This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2020/sep/18/donald-trump-joe-biden-minnesota-us-election-coronavirus-covid-live-updates

The article has changed 41 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 26 Version 27
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, supreme court justice and champion of women's rights, dies aged 87 – live Ruth Bader Ginsburg, supreme court justice and champion of women's rights, dies aged 87 – live
(32 minutes later)
Beloved justice, who was a crucial liberal vote on the court, became a legal, cultural and feminist iconBeloved justice, who was a crucial liberal vote on the court, became a legal, cultural and feminist icon
Republican senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, who argued that it would be wrong to confirm a Democratic president’s Supreme Court nominee in the year before a presidential election, now argues that it’s absolutely right to confirm a Republican Supreme Court nominee just 47 days before a presidential election.
This is how McConnell is justifying why the rules are simply different, depending on what benefits Republicans.
Key GOP senators who will face pressure not to vote to confirm Ginsburg’s replacement
Republicans have only a narrow majority in the Senate. Will enough Republicans decide to block the confirmation of a Trump-approved Supreme Court justice so close to the election?
Sen. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski were both on the record as opposing, in theory, confirming a Supreme Court justice at a time that’s too close to the 2020 election.
But they will face tremendous pressure to change course:
And, as NBC’s Katy Tur points out, there is a real electoral cost for any GOP senator who votes against Trump on this key vote.
Trump still does not appear to know Ginsburg has died
Right now he’s talking about negotiating over the price of Boeing planes.
‘An extraordinary champion of justice and equal rights’
Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg: a Video Obituary
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life in PicturesRuth Bader Ginsburg: A Life in Pictures
A powerful collection of images from the trailblazing lawyer and Supreme Court justice’s life.A powerful collection of images from the trailblazing lawyer and Supreme Court justice’s life.
Timeline of Ginsburg’s illness: May, July, SeptemberTimeline of Ginsburg’s illness: May, July, September
My colleague Tom McCarthy has a more in-depth look at the timeline of statements about Ginsburg’s illness before the sudden announcement of her death:My colleague Tom McCarthy has a more in-depth look at the timeline of statements about Ginsburg’s illness before the sudden announcement of her death:
In mid-July, Ginsburg had been admitted to hospital with a fever and chills but was released after about 24 hours, with the court reporting that she was recovering well.In mid-July, Ginsburg had been admitted to hospital with a fever and chills but was released after about 24 hours, with the court reporting that she was recovering well.
After her discharge, Ginsburg announced that she had been undergoing chemotherapy since May to treat cancerous lesions on her liver. A scan on 7 July had revealed “reduction of the liver lesions and no new disease”, she said.After her discharge, Ginsburg announced that she had been undergoing chemotherapy since May to treat cancerous lesions on her liver. A scan on 7 July had revealed “reduction of the liver lesions and no new disease”, she said.
Ginsburg had survived four cancer treatments going back to 1999. She participated in oral arguments in May from a hospital bed while receiving treatments believed at the time to be for a malignant tumor on her pancreas diagnosed in 2019. Ginsburg had announced in January that she was cancer-free.Ginsburg had survived four cancer treatments going back to 1999. She participated in oral arguments in May from a hospital bed while receiving treatments believed at the time to be for a malignant tumor on her pancreas diagnosed in 2019. Ginsburg had announced in January that she was cancer-free.
Reactions to the death of ‘Notorious RBG’ continue to roll inReactions to the death of ‘Notorious RBG’ continue to roll in
NBC: Trump, onstage, still hasn’t been told about Ginsburg’s deathNBC: Trump, onstage, still hasn’t been told about Ginsburg’s death
Before Ginsburg’s death, Murkowski said she would not confirm a replacementBefore Ginsburg’s death, Murkowski said she would not confirm a replacement
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is a key swing vote in the Republican- controlled senate.Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is a key swing vote in the Republican- controlled senate.
Hillary Clinton, others React to Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s DeathHillary Clinton, others React to Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Death
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death just over six weeks before Election Day is likely to set off a heated battle over whether President Donald Trump should nominate, and the Republican-led Senate should confirm, her replacement, or if the seat should remain vacant until the outcome of his race against Democrat Joe Biden is known, the Associated Press reports.Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death just over six weeks before Election Day is likely to set off a heated battle over whether President Donald Trump should nominate, and the Republican-led Senate should confirm, her replacement, or if the seat should remain vacant until the outcome of his race against Democrat Joe Biden is known, the Associated Press reports.
