Coronavirus pandemic in the US

By Mike Hayes, Meg Wagner and Zamira Rahim, CNN

Updated 10:33 p.m. ET, May 14, 2020
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9:32 a.m. ET, May 14, 2020

Delta will retire its Boeing 777 fleet to save money

From CNN's Pete Muntean

Executives and pilots from Delta Air Lines, Inc. look on at Boeing Field in Seattle as a hangar door opens to reveal the then new Boeing 777-200 LR airplane on February 29, 2008.
Executives and pilots from Delta Air Lines, Inc. look on at Boeing Field in Seattle as a hangar door opens to reveal the then new Boeing 777-200 LR airplane on February 29, 2008. Ted S. Warren/AP

Delta Air Lines says it will retire its Boeing 777 fleet, which includes 18 aircraft, as the effects of the pandemic continue to cause a financial crunch.

The 777s are wide-body aircraft that are often used for long-haul flights. The Boeing aircraft will be replaced by Airbus planes that the airline says are significantly more fuel efficient.

The retirement was already in the works, but will be accelerated, with the aircraft phased out by the end of the year.

9:22 a.m. ET, May 14, 2020

Parts of Universal Orlando's CityWalk reopens today

Some shops and restaurants at Universal Orlando's CityWalk in Florida will reopen today, Universal Orlando announced.

The nightclubs at CityWalk, as well as Blue Man Group and Universal Cinemark, will stay closed.

Visitors will be required to wear masks and their temperatures will be taken when they arrive. Diners and shoppers are encouraged to wash their hands often and keep six feet apart from others.

9:31 a.m. ET, May 14, 2020

President Trump misleads when asked about Wuhan lab funding

From CNN's Betsy Klein and Maegan Vazquez

President Donald Trump listens during a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on May 13.
President Donald Trump listens during a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on May 13. Evan Vucci/AP

President Trump appears to have misled when asked about funding to a Wuhan, China, laboratory during an interview with Fox Business.

Trump claimed the Wuhan lab received funding under the Obama administration and he cut it off.

“As I understand it, before I got here, $7.5 million in 2014. And look, they said they were studying different things that things like that happen. But you know, money was given by the Obama administration early on — I ended it.”

He later added, “Well I took a lot of heat, too. They said oh, we’re studying all sorts of stuff. You saw what happened.”

What we know: That lab, the Wuhan Institute of Virology, worked with American scientist Peter Daszak, who did research via a National Institutes of Health grant, according to CBS. It was partially responsible for remdesivir breakthroughs and had been working on research toward a coronavirus vaccine, Daszak told CBS 60 Minutes.

“The breakthrough drug, remdesivir, that seems to have some impact on Covid-19 was actually tested against the viruses we discovered under our NIH research funding,” Daszak told CBS. 

Per CBS, the grant was “reauthorized and increased by the Trump administration.” And according to Snopes, that NIH grant wasn’t $7.5 million, it was $3.7 million, only a portion of which went to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Trump was asked if it’s possible to continue to have a relationship with China amid its lack of transparency. 

“May be hard to do but that’s okay with me,” he said. 

8:40 a.m. ET, May 14, 2020

New York City could reopen some retail as early as next month, mayor says

From CNN's Adrienne Vogt

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the city is exploring how to reopen some of the retail sector safely by next month.

“We’re looking forward, hopefully as early as next month in June, if the health indicators continue to move in the right direction, we're going to talk about the things that we can start up again with a lot of social distancing, with a lot of precautions in place, where people do not have to gather in tight spaces in large numbers,” the mayor told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota. 

De Blasio said that the city is also talking to restaurant owners on how to reopen safely, possibly with outdoor seating. He cautioned that any decision about reopening schools or holding events with large crowds will be months away. 

“My Plan A is [to] open schools as normal … but only if we can do it safely,” he said.

He also called the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the state's stay-at-home order “dangerous.”

“A governor, a mayor, we're elected by the people to make decisions about health and safety. That's what we do. And for a court to interfere with that is very problematic. The idea of people rushing to gather together in a moment where the coronavirus is still alive and well, that worries me deeply,” de Blasio said. 

De Blasio said that there needs to be more federal stimulus aid for the city and US economy to rebound. The city has lost more than $7 billion so far, and lost revenue alone over the next few years will be $17 billion, he said. 

“Right now, if we don't get a massive infusion of federal support, we cannot go through this recovery. We cannot get our city back on our feet, because we won't be able to pay the basics,” he said. 

Watch more:

9:17 a.m. ET, May 14, 2020

Nearly 3 million Americans filed first-time unemployment claims last week

From CNN’s Anneken Tappe

Nearly 3 million people filed claims for unemployment benefits in the week ended May 9. 

Altogether, more than 36.5 million Americans have sought initial unemployment aid since mid-March.

