Wednesday morning news - May 6, 2020

White House planning to wind down coronavirus task force » The White House is beginning to wind down its coronavirus task force.  

President Trump told reporters Tuesday…

TRUMP: As far as the task force, Mike Pence in the task force have done a terrific job. But we’re now looking at a little bit of a different form, and that form is safety and opening. And we’ll have a different group probably set up for that. 

But he said key members of the task force will still play important roles in the nation’s coronavirus response.  

Vice President Mike Pence’s office said the plan is to reduce the role of the task force by Memorial Day. 

And Pence said the administration is having conversations—quote—“about what the proper time is for the task force to complete its work and for the ongoing efforts to take place on an agency-by-agency level.” He added that the White House is discussing a transition plan to shift more responsibility to FEMA. 

And he said that’s a reflection of the “tremendous progress we’ve made as a country.”

Fauci to testify Tuesday about coronavirus response » Also on Tuesday, the president said one of the members of the White House task force, infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci will testify on Capitol Hill next Tuesday about the coronavirus response.

He’ll answer questions before the Senate but not the House as Trump said the Democrat-led chamber is only looking to criticize. 

House Democrats complained the White House is impeding their ability to gather information about the pandemic response.

CDC Director Robert Redfield will join Fauci at Tuesday’s Senate hearing. 

Trump reacts to NYT report on COVID-19 projections » President Trump responded Tuesday to new projections from leaked documents reported by The New York Times. 

The numbers suggested the United States could see 3,000 deaths each day by June 1st and eight times as many daily infections as compared to the current rate. 

TRUMP: That’s with no mitigation. We’re doing mitigation. We have a lot of mitigation. We have a lot of mitigation. The fact that they’re out, they’re mitigating. They’re social distancing, they all know that. They’re washing their hands a lot. But we have to get our country open. 

Johns Hopkins University produced the study for FEMA. And school officials said Tuesday that the numbers included in those documents were not intended for official projections.

The university said the study was intended to help prepare for a range of scenarios including the premature relaxation of social distancing.

This week, the University of Washington also recalibrated its projections to account for states rolling back restrictions. Their model now projects nearly 135,000 deaths through the beginning of August, nearly double what it had estimated just one week ago. 

California reopening retail this week » California is among the latest states taking the next step to reopen for business. Governor Gavin Newsom told reporters…

NEWSOM: We are entering the next phase this week, end of the week. With modifications, we will allow retail to start operating across the spectrum. 

Newsom said the state will begin gradually allowing clothing stores, florists, bookstores, and sporting goods shops to open after a nearly seven-week shutdown.

Certain retail businesses could again serve customers starting as early as Friday,  but with curbside pickups and other restrictions. The state will detail the requirements tomorrow. 

But Newsom warned that if the virus begins spreading rapidly, that could force him to reimpose tighter restrictions.

Maryland Democrat returns to Congress to fill seat of late Rep. Elijah Cummings » A Maryland Democrat has rejoined Congress to fill the seat of the late Congressman Elijah Cummings. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more. 

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi swore in Kweisi Mfume on Tuesday. He won a special election last week to fill the vacant seat. Cummings died last October during his 12th term in office.

The 71-year-old Mfume previously served in Congress from 1987 to 1996 before leaving to lead the NAACP.

He will represent a majority-black Baltimore-area district hit hard by the coronavirus.

In brief remarks on the House floor, Mfume said the country is going through “its greatest economic collapse,” citing people who “haven’t had a paycheck in weeks.”

Mfume is expected to be reelected this fall for a full two-year term that would begin in January. 

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci) President Donald Trump speaks to employees after tour of a Honeywell International plant that manufactures personal protective equipment, Tuesday, May 5, 2020, in Phoenix. 

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