US approaches 200,000 Covid deaths as supreme court row intensifies – US politics live

Joe Biden has told supporters at a fundraiser that Cindy McCain will be endorsing him for the first time:

McCain, the widow of the late GOP senator John McCain, appeared in a video during the Democratic National Convention talking about Biden and her husband’s relationship, but she did not formally endorse him then. Biden said Cindy McCain was motivated in part by the recent reports that the president had privately called dead soldiers “losers” and suckers” and that he had canceled a visit to pay respects at a military cemetery.

Trump publicly criticized John McCain on numerous occasions and was enraged when the senator voted against an effort to overturn Obamacare. During his campaign, Trump infamously said of McCain: “He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured … He lost and let us down. I’ve never liked him as much after that. I don’t like losers.”

A scene from the campaign trail in Chandler, Arizona today where Trump supporters packed into a ballroom to see Donald Trump Jr and his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle:

Supporters were indoors, not wearing masks and not social distancing, raising concerns once again about the potential spread of Covid-19, which remains a significant threat in Arizona.

Vladimir Putin is likely continuing to try and influence the US election in favor of Donald Trump, a recent CIA analysis found, according to multiple news reports today.

The Washington Post, New York Times and NBC News have all reported on the CIA assessment today, citing various unnamed officials. The Post, the first to report on the CIA’s finding (citing “two sources who reviewed” the analysis), said that Putin and his top aides are “probably directing” a Russian foreign influence operation to interfere in the election against Joe Biden.

Trump’s press secretary defended the president’s record on Russia, saying no one has been tougher, but her comments came one day after Trump said, “I like Putin, he likes me.”

Immigration authorities have stopped sending detained migrant women to a rural Georgia gynecologist accused of performing surgeries without consent, a government spokesman told the Associated Press today.

Dr Mahendra Amin faces allegations that he administered hysterectomies and other procedures that women held at the Irwin county detention center didn’t seek or fully understand. Amin has seen at least 60 detained women, said Andrew Free, a lawyer investigating the medical care at the Ice jail alongside other civil rights attorneys, told the AP today.

Bryan Cox, a spokesman for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), confirmed to the AP that Amin would no longer see patients, but declined to comment further, citing an ongoing inspector general investigation. Amin’s lawyer did not respond to an inquiry on Tuesday.

The Amin scandal has renewed attention on the conditions inside Ice jails where migrants have long alleged that they face abuse, medical neglect, mistreatment and other human rights violations. Those concerns have escalated dramatically during the Covid crisis. Here’s a recent story on Irwin:

Joe Biden led President Trump by 5% among likely voters in Michigan, while the two were even in North Carolina, according to Reuters/Ipsos opinion polls released today.

In Michigan, 50% of voters said Biden would be better at handling the coronavirus pandemic while 44% said Trump would be better, according to the poll on the critical battleground state. In North Carolina, 47% said Biden would be better at handling the coronavirus pandemic versus 45% who answered Trump.

In both states, a higher percentage of voters said Trump would be better at handling the economy. You can see the full details here. And here’s the Guardian’s poll tracker, which we published yesterday and will be regularly updated:

Hi all – Sam Levin here, writing from Los Angeles, and taking over our live coverage for the rest of the day. One story we’re closely following: Authorities in Louisville, Kentucky have preemptively declared a “state of emergency” in anticipation of protests following an imminent grand jury decision on the police killing of Breonna Taylor.

Taylor, 26, was killed on 13 March by police serving a no-knock warrant as part of an investigation into an ex-boyfriend. Her death has inspired national protests for months, with activists across the country calling for the officers to face criminal prosecution.

Louisville’s mayor, Greg Fischer, said his emergency order was put in place “due to the potential for civil unrest, which allows him to exercise any of his emergency powers, including those to hire or contract for services, and implementing curfews and other restrictions”.

Civil rights groups have raised concerns that the order will be used to clamp down on protests in violation of free speech rights, and that the order could lead to brutality against demonstrators.