Ginsburg spent her final years on the bench as the unquestioned leader of the court’s liberal wing and became something of a rock star to her admirers. Young women especially seemed to embrace the court’s Jewish grandmother, affectionately calling her the Notorious RBG, for her defense of the rights of women and minorities, and the strength and resilience she displayed in the face of personal loss and health crises.Ginsburg spent her final years on the bench as the unquestioned leader of the court’s liberal wing and became something of a rock star to her admirers. Young women especially seemed to embrace the court’s Jewish grandmother, affectionately calling her the Notorious RBG, for her defense of the rights of women and minorities, and the strength and resilience she displayed in the face of personal loss and health crises.
She resisted calls by liberals to retire during Barack Obama’s presidency at a time when Democrats held the Senate and a replacement with similar views could have been confirmed. Instead, Trump will almost certainly try to push Ginsburg’s successor through the Republican-controlled Senate — and move the conservative court even more to the right.She resisted calls by liberals to retire during Barack Obama’s presidency at a time when Democrats held the Senate and a replacement with similar views could have been confirmed. Instead, Trump will almost certainly try to push Ginsburg’s successor through the Republican-controlled Senate — and move the conservative court even more to the right.
When Justice Antonin Scalia died in 2016, also an election year, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to act on Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to fill the opening. The seat remained vacant until after Trump’s surprising presidential victory. McConnell has said he would move to confirm a Trump nominee if there were a vacancy this year.When Justice Antonin Scalia died in 2016, also an election year, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to act on Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to fill the opening. The seat remained vacant until after Trump’s surprising presidential victory. McConnell has said he would move to confirm a Trump nominee if there were a vacancy this year.
Reached by phone late Friday, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, declined to disclose any plans. He said a statement would be forthcoming.Reached by phone late Friday, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, declined to disclose any plans. He said a statement would be forthcoming.
Supreme Court press release on Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death
“Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died this evening surrounded by her family at her home in Washington, D.C., due to complications of metastatic pancreas cancer. She was 87 years old. Justice Ginsburg was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Clinton in 1993. She was the second woman appointed to the Court and served more than 27 years...
Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. said of Justice Ginsburg: “Our Nation has lost a jurist of historic stature. We at the Supreme Court have lost a cherished colleague. Today we mourn, but with confidence that future generations will remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg as we knew her -- a tireless and resolute champion of justice.”
Justice Ginsburg was born in Brooklyn, New York, March 15, 1933. She married Martin D. Ginsburg in 1954. She received her B.A. from Cornell University, attended Harvard Law School, and received her LL.B. from Columbia Law School. She served as a law clerk to the Honorable Edmund L. Palmieri, Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, from 1959–1961. From 1961–1963, she was a research associate and then associate director of the Columbia Law School Project on International Procedure. She was a Professor of Law at Rutgers University School of Law from 1963–1972, and Columbia Law School from 1972–1980, and a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in Stanford, California from 1977–1978.
In 1971, she was instrumental in launching the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, and served as the ACLU’s General Counsel from 1973–1980, and on the National Board of Directors from 1974–1980. She was appointed a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1980. During her more than 40 years as a Judge and a Justice, she was served by 159 law clerks.
While on the Court, the Justice authored My Own Words (2016), a compilation of her speeches and writings.
A private interment service will be held at Arlington National Cemetery.”
Will Trump react on live TV to Ginsburg’s death?
Trump is currently speaking to a campaign rally in Minnesota, and has been speaking since just before the news of Ginsburg’s death was made public just minutes ago. It’s not clear what the president might know or not know about Ginsburg’s death, or whether he might react to the news of Ginsburg’s death in real time, while on live television.
He’s now talking about his list of potential Supreme Court nominees, including Ted Cruz.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a beloved justice and a crucial liberal vote on the supreme court, died this evening from complications of pancreatic cancer, the supreme court just announced in a news release. She was 87 years old.
National Public Radio reports that one of Ginsburg’s final messages was a statement dictated to her granddaughter: “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”
Trump now has the power to nominate a replacement for Ginsburg, and the Republican-controlled Senate to confirm a replacement.
When conservative supreme court justice Antonin Scalia died in the last year of Barack Obama’s last presidential term in 2016, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell blocked Obama from confirming a replacement for months, arguing that the appropriate choice was to wait for the voters to choose a new president.
McConnell, who still controls the senate, is not expected to apply that standard now that it would disadvantage Republicans, even though the election is in weeks, rather than months.
