| Senators say leaders from both parties are stopping renewal of small business relief for coronavirus Posted: 16 Apr 2020 03:45 PM PDT  The $350 billion Paycheck Protection Program to aid small businesses is reportedly already used up, and leaders of both parties blame the other for holding up additional funding
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| Biden Stumbles Through Televised Interview on Coronavirus Response: ‘You know, There’s — During World War II, You Know, Where Roosevelt Came Up With A Thing’ Posted: 17 Apr 2020 12:28 PM PDT  Joe Biden on Friday stumbled through an interview on his proposed response to the coronavirus pandemic.Following a long and disjointed introduction, Biden appeared to suggest policy proposals similar to those Franklin D. Roosevelt employed to coordinate manufacturing for the war effort in the 1940's.> BIDEN: "Um, you know, there's a, uh, during World War II, uh, you know, where Roosevelt came up with a thing, uh, that, uh, you know, was totally different than a- than the- it's called, he called it, the, you know, the World War II, he had the war- the the War Production Board." pic.twitter.com/CwFSW2UITD> > -- Eddie Zipperer (@EddieZipperer) April 17, 2020"You know, there's a, uh — during World War II, you know, Roosevelt came up with a thing that uh, you know was totally different than a, than the, you know he called it you know the, World War II, he had the war… the war production board," Biden said.Biden has a history of public speaking gaffes, although the recent frequency of his slip-ups have allegations of cognitive decline from President Trump and his allies. The former vice president's campaign was thrown into further uncertainty with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, which has forced various states to implement mail-in voting for their primaries, and has limited campaign events to virtual platforms.During the height of the outbreak in New York, some Democrats speculated on whether Governor Andrew Cuomo might make a better presidential candidate. Cuomo's favorability ratings shot up in his home state as he dealt with the pandemic, however he has denied that he has any intention of challenging Biden.Meanwhile, Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) dropped out of the race after weeks of speculation following a string of Biden primary victories and endorsed the former vice president several days later. Barack Obama has also endorsed his former running-mate.
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| Rohingya crisis: UN reports surge of deadly fighting in Myanmar Posted: 17 Apr 2020 01:14 PM PDT  At least 32 civilians are said to have died in fighting between the military and ethnic militants.
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| Guatemalan suddenly deported under coronavirus 'emergency' measures readmitted to U.S. Posted: 17 Apr 2020 02:32 PM PDT  Gilmer Barrios' case suggests border agents used the new emergency powers to deport an immigrant who had an open case in U.S. courts and no deportation order.
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| Putin, Xi slam attempts to blame China for late virus response Posted: 16 Apr 2020 11:09 AM PDT  Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday rejected as counterproductive attempts to blame Beijing for delaying informing the world about the coronavirus, the Kremlin said. Putin and Xi spoke after US President Donald Trump's administration berated China for not sharing data more quickly. Washington is also investigating the origins of the coronavirus -- which has killed more than 140,000 people worldwide -- saying it doesn't rule out that the disease came from a laboratory researching bats in Wuhan, China.
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| Jeff Bezos reportedly buys 4th condo in NYC for $16 million and now owns nearly $100 million in property in one building alone Posted: 17 Apr 2020 08:32 AM PDT  The latest purchase would be on top of the $80 million worth of real estate Jeff Bezos already owns in the same New York City building.
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| 11 Modernist Homes for Sale in the U.S. Posted: 17 Apr 2020 11:35 AM PDT |
| After dozens of deportees are positive for coronavirus, U.S. deploys CDC to Guatemala to 'validate' its tests Posted: 16 Apr 2020 09:44 PM PDT  After Guatemalan officials reported more than half of deportees on two flights from the U.S. tested positive for COVID-19, the Trump administration deploys the CDC to 'review' the country's results.
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| Democrats outraise Republicans in competitive Senate races in first quarter Posted: 16 Apr 2020 06:56 AM PDT  Democratic contenders for Republican-held U.S. Senate seats raised more money in early 2020 than their opponents in about half a dozen competitive races, with campaigns amassing cash even as a national health crisis pushed fundraising online. In six states where Republican senators are widely seen as vulnerable in November elections - Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Maine, North Carolina and Montana - Democrats raised more money in all but Iowa during the first quarter, according to campaign disclosures filed by Wednesday night's reporting deadline. Democratic challenger Sara Gideon raised more than twice as much as Senator Susan Collins of Maine.