Here’s a recent analysis of the possible criminal case, published in the Guardian:

That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Sam Levin, will take over the blog for the next few hours.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

• The US coronavirus death toll surpassed 200,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The US has the highest death toll of any country in the world and accounts for about 21% of the global coronavirus death toll, even though it represents only 4% of the world’s population.
• Senator Mitt Romney said he would support moving forward with Trump’s supreme court nominee. The Republican senator’s announcement virtually guarantees Trump’s nominee to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be confirmed, likely before election day on November 3.
• Trump said he would announce his supreme court nominee on Saturday. The announcement will follow ceremonies honoring Ginsburg, who will lie in repose at the supreme court and lie in state at the US Capitol this week.
• Mitch McConnell remained non-commital about the timing of a supreme court confirmation vote. Trump has said he wants the final vote to happen before election day, but McConnell said he would not know the timing of the vote until the nomination makes it out of the Senate judiciary committee.
• The FDA is reportedly expected to soon release strict guidelines on the emergency authorization of a coronavirus vaccine. According to the Washington Post, the guidelines would make it highly unlikely that a vaccine will be approved before election day. Trump has promised a vaccine will be released in the coming weeks, but the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the Senate last week that a vaccine will not be widely available to the American public until mid to late 2021.

Sam will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

The Food and Drug Administration is reportedly expected to soon release strict guidelines on the emergency authorization of a coronavirus vaccine, making it very unlikely a vaccine will be released before election day, on November 3.

The Washington Post reports:

The agency is issuing the guidance to boost transparency and public trust as it approaches the momentous decision of whether a prospective vaccine is safe and effective. Public health experts are increasingly worried that President Trump’s repeated predictions of a coronavirus vaccine by Nov. 3, coupled with the administration’s interference in federal science agencies, may prompt Americans to reject any vaccine as rushed and potentially tainted. …

The guidance, which is far more rigorous than what was used for emergency clearance of hydroxychloroquine or convalescent plasma, is an effort to shore up confidence in an agency that has made missteps during the pandemic. With the vaccines, the FDA is expected to ask manufacturers seeking an emergency authorization — a far quicker process than a formal approval — to follow participants in late-stage clinical trials for a median of at least two months, starting after they receive a second vaccine shot, according to two individuals familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss information before it is made public.

As a sign the vaccine works, the agency also is looking for at least five severe cases of covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, in the placebo group for each trial, as well as some cases of the disease in older people. These standards, plus the time it will take companies to prepare their applications and the agency to review the data, make it highly improbable for any vaccine to be authorized before the election. The agency has previously said any vaccine would have to be 50 percent more effective than a placebo.

The news comes as polls have indicated declining confidence among Americans in both parties about the safety of a coronavirus vaccine, which Democrats have blamed on Trump politicizing the process.

Trump has repeatedly suggested a vaccine would be released in the coming weeks, but the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the Senate last week that a vaccine would not be widely available to the American public until mid to late 2021.

The president claimed the CDC director was “confused” when he made that prediction, but other health experts have offered similar timelines for the distribution of a vaccine.

Senator Susan Collins confirmed she would oppose Trump’s supreme court nominee if the final vote occurs before election day.

The Republican senator, who is facing a difficult reelection in Maine, previously said she did not support holding a vote on a nominee before the November 3 elections.

However, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell now appears to have enough support to move forward without Collins’ vote. But Collins confirmed that, if the nomination process does move forward, she would not support Trump’s pick.

“My statement was a model of clarity. … I made it very clear, yes, that I did not think there should be a vote prior to the election. And if there is one, I would oppose the nominee,” Collins told reporters, per the Hill.

“Not because I might not support that nominee under normal circumstances, but we’re simply too close to the election, and in the interest of being fair to the American people,” Collins said.

Collins noted she also disagreed with McConnell’s decision to block Barack Obama’s supreme court nominee in 2016, Merrick Garland.

“The decision was made not to proceed, a decision that I disagreed with, but my position did not prevail. I now think we need to play by the same set of rules,” she added.

The Guardian’s Sam Levine reports:

More than 40,000 people registered to vote last weekend after the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday, according to new data from vote.org, a non-profit that helps register voters on its website.

The organization saw 40,771 new voter registrations on Saturday and Sunday, a 68% increase from the previous weekend. The group also saw 139,046 people verify their registrations, a 118% increase from the previous weekend. The organization also reported a spike in mail-in ballots, noting more than 35,000 people requested them last week.

In addition to Ginsburg’s death, there may be several other reasons that explain the jump in voter activity. There generally tends to be a spike in voter registration and verification as the country gets closer to election day.

Ginsburg’s death placed the direction of the Supreme Court front and center of the presidential race. Democrats have said the winner of the presidential election should choose Ginsburg’s replacement, but Republicans have pledged to move ahead and fill the seat regardless. Ginsburg reportedly said just before she died that she did not want to have her seat filled “until a new president is installed.”

