Coronavirus US live: Trump demands churches, synagogues and mosques reopen ‘right now’

White House coronavirus task force resource coordinator Deborah Birx is giving a detailed presentation in the press briefing room.

She said she is concerned about persistent high numbers of cases in some cities that have had lasting restrictions on residents, namely Washington, DC, Chicago and LA.

Birx just warned people to wear masks and observe social distancing over the holiday weekend.

“Play tennis with masks on,” she said. “Play golf with marked balls.”

She told Americans to keep distance and think “that’s your space and you need to protect it.”

She then says: “I know you can do it,” as if we’re all elementary school children. But most folks can probably attest to having seen people acting frighteningly irresponsibly out in public, or just without thinking.

Whether it’s the mask around the mouth but not nose, or walking around the store with a mask under the chin, like a useless little head hammock, etc, etc, and that’s even without all the people getting into violent incidents over social distancing, mask wearing and all that. So. Drs Birx and Fauci wish you a safe Memorial Day weekend.

Speculating here that the president will hit the links.

Here’s one of the other points Donald Trump just made in his exceedingly short address to the press.

“Some governors have deemed liquor stores and abortion clinics essential, but have left out churches … it’s not right. So I am correcting this injustice and am calling houses of worship essential,” the president said.

Donald Trump says “America needs more prayer, not less.”

The president just demanded places of worship reopen for in-person services and he talked about guidelines being issued for “communities of faith”.

He wants them open “for this weekend”. Called upon governors to life quarantine restrictions relating to religious gathering places.

“If they do not do it I will override the governors,” he said.

He then turned on his heel and left the White House press briefing room without taking any questions.

Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany then brought up Deborah Birx, response coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, to the podium for an expert briefing.

Press briefing with Donald Trump begins.

The president said: “Churches and mosques are places that provide essential services …I call upon governors to open houses of worship right now … these are places that hold our society together. People are demanding to go to church, to synagogue, to the mosque.”

Meanwhile, someone jumped the fence at the White House.

We still await the surprise press conference with the president that the White House said would begin at 1pm ET.

Donald Trump may want to talk about new guidelines for opening churches in the US for in-person services, which he brought up yesterday during his visit to Michigan.

He will no doubt be asked about the latest, large study of hydroxychloroquine, which he has been taking as a prophylactic against Covid-19 after at least two staffers at the White House tested positive for the disease. This despite his own federal regulators strongly advising against and speaking about the dangers for non-Covid use.

A new study published in the Lancet showed it has increased deaths in patients treated with it for Covid-19 in hospitals around the world.

The major study of the way hydroxychloroquine and its older version, chloroquine, have been used on six continents – without clinical trials – reveals a sobering picture.

Scientists said the results meant the drug should no longer be given to Covid-19 patients except in proper research settings.

Yesterday World Health Organization said hydroxychloroquine should not be taken for coronavirus outside of clinical trials.

Donald Trump is about to hold a briefing at the White House.

This was not originally scheduled. So we’ll see what the president has to say. Coronavirus deaths just passed the 95,000 mark in the US.

Joanna Walters will be taking over the blog for the next few hours.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

• Dr Anthony Fauci urged Americans to take precautions when celebrating Memorial Day this weekend. “Go out, wear a mask. Stay six feet away from anyone you see,” Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, said last night.
• Trump said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would soon release guidance on reopening churches. The CDC and the White House have reportedly clashed over the issue, with administration officials pushing to reopen churches with no restrictions despite concerns about the spread of coronavirus.
• Joe Biden was criticized for saying African American voters were not actually black if they were still deciding between him and Trump. “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black” Biden said in an interview with “The Breakfast Club.” The comment was criticized as “racist essentialism.”

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

Senator Tim Scott slammed Joe Biden’s comment about black voters as “arrogant” and “condescending” in an interview with Fox Business.

Biden said in an interview released earlier today, “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.”

Scott, the only African American Republican in the Senate, said in response, “Who in the heck does he think he is? That is the most arrogant, outrageous comment I’ve heard in a very long time, and I take offense to that.”

The South Carolina senator noted that 1.3 million African Americans voted for Trump in 2016, and he said the president had reversed some of the damage of the 1994 crime bill, which Biden helped write.

Similar to his other recent speeches, Trump’s remarks at the White House, which were meant to focus on honoring American veterans, turned overtly political as the president lashed out against Democrats.

Trump criticized Joe Biden for calling his response to coronavirus “xenophobic” and said Nancy Pelosi was “dancing in the streets of Chinatown” as coronavirus started to spread across the country.

“These are sick people,” the president said before returning to the intended topic of his speech.

The event ended with a surreal scene at the White House, with motorcyclists driving their bikes around the South Lawn while Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine” played over speakers.

The scene made the Memorial Day event feel more like a Trump campaign rally, and some commentators were quick to say the display was inappropriate as the country’s coronavirus death toll approaches 100,000.

Trump said he expected the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to soon release guidance on reopening churches and other places of worship.

Speaking during a White House event honoring American veterans, the president said the agency unveil a “strong recommendation” on reopening churches. “We’re going to make that essential,” Trump said.

The CDC and the White House have reportedly clashed over guidance to reopen churches, with Trump administration officials resisting any limitations on places of worship.

The CDC published a report earlier this week showing that an Arkansas church had been connected to dozens of coronavirus cases and three coronavirus deaths, raising concerns about relaxing restrictions on places of worship.

Days after CNN raised questions about Tara Reade’s educational background, a spokesperson for Antioch University confirmed to the New York Times that she had not received a degree from the school.

Defense lawyers in California are now reviewing cases in which Reade, who has accused Joe Biden of sexual assault, served as an expert witness on domestic violence, claiming she misrepesented her educational credentials in major cases.

The Times has more on that:

Then known as Alexandra McCabe, Ms. Reade testified as a government witness in Monterey County courts for nearly a decade, describing herself as an expert in the dynamics of domestic violence who had counseled hundreds of victims.

But lawyers who had faced off against her in court began raising questions about the legitimacy of her testimony, and the verdicts that followed, after news reports this week that Antioch University had disputed her claim of receiving a bachelor’s degree from its Seattle campus.

The public defender’s office in Monterey County has begun scrutinizing cases involving Ms. Reade and compiling a list of clients who may have been affected by her testimony, according to Jeremy Dzubay, an assistant public defender in the office.

Roland Soltesz, a criminal defense lawyer, says he believes Ms. Reade’s testimony made a significant difference in the outcome of the 2018 trial of his client Victoria Ramirez. Both Ms. Ramirez and her co-defendant, Jennifer Vasquez, received life sentences for attempted murder, arson and armed robbery.