Trump leads campaign crowd in booing Somali refugees
More than 50,000 people in Minnesota report Somali ancestry, the most of any state. The state’s Somali community has been there for thirty years.
Trump opened his campaign rally in Bemidji, Minnesota, by talking about Somali refugees as a threat, encouraging the crowd to boo the idea of more Somali Americans in their state, and celebrating the accomplishment that “just today we deported dozens of Somali refugees.”
“Sleepy Joe will turn Minnesota into a refugee camp,” Trump said.
New York City’s school reopening is a mess. So is the NYC mayor’s leadership.
A new report from the New York Times highlights yet another example of the dysfunction of New York City mayor Bill de Blasio.
CDC director pulled strings to get a Nevada Trump supporter a scarce COVID test
In early March, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention personally called the chief medical officer of Nevada to arrange a Covid-19 test for Adam Laxalt, a prominent Nevada Republican politician, National Rifle Association ally, and Trump supporter, the Reno Gazette-Journal reports.
Laxalt “believed he was exposed to the coronavirus while attending the Conservative Political Action Conference”, but he was not showing any symptoms at the time, so he could not get approved for a test through normal channels, the paper reported.
In 2017, Trump tossed rolls of paper towels into the crowd of people at a disaster relief distribution center in Puerto Rico, which was still reeling from the devastation of Hurricane Maria. In 2019, he told Republican lawmakers that he thought Puerto Rico had already received too much aid compared with Texas and Florida, and he did not want to give any more.
Earlier today, just weeks before election day, Trump announced a $13bn aid package to help Puerto Rico rebuild, in what is being widely reported as a transparent bid to pick up more support in Florida, where hurricane refugees are now considered a vital voting bloc in a state where just tens of thousands of voters could make a crucial difference.
Trump himself said as much today.
So did Biden’s Latino adviser, who called the aid package a “desperate political stunt”.
For a Democratic candidate, Biden is getting record support from white voters
A new poll finds that Joe Biden has support from 49% of white voters. That would be a record: the majority of white voters vote Republican, and exit poll data shows that going back to 1972, Democrats have never gotten more than 47% of the white vote, and it’s sometimes dropped into the 30s.
But the poll, from NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist, also has what NPR reporter Domenico Montanaro calls a “warning sign” for Biden: his support among voters of color in the poll is much lower than the support Hillary Clinton received in 2016.
Biden leads Trump only 60% to 34% with nonwhite voters, “a smaller margin than the 74% to 21% Democrat Hillary Clinton won with them in 2016”, Montanaro notes.
Read the full NPR story here.
Poll finds Biden has lead over Trump among both registered and likely voters
This is Lois Beckett in the Guardian’s Los Angeles bureau picking up live political coverage for this evening.
A new poll finds that Biden has a 52% to 43% lead over Trump among likely voters, as well as a substantial lead among registered voters. (The poll’s margin of error among likely voters is +/- 4.3 percentage points.)
The NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll focused for the first time on a subset of “likely voters,” those actually most likely to cast a ballot, as well as surveying a sample of people registered to vote.
That’s it from me today. The Guardian’s west coast team will take over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reversed its widely criticized recommendation on coronavirus testing. The CDC said today that anyone who has had contact with someone who tested positive for the virus should receive a test, virtually reinstating the agency’s previous recommendation. The announcement came one day after after the New York Times reported that CDC scientists did not write the altered August guideline and actively raised objections to it.
The Trump administration will ban downloads of TikTok and WeChat starting Sunday. US intelligence officials have warned the Chinese apps pose a national security threat. Normal use of the TikTok app is expected to be blocked starting 12 November.
Trump and Biden are both campaigning today in Minnesota, as early voting begins in the state. Biden delivered a speech at a union training center in Duluth, once again criticizing Trump by characterizing the presidential election as a race of “Park Avenue versus Scranton”. Trump will speak at a campaign rally in Bemidji this evening.
Trump announced his administration would send $13bn in aid to Puerto Rico, as the island continues to recover from Hurricane Maria. A reporter asked the president at his press conference why the administration was sending the aid now, when the hurricane struck in 2017. Trump insisted it was because his administration had been working on the plan for a while, dodging a question about whether it was related to Puerto Rican voters in the crucial swing state of Florida.
A firefighter died battling the wildfire in California’s San Bernardino national forest, the US Forest Service said today. The devastating wildfires have already killed at least three dozen people and destroyed thousands of homes.
The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.