Former US Vice President and Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden speaks about COVID-19, known as the Coronavirus, during a press event in Wilmington, Delaware on March 12, 2020. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
Former Vice President Joe Biden focused his televised remarks on coronavirus Thursday on protecting and supporting American workers, emphasizing the importance of accurate and honest information about the spread of COVID-19, and criticizing the Trump administration's handling of the crisis.
Speaking from Delaware, the state he represented in Congress for nearly 40 years, the former vice president criticized President Donald Trump for hollowing out government agencies, presenting guidance contradicting health officials, and failing to act quickly to understand and track the outbreak.
"Unfortunately this virus laid bare the severe shortcomings of the current administration. Public fears are being compounded by a pervasive lack of trust in this president. Fueled by adversarial relationships with the truth that he continues to have," he said.
Biden released his own plan in response to the spread of coronavirus, calling it a roadmap for what to do right now and invited the current administration to follow its guidelines while also slamming the White House for its "severe shortcomings" during the crisis.
"President Trump is welcome to adopt all of it today," he said of the strategy posted to his website, which proposes free testing and treatment, emergency paid leave to individuals affected, and "mounting an effective national emergency response."
The current Democratic primary frontrunner also announced a shift in his campaigning plans going forward, with virtual events replacing upcoming rallies and gatherings. Some U.S. states have already banned large, public gatherings.
Biden's remarks come as Congress, struggling to pass a bipartisan aid package, suspended its recess scheduled for next week. It was revealed the President had met a Brazilian official on Saturday who has since tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Despite this, the president not been tested according to the White House.
The former vice president also hearkened back to his time in the Obama administration and its handling of the Ebola crisis, which struck in 2014, and pointed out the Trump administration's elimination of the office that President Obama relied on during that outbreak.
Though vaccines will take some time, Biden said that therapeutics should be available soon and referenced the 21st Century Cures Act he had championed when it passed during his time in office. The law expedited the testing and approval of experimental medical treatments.
Of the likely economic impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak, the former VP said, "This crisis will hit everyone, but it will hit folks who live paycheck to paycheck the hardest, including working people and seniors, Another tax cut to Google or Goldman or millionaires won't get the job done."
Biden's rival Senator Bernie Sanders delivered his own remarks later in the day on how to respond to the crisis on Thursday afternoon as well, and former candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren delivered her own remarks on the coronavirus weeks ago before she dropped out of the race.
The U.S. is back in negotiations for a nuclear deal with Iran, years after former President Donald Trump withdrew the country from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which had been meant to curtail the Middle Eastern nation's nuclear ambitions. Former State Department senior advisor to the George W. Bush and Trump administrations, Christian Whiton, joined Cheddar News Wrap to discuss. “It appears to be very similar to the original JCPOA, which does put some constraints on Iran's nuclear program, but also has sunset provisions, including some that in the original plan were expected to take effect in 2025," he said. "And so, if we just reenter that plan, really it just buys perhaps a few years of slowing down, stopping, whatever you want to say, Iran's nuclear program."
The U.S. has announced the first of what could be multiple levels of sanctions against Russia after Moscow recognized two regions of Ukraine as independent. This comes as Britain imposes sanctions on five Russian banks and two oligarchs, and Germany freezes the Nord Stream gas pipeline. Terrell Star, a foreign affairs reporter at The Atlantic Council, joins from Kyiv to discuss.
Growing tensions in Ukraine might soon be impacting consumers in the United States. With Russia on an invasion footing in the region, gas prices are predicted to go up 10 to 15 cents a gallon in the next coming weeks, according to Robert Sinclair, spokesperson for AAA. Sinclair joined Cheddar to break down what could happen even further. "We've been seeing prices go up, and there's been nothing that's happened to affect supplies," he said. "But it's something known as the fear tax where just the talk of something that might interfere with supplies leads to prices going up speculatively."
The end of 3G is upon us. On Tuesday, AT&T became the first major provider to disable its 3G services, and T-Mobile and Verizon plan to follow suit later this year. The shutdowns are expected to impact millions of vehicles that use 3G networks for updates, remote connection, and certain emergency and convenience features. Lance Ulanoff, the U.S. Editor-in-Chief of TechRadar, joined Cheddar's Closing Bell to discuss the ramifications of the changeover.
A new report shows nearly 240 former officials in Congress, the White House, and regulatory agencies have changed careers to work in the crypto industry.
President Biden unveiled new economic sanctions on Russia for what he called "the beginning of a Russian invasion". This came one day after Putin sent troops into two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine. Alex Ward, national security reporter for POLITICO, explains what these sanctions might do to the global economy.
U.S. stocks ended today's session sharply lower on the heels of rising geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Melissa Brown, Managing Director of Applied Research at Qontigo, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the U.S. will begin to impose sanctions on Russia, calling recent troop movement into Ukraine an 'invasion.' Biden and other government officials including from the State Department have begun to classify the Russian troop movement as an invasion after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops to two independent Ukrainian areas in an alleged "peacekeeping" mission — which the West considers an act of aggression. Biden said Russia will continue to pay 'an even steeper price' if it continues sending troops into Ukraine. What happens next? Will Putin find a way around these sanctions? Ariel Cohen, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, joins Closing Bell to discuss Biden's remarks, how the West will protect Ukraine since it doesn't belong to NATO, and more.