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| Trump's guidelines for reopening country show it could take a while Posted: 16 Apr 2020 05:05 PM PDT  President Trump announced new federal guidelines on Thursday for the easing of social distancing orders put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus, leaving their implementation and timing up to state governors.
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| Fact check: Black people being targeted in Guangzhou, China, over COVID-19 fears Posted: 16 Apr 2020 07:50 AM PDT  Discrimination against blacks in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, including an incident at McDonald's, has sparked outrage.
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| Coronavirus: China outbreak city Wuhan raises death toll by 50% Posted: 17 Apr 2020 01:52 PM PDT  The revision of Wuhan's toll comes amid growing scepticism over the transparency of China's response.
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| City where coronavirus outbreak began revises death toll, reports 50% increase Posted: 17 Apr 2020 05:41 AM PDT  The city where the coronavirus outbreak began revised its death toll, adding at least a 50% increase to its previous count.
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| Pompeo hopes virus causes global rethink on Huawei Posted: 17 Apr 2020 10:14 AM PDT  US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo voiced hope Friday that countries will find new reason to reject Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei after watching Beijing's handling of the coronavirus outbreak. "I am very confident that... this moment, where the Chinese Communist Party failed to be transparent and open and handle data in an appropriate way, will cause many, many countries to rethink what they were doing with respect to their telecom architecture," Pompeo told Fox Business in an interview. "When Huawei comes knocking to sell them equipment and hardware," Pompeo said, he hoped "that they will have a different prism through which to view that decision."
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| Here's what it sounds like when a contact tracer calls to tell you that you might have been exposed to the coronavirus Posted: 17 Apr 2020 10:38 AM PDT  When a disease detective comes calling, warning you that you might have caught someone else's COVID-19 infection, it sounds like this.
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| Senate fails to provide more coronavirus relief money for small businesses Posted: 16 Apr 2020 10:18 AM PDT  A government loan program for small businesses hit by the coronavirus pandemic is out of funds, and there's disagreement on how to replenish it.
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| UK tells doctors to treat COVID-19 patients without full-length gowns due to shortage: report Posted: 17 Apr 2020 10:33 AM PDT  British healthcare staff have been advised to treat COVID-19 patients without full-length protective gowns due to shortages of equipment, the Guardian newspaper reported on Friday. Health minister Matt Hancock told a committee of lawmakers earlier that Britain was "tight on gowns" but had 55,000 more arriving on Friday and was aiming to get the right equipment where it was needed by the end of this weekend. The Guardian reported that with hospitals across England set to run out of supplies within hours, Public Health England had changed guidelines which stipulated full-length, waterproof surgical gowns should be worn for high-risk hospital procedures.
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| Royal Caribbean, Celebrity halt cruises through June 11; Carnival, Princess cancel through June Posted: 16 Apr 2020 08:51 PM PDT  Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises have extended their sailing suspension through June 11 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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| Some small businesses got $0, while lenders got billions Posted: 17 Apr 2020 02:19 PM PDT  Approximately $6 billion of the $350 billion program went to lender fees, as provided in the legislation.