The Senate cannot even pass a nonbinding resolution to honor the legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg without debate devolving into partisan bickering.

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer attempted to pass the resolution while adding a line noting Ginsburg’s dying wish was that the new president would choose her supreme court replacement.

Senator Ted Cruz objected to that proposal and instead suggested adding a quote from Ginsburg criticizing the idea of court packing.

Schumer told Cruz, “I think Justice Ginsburg would easily see through the legal sophistry.”

That divisiveness likely foreshadows how the next month will go, as Republicans attempt to confirm Trump’s supreme court nominee before election day, on November 3.

Joanna Walters

Wisconsin governor Tony Evers has declared a new public health emergency and extended a face-coverings mandate into November to fight a flare-up of coronavirus cases, as the US surpassed the grim milestone of 200,000 Covid-19 deaths this morning.

In-person social gatherings led to cases skyrocketing among people aged 18 to 24, Evers said, as he pleaded with students who returned to colleges for the fall semester to stay out of bars and wear masks, Reuters writes.

“We are seeing an alarming increase in cases across our state, especially on campus,” the governor said in a statement announcing his decision.

Wisconsin has experienced one of the highest percentage increases of coronavirus cases nationwide over the past two weeks, and has the second-highest rate of positive coronavirus tests in the nation at 17%, according to a Reuters tally.

The United States continues to have the world’s highest number of Covid-19 deaths. On a weekly average, it is losing about 800 lives each day to the virus, according to a Reuters tally. That is down from a peak of 2,806 daily deaths recorded on April 15 during the first peak of infections.

Joanna Walters

Olivia Troye, the former member of the White House coronavirus task force who has been publicly criticizing Donald Trump’s response to the pandemic since leaving, has just come back against former boss Keith Kellogg.

Kellogg, national security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence put Troye down at a briefing earlier today. Troye’s having none of it.

Troye has accused the president of putting his own supporters at risk when they turn out for his campaign rallies.

And here’s a throwback to what Troye said on a Republican Voters Against Trump ad:

Meanwhile:

A spokesperson for Nancy Pelosi said the House speaker will soon lead a moment of silence to commemorate the loss of 200,000 Americans to coronavirus.

The US coronavirus death toll hit 200,000 earlier today, representing a far higher death toll than that of any other country in the world.

Asked this afternoon if Trump would be doing anything to mark the tragic milestone, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany dodged the question.

At his own press conference, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer denounced Republicans’ efforts to push through a supreme court nomination using “brute political force”.

“If that becomes the standard in the Senate, how can we expect to trust the other side again?” Schumer asked.

The Democratic leader argued Republicans were rushing to confirm a supreme court nominee who could “change the complexion of the court for a generation.”

“Everything Americans value hangs in the balance,” Schumer said, accusing Republicans of having “pulled the federal judiciary to their far-right side.”

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell was asked how he could justify moving forward with a supreme court vote, when Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s reported dying wish was for the new president to fill her seat.

McConnell replied, “I prefer another thing she said recently, which was she thought the number of the supreme court ought to be nine.”

It should be noted McConnell kept the supreme court stuck at eight justices for more than a year as he refused to consider Barack Obama’s nominee in 2016.

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell remained noncommittal about the timing of a final vote on the confirmation of Trump’s supreme court nominee.

McConnell said Lindsey Graham, the chairman of the Senate judiciary committee, would first lay out the panel’s timing for confirmation hearings after the nominee is announced.

“When the nomination comes out of committee, then I’ll decide when and how to proceed,” McConnell said.

Trump has said he wants the final vote to happen before election day, but McConnell has been more vague, saying yesterday that the vote will happen “this year.”

McConnell also dismissed one reporter’s question about polling showing a majority of Americans believe the Senate should wait until after the election to hold a confirmation vote.

The Republican leader insisted the Senate has a “constitutional obligation” to take up the nomination, even though McConnell refused to consider Barack Obama’s supreme court nominee in 2016.

Senator Joni Ernst, who is facing a difficult reelection in Iowa, said she looked forward to vetting Trump’s supreme court nominee.

Ernst, a member of the Senate judiciary committee, pledged, “I will do my duty as a member of that committee.”

A poll taken days before Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death showed Ernst trailing Democratic candidate Theresa Greenfield by 3 points among Iowa’s likely voters, representing a virtual tie given the survey’s 3.8-point margin of error.