10 things you need to know today: November 19, 2020

1. U.S. COVID-19 death toll reaches 250,000

The nation's COVID-19 death toll surpassed 250,000 on Wednesday and hospitalizations set new records every day this week, nearing 77,000 as of Tuesday. Nationwide, newly confirmed infections jumped by more than 80 percent over the last two weeks, nearing an average of 160,000 per day. Infections are rising in every state. The wave of new cases has prompted governors and mayors across the country to issue mask mandates and new restrictions on public and other gatherings just before Thanksgiving. U.S. hospitals are converting everything from chapels to parking garages into treatment areas to handle surging coronavirus cases. "We are depressed, disheartened, and tired to the bone," said Alison Johnson, director of critical care at Johnson City Medical Center in Tennessee.

The Associated Press

2. Meadows 'can't guarantee' deal to avert December shutdown

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said Wednesday he "can't guarantee" Congress and the White House will be able to reach a deal to prevent a partial government shutdown in mid-December. Unless a new spending bill is approved by Dec. 11, funding for government agencies will run out as the government struggles to confront an explosion of coronavirus cases. Meadows said he remained hopeful that lawmakers and the White House could avert what would be the third shutdown in President Trump's four years in office. One of them lasted more than a month. Lawmakers this week started negotiations but face numerous sticking points, including international aid policy, public health spending, and tribal health care, according to Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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The Washington Post

3. Senate leaves for holiday recess with no talk of COVID-19 relief

Senators headed home a day early on Wednesday for their Thanksgiving recess with COVID-19 relief talks still at an impasse. The last round of coronavirus relief legislation, which included extra unemployment benefits, expired in July. Further provisions, including jobless benefits for those who expend their state unemployment, and pandemic funding for state and local governments, are set to expire at the end of the year. The House passed its own follow-up legislation months ago, but the Senate and White House have not agreed on a relief bill and show no sign of doing so before the year ends. "I just get the sense that Mitch McConnell sees absolutely zero urgency," said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). The Senate will return Nov. 30, just 3 weeks before another recess for the rest of the year.

Politico NBC News

4. Judge says Trump can't use coronavirus as reason to turn away migrant children

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan on Wednesday blocked President Trump's order to bar migrant children from crossing the country's southern border on the grounds that they pose threats to public health. Sullivan ruled that the Trump administration exceeded its authority when it used a March public-health emergency decree from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to seal the border to most migrants, swiftly sending them back to Mexico or Central America without giving immigration authorities time to hear their asylum claims. Homeland Security officials said the policy was justified to prevent possible spreading of the coronavirus. Lee Gelernt, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, said the policy was just a pretext for realizing the Trump administration's goal to "close the border to children and asylum seekers from Central America."

The New York Times

5. Pelosi gets another term as party leader

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday won her party's backing to serve another term in the leadership post, but suggested that it would be her last after nearly two decades in power. Pelosi in 2007 became the first woman to serve as speaker of the House. She defied skeptics by regaining the post in 2018, and consolidated her power to become the leader of the Democrats' opposition to President Trump's agenda. Pelosi made a deal with Democratic rebels two years ago, agreeing to only four more years as leader of House Democrats. In a news conference after the party caucus' leadership elections on Wednesday, she confirmed that she would "abide by those limits" set for the party's leadership and committee chairs.

Politico

6. Fauci: Public could get access to coronavirus vaccine in April

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leading U.S. infectious disease expert, told the USA Today Editorial Board on Wednesday that he expected the general public to start getting access to an approved coronavirus vaccine as early as April. Pfizer on Wednesday said final late-trial data indicated that its vaccine candidate is 95 percent effective, and that it would file an emergency approval application "within days." Fauci said that recent progress on vaccines meant that front-line health workers could get the first doses by the end of December, or early January, with the general population following from April through July. "Then you can start talking about this umbrella or blanket of protection on society that would diminish dramatically the risk of a person being exposed or even being infected," he said.

USA Today

7. NYC to suspend in-person classes as coronavirus infections rise

New York City's public school system — the nation's largest — is temporarily halting in-person classes because the city's coronavirus positivity rate has surpassed three percent, NYC schools chancellor Richard Carrenza announced Wednesday. The policy takes effect Thursday. The system has 1.1 million students, and about 300,000 of them have been attending in-person classes. The city's 1,800 schools closed early in the pandemic and had been open for in-person instruction for less than eight weeks. It was not immediately clear how long the temporary closure would last. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio didn't say whether New York would close indoor dining and other businesses as case counts grew — things European countries have shut down instead of schools — but he said more restrictions to public life "were coming, and coming soon."

The New York Times

8. Apple agrees to $113 million 'batterygate' settlement

Apple on Wednesday agreed to pay $113 million to settle state consumer fraud lawsuits over its practice of slowing down old iPhones to preserve their batteries. Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia investigated the so-called batterygate controversy. Many consumers, frustrated by the slowdown, purchased newer models. "Big Tech must stop manipulating consumers," said Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, whose state helped lead the effort for a settlement. Under the agreement, Apple has committed to being more transparent, but does not admit guilt. The company did not immediately comment on the settlement. In March, the company agreed to pay up to $500 million, or at least $25 per iPhone, to settle claims it intentionally slowed down 2014 to 2016 models.

The Washington Post NPR

9. Giuliani asks judge to overturn Pennsylvania election outcome

Rudy Giuliani, representing President Trump's campaign, on Wednesday asked a federal judge to scrap election results and essentially declare Trump the winner in Pennsylvania, a state President-elect Joe Biden won by about 82,000 votes. Giuliani amended the campaign's court filing for a second time, seeking to reinsert complaints removed Sunday alleging that Trump's observers were not allowed to be close enough to observe the counting of some ballots. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court unanimously rejected that claim Tuesday. Giuliani urged U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann to order the election results "defective" and let state lawmakers "choose Pennsylvania's electors" so Trump would get the state's 20 electoral votes. Loyola Law School professor Justin Levitt said Trump's case is deeply flawed and offers the president no "viable path to overturning the results."

Reuters

10. Report: 39 Afghans killed unlawfully by elite Australian soldiers

Australian elite forces allegedly unlawfully killed 39 Afghan civilians and prisoners in Afghanistan over 11 years, according to results of an Australian Defense Force four-year war-crimes investigation released Thursday. None of the alleged killings occurred in the "heat of battle." Gen. Angus Campbell, chief of the Australian Defense Force, said a "warrior culture" existed among some members of Australia's special forces. The report said some patrol commanders were treated as "demigods" and required junior soldiers to shoot prisoners to get their first kill. The practice was known as "blooding." One incident was referred to as "possibly the most disgraceful episode in Australia's military history," although the details were redacted in the version of the report that was released.

CNN The New York Times