10 things you need to know today: August 3, 2020

Birx warns the U.S. is in a "new phase" of widespread coronavirus, two astronauts splash down in SpaceX's new capsule, and more

Debora Birx speaks in Washington
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

1. Birx warns U.S. in 'new phase' of widespread coronavirus crisis

Trump administration coronavirus coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said Sunday that the crisis had entered a "new phase" in the U.S., with the outbreak now "extraordinarily widespread." The U.S. death toll is near 155,000. "It's into the rural as equal urban areas. So everybody who lives in a rural area, you are not immune," Birx said on CNN's State of the Union. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on ABC's This Week that she lacked confidence in Birx. "I think the president has been spreading disinformation about the virus and she is his appointee so, I don't have confidence there, no," Pelosi said. Asked about Pelosi's comment, Birx said she had "tremendous respect for the speaker" but noted: "I have never been called Pollyannish or non-scientific or non-data driven."

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.