Mar 30, 2019

Beto O'Rourke aims to counter Trump's "fear and division" in first stump speech

Gigi Sukin

Beto O'Rourke. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Standing just a short distance from the U.S.-Mexico border, in the first official stump speech of his presidential campaign in downtown El Paso on Saturday, former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke declared his opposition to the nation's "extraordinary, unprecedented concentration of wealth and power and privilege."

Details: In the first of 3 campaign kickoff rallies, O'Rourke said: “For too long in this country, the powerful have maintained their privilege at the expense of the powerless," taking cues from other 2020 Democrats, namely Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.

Though O’Rourke announced his candidacy earlier in March, grandstanding atop tables in 8 different states, he has not been particularly detailed to date about his policy platform. On Saturday, he outlined campaign promises from implementing a new voter rights act to ending gerrymandering and establishing same-day voter registration across the country.

Go deeper: Beto O'Rourke: Everything you need to know about the 2020 candidate

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Coronavirus spreads to more countries, and U.S. ups its case count

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's Health Ministry. Note: China numbers are for the mainland only and U.S. numbers include repatriated citizens.

The novel coronavirus continues to spread to more nations, and the U.S. reports a doubling of its confirmed cases to 34 — while noting those are mostly due to repatriated citizens, emphasizing there's no "community spread" yet in the U.S. Meanwhile, Italy reported its first virus-related death on Friday.

The big picture: COVID-19 has now killed at least 2,359 people and infected more than 77,000 others, mostly in mainland China. New countries to announce infections recently include Israel, Lebanon and Iran.

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Orion Rummler

Wells Fargo agrees to pay $3 billion to settle consumer abuse charges

Clients use an ATM at a Wells Fargo Bank in Los Angeles, Calif. Photo: Ronen Tivony/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Wells Fargo agreed to a pay a combined $3 billion to the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday for opening millions of fake customer accounts between 2002 and 2016, the SEC said in a press release.

The big picture: The fine "is among the largest corporate penalties reached during the Trump administration," the Washington Post reports.

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