Friday morning news - September 4, 2020

Biden visits Kenosha, Wis., meets with Blake family » Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Thursday—two days after President Trump visited the town. 

Biden spoke briefly and led a community discussion at a local church. 

BIDEN: I think we’ve reached an inflection point in American history. I honest to God believe we have an enormous opportunity now that the screen, the curtain’s been pulled back. 

Biden said he wants to see serious police reform. But he also said “the vast majority of police officers are good, decent,” and honorable people. And he condemned violent protests. 

The gathering included business and civic leaders and at least two representatives of law enforcement. 

Hours earlier, he met with the family of Jacob Blake, the 29-year-old black man seriously injured in a police shooting in Kenosha last month. 

Biden met in private with Blake’s father and his siblings. Blake’s mother Julia Jackson joined by phone, and Jacob Blake also joined the call from his hospital bed. 

Jobless claims ease as Labor Dept. changes tabulation formula » The reported number of Americans filing jobless claims last week fell to the lowest level since the pandemic began pounding the economy. But there’s a catch. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin explains. 

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: The Labor Department says 881,000 people filed for unemployment benefits last week—down from 1.1 million the week before.  

But the latest figure, released Thursday, came as the Labor Department changed the way it tallies unemployment claims. 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced last week that it was adjusting the process to make it more accurate. The agency said the reported number of seasonally adjusted new claims has consistently appeared to be higher than the actual number of people filing claims each week. 

The six-figure drop in new jobless filings is a result of the revised method of counting claims. 

But economist Aneta Markowska told the Wall Street Journal that “Last week’s decrease is a catch up to the improvement that has been happening.” She added that “The labor market is healing,” though the rate of improvement will likely continue to slow. 

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin. 

CDC asks governors to be ready for vaccine by Nov. 1 » The CDC has told states to prepare for a coronavirus vaccine by November 1st.

In a letter to governors, CDC Director Robert Redfield said states will soon  receive permit applications from a company contracted to distribute vaccines. 

Another document sent to states said limited COVID-19 vaccine doses may be available by early November. It urged health officials to work out now which groups to prioritize for a vaccine and take other steps to prepare. 

The nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said the FDA could approve a vaccine before Phase 3 trials are complete, using an emergency use authorization. 

FAUCI: I have been through a number of vaccine trials in which EUAs have ultimately been done. But they’ve been done when there was enough data that you would really feel comfortable that it was safe and effective for the American public. 

And Fauci told Kaiser Health News that is possible with a coronavirus vaccine if officials find that preliminary results are overwhelmingly positive. He said in that case, researchers would have “a moral obligation” to make the vaccine available as soon as possible. 

Democrats have raised concerns that the White House might pressure the FDA to authorize a vaccine before the November election. But FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn vowed this week… 

HAHN: Our decision at FDA will not be made on any other criteria than the science and data associated with these clinical trials. 

Steroids confirmed to help severely ill coronavirus patients » And there was some good news for severely ill COVID-19 patients this week. New studies have confirmed that some cheap, widely available steroids improve survival rates for those patients.

A major medical journal published the pooled results from seven studies. The report found that steroids reduced the risk of death in the first month by about one-third in seriously ill patients who needed extra oxygen.

For some patients, it’s not the illness itself that proves deadly, but rather their body’s overreaction to it. Steroids can help reduce inflammation and counter that risk.

Multiple operations rescue dozens of exploited children » Recent law enforcement operations have rescued dozens of exploited children in several states. WORLD’s Leigh Jones has that story. 

LEIGH JONES, REPORTER: The U.S. Marshals Service announced this week that “Operation Safety Net” in Ohio recovered 25 missing children in its first two weeks, and the sting is ongoing. 

The announcement came roughly one week after the Marshals Service announced another successful operation in Georgia. That sting rescued 13 missing children and another 26 endangered children. Law enforcement officers arrested nine people there on charges including sex trafficking and parental kidnapping. 

And a sting operation in Michigan led to the arrest of 17 people last week after agents located seven endangered children. 

The FBI has reports of more than 400,000 missing children and of those, about 90 percent are considered endangered runaways. Authorities say one in six of those runaways is likely to become the victim of sex trafficking.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Leigh Jones. 

Man accused of fatal shooting during Portland protest reportedly killed by law enforcement » A self-proclaimed member of Antifa accused of killing a Trump supporter in Portland last weekend was reportedly killed last night when law enforcement tried to arrest him. 

The New York Times reported a 48-year-old male suspect died during the encounter in Lacey, Washington, southwest of Seattle as a federal fugitive task force moved in.

The man was accused of fatally shooting Aaron Danielson at a demonstration in Portland on Saturday. 

In June, the suspect posted on Instagram—quote—“I am 100% ANTIFA all the way!” Antifa is a coalition of far left-wing activists, which the Trump administration has blamed for much of the violence during recent protests.

(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks as he meets with members of the community at Grace Lutheran Church in Kenosha, Wis., Thursday, Sept. 3, 2020. 

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