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| Ilhan Omar unveils bill to cancel rent and mortgage payments amid pandemic Posted: 17 Apr 2020 09:47 AM PDT  Landlords and mortgage holders would be able to have losses covered by the federal government under the legislation * Coronavirus – live US updates * Live global updates * See all our coronavirus coverageThe Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar has unveiled a bill that would cancel rent and mortgage payments for millions of Americans struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic.Under the legislation announced on Friday, landlords and mortgage holders would be able to have losses covered by the federal government. The program would extend for a month beyond the end of the national emergency, which was declared on 13 March, and would be made retroactive to cover April payments.The proposal comes amid an unprecedented housing crisis: 31% of Americans in rental accommodation could not pay rent at the beginning of this month. Millions have lost their jobs since.Federal answers have been limited. The Cares Act stimulus package included $12bn for Department of Housing and Urban Development programs targeting homelessness and rental assistance. But those funds do little to address the needs of millions of Americans who now find themselves on the edge of acute housing insecurity.National housing groups have called for more funding for rental relief. The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates it would cost about $76.1bn over 12 months to provide relief to the 11.5 million people who are already or soon will become severely housing cost-burdened. The group is demanding $100bn in emergency solutions grants towards short-term rental assistance.But many housing advocates are concerned that such assistance would fail to provide the long-term protection needed to prevent mass evictions. A federal eviction moratorium established through the Cares Act extends only through mid-May, prohibiting evictions within properties with federally backed mortgages.Without an enforcement mechanism, or a clear way for tenants to find out if their property is covered, evictions have continued.Omar's bill seeks to tie federal funding to clear renter protections. In order to receive funds, landlords and lenders would be required to follow a set of fair renting and lending practices for five years. These terms would prohibit rent increases, evictions without just cause, discrimination against voucher holders and more. Any owner or mortgagee who breaks the terms would be subject to a fine.Perhaps most ambitiously, the legislation seeks to establish a fund to finance the purchase of private rental properties by not-for-profits, public housing authorities, community land trusts and state and local governments.The legislation was developed with grassroots organizations including People's Action, the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) and PolicyLink. Such groups hope to introduce the kind of solutions they wanted in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.Dianne Enriquez, CPD housing campaign coordinator, said the 2008 crisis wiped out "millions of dollars in generational wealth", particularly in black and brown communities, when people lost their homes."It created a devastation that we have not recovered from in the 12 years since," she said, adding that as a result, "we are now a majority renter nation".In New York, statewide tenant coalition Housing Justice for All is aiming to organize a million renters to withhold rent and compel the governor, Andrew Cuomo, to cancel rent and mortgage payments. Tenants are also organizing in Philadelphia and California, where thousands have pledged to withhold rent on 1 May.Omar's bill proposes "an amazing way to use the federal stimulus package to not just provide direct relief but the long-term transformation of a real-estate market that's based on speculation and private profit to a housing situation that prioritizes homes", said Cea Weaver, campaign coordinator at Housing Justice for All."It provides a pathway to a different ownership structure that doesn't rely on eviction and rent hikes to make money."
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| Venezuela slams US over 'vulgar' central bank funds seizure Posted: 17 Apr 2020 02:56 PM PDT  Venezuela on Friday hit out at the United States over the seizure of $342 million that its central bank had held in an account at Citibank. In a Twitter post, Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza blasted the "vulgar dispossession" of the money "ordered" by the US -- and pointed to "complicity" by the opposition-controlled National Assembly. The US-based assets of Venezuela's central bank are among those that have been frozen under tough sanctions put in place by the government of President Donald Trump.
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| Essential Gifts for Bakers That Go Beyond the Kitchen Posted: 17 Apr 2020 09:00 AM PDT |
| Trump didn't bail out trucking, but he did give 4 truck drivers a mysterious gold key at White House ceremony. Nobody knows why. Posted: 16 Apr 2020 01:07 PM PDT  "We have a little special award," President Donald Trump said. Unfortunately for truck drivers, it was not a bailout.
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| Could Fired Navy Captain Face Charges? Military Justice Experts Weigh In Posted: 16 Apr 2020 03:34 PM PDT  Modly's suggestion that Crozier broke military law came after the former SecNav suggested the captain leaked to the media.
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| American Shipments of Coronavirus Supplies Stranded in China Under Export Restrictions Posted: 16 Apr 2020 08:55 AM PDT  American companies have seen their shipments of coronavirus medical equipment, such as face masks and test kits, stranded in China after the country implemented new export restrictions this month.The shipments of personal protective equipment and other medical equipment currently remain in warehouses in China, unable to obtain the new clearances required to be shipped out of the country.About 1.4 million coronavirus test kits made by Massachusetts-based PerkinElmer are not able to leave the company's Suzhou factory under the new restrictions, according to a State Department document obtained by the Wall Street Journal.The document also noted that Minnesota-based 3M was told by a Shanghai vice mayor that Shanghai "relies on 3M's locally produced N-95 respirators for its Covid-19 prevention efforts and lacks viable alternatives." Lifting the restrictions would require permission from the upper echelons of the Chinese government, the mayor indicated, according to the State Department.General Electric was able to extract its shipment of parts needed to make ventilators after days of negotiations. Other companies, however, have not been able to do the same. Healthcare logistics company Owens & Minor, hospital operator Emory Healthcare, and biotech company Cellex have been unable to ship their medical equipment, which includes N95 face masks, isolation gowns, and coronavirus antibody tests.China's rules governing exports "disrupted established supply chains for medical products just as these products were most needed for the global response to Covid-19," one of the State Department documents said. Beijing has said the rules were meant to ensure quality control of medical products and to prevent necessary items from leaving China"Countries across the world are all hunting for medical supplies, causing a big challenge for China's efforts of quality control and regulation of export," the Chinese Embassy in Washington said.U.S. ambassador to China Terry Branstad said Wednesday that he does not believe China is intentionally blocking exports to the U.S. of medical supplies required to fight the pandemic."Yes, they want to enforce their laws and regulations," the ambassador said. "We're trying to say let's use some common sense in doing this, and if it's Food and Drug Administration approved and companies like 3M have already been shipping these things to the United States, it doesn't make sense to hold them up when we feel confident that it meets the quality requirements that we have."U.S. officials have criticized U.S. dependence on Chinese supply chains for medical products as the coronavirus outbreak has caused shortages of desperately needed medical equipment in hospitals across the country."Unfortunately, like others, we are learning in this crisis that over-dependence on other countries as a source of cheap medical products and supplies has created a strategic vulnerability to our economy," U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said early this month.
