Feb 8, 2018 - Politics & Policy

Biden: Trump should "obviously" let Mueller interview him

Former Vice President Joe Biden told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell that President Trump should "obviously" allow Special Counsel Robert Mueller to interview him in the ongoing Russia probe:

If the president took the 5th, he is — by definition, in my view — abdicating a responsibility of the presidency of the United States.
— Former Vice President Joe Biden
  • On Trump's attacks against the FBI: "Putin must be sitting behind his desk in the Kremlin going, 'It’s working man.' The rest of the world gets the message that the United States of America’s chief law enforcement agency is not truthful; is not honest; is plotting against him as a deep state — my God."
  • On Trump's military parade: "I think it undercuts everything about our power. We don’t — everybody knows. We don’t have to display — we display our pride. We don’t have to display our power, our physical power, God Almighty. The most powerful nation in the history of the world. I don't know what it is with him."
  • On 2020: "I’m focused on one thing. Electing a Democratic Congress to stop this erosion of our — of the core of who we are. And I’ll look at that a year from now."

Go deeper

Sam Baker, Andrew Witherspoon
19 mins ago - Health

Coronavirus cases rise in 33 states

Data: The COVID Tracking Project, state health departments; Map: Andrew Witherspoon, Sara Wise, Naema Ahmed, Danielle Alberti/Axios

The coronavirus pandemic keeps getting worse, all across the country. Thirty-three states saw their caseloads increase this week, continuing a scary nationwide trend that’s been getting worse since mid-June.

Why it matters: The U.S. is right back in the situation we were afraid of earlier this year, with a rapidly spreading outbreak, strained hospitals, and projections of more than 200,000 deaths by the end of the year.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Axios
Updated 7 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 10 p.m. ET: 12,009,301 — Total deaths: 548,799 — Total recoveries — 6,561,969 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 10 p.m. ET: 3,053,328 — Total deaths: 132,256 — Total recoveries: 953,420 — Total tested: 37,532,612 — Map.
  3. Public health: Houston mayor cancels Republican convention over coronavirus concerns — Deaths are rising in hotspots — Déjà vu sets in as testing issues rise and PPE dwindles.
  4. Travel: United warns employees it may furlough 45% of U.S. workforce — How the pandemic changed mobility habits, by state.
  5. Education: New York City schools will not fully reopen in fall — Harvard and MIT sue Trump administration over rule barring foreign students from online classes.
  6. 🎧 Podcast: A misinformation "infodemic" is here.
Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow
Rashaan Ayesh
10 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

Photo: Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow