10 things you need to know today: May 12, 2020

1. White House orders staff to wear masks

The White House on Monday ordered staffers to wear masks at work when not at their desks after two aides tested positive for the coronavirus last week. President Trump, who doesn't wear masks, said at a news conference that he ordered the change. Earlier in the day, Trump tweeted that the fight against the pandemic is looking "much better," with numbers "going down almost everywhere." Contrary to Trump's assertion, infections and deaths rose in some areas, with the total number of U.S. coronavirus deaths surpassing 80,000. Trump also said that the U.S. is testing more people per capita than many countries, including South Korea and the United Kingdom, while ignoring at least two dozen countries, including Germany and Russia, with higher testing rates.

The New York Times Donald J. Trump

2. Justice Department reviews handling of Arbery killing

The Justice Department is examining evidence in the fatal February shooting of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia to determine whether to file federal hate crime charges, DOJ spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said Monday. The department also has asked Georgia's attorney general, who requested a federal review of the actions of prosecutors and police, to provide "any information that he has about the handling of the investigation." Arbery, who was black, was shot while jogging in a southeast Georgia neighborhood. Two white suspects − 64-year-old Gregory McMichael and his 34-year-old son Travis McMichael − were arrested last week on murder and assault charges after a video of the incident was made public. An African-American district attorney from Atlanta has been put in charge of the prosecution.

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CNN The Associated Press

3. Pence urges governors to test all nursing home residents, staff

Vice President Mike Pence, who leads the White House coronavirus task force, told the nation's governors in a Monday videoconference that the White House strongly recommends that they require coronavirus testing of all residents and staff at nursing homes as COVID-19 deaths rise at the facilities. "We really believe that all 1 million nursing home residents need to be tested within the next two weeks as well as the staff," Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, told the governors, according to The Associated Press. More than 26,000 U.S. nursing home and long-term care facility residents and staff have died during the pandemic. The total U.S. death toll surpassed 80,000 on Monday.

The Associated Press

4. Former DOJ employees call for Barr to resign over Flynn case

Nearly 2,000 former Justice Department employees jointly called for Attorney General William Barr to resign over his decision to drop charges against former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. In a letter posted Monday on Medium, former DOJ employees of both Democratic and Republican administrations say Barr "once again assaulted the rule of law." The DOJ last week dropped its criminal case against Flynn after determining in a review that the case was "conducted without any legitimate investigative basis." But this explanation "does not hold up to scrutiny," the Monday letter reads, because "Flynn admitted under oath and in open court that he told material lies to the FBI in violation of longstanding federal law." The letter was organized by the nonprofit group Protect.

Medium CNN

5. Trump ends press coronavirus questions after clash with reporters

President Trump walked out of his own coronavirus news conference on Monday after clashing with two female reporters. Weijia Jiang of CBS asked Trump why he frequently compares U.S. coronavirus testing capacity and death rates with those of other nations when people are dying. Trump responded: "Well, they're losing their lives everywhere in the world, and maybe that's a question you should ask China." Jiang, who was born in China and raised in West Virginia, asked Trump why he told her "specifically" to ask China. Trump replied, "I'm saying it to anybody that would ask a nasty question like that." Trump then stopped CNN's Kaitlan Collins from asking a question, because she had paused to let Jiang follow up. Trump then abruptly walked off.

The Hill

6. Fauci to warn Senate of 'needless' death if states reopen too quickly

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is expected to warn the Senate health committee on Tuesday that if states reopen their economies too fast, Americans will experience "needless suffering and death," The New York Times reports. Fauci and three other top government doctors are scheduled to testify remotely. In an email sent late Monday night, Fauci wrote that the "major message" he hopes to convey to the committee is "if we skip over the checkpoints in the guidelines to 'Open America Again,' then we risk the danger of multiple outbreaks throughout the country. This will not only result in needless suffering and death, but would actually set us back on our quest to return to normal."

The New York Times

7. Putin says Russia to start gradually easing coronavirus lockdown

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Monday that his government was starting to gradually ease its lockdown intended to contain the coronavirus outbreak. The news came after Russia was hit by a surge in new cases that left it with the fourth highest total in the world. Putin said that starting Tuesday he would ease restrictions that had required people to work from home, and forced many businesses to temporarily shut down. Putin said that in the month since the pandemic hit, unemployment had doubled in Russia to 1.4 million. The government will still ban public events and urge people age 65 or older to stay home, while letting industries such as construction and agriculture resume operations.

Reuters

8. Cuomo says N.Y. has turned corner in coronavirus fight

New York, the state hardest hit by the coronavirus outbreak, had just 488 new confirmed COVID-19 cases statewide in the last 24 hours, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said Monday. New hospitalizations also fell to 161, and one-day deaths were also down. Altogether, the numbers amounted to the best day the state had seen since March 19. "That is just about where we started this horrific situation, before we went into the abyss of the COVID virus," Cuomo said in his daily COVID-19 briefing. "We're on the other side of the mountain. It's an exciting new phase, we're all anxious to get back to work." Cuomo said parts of the state that have seen the most improvement could start letting businesses reopen by the end of the week, with regional "control rooms," tracing of people who could have been exposed, and other measures in place to contain the outbreak.

CBS News

9. WHO says coronavirus cases jumped in countries easing lockdowns

The World Health Organization said Monday that coronavirus cases had jumped in countries that eased their stay-at-home orders. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that this indicated the danger of a second wave of infections remained high. "In the Republic of Korea, bars and clubs were shut as a confirmed case led to many contacts being traced," Tedros said during a news conference in the agency's Geneva headquarters. "In Wuhan, China, the first cluster of cases since the lockdown lifted was identified. Germany has also reported an increase in cases since the easing of restrictions." Tedros noted that South Korea, Germany, and China put in place broad testing and tracing systems before reopening, which he said was critical to preventing new outbreaks.

CNBC

10. Tesla tells workers to return to California plant

Tesla on Monday told workers to return to its California electric-car factory in defiance of a local shelter-in-place order designed to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. "We're happy to get back to work and have implemented very detailed plans to help you keep safe as you return," the company said in an email to workers. Tesla on Saturday filed a lawsuit against Alameda County, where the Fremont factory is located, for ordering the factory to remain closed. Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the company was considering moving its California operations to Texas or Nevada due to the dispute. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Monday that California should do whatever it takes to help Tesla reopen.

Reuters