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| Africa may see millions of coronavirus cases, tentative WHO forecast shows Posted: 16 Apr 2020 08:46 AM PDT  Coronavirus cases in Africa could shoot up from thousands now to 10 million within three to six months according to very provisional modelling, a regional World Health Organization (WHO) official said on Thursday. The world's poorest continent has seen more than 17,000 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 disease and about 900 deaths so far - relatively little compared to some other regions. "We are concerned that the virus continues to spread geographically, within countries," said Matshidiso Moeti, director for WHO's Africa region, which comprises 46 sub-Saharan nations and Algeria.
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| Chinese and Malaysian ships in South China Sea standoff: Sources Posted: 17 Apr 2020 10:57 AM PDT  A Chinese government survey ship is tagging an exploration vessel operated by Malaysia's state oil company, Petronas, in disputed waters in the South China Sea, three regional security sources said on Friday.
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| 9 retailers selling fabric face masks that are worth buying Posted: 17 Apr 2020 01:49 PM PDT  These are the best cloth face masks from Etsy and other brands including Aplat, Avocado Mattress, Alice and Olivia, Hedley and Bennett and Plover.
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| Nasa to launch first manned mission from US in decade Posted: 17 Apr 2020 02:22 PM PDT  The mission will take place on 27 May using a rocket and spacecraft made by private firm SpaceX.
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| Saudi Arabia executes man who attacked Spanish dance troupe Posted: 16 Apr 2020 06:33 AM PDT  Emad Abdelqawi al-Mansouri stormed the stage and stabbed dancers and a security guard, a court in Riyadh found.
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| EU’s Eastern Virus Hotspot Up in Arms Over Easter Ritual Posted: 16 Apr 2020 12:07 AM PDT |
| The $350 billion paycheck-protection program for small businesses is already out of cash after just 2 weeks Posted: 16 Apr 2020 08:19 AM PDT  The $350 billion Paycheck Protection Program had faced overwhelming demand since its introduction on April 3.
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| 'No blacks': Evicted, harassed and targeted in China for their race amid coronavirus Posted: 16 Apr 2020 12:09 PM PDT  After five Nigerians living in Guangzhou, China, test positive for the coronavirus, a campaign targets all Africans in the city.
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| Iran says 'illegal' U.S. presence in Gulf causes insecurity: IRNA Posted: 17 Apr 2020 12:44 AM PDT  Iran's defense minister on Friday dismissed U.S. reports of harassment by Iranian vessels as "baseless" and said the "illegal and aggressive" American presence in the Gulf was causing insecurity in the region. "What leads to insecurity in the Persian Gulf region is actually the illegal and aggressive presence of the Americans who have come from the other end of the world to our borders and make such baseless claims," Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami told reporters in Tehran, according to IRNA.
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| Democratic super PAC: We will fight Trump in court over ads Posted: 16 Apr 2020 12:02 PM PDT  A leading Democratic super PAC has promised it will tangle in court with President Donald Trump's reelection campaign to keep airing television ads the Republican president is trying to keep off the airwaves. Priorities USA Action chief Guy Cecil said Thursday that his group will intervene as a defendant in a lawsuit that Trump's campaign filed in Wisconsin state court to block a local NBC affiliate from airing one of the super PAC's ads that blasts the president's response to the coronavirus pandemic. "The Trump campaign is trying to railroad a TV station into censorship of ads critical of the president, and we will not let that stand," Cecil said.
