White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow defends Trump's executive actions

CNN

Top White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told CNN that the administration expects states to be able to cover the portion of enhanced unemployment benefits that President Trump ordered through executive action on Saturday. 

If states don’t agree to participate and meet the financial requirement of paying 25% of the $400 amount, then the unemployed in those states will not receive any of the extra assistance.

Kudlow also acknowledged that some people may not receive the full enhanced benefit depending on where they live, he argued most people would get $400 per week on top of normal unemployment insurance.

“We’re talking about averages here,” Kudlow told CNN’s Dana Bash.

“Our estimates from the Treasury Department in terms of the CARES Act one was that states have not spent all the money that was allocated to them,” Kudlow said, referring to the sweeping stimulus package Congress passed in March.

More details: Kudlow said the White House expects states to use what he described as that “considerable overflow” of previous stimulus funding to pay for the unemployment benefit.

Trump’s order requires states to provide $100 of the $400 enhanced benefit, with the federal government providing the remaining $300. Some experts have said states will not be able to use those funds for this unemployment aid since it is a new program not authorized by Congress.

“We will be repurposing funds from other areas” to pay for the federal portion of the benefit, Kudlow said. “Based on our estimates, the states will be able to provide the extra $100."

Kudlow defended the President’s order establishing what the White House had described as an eviction moratorium, but which doesn’t actually provide one.

“We’re setting up a process, a mechanism,” Kudlow said of the order.

He said the executive action establishes a process that will allow the Department of Health and Human Services to flag areas of concerning Covid-19 spread, and within those areas the moratorium could apply more broadly.

“If HHS declares emergencies, then evictions will be stopped,” he said. Kudlow noted people living in federally-financed single family homes will continue to be protected.

President Trump on Saturday signed executive actions that would provide $400 a week in federal enhanced unemployment benefits after lawmakers and the White House were unable to reach an agreement on a coronavirus stimulus relief bill this week.

Trump's chief economic advisor Larry Kudlow and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will appear on CNN at 9 a.m. ET to discuss these developments. Watch the interviews live at the top of this story.

Health care workers at a coronavirus testing site in Miami Beach, Florida on June 24, 2020. CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP

The US is nearing five million cases of coronavirus since the start of the pandemic -- and as experts have highlighted in the past, the true number of infections could be many times higher.

The number means the country holds about a fourth of global cases of the virus and also tops the list with the most reported deaths in the world. More than 162,000 Americans have died.

The pandemic shows no sign of slowing and health officials from coast to coast have urged the use of face masks in public places and pleaded with residents to avoid all kinds of social gatherings until the spread of the virus is under control.

As of this week, five states together hold more than 40% of all US infections: California (with the most cases in the country), Florida, Texas, New York and Georgia.

Read the full story here.

A horrifying moment in the Covid-19 pandemic hit Italy on March 27, 2020, when the civil protection authorities announced that 969 people had died in just 24 hours. In the weeks before that, images of coffins stacked up in church parlors and being driven down the streets of the northern Italian town of Bergamo in a caravan of military trucks poured into the homes of Italians, by then locked down for nearly three weeks.

Now, just four months later, life in Italy, the country US Vice President Mike Pence once said "no one wanted to be like," is nearly back to normal, despite occasional spikes in cases that have been attributed to migrants arriving in the country or living in close quarters.

The death toll has leveled off at just over 35,000, with the number of new reported deaths now less than a dozen most days. The total number of cases now at 250,103 with daily increments in the low hundreds at most.

Nightclubs and schools aren't yet reopened, face masks are mandatory and social distancing is enforced, but summer is in full swing in this country. People are going out for dinner at restaurants, enjoying the summer tradition of an aperitivo on an open square, going on vacation and generally moving forward. It's nothing short of a miracle, especially compared to nations like Brazil and the United States, where the pandemic is still very much out of control.

Read the full story:

At least nine people died in a blaze at a hotel being used to treat Covid-19 patients in Vijayawada, a city in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, on Sunday.

According to Vijayawada city police commissioner B Srinivasulu, the fire first broke out on the ground floor of the makeshift hospital, near the reception area and rapidly spread to the first floor.

