The Rundown: Fauci Says U-S Going In 'Wrong Direction'

Newsday 7/1/20

Dr. Anthony Fauci said in testimony before a Senate committee Tuesday that the U.S. is, quote, "going in the wrong direction" as coronavirus cases are surging in Southern and Western states, saying, "I am very concerned." The nation's top infectious disease expert also warned as some 40,000 new cases are currently being reported daily that he, quote, "would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around." He stated, "We’ve got to get the message out that we are all in this together," by wearing face masks in public and not gathering in crowds. There have been more than 127,400 deaths in the U.S. as of last night, according to Johns Hopkins University's count, and more than 2,634,000 confirmed cases.

The governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut yesterday doubled the number of states from which travelers will be required to quarantine for 14 days because those states have growing numbers of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. The requirement was first announced by the three governors last week for travelers from eight states, and now it applies to 16 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah. Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced yesterday that any travelers to his state will have to quarantine for 14 days, except for those coming from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, because they've had low positive test rates cases in the past weeks.

E.U. Won't Allow Travelers From U.S.: The European Union announced yesterday that it will reopen its borders to travelers from 14 countries and possibly China, but, as had been reported was likely, the United States won't be among them. Because of the surging coronavirus cases in the U.S., Americans won't be allowed into E.U. nations for at least another two weeks. The countries whose citizens will again be permitted in are Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay.

Paycheck Protection Program Extended: The Senate extended the Paycheck Protection Program yesterday to August 8th, just hours before the program was to expire with more than $130 billion in allocated funds unused. The program gives loans to small businesses amid the pandemic-caused business shutdowns and economic disruptions to help them be able to pay their employees, with the loans forgiven in turn. More than 4.8 million small business owners have used the program.

➤LARGE MONEY TRANSFERS BOLSTERED INTELLIGENCE ASSESSMENT OF RUSSIAN BOUNTIES ON U.S. TROOPS: U.S. officials intercepted electronic data showing large money transfers from a bank account controlled by Russian military intelligence to a Taliban account, bolstering the intelligence assessment that Russia offered the Taliban bounties for killing American troops in Afghanistan, the New York Times reported Tuesday. News of a suspected bounty program was first reported Friday by the Times, which also said President Trump was given the information in his written President's Daily Brief in late February. The Associated Press reported the information was actually in Trump's daily written intelligence briefing in early 2019 and that John Bolton, then the national security adviser, told colleagues he briefed Trump on it in March 2019. But the White House has insisted Trump wasn't briefed on the intelligence assessment, saying it was because there were dissenting opinions among the intelligence community about its veracity. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Tuesday that Trump had now been briefed about it.

After a few House Republicans were briefed on the information Monday, some House Democrats and Senate Republicans were briefed yesterday. But the Democrats said they hadn't learned anything new, and Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, called it "inexplicable" that Trump hasn't said publicly that he's working to find out the truth and that he won't call out Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Republicans largely defended Trump and said there was uncertainty about the intelligence, with GOP Senator Ron Johnson saying Trump, quote, "can’t be made aware of every piece of unverified intelligence."

➤BIDEN BLASTS TRUMP ON CORONAVIRUS, RUSSIAN BOUNTY: Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden blasted President Trump yesterday for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the U.S. intelligence assessment that Russia offered bounties to the Taliban to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Speaking in Delaware, Biden accused Trump of giving up against the coronavirus as cases surge in states across the country, saying, "He called himself a wartime president. . . . What happened? Now it’s almost July, and it seems like our wartime president has surrendered, waved the white flag and left the battlefield."

USAToday 7/1/20

Biden also attacked Trump over the Russian bounties intelligence assessment, which the White House has claimed Trump wasn't briefed on, accusing him of a, quote, "betrayal" of U.S. troops and, quote, "deferring and debasing himself" before Russian President Vladimir Putin. Biden said, "The idea that somehow he didn't know or isn't being briefed, it is a dereliction of duty if that is the case. If he was briefed and nothing was done about this, that's a dereliction of duty."

