Fact check: Testing and cases “We’re constantly showing cases, cases, cases, cases,” Trump said - and said that’s because the US is doing more testing than other cases. “We’re doing tremendous testing, and we’re especially doing big testing at nursing homes.” Trump often makes the false claim that increased testing can explain the coronavirus surge. We can give him some credit here for hedging a bit saying that more testing is “one of the reasons” cases are up. While testing is catching a greater proportion of positive cases, the main reason we’re seeing more cases is that - there are more cases. In many regions, hospitalizations and deaths are also increasing. Trump said that if no coronavirus relief deal is reached, he will also defer the payroll tax until the end of the year, “and it’ll be retroactive to July 1,” and might extend it past the end of the year, defer student loan payments and extend an eviction moratorium. The extent of Trump’s authority here is unclear. His executive orders would be vulnerable to legal challenges - as it’s Congress, not the executive, that is responsible for allocating funds. Trump indicates he might extend unemployment benefits via executive order Trump is boasting about the 1.8m jobs added in July and 9.3m jobs added since May. But when the pandemic struck, 22 million jobs were lost in March and April. He said he will extend unemployment benefits through the end of the year via an executive order, though he doesn’t say how much the extra jobless benefit would be. Democrats want to extend the $600 per week benefit, but Republicans have been opposed - and suggested $200 per week. Trump"s golf club press conference begins Trump has begun by discussing the economy. Per usual, he is using a racist term to refer to the coronavirus. Donald Trump is preparing for a press conference from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. According to Politico’s Meridith McGraw, who is part of the press pool at the event, “dozens and dozens of club members, in golf gear and some holding wine glasses - have filed into the ballroom,” where the conference will take place. “Only a handful of the dozens of club members were seen wearing masks, and their temperatures were being taken as they went into the ballroom. It’s unclear if the club members will be present for the news conference with the President,” McGraw said. In New Jersey, the regulations for golf courses prohibit “the consumption of food or beverages and smoking in indoor areas” and require patrons to wear masks indoors. Joe Biden is expected to announce his running mate very soon. Here’s a closer look at one of the top contenders, California congresswoman Karen Bass: In Karen Bass’s home state, colleagues across the political spectrum sing her praises. Most of America is just getting to know the 66-year-old congresswoman from Los Angeles who in recent weeks emerged as a top contender to be Joe Biden’s vice-presidential running mate. But in California, Bass has built a reputation as a progressive and a pragmatist – a community organizer who fought police brutality and addiction in Los Angeles and a practical politician who helped dig the state out of a historical fiscal crisis in 2008. The congresswoman is “someone who can heal our country – not just from the pandemic, but also from the racial divisions, the economic divisions”, the legendary labor organizer Dolores Huerta told the Guardian. Biden is expected to announce his running mate in the coming days. When the former vice-president earlier this year committed to choosing a woman to join his ticket, public speculation immediately coalesced around Kamala Harris, the California senator who ran against him in the Democratic presidential primaries. Buzz also circled Susan Rice, the Obama administration national security adviser, and Val Demings, the Florida congresswoman. But in recent weeks, Californians who worked with Bass – including Huerta – have openly campaigned for her as vice-president, propelling her to the top of Biden’s shortlist. Donald Trump has said he will hold a press conference at 7pm Eastern Time, from his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club. We’ll provide live coverage. In a tweet, Trump indicated that he will discuss the pandemic, and the economy, in light of jobs numbers released today. It is unclear whether he will also announce an executive order on coronavirus relief. Brent Scowcroft, a national security adviser to Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush, and a Republican voice against the Iraq war, has died. He was 95. President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, said Scowcroft “was an especially important advisor to my father — and an important friend,” and expressed their condolences to his family. “His dedication transcended political ideology, which is why presidents, vice presidents, and foreign policy thinkers of both Republican and Democratic administrations sought and valued his counsel,” Joe Biden wrote in a statement. You can read more about Scowcroft in the Associated Press’ obituary. The head of the conservative evangelical Liberty University has been forced to take an “indefinite leave of absence” after he shared a photo of himself with his pants unzipped to reveal his underwear. Jerry Falwell Jr, a prominent backer of Donald Trump and one of America’s most powerful evangelical leaders, was accused of hypocrisy after posting the photo to Instagram this week. Liberty University, based in Virginia, has strict rules over dress code and social activities. In a statement on Friday the university said: “The executive committee of Liberty University’s board of trustees, acting on behalf of the full board, met today and requested that Jerry Falwell Jr take an indefinite leave of absence from his roles as president and chancellor of Liberty University, to which he has agreed, effective immediately.” “We are going a different way” on economic relief, Trump tweeted, indicating his administration was not willing to compromise on a coronavirus relief package with Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. “Pelosi and Schumer only interested in Bailout Money for poorly run Democrat cities and state,” the president said. But the $1tn in aid at issue here would benefit cities and states run by both Democrats and Republicans. And here’s what the Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh had to say about the same report: In 2016 it was the Democrats who actively solicited help from foreign nationals in an unsuccessful effort to beat President Trump, and it wouldn’t surprise anyone if Democrat operatives were once again up to no good. If anyone should face questions about foreign interference in 2020, it’s Joe Biden’s campaign. We don’t need or want foreign interference, and President Trump will beat Joe Biden fair and square. The intelligence community’s assessment that both China and Iran are trying to stop President Trump’s re-election is concerning, but clearly because he has held them accountable after years of coddling by politicians like Joe Biden. The Trump Administration has been tougher on Russia than any administration in history, imposing sanctions and expelling diplomats, in contrast with the Obama-Biden administration, which choked in the face of Russian interference after Susan Rice gave the ‘stand down’ order and let Russia get away with it.” A couple of key points to note, here: The assertion that Democrats “actively solicited help from foreign nationals” is misleading. In 2016, lawyers for Hillary Clinton’s