(NEW YORK) — Here are today’s In Crisis headlines:
President Biden touts pandemic progress, American Families Plan in address to nation, Congress
Ninety-nine days into his administration, President Joe Biden Wednesday night addressed the nation in what was unofficially his first State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress, albeit with only 200 socially-distanced people in attendance, rather than the usual 1,600. Biden – standing for the first time in U.S. history before a female vice president and House speaker — declared he had “inherited a nation” that was “in crisis,” facing a historic pandemic and economic crisis and still reeling from the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol. The pandemic was one of the first topics Biden addressed, noting that 220 million COVID-19 vaccine doses will have been administered by Thursday. The president also called white supremacy “terrorism,” saying it is “what our intelligence agency has determined to be the most lethal terrorist threat to the homeland today.”
But much of Biden’s speech focused on what he hopes to do over the next year, including addressing gun control and immigration, his enormous infrastructure bill, education and child care plans. The president called for a “once in a generation” investment in families and children, making his case for his newly announced $1.8 trillion American Families Plan. The proposal includes universal preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds, as well as two years of free community college, a national paid leave program, and $800 billion in tax credits for families and workers. Biden also addressed how he planned to pay for the massive investment, reiterating his pledge not to raise taxes on any individual making less than $400,000 a year.
In his 14-minute Republican response, Sen. Tim Scott, the only Black Republican senator, directly addressed racial inequity in the country, saying there’s nowhere that common ground is needed “more desperately,” and he spoke about his personal experiences with racism. Scott also targeted several of Biden’s other top priorities, including infrastructure, pandemic relief and voting reform, as tools being used to pass “liberal wish list” items and divide the country.
Justice Department files federal hate crime charges in death of Ahmaud Arbery
A federal grand jury has charged three white men with hate crimes and attempted kidnapping in the fatal shooting of 25-year-old Black man Ahmaud Arbery in February 2020 while he was jogging on a public street in a Georgia neighborhood. Travis McMichael, 35; Travis’s father, Gregory McMichael, 65; and William “Roddie” Bryan, 51, have each been charged with one count of interference of rights and attempted kidnapping, while the McMichaels were each charged with using, carrying and brandishing a firearm in relation to a crime of violence. All three men were charged in June, 2020 with felony murder, malice murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal contempt to commit a felony in Arbery’s death, and only after video of the shooting publicly surfaced. They each have pleaded not guilty and have been ordered to stand trial later this year. The men declared they pursued Arbery because they felt he matched the description of a person suspected in a series of local thefts.
Feds search Rudy Giuliani’s home and office
Federal investigators on Wednesday morning executed a search warrant at the home and office of attorney Rudy Giuliani, a sign of growing legal scrutiny targeting the former New York City mayor and personal attorney to former President Trump. The warrant was in relation to an ongoing federal probe of Giuliani’s alleged lobbying efforts abroad during the Trump presidency. Federal prosecutors in New York wanted to search Giuliani’s home and office last fall and again after the presidential election, but a former official briefed on the case told ABC News that the Trump Justice Department denied their requests. Giuliani hasn’t commented but his son Andrew called the searches “the continued politicization of the Justice Department,” as well as “disgusting” and “absolutely absurd.”
Weekly unemployment claims continue to trend downward
A pandemic-low 553,000 applications for unemployment were filed in the week ending April 24, according to figures released this morning by the U.S. Labor Department. These numbers represent a continuing downward trend, and are now below the record unemployment levels seen during the pandemic. According to today’s numbers, there are currently 16,319,176 people claiming unemployment through all government programs, which is just over one million fewer than the previous week.
COVID-19 numbers
Here’s the latest data on COVID-19 coronavirus infections, deaths and vaccinations.
Latest reported COVID-19 numbers globally per Johns Hopkins University
Global diagnosed cases: 149,718,851
Global deaths: 3,153,418. The United States has the most deaths of any single country, with 574,330.
Number of countries/regions: at least 192
Total patients recovered globally: 86,971,245
Latest reported COVID-19 numbers in the United States per Johns Hopkins University
There are at least 32,230,809 reported cases in 50 states + the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. This is more than in any other country.
U.S. deaths: at least 574,330. California has the greatest number of reported deaths in the U.S., with 61,587.
U.S. total people tested: 430,722,341
The greatest number of reported COVID-19 cases in the U.S. is in California, with 3,738,327 confirmed cases out of a total state population of 39.51 million. This ranks third in the world after England, which has 3,854,733 cases, and Maharashtra, India, which leads the world with 4,473,394 reported cases. Texas is second in the U.S., with 2,886,830 confirmed cases out of a total state population of 29 million.
Latest reported COVID-19 vaccination numbers in the United States
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports a total of 301,857,885 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been distributed in the U.S. Of those, 234,639,414 doses have been administered, with 142,692,987 people receiving at least one dose and 98,044,421 people fully vaccinated, representing 43% and 29.5% of the total U.S. population, respectively. The Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines each require two doses to be effective. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires a single dose to be effective.
World nears 150 million COVID-19 cases; CDC updates US deaths forecast
The world is poised to surpass yet another grim milestone in the COVID-19 pandemic this week: 150 million reported coronavirus cases. As of Thursday morning, there are 149,718,851 reported global cases, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. At the current rate, that number could surpass 150 million before the end of the day Friday. While cases in India are increasing at an exponential rate, the U.S. continues to lead the world in reported cases and deaths. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s most recent forecast estimates the U.S. will see between 583,000 to 595,000 COVID-19 fatalities by the week ending May 22. As of Thursday morning, that number stands at 574,330, accounting for just over 18% of global fatalities.
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