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| After outrage over homeless sleeping in parking lot, Vegas now touts tented Covid-19 center Posted: 16 Apr 2020 11:30 AM PDT  Opening of isolation complex comes as number of Covid-19 cases statewide approaches 3,000, with at least 114 deaths * Coronavirus – latest US updates * Coronavirus – latest global updates * See all our coronavirus coverageIn early March, Las Vegas, a city with more than 147,000 hotel rooms, had homeless people sleep on the ground in a parking lot after a local shelter temporarily closed because of coronavirus. Photographs of homeless people lying on the concrete in marked-off squares, with the empty hotels behind them, prompted public condemnation around the world.This week, Vegas touted a new "isolation and quarantine complex" for homeless people, erected in the same city-owned parking lot where homeless people slept on the ground. The complex consists out of a series of tents for homeless people who are sick with coronavirus, but are not sick enough to go to the hospital.The city's official Twitter account sends links about the complex to social media users who share the photographs of homeless people sleeping on the ground and officials are touting the parking lot tents as "a first of its kind facility in the nation".> This emergency shelter has been closed for some time now. A new isolation center, believed to be a first of its kind in the US, opened this week to give anyone who is sick and homeless a safe place to go: https://t.co/IwvIS6xX1J> > — City of Las Vegas (@CityOfLasVegas) April 16, 2020> this emergency shelter has been closed for some time now. A new isolation center, believed to be a first of its kind in the US, opened this week, we hope that you'll look this information over: and reconsider https://t.co/lGm7UgzITE> > — City of Las Vegas (@CityOfLasVegas) April 15, 2020The opening of Las Vegas's "isolation complex" came as Nevada health officials reported the number of diagnosed Covid-19 patients statewide approached 3,000, with at least 114 deaths. And it follows a controversial city council decision last year to crack down on people living outdoors by making sitting, resting or "lodging" on sidewalks a misdemeanor punishable with up to six months in jail or fines of up to $1,000 in most neighborhoods.Photographs from inside Las Vegas's tent complex show rows of beds, in 10 by 10 squares, with short, cloth partitions between them. People who have been diagnosed with coronavirus, and those who only need to quarantine, are put in separate parts of the complex, according to the city.The "isolation complex" is only accessible to those with a medical referral, either for being diagnosed with coronavirus, for having symptoms, or for having been exposed to someone with coronavirus. Homeless people cannot just walk up and get a bed: they are being transported to the complex in an ambulance, a city spokesperson said, as coronavirus testing is done at local homeless shelters.The city has told reporters that lighting, fence screens and security guards at entrances to the "ISO-Q" facility are designed to provide privacy and confidentiality for residents, and that visitors will not be allowed.Erecting tents for sick homeless people in a parking lot cost taxpayers $6m, a city official said. A Las Vegas spokesman told the Guardian that renting empty hotel rooms to house homeless people rather than having them sleep on the ground "wasn't an option"."None of those hotels are open. There's no staffing at any of those hotels. The city doesn't own any hotels," Jace Radke, a senior public information officer for Las Vegas, said.On Twitter, the city said that Clark county, where Las Vegas is based, "did attempt to work with hotel partners but deals were not able to be ironed out".Radke did not answer questions about ongoing attempts to come to an agreement with city hotels, and referred all questions to Clark county, which he said was in charge of the negotiations. A spokesperson for Clark county did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Asked if it would not be safer for homeless people with coronavirus or in quarantine to be sheltered inside real buildings, Radke said, "The city management made a decision to build this ISO-Q facility," and said it best meets the city's specific needs.As of Thursday, the "ISO-Q", which was built to hold 500 people, only has eight people there, Radke said.He added that the reason why Las Vegas's account is "tweeting the things it's tweeted" is because "We like to keep the community informed about what the city is doing."The Associated Press contributed reporting.
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| Coronavirus: Lions nap on road during South African lockdown Posted: 16 Apr 2020 08:42 AM PDT  A pride of lions take advantage of traffic-free roads in Kruger National Park for an afternoon rest.
