New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday provided his daily coronavirus update from the Javits Convention Center, which opened today as an emergency field hospital.
The governor said both the Javits Center and the USNS Comfort hospital ship, which docked in the city this morning, will serve patients dealing with non-coronavirus medical needs. That should leave New York City hospitals to serve as the frontline of the coronavirus outbreak.
While expressing gratitude for federal support the state has received, Cuomo stressed that the city is not an "anomaly" but rather a "canary in the coal mine" for what the rest of the state and country will soon experience.
"What you see us going through here, you will see happening all across this country," he said.
"Anyone who says this situation is a New York City-only situation is in a state of denial."
All but one county in the state of New York has a confirmed COVID-19 case, he added.
Collaboration has been complicated, however, by the fact that states are competing for the same stock of limited supplies.
"We're competing amongst ourselves. We're driving the prices up. When we started buying ventilators, they were under $20,000. The ventilators are now over $50,000 if you can find them," Cuomo said.
The governor echoed a message from Mayor Bill de Blasio earlier today emphasizing that New York would provide guidance and direct assistance to other areas once they, too, become hot zones.
The state's latest death toll from the virus now stands at 1,218, a jump of about 300 from Sunday. Cuomo said the jump correlates with an increasing number of patients who have died after prolonged periods of ventilators use, suggesting that patients with more serious cases are beginning to succumb to the disease.
In a bit of positive news, Cuomo reported that cases are now doubling at a slower rate than that had been, down from doubling every two days to every six days.
"While the overall number of cases is going up, the rate of doubling is actually down," Cuomo said.
Why do we pretend Supreme Court Justices aren't political appointees? Why are they still given lifetime appointments? John Iadarola, co-host of The Young Turks, and Nick Givas, reporter for the Daily Caller, looked at the court landscape after one of the most partisan confirmation battles in history.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
The Maine Republican, a key swing vote in Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation process, said she would support the nominee in the final vote expected Saturday. Collins, along with Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) who indicated he too would vote along party lines, could be the deciding factors that give Kavanaugh the votes he needs.
Sharyn Tejani, director of the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund, which represents victims of sexual harassment, said the effort in the year since Harvey Weinstein's accusers came forward is unprecedented. "If you had told me at any point in that time that we would have an organization like this one that's focused on low-wage workers and focused on sexual harassment, I would have told you that's simply impossible," she said.
The California Congresswoman sponsored a bill along with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand shortly after the dawn of the #MeToo and Time's Up movements. While some steps have been enacted in the House, Speier says there's been little movement in the Senate. When you watch the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, she said, "you can understand why we're still negotiating on the Senate side."
The Senate had a procedural vote on Friday morning on the Supreme Court nominee and everyone voted along party lines, except two key Senators. Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia voted 'Yes' while Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted 'No.' That sets up a final vote to confirm Kavanaugh's nomination as early as Saturday.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
The FBI's investigation into Prof. Christine Blasey Ford's allegations against Brett Kavanaugh has been completed, reportedly without any major bombshells. And while there is still no real indication on how big swing votes will decide, Reason's Eric Boehm says chances are the Supreme Court nominee will get confirmed. "But I don't think it's a done deal yet," he said.
The actress's mother, Leslie Cockburn, is an award-winning journalist who is turning her focus to the people of Virginia's fifth district. Wilde is hosting a rally at UVA with her fiancé Jason Sudeikis on Oct. 14.