campaign paid a company called FusionGPS to do opposition research. That company hired a former British spy, Christopher Steele to compile research. But hiring or contracting a foreigner to work for a campaign is allowed by campaign finance law, according to experts. Murtaugh singles out Susan Rice, a top conductor to be Biden’s running, and repeats a misleading claim that Rice — a former national security adviser during the Obama administration — told the White House cyber coordinator Michael Daniel to “stand down” from responding to Russian interference. Daniel told the Senate Intelligence Committee that while Rice told him to stand down, it was because she didn’t want too many cooks in the kitchen — the response to Russian interference continued, but without Daniel’s team. “The decision at that point was to neckdown the number of people that were involved in developing our ongoing response options,” he said. House speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Intelligence Committee chair Adam Schiff issued a joint statement calling on the ODNI to release more information on election security and foreign election interference. “Today’s statement still treats three actors of differing intent and capability as equal threats to our democratic elections,” they write. According to the ODNI report, While Russia is spreading disinformation about Joe Biden to boost Trump, China and Iran are against the president. According to Pelosi and Schiff the three countries have “different and unequal aims, current actions, and capabilities”: Members of Congress have now been briefed on the specific threats facing the 2020 election, and we have been clear with the Intelligence Community that the American people must be provided with specific information that would allow voters to appraise for themselves the respective threats posed by these foreign actors. Hi there, it’s Maanvi Singh, reporting from the west coast. The Biden campaign’s Tony Blinken, in light of the ODNI report, said: “Donald Trump has publicly and repeatedly invited, emboldened, and even tried to coerce foreign interference in American elections.” From Blinken, who served as deputy secretary of state and deputy national security adviser in the Obama administration, noted: [Trump] urged Russia to hack the emails of his opponent in 2016, sided with Vladimir Putin over his unprecedented violation of American sovereignty that year, publicly called on China to investigate Joe Biden while begging them to help him win re-election, and attempted to blackmail his Ukrainian counterpart into propagating a widely-debunked conspiracy theory about the Vice President -- getting impeached in the process.” Joe Biden, on the other hand, has led the fight against foreign interference for years, and has refused to accept any foreign materials intended to help him in this election - something that Donald Trump and his campaign have repeatedly failed to do. Today so far That’s it from me this week. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog for the next few hours. Here’s where the day stands so far: Negotiations over the next coronavirus relief package fell apart. The White House and congressional Democratic leaders had an unproductive meeting this afternoon, and treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said he would urge Trump to sign executive orders this weekend to extend unemployment benefits and eviction protections. A senior US intelligence official said China is against Trump’s relection while Russia is spreading disinformation about Joe Biden. National Counterintelligence and Security Center director William Evanina said in a new statement that China, Russia and Iran are all working to influence US public opinion in the final months before the presidential election. The new jobs report showed the US economy regained 1.8 million jobs in July. That figure, while promising, represents a steep drop-off from June, indicating the country’s economic recovery from the pandemic will be long and difficult. The US unemployment rate also remains alarmingly high, at 10.2%. New York governor Andrew Cuomo announced all schools would have the option to reopen for the new academic year. Every region in the state has successfully lowered its rate of coronavirus transmission, Cuomo said, so schools have the option to reopen for at least part of the week. But the ultimate decision of how and when to reopen will be made by local leaders and school officials. Maanvi will have more coming up, so stay tuned. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer pledged that Democrats would “not stop fighting” for a coronavirus relief package after negotiations with the White House fell apart. “President Trump & Senator McConnell for months have refused to act and downplayed the threat of COVID,” Schumer said in a tweet. “Now they seem to be walking away from the table. What will it take for Republicans to take COVID seriously? Democrats will not stop fighting for Americans across this country.” But Democrats and Republicans remain trillions of dollars apart on how much the package should cost, so progress on the negotiations seems difficult if not impossible at the moment. Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said Trump would instead sign executive orders on coronvirus relief over the weekend. Trump is now expected to sign executive orders on coronavirus relief over the weekend after negotiation talks between the White House and congressional Democrats deteriorated. Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said the president would sign orders aimed at extending unemployment benefits, renewing the moratorium on evictions and postponing student loan repayment. However, those orders may be vulnerable to legal challenges because Congress, not the president, is meant to approve the allocation of such funds. The orders also may not address many other issues raised by lawmakers, such as aid for state and local governments and funding to help schools reopen. White House urges Trump to sign executive orders on coronavirus relief Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said they would urge Trump to issue executive orders on coronavirus relief after an unproductive meeting with Democratic congressional leaders. Leaving the meeting with Mnuchin and Meadows, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said, “It was a disappointing meeting.” House speaker Nancy Pelosi added, “I’ve told them: come back when you are ready to discuss a higher number.” The Democrats previously said the White House had rejected their offer to compromise on a $2 trillion topline for the relief package. “We did not make any progress today,” Mnuchin told reporters after the meeting. “We discussed the same issues.” Mnuchin said he would recommend to Trump that he sign executive orders on additional unemployment benefits, eviction protections and student loan repayment. “We’re going to take executive orders to try to alleviate some of the pain that people are experiencing,” Meadows said. “This is not a perfect answer, we’ll be the first ones to say that. But it is all that we can do and all the president can do within the confines of his executive power, and we’re going to encourage him to do that.” When asked for a timeline on when Trump would sign the executive orders, Meadows said it would likely happen “over the weekend.” Meadows and Mnuchin said they were open to restarting the talks if a new offer emerges. But for the time being, it appears that legislative negotiations over the next relief package are dead.