➤MISSISSIPPI GOV. SIGNS MEASURE REMOVING CONFEDERATE EMBLEM FROM STATE FLAG: Mississippi Republican Governor Tate Reeves signed legislation Tuesday removing the Confederate battle emblem from the state's flag. Before signing the historic legislation passed by the state's House and Senate on Sunday, Reeves said, "This is not a political moment to me but a solemn occasion to lead our Mississippi family to come together, to be reconciled and to move on." A commission will design a new state flag that can't include the Confederate symbol and must have the words "In God We Trust." Voters will be asked to approve the new flag design in the November 3rd election, and if they reject it, the commission will come up with a new design that voters will again get to approve or not.

➤FACEBOOK REMOVES HUNDREDS OF 'BOOGALOO' ACCOUNTS: Facebook on Tuesday removed hundreds of accounts and groups associated with the extremist, far-right "boogaloo" movement, whose followers want a second Civil War, from both Facebook and Instagram. Facebook said it was designating the part of the boogaloo movement that advocates violence as a "dangerous organization." The move comes after several boogaloo members have been charged by federal prosecutors with crimes, including the May 29th murder of a security officer at a federal courthouse in Oakland, California, and a plot to use explosives at a protest being held in Las Vegas after the killing of George Floyd.

➤JUDGE TEMPORARILY BLOCKS BOOK BY TRUMP'S NIECE: A New York judge yesterday temporarily blocked a book due out at the end of this month by President Trump's niece, Mary Trump, after Trump's brother Robert Trump argued it would violate a written agreement that a tell-all book such as the one she's written can't be published without permission from the other family members. New York Supreme Court Judge Hal Greenwald issued an order requiring Mary Trump and her publisher, Simon & Schuster, to explain why they shouldn't be blocked from publishing the book, and set a hearing for July 10th.

However, Mary Trump's attorney and Simon & Schuster challenged the order, and the publisher additionally said that thousands of copies of the book, called, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man, have already been shipped to sellers. Mary Trump is the daughter of Trump's late brother, Fred Trump Jr. An online description of her book about the Trump family says it reveals a, quote, "nightmare of traumas, destructive relationships, and a tragic combination of neglect and abuse.”

➤ELDERLY BUFFALO PROTESTER SHOVED BY POLICE OUT OF HOSPITAL: The 75-year-old Buffalo, New York, protester who was shoved to the ground by police during a June 4th demonstration following the death of George Floyd was released from the hospital yesterday. Martin Gugino, who suffered a skull fracture and brain injury, will be continuing his recovery in an undisclosed location to protect his privacy, local station WKBW reported. Video showing Gugino being pushed to the ground, with blood immediately seen trailing from the back of his head, get widespread national attention. The officers involved have been suspended and are facing assault charges.

➤BASEBALL'S MINOR LEAGUES CANCEL THEIR SEASONS: Baseball's minor leagues canceled their seasons Tuesday because of the coronavirus pandemic, the first time it's ever happened, with the expected announcement coming from the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues. The organization's president, Pat O'Connor, warned that more than half of the 160 teams were in danger of failing unless they got assistance from government or the private sector, saying, "We are a fans-in-the-stands business. We don’t have national TV revenues."

Robert Kraft was legitimate target in prostitution investigation at Florida day spa, prosecutor argues https://t.co/3uMNSQHFjc

— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) June 30, 2020

➤JUDGES QUESTION WARRANTS USED IN ROBERT KRAFT MASSAGE PARLOR SEX CASE: Florida appeals court judges yesterday questioned the legality of search warrants that allowed police to secretly make video recordings of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and other men paying for and engaging in sex in a massage parlor. Prosecutors want the judges to find the warrants were constitutionally appropriate and overturn lower court rulings that barred use of the video recordings at trial. The misdemeanor charges against Kraft and others would have to be dropped if the lower court rulings are upheld. Kraft, who was charged in February 2019, has pled not guilty, but has publicly apologized.

➤NBA COMMISH CONCEDES CORONAVIRUS SPREAD COULD SHUT DOWN PLAY AGAIN: With the NBA season set to resume at the end of this month with all games played at the Walt Disney World Resort complex in Orlando, Commissioner Adam Silver conceded yesterday that the spread of the coronavirus among the NBA community could lead to a suspension of play again. During an appearance on Time 100 Talks, Silver said, "We haven't put a precise number on it, but if we were to see a large number of cases and see spread in our community, that would of course be a cause to stop as well." At the same time, Silver said he's, quote, "pretty confident" about their plan to safely resume play.