The incident took place in the Swarna Palace hotel, which has been converted into a temporary Covid-19 facility by a private hospital, added Srinivasulu.

There were 30 coronavirus patients and 12 medical staff in the facility at the time of the incident, he confirmed.

An initial investigation suggests that the fire occurred due to a short circuit at the reception, but a detailed report is still awaited, Srinivasulu said.

The state of Andhra Pradesh has a total of 217,040 Covid-19 cases including 1,939 deaths, according to data released by India’s health ministry on Sunday morning.

UK Prime Minster Boris Johnson made the comments in the in Mail on Sunday newspaper.  Charlotte Graham - WPA Pool/Getty

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that keeping schools closed across the country is “socially intolerable, economically unsustainable and morally indefensible.”

He added there is a "moral duty" to reopen schools next month for all students despite the continued threat from the coronavirus.

Writing for the Mail on Sunday newspaper, Johnson said it was "crucial" for children's welfare, health and future that they return to the classroom full time. "We can do it -- and we will do it. Social justice demands it."

Most UK schoolchildren have been at home since the government imposed coronavirus lockdown measures in March.

Johnson said time spent out of the classroom could lead to lower educational attainment and have a lasting impact on children's future life chances.

"Most painfully of all, the costs of school closure have fallen disproportionately on the most disadvantaged, the very children who need school the most," he wrote.

Teachers' unions have voiced concerns over the safety of staff and students when schools reopen.

India’s junior minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Heavy Industries, Arjun Ram Meghwal, has tested positive for coronavirus just weeks after promoting a brand of spiced snack called “Bahabhi Ji” papad, which he claimed could ward off the deadly virus.

A video of Meghwal went viral on social media last month where he can be seen holding a packet of the papad product -- a thin, crispy, round flatbread -- made with ingredients such as turmeric, black pepper, cumin and salt.

In the video, he claimed it helped as an immunity booster against coronavirus.

Meghwal's unscientific and bizarre claims were ridiculed by many on Indian social media, with one post jokingly saying, “I have started eating Bahabhi Ji papad, now I don’t need a vaccine."  

As of Sunday morning, India has a total of 2,153,010 coronavirus cases including 43,379 deaths, according to the country's health ministry. 

A sample is collected at a Covid-19 testing site at Minute Maid Park in Houston, on August, 8. David J. Phillip

There were 56,174 new coronavirus cases in the United States in the past 24 hours, According to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.

The US now has at least 4,997,929 confirmed cases of coronavirus, the highest in the world.

There have also been 1,076 new deaths in the past 24 hours, according to Johns Hopkins, bringing the total US death toll to at least 162,423 people.

The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases. 

For updates on the US numbers, follow CNN’s map which refreshes every 15 mins: 

Motorcyclists ride down Main Street during the 80th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota on August 7. Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images

As hundreds of thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts descend on the tiny city of Sturgis, South Dakota, for the 80th Strugis Motorcycle Rally, a medical expert has warned the mass gathering has the potential to be a "super spreader event' that could lead to a large-scale, regional coronavirus outbreak.

Despite the United States having almost 5 million cases of Covid-19, the highest in the world, the huge motorcycle rally is still going ahead as planned. Last year more than 500,000 people attended the annual gathering, this year organizers estimate as many as 250,000 could show up, making it among the largest gatherings worldwide since the beginning of the pandemic.

At the Sturgis Buffalo Chip, a large campground close to the event, the owner, Rod Woodruff, said he's not concerned about the rally.

"Ride free, take risks. That's our motto," he said. "That doesn't mean you don't calculate them. And these people calculate their risks every time they get on a motorcycle."

South Dakota has recorded 9,477 coronavirus cases and 146 deaths as of Saturday, according to the South Dakota Department of Health, far lower than many US states. However, local officials in the area around Strugis, which has a permanent population of around 7,000, have said they are concerned about the potential for the virus to rapidly spread through participants at the 10-day event.

Reiner said he was particularly concerned about what would happen when the rally was over and the participants then headed back to their home states across the US, potentially helping to further spread the highly-infectious coronavirus.

Watch the full interview here: