10 things you need to know today: May 18, 2020

1. Governors continue push to reopen as COVID-19 deaths near 90,000

Governors are pressing forward with efforts to slowly reopen their economies on Monday as the number of U.S. coronavirus deaths nears 90,000. Texas reported its highest daily increase in coronavirus cases over the weekend, but Gov. Greg Abbott (R) attributed the rise to increased testing. The state plans to announce the second phase of its reopening on Monday. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said Sunday that two more regions in the state were poised to join five that already have started the first phase of reopening. "All of this is a work in progress," said Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) on CNN's State of the Union. "We thought it was a huge risk not to open. But we also know it's a huge risk in opening."

CNN The New York Times

2. Pelosi: Firing of State Department watchdog possibly 'unlawful'

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Sunday that President Trump's firing of the State Department's inspector general, Steve Linick, "could be unlawful" if it was done in retaliation for an investigation he was conducting. "The president has the right to fire any federal employee, but the fact is if it looks like it's in retaliation for something the IG, the inspector general, was investigating, that could be unlawful," Pelosi said on CNN's State of the Union. Trump ousted Linick on Friday. Linick is the fourth internal watchdog Trump has fired since April. Congressional Democrats on Saturday launched investigations into the matter. One official said Linick had been looking into whether Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had a staffer do personal errands for him, including walking his dog and picking up laundry.

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Reuters The Washington Post

3. Sanders says his supporters will vote for Biden 'at the end of the day'

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Sunday said that former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, ultimately would win over people who backed Sanders' presidential campaign. "I think, at the end of the day, they will be voting for Joe Biden," Sanders said on ABC's This Week. Host George Stephanopoulos had asked Sanders to comment on a memo by his former campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, warning that Biden was "falling short" with Sanders' supporters. Sanders said the "vast majority" of his backers viewed President Trump as the "most dangerous president in modern history." Sanders said Biden is starting to make necessary appeals to young voters, working-class people, and minorities, telling them, "Listen, I understand your situation."

The Hill

4. Fed chair says full economic recovery could take 18 months

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Sunday that the full recovery from lockdowns intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus could take until late 2021. "This economy will recover; it may take a while," Powell said on CBS's 60 Minutes. Powell described the crisis as the "biggest shock that the economy's had in living memory." The coronavirus lockdowns have brought much of the economy to a halt, leaving tens of millions of Americans jobless. Powell has urged Congress and the White House to provide more support for individuals and businesses if the pandemic drags on. He said that the economy would recover steadily in the second half of 2020, "assuming that there's not a second wave of the coronavirus."

The New York Times

5. Israel's new government sworn in

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu swore in a new government on Sunday after a three-day delay caused by infighting in his own Likud party. The Knesset, Israel's parliament, approved the unity government, ending more than 500 days of turmoil, after Netanyahu and his election-rival-turned-partner, centrist Benny Gantz, unveiled their appointments for the 36-member Cabinet. Netanyahu and Gantz, a former military chief, announced last month that they would join forces after three inconclusive elections in a year, and form a government together to lead the country through the coronavirus crisis, which has driven up unemployment to 25 percent. Netanyahu will serve as prime minister for 18 months, then Gantz will take over for 18 months.

The Associated Press

6. Trump criticizes Obama after commencement speeches

President Trump on Sunday responded to two virtual commencement speeches by former President Barack Obama, calling Obama "an incompetent president ... Grossly incompetent." Obama delivered his addresses on Saturday to graduating seniors at historically black colleagues and universities, and, in a speech broadcast on major TV networks, to graduating high school seniors nationwide. Obama did not mention Trump by name, but parts of both speeches were widely seen as rebukes of Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. "More than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they're doing," Obama told the college graduates.

The Washington Post The Guardian

7. U.S. military space plane returns to orbit

The U.S. military sent its mystery space plane, the solar-powered X-37B, into orbit on Sunday. The winged spacecraft, launched in a Saturn V rocket, is flown by remote control without a crew and has an extra compartment for experiments, but the duration and purpose of the mission was not disclosed. The launch marked the second for the newly formed Space Force. But the military's reusable space planes had logged a total of 2,865 days in orbit as of Sunday, after a decade of flights. The spacecraft are modeled after the retired space shuttle fleet, although the military craft are just 29 feet long, one-quarter of the size of the old shuttles.

The Associated Press

8. Canadian Snowbirds jet crashes, killing 1

A Canadian Forces Snowbirds plane crashed shortly after takeoff on Sunday, killing one member of the acrobatic jet team and seriously injuring another. The aircraft was following another jet when it veered up, circled the runway, and went into a nosedive, slamming into the front yard of a house and bursting into flames. A public affairs officer, Capt. Jenn Casey, was killed. The pilot of the CT-114 Tutor jet, Capt. Richard MacDougall, was left with injuries that were not considered life-threatening. The Snowbirds team was on a cross-country tour to "lift up Canadians" during the coronavirus crisis, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. "Every day, they represent the very best of Canada," he said.

CBC

9. Judge rejects Shkreli request for prison release

A federal judge has denied disgraced pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli's request for release from prison to spearhead research on coronavirus treatments, The Washington Post reported on Sunday. Shkreli, widely known as "Pharma Bro," was convicted in 2017 of defrauding investors and is serving a seven-year sentence in a low-security Pennsylvania prison. He earlier gained notoriety for hiking the price of an AIDS drug by 5,000 percent. He had argued that efforts to find treatments for COVID-19 were "inadequate" and he was "one of the few executives" with the experience to develop the needed drugs. Probation department officials overseeing his case dismissed his claims as the kind of "delusional self-aggrandizing behavior" that landed him in prison.

The Washington Post

10. Televised golf returns with charity match

Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy defeated Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff in a charity match on Sunday in the first live U.S. golf broadcast since the PGA Tour was suspended March 12 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The TaylorMade Driving Relief skins game, played without fans or media at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida, raised at least $5.5 million for COVID-19 relief. The match remained undecided after 18 holes, and McIlroy, the world No. 1, won a 19th hole closest-to-the-pin challenge to take the final skins, and the win. McIlroy and Johnson played for the American Nurses Foundation, while Fowler and Wolff played for the CCD Foundation. The PGA Tour plans to return on June 11 with the Charles Schwab Challenge in Texas, but the tour won't allow fans for at least a month.

Yahoo Sports PGA Tour