Nation & World Glance
Trump’s pitch to voters: Trust me, economy will soar in 2021
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has a new pitch to voters for this fall: Trust me.
As the economy faces a once-in-a-century recession, with more than 38 million people out of work, Trump is increasingly talking up a future recovery that probably won’t materialize until after the November election. He’s asking voters to look past the pain being felt across the nation and give him another four-year term on the promise of an economic comeback in 2021.
“It’s a transition to greatness,” Trump says over and over, predicting a burgeoning economy come the fall. “You’re going to see some great numbers in the fourth quarter, and you’re going to end up doing a great year next year.”
His chief economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, echoes the wait-until-nextyear sentiment, holding out hope for a “big bang 2021.”
It’s a delayed-reward tactic Trump was using long before the global pandemic gut-punched the country. He has turned to it with new urgency as the coronavirus has robbed him of the booming economy that was to be the core of his reelection message.
White House imposes coronavirus travel ban on Brazil
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Sunday further limited travel from the world’s coronavirus hotspots by denying entry to foreigners coming from Brazil, which is second to the U.S. in the number of confirmed cases.
Trump had already banned certain travelers from China, Europe, the United Kingdom and Ireland and, to a lesser extent, Iran. He has not moved to ban travel from Russia, which has the world’s third-highest caseload.
Trump had said last week that he was considering limiting travel from Brazil.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany cast the step announced Sunday as another “decisive action to protect our country” by Trump, whose management of the crisis has come under sharp scrutiny.
The U.S. leads the world with more than 1.6 million confirmed coronavirus cases and a death toll that is expected to surpass 100,000 later this week, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
White House goal on testing nursing homes unmet
RICHMOND, Va. — Nearly two weeks ago the White House urged governors to ensure that every nursing home resident and staff member be tested for the coronavirus within 14 days.
It’s not going to happen. A review by The Associated Press found that at least half of the states are not going to meet White House’s deadline and some aren’t even bothering to try.
Only a handful of states, including West Virginia and Rhode Island, have said they’ve already tested every nursing home resident.
Many states said the logistics, costs and manpower needs are too great to test all residents and staff in a two-week window. Some say they need another week or so, while others say they need much more time. California, the most populous state, said it is still working to release a plan that would ensure testing capacity for all residents and staff at skilled nursing facilities statewide.
Slowly, surely, US houses of worship emerge from lockdown
For the first time in two months, there was clapping, singing and fellowship inside Stithton Baptist Church in Radcliff, Kentucky, as members of the congregation returned to the sanctuary for Sunday morning services. There also were masks, hand sanitizer and social distancing.
On a weekend when President Donald Trump declared houses of worship essential and asked governors to reopen them, some congregants around the country headed for their places of worship with numerous precautions in place.
Those services in the U.S. followed a frantic two days in which at least one governor reached an agreement with religious leaders in Minnesota to ease restrictions on inperson services while a federal appeals court upheld another’s continuing shutdown of such services.
For Stithton Baptist, the reopening wasn’t about restrictions, Trump’s declaration or the release of guidelines by the federal Centers for Disease, Control and Prevention for reopening faith organizations.
On May 8, a federal court halted Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s temporary ban on mass gatherings from applying to inperson religious services, clearing the way for Sunday church services, with guidelines. Pastor Denver Copeland said his congregation has been meeting in the church parking lot for drive-in services since March 29 and hasn’t rushed back, even though his sanctuary space meets the 33% occupancy requirement. “We just weren’t ready,” the pastor said. They made their plans to hold in-person services three weeks ago.
Judge rules against Florida on felons paying fines to vote
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Florida law requiring felons to pay legal fees as part of their sentences before regaining the vote is unconstitutional for those unable to pay, or unable to find out how much they owe, a federal judge ruled Sunday.
The 125-page ruling was issued by U.S. District Court Judge Robert Hinkle in Tallahassee. It involves a state law to implement a 2016 ballot measure approved by voters to automatically restore the right to vote for many felons who have completed their sentence. The Republicanled Legislature stipulated that fines and legal fees must be paid as part of the sentence, in addition to serving any prison time.
Hinkle has acknowledged he is unlikely to have the last word in the case, expecting the administration of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to launch an appeal.
The case could have deep ramifications in the crucial electoral battleground given that Florida has an estimated 774,000 disenfranchised felons who are barred because of financial obligations. Many of those felons are African Americans and presumably Democrats, though it’s unclear how that group of Floridians overall would lean politically in an election and how many would vote.
The judge called the Florida rules a “pay to vote” system that are unconstitutional when applied to felons “who are otherwise eligible to vote but are genuinely unable to pay the required amount.”
Baby gorilla badly injured in family skirmish at Seattle zoo
SEATTLE — A baby gorilla was badly injured at a Seattle zoo on Saturday when he was caught in a skirmish between his family group members, zookeepers said.
Animal health experts at the Woodland Park Zoo say little Kitoko was bitten on the head, likely by accident when another gorilla tried to bite his mother, Uzumma. Kitoko sustained a fractured skull and a severe laceration, but zoo officials say the 2-month-old gorilla underwent surgery and may fully recover if he doesn’t develop an infection.
“We are cautiously optimistic for a full recovery and hope to return Kitoko to his mom today,” Dr. Darin Collins, the zoo’s animal health director, said in a prepared statement on Sunday. “Over the next two weeks, we will maintain a close assessment for any signs of infection or bleeding resulting in neurological deficits.”
The gorilla keepers didn’t see the fight between the western lowland gorillas, but security cameras show it happened just before 8 a.m. in the animals’ sleeping den. The zoo keepers noticed the baby’s wound about 10 minutes later, and Kitoko appeared to be nursing and behaving normally afterward.
Kitoko’s family group includes his mother and three other females, as well as his father, the silverback Kwame.