Continued claims rose to 22.8 million for the week ended May 2, a slight increase from the prior week.

Watch:

8:27 a.m. ET, May 14, 2020

Amazon says it will mass-produce thousands of face shields for medical workers

From CNN’s Brian Fung

Amazon said Thursday it will begin mass-producing hundreds of thousands of protective face shields for medical workers and, eventually, the general public.

The gear allows for plastic shields to snap onto a 3D-printed headpiece. More than 10,000 have been donated to health workers so far, with another 20,000 on the way, Amazon said in a statement.

The face shields are based on a collaboration with 3D printing hobbyists from Washington State, and the design has been approved by the National Institutes of Health, Amazon said. 

The effort reflects how Amazon has sought to bring its massive logistics and supply chain operations to help fight the pandemic. The company has also previously said it is developing coronavirus testing capacity. 

But Amazon has also faced probing questions from policymakers about its safety policies for its own front-line warehouse and delivery employees.

As capacity ramps up, Amazon said, it expects to list the face shields at cost. 

“We are confident we will be able to list them at a significantly lower price – almost a third of the cost – than all other reusable face shields currently available to frontline workers,” wrote Brad Porter, an Amazon executive, in the statement.

8:15 a.m. ET, May 14, 2020

It's just past 5 a.m. in San Francisco and 8 a.m. in New York. Here's what you may have missed

People walk by Nathan's Famous restaurant in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, on May 13.
People walk by Nathan's Famous restaurant in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, on May 13. Stephanie Keith/Getty Images
  • Ousted administration official to testify: Dr. Rick Bright, the former director of the office involved in developing a coronavirus vaccine, will appear before Congress today. Bright is an international expert on vaccines with a lengthy work history in the field.
  • Trump breaks with Fauci: The nation's top infectious disease specialist had expressed concerns about reopening the US too quickly. The President said he "totally" disagreed with Fauci.
  • At least 84,136 people have died in the US from coronavirus: The country has 1,390,764 recorded cases of the disease, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University.
  • Trump says the military could be mobilized for vaccine effort: The President said that once a vaccine was developed, the US military could distribute it, during an interview with Fox Business.
9:39 a.m. ET, May 14, 2020

Trump "totally" disagrees with Fauci on reopening schools

From CNN's Betsy Klein

Jill Evans sorts students' belongings in her kindergarten classroom at Walnut Grove Elementary School in Olathe, Kansas, on May 12. The school closed on March 13, as all Kansas schools were ordered shut to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus and eventually ordered closed for the rest of the school year.
Jill Evans sorts students' belongings in her kindergarten classroom at Walnut Grove Elementary School in Olathe, Kansas, on May 12. The school closed on March 13, as all Kansas schools were ordered shut to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus and eventually ordered closed for the rest of the school year. Charlie Riedel/AP

President Donald Trump has addressed concerns from Dr. Anthony Fauci that coronavirus spikes could turn into outbreaks as the country begins to open.

In an interview with Fox Business, Trump said he “totally” disagreed with the nation's top infectious disease specialist on reopening schools, claiming young people “are very little affected by this,” despite the facts that some young people have become very sick and that can spread the virus to other, more vulnerable people.

"I think that we have to open our schools, young people are very little affected by this. We have to get the schools open, we have to get our country open, we have to open our country. Now we want to do it safely, but we also want to do it as quickly as possible. We can’t keep going on like this, you’re having bedlam already in the streets, we can’t do this, we have to get it open,” he told Fox Business.

Trump claimed that the US could put out the “embers” of additional coronavirus cases.

“You know we’ve learned a lot. We didn’t know anything about it, this is a horrible disease… and we also know how to put it out but we have to open our country, we have no choice," he said. 

The President said that he thinks critics want him to keep the country closed: “Yeah, I do, I think it’s a political thing.”

7:35 a.m. ET, May 14, 2020

Trump says US will mobilize military to help with vaccine distribution

From CNN's Betsy Klein

President Donald Trump suggested the US is mobilizing its military for widespread coronavirus vaccination distribution once there is a vaccine, in an interview with Fox Business.

“I just literally left a meeting. We’re mobilizing our military and other forces, but we’re mobilizing our military on the basis that we do have a vaccine," he said, adding: "You know, it’s a massive job to give this vaccine. Our military is now being mobilized so at the end of the year, we’re going to be able to give it to a lot of people very, very rapidly,” he said.

Trump continued: “Assuming you get it (a vaccine), then you have to distribute it. And unless you’re mobilized and ready you’re not going to be able to do it for a long time. So we’re starting now.”

He said the US is working on the assumption that a vaccine will be ready by the end of the year and that the country would prioritize giving it to vulnerable populations at the outset.

“We have to be able to give it, to use it on most of our population. Now we’ll focus on elderly, we’re going to focus on nursing home and senior citizen centers,” he said.