Reuters US Domestic News Summary
Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.
Coronavirus records in Florida, Texas and California erode hopes of economic revival
Record-breaking rises in coronavirus cases and deaths in several U.S. states are dimming hopes of a quick economic recovery as data shows shoppers staying out of stores in areas where cases are rising the most. In Arizona, Texas, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, which were among the first states to reopen commerce in May, retail foot traffic now lags elsewhere based on cell phone tracking, data firm Unacast said.
White House reporter tests positive for coronavirus: association
A reporter who attended White House briefings this week has tested positive for the coronavirus, the White House Correspondents' Association said on Thursday, raising further concerns about the health of staff and journalists working in the building. The individual, who wore a mask during press conferences with Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Monday and Wednesday, has no symptoms and spent no additional time at the White house this week, the group said, adding that it was contacting individuals who had been in close contact with the person.
Closing schools 'greater public health risk' than reopening, says top U.S. health official
Keeping schools closed in the coming academic year is a greater risk to children's health than reopening them, even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday. Redfield said the guidelines the CDC has given on operating schools during the pandemic are designed to facilitate their reopening, and he would be "disappointed" if they were used as a rationale to keep them closed.
U.S. could redirect funds to schools that don't close during pandemic: DeVos
The federal government could allow families to use education funding elsewhere if local public schools do not open during the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. education secretary said on Thursday, as the Trump administration sought to pressure states and cities to fully resume in-person classes. "If schools aren't going to reopen, we're not suggesting pulling funding from education but instead allowing families ... (to) take that money and figure out where their kids can get educated if their schools are going to refuse to open," Betsy DeVos told Fox News in an interview.
U.S. military needs to take 'hard look' at Confederacy symbols, base names, top general says
The top U.S. general said on Thursday that the military had to take a "hard look" at symbols of the Confederacy, including the names of bases, and said he had recommended a commission to look at the issue even as President Donald Trump has ruled out renaming military bases that are named for Confederate leaders. Despite Americans more conscious about race issues following the death of African American George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody, Trump has favored keeping the names of 10 military bases from Virginia to Texas that are named for Confederate military leaders.
Ex-Trump lawyer behind bars again after dispute over gag order: attorney
Michael Cohen, U.S. President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, was taken to a federal jail on Thursday after refusing to agree to a gag order as a condition of serving his criminal sentence under home confinement, Cohen's lawyer said. Cohen, 53, was taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, according to his lawyer, Jeffrey Levine. Cohen had been released from a federal prison in upstate New York in May due to concerns over possible exposure to the novel coronavirus.
U.S. State Department OKs possible $23 billion sale of F-35s to Japan
The U.S. State Department said on Thursday it had approved the possible sale of 105 Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets to Japan at an estimated cost of $23 billion. The Japanese request included 63 F-35A and 42 F-35B aircraft, 110 Pratt and Whitney F135 engines, and related equipment, it said, and implementation of the proposed sale, including technical support and training, would take 25 years.
U.S. judge hearing Flynn case asks appeals court to reconsider dismissal
The judge hearing the criminal prosecution against U.S. President Donald Trump's former adviser Michael Flynn on Thursday asked an appeals court to reconsider a recent decision dismissing the case. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan asked the entire U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review the June 24 decision that directed him to drop the Flynn case.
Trump Tower gold doorstep now reflects New York's Black Lives Matter mural
New York's mayor joined activists on Thursday to paint "Black Lives Matter" in giant yellow letters on the city's exclusive Fifth Avenue in front of Trump Tower, once the crown jewel in President Donald Trump's property empire. As doormen at the luxury apartment building's shiny gold doorstep watched, Mayor Bill de Blasio and his wife, along with Reverend Al Sharpton, who eulogized George Floyd in Minneapolis in early June, joined dozens of mask-wearing people pushing paint rollers to create the block-long mural.
U.S. Supreme Court rebuffs Trump's immunity claim, lets prosecutor get financial records
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday firmly rejected President Donald Trump's arguments for sweeping presidential immunity and ruled that a New York prosecutor can obtain his financial records but prevented - at least for now - Democratic-led House of Representatives committees from getting similar documents. The twin 7-2 rulings authored by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts mark another milestone in Trump's tumultuous presidency and in the short term prevent details of his finances from becoming public because lower courts must resolve lingering issues.