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| The 10 Most Challenging Puzzles To Try While You Stay Home Posted: 17 Apr 2020 11:58 AM PDT |
| Mexico Central Bank Rebuffs AMLO Request for Surplus Fund Posted: 16 Apr 2020 03:17 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador met central bank Governor Alejandro Diaz de Leon to ask for an advance on the bank's exchange-rate surplus. He returned empty-handed, for now.In a statement, Banxico said that both Lopez Obrador and Diaz de Leon discussed the importance of following the existing procedure and timing regarding the surplus as laid out in the central bank's own regulations.The surplus -- which is scheduled to be paid out in April next year -- may eventually represent a windfall for Mexico's government as it tries to hold its fiscal position amid shocks from an oil slump and the coronavirus."Banxico won't know how much is left over until the end of the year," said New York-based Bank of America economist Carlos Capistran. "It seems appropriate to me that Banxico respects the timing established by the law."Lopez Obrador had said that he would ask about a possible advance payment on that funding in a morning press conference on Thursday. In a tweet after the meeting, the president said that discussions were cordial and that he had reiterated his absolute respect for the central bank's independence.(Adds Capistran quote in fourth paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Pentagon chief pours cold water on theory that coronavirus was released from a Wuhan lab, despite Trump admin investigation Posted: 17 Apr 2020 05:55 AM PDT  Defense Secretary Mark Esper said most theories view the coronavirus as having emerged naturally, despite a government probe into a Wuhan lab.
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| NKorea flouts sanctions through China shipping: UN report Posted: 17 Apr 2020 03:36 PM PDT  The annual report to the UN Security Council by sanctions experts went online and inexplicably disappeared later in the day, with the text itself noting China's reservations about the findings. Publishing photographs, shipping logs and submissions from member-states, the panel said that North Korea had violated the total UN prohibition on exporting coal as well as restrictions on imports of refined petroleum.
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| Black Americans are dying of COVID-19 at a higher rate than anyone else. Why, and can anything be done? Posted: 16 Apr 2020 01:41 PM PDT  The story of the coronavirus in the U.S. shows discrepancies by geography, age, sex and other factors, but one stands out above all: Black Americans are infected with the virus and die from it at disproportionately higher rates than any other group in the country. But it's not enough to admit the problem. There are short-term and long-term solutions to level the field.
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| Exclusive: AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines merger an option as COVID-19 hits industry - minister Posted: 17 Apr 2020 02:24 AM PDT  Merging money-losing state carrier Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB) with budget airline AirAsia Group Bhd is one of the options to "save" them as the COVID-19 crisis batters the industry, Malaysia's second-most senior minister told Reuters on Friday. The pandemic that has killed at least 143,744 people around the world has led to lockdowns in many countries, brought air travel to a virtual halt and left airlines battling for survival. Mohamed Azmin Ali, Malaysia's minister of international trade and industry and the government's designated second-in-command, said deliberations would soon take place on various options to help out the country's airline industry.
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| Sanders says Biden's sexual assault accuser 'has the right to make her claims and get a public hearing' Posted: 16 Apr 2020 07:53 AM PDT  Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has responded to a sexual assault allegation against former Vice President Joe Biden.Last month, Tara Reade, a former assistant to Biden when he was in the Senate, accused Biden of sexual assault during that time. Sanders responded to them for the first time on Thursday, saying Reade "has a right to make her claims and get a public hearing."Sanders was asked about the claims in a Thursday interview with CBS This Morning, partly because Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a prominent Sanders supporter, had recently said the allegations are relevant when it comes to deciding whether to vote for Biden. "I think it's relevant to talk about anything. And I think every woman who feels she has been assaulted has every right in the world to stand up and make her claims," Sanders said. "The public will make their own conclusions about it," Sanders continued, before saying "I just don't know enough about it to comment further."> "I think it's relevant [...] And I think any woman who feels that she was assaulted has every right in the world to stand up and make her claims."> > -Sen. @BernieSanders on sexual assault allegations against VP Biden, via @CBSThisMorning pic.twitter.com/8NM3S7lqUC> > — Cara Korte (@CaraKorte) April 16, 2020Sanders was Biden's top rival in the presidential primary until he suspended his 2020 run last week and endorsed Biden. Biden "firmly believes that women have a right to be heard — and heard respectfully," his campaign said, but maintained Reade's claim is untrue.More stories from theweek.com 5 scathing cartoons about Trump's rush to reopen the economy The new mysteries of coronavirus Why can't you go fishing during the pandemic?
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