cities, which have yet to be determined, with groups of 12 teams representing each of the two conferences. Games will be played without fans. Play could resume in late July or early August, with the Stanley Cup Final in September or possibly later. The 10 cities in the running to be the two hub cities are: Chicago, Columbus, Ohio, Dallas, Las Vegas, Pittsburgh and Minneapolis/St. Paul in the U.S., and Edmonton, Toronto and Vancouver in Canada.

➤MLB PLAYERS' UNION CALLS PROPOSAL TO CUT SALARIES 'EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING': Major League Baseball has presented a proposal to the players' union for a coronavirus-delayed season in which the players would take a salary cut. Under the sliding scale proposal, which the players' union called "extremely disappointing," star players would lose more than 77 percent of their salary this year, while rookies at the major league minimum would lose about 53 percent of their salary. MLB said in a statement that the proposal was, quote, "completely consistent with the economic realities facing our sport."