10 things you need to know today: May 4, 2020

1. Trump 'very confident' of coronavirus vaccine by end of 2020

President Trump on Sunday participated in a virtual town hall with Fox News at the Lincoln Memorial, telling moderators Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum that he is "very confident" that there will be a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year. "We'll have a vaccine much sooner rather than later," he claimed. Some health experts have warned it could take 18 months to have an effective vaccine ready. Trump's comments came after Sir John Bell, an immunologist and the Regius Chair of Medicine at the University of Oxford, said on NBC's Meet the Press that researchers would "get a signal by June" about whether Oxford's highly anticipated coronavirus vaccine works. He said the "prospects are pretty good," but if the vaccine works it will probably not be a one-time vaccine but a seasonal one that requires updates as the virus mutates.

Fox News NBC News

2. Parks, beaches crowded despite social-distancing warnings

Americans flocked to beaches and parks over the weekend, against the advice of public health experts concerned about the spreading of the coronavirus. Dr. Deborah Birx, response coordinator for the White House coronavirus task force, said on Fox News Sunday that it was not safe to go to beaches unless everyone was respecting the social-distancing standard of staying at least six feet apart. She also said it was a bad idea for some states to be allowing businesses such as spas and beauty salons to reopen in the first phase of efforts to resume normal economic activity, adding that it was "devastatingly worrisome" that Michigan lockdown protesters gathering in crowds could spread the virus. The total number of confirmed U.S. coronavirus cases reached nearly 1.2 million, with nearly 70,000 deaths.

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3. Trump pushes back after Bush calls for unity in coronavirus fight

After former President George W. Bush released a video over the weekend calling for unity during the coronavirus crisis, President Trump on Sunday criticized Bush via Twitter. "He was nowhere to be found in speaking up against the greatest Hoax in American history!" Trump wrote, referring to his impeachment. Trump also quoted a Fox News commentator who asked why Bush hadn't urged people to set aside partisanship during the impeachment. Bush had used his video to praise health-care workers and others helping the nation face a "shared threat." "In the final analysis," Bush said, "we are not partisan combatants. We are human beings, equally vulnerable and equally wonderful in the sight of God. We rise or fall together, and we are determined to rise."

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4. Pompeo says there's 'enormous evidence' virus emerged from China lab

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday on ABC's This Week that "there's enormous evidence" that the COVID-19 coronavirus came from a lab in China. President Trump has made the same claim, although U.S. intelligence agencies have said they have seen no evidence to support the theory that the virus somehow escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in the city where the outbreak was first reported. Pompeo also accused the Chinese government of covering up early information about the outbreak. A Department of Homeland Security report viewed by The Associated Press said intelligence officials "intentionally concealed the severity" of the outbreak so that they could stock up on medical supplies before other countries did.

The New York Times The Associated Press

5. Senate reconvenes as House members stay away

The Republican-led Senate reconvenes on Monday while the Democratic-led House remains in recess due to the coronavirus pandemic, reflecting a broader blue-red divide on continuing restrictions to curb the spread of the virus. President Trump welcomed the decision by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to recall the Senate to Washington even though the congressional physician's office warned that it would be impossible to screen all senators for COVID-19. Republican senators said they would push for legislation to protect reopened businesses from liability lawsuits filed by people who might become infected. Democratic leaders have vowed to oppose blanket protections from lawsuits. The potential clash would mark a departure from the bipartisan approval of nearly $3 trillion in emergency bailouts for businesses and families struggling with the economic fallout from the pandemic.

The Washington Post The Guardian

6. Northeast governors team up to buy ventilators, protective gear

The governors of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Delaware announced in a virtual news conference on Sunday that their states would work together to jointly purchase ventilators and protective gear such as masks and gloves needed to respond to the coronavirus crisis. Massachusetts and Rhode Island also will be part of the alliance, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said. The governors said that by working together they would be able to get better prices and avoid getting into bidding wars against each other. "We will buy as a consortium, PPE, medical equipment, ventilators, whatever we need to buy," Cuomo said. In April, the seven states agreed to coordinate their orders to permit businesses and public facilities to open.

The New York Times

7. Biden wins Kansas' mail-in Democratic primary

Former Vice President Joe Biden has won Kansas' mail-in Democratic presidential primary, the state party announced Sunday. Biden, the presumptive nominee, received 77 percent of the ranked-choice vote, earning him 29 of the state's delegates. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has suspended campaigning but was still in the race during the vote, got 23 percent of the vote and earned 10 delegates. Biden now has 1,435 of the 1,991 delegates he needs to officially secure the nomination. More than 400,000 people cast ballots in the state. Only 36,000 people voted in the state's 2016 caucuses, when Sanders beat Hillary Clinton. "We are confident the enthusiasm and engagement seen during the 2020 primary will only continue to grow and translate into Democratic victories up and down the ballot in November," Kansas Democratic Party Chairwoman Vicki Hiatt said in a statement.

The Hill CNN

8. Boris Johnson reveals details of 'tough' coronavirus fight

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson provided details Sunday about his fight with COVID-19, saying there was a point during his stay in intensive care "when it was 50-50 whether they were going to have to put a tube down my windpipe." If he had been intubated, he would have had to be placed in a medically induced coma. "It was a tough old moment, I won't deny it," the 55-year-old Johnson said in an interview with British newspaper The Sun. "They had a strategy to deal with a 'death of Stalin-type' scenario." Johnson credited the doctors and nurses of the United Kingdom National Health Service for his recovery. He added that his fiancée, Carrie Symonds, named their newborn son Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson, in honor of two of Johnson's physicians, Dr. Nick Price and Dr. Nick Hart.

The Sun NPR

9. South Korea says Kim did not have surgery during absence

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "did not undergo surgery" during the three weeks in which he disappeared from public view, a South Korean official said Sunday. Kim's absence provoked intense speculation about his health and whereabouts, with some media outlets even saying he might have died or slipped into a vegetative state after a cardiovascular procedure. Then, on Saturday, photos emerged apparently showing Kim attending a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the completion of work on a fertilizer plant. Shortly after Kim's reported reemergence, North and South Korea exchanged gunfire at the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two countries.

Reuters

10. Pence says he should have worn mask at Mayo Clinic

Vice President Mike Pence said Sunday during a Fox News virtual town hall that he should have worn a face mask in accordance with Mayo Clinic policy during his visit to the facility last week. Pence initially said that he didn't want to wear a mask because he was tested regularly and knew he wasn't infected, after reporters noted that he was the only person without a mask as he met with doctors, nurses, and coronavirus patients. He also responded to criticism by saying he had wanted to look researchers and health-care workers "in the eye" and thank them for their work. On Sunday, he said: "I didn't think it was necessary, but I should have worn a mask at the Mayo Clinic."

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