August 9 coronavirus news

The state of Florida has reported 6,190 new cases of Covid-19 among Floridians and 77 additional resident deaths on Sunday, according to data from the Florida Department of Health (DOH).   

This marks the thirteenth consecutive day the state has reported more than 6,000 cases in a single day, according to CNN's tally.    

There are now 527,036 cases among residents and 532,806 total cases in the state, which includes out of state residents, DOH reported. Florida has reported 8,186 resident deaths to date, according to DOH data. 

Note: These numbers were released by Florida's public health agency and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project  

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told CNN that Democrats will need to be the ones to make the next move if stimulus talks between the administration and congressional Democrats are to restart. He said Democratic leaders need to accept a lower amount of assistance for state and local governments. 

“Anytime they have another offer to make, they can either call me or I’ll go up and see them,” Mnuchin said. “But they have to compromise.”

“I think we’ve been very clear that they need to come back with a compromise on the state and local from their trillion dollars, and the unemployment benefits, and if so we’ll respond. I think the majority of the other issues, we’ve reached a compromise on,” Mnuchin added at the White House on Sunday. 

In an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Mnuchin said that although governors are asking for money, they do not need $1 trillion.

There are now at least 5,000,603 cases of coronavirus in the US and at least 162,441 people have died in the country from virus, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

The university recorded the first case of coronavirus in the US on Jan. 21. It took the country 99 days to reach 1 million cases on April 28. 

It then took 43 more days to reach 2 million cases on June 10, and another 28 days to surpass 3 million cases on July 8.

Most recently, it took the US only 15 additional days to surpass 4 million cases on July 23. It has taken the US 17 days to go over 5 million cases. 

On Sunday, Iraq’s Ministry of Health reported 2,726 new confirmed cases of coronavirus. This brings the total number of cases in Iraq to 150,115, the health ministry said. 

The health ministry also reported 82 coronavirus-related deaths. That brings the total number of deaths in the country to 5,392.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on CNN this morning that her advisers are telling her that President Trump's proposed executive actions are "absurdly unconstitutional."

Pelosi responded to comments made in an earlier interview on CNN with Larry Kudlow where the Trump economic adviser clarified that the President's proposal to give out-of-work Americans $400 a week is contingent upon states agreeing to provide $100. Kudlow said that the federal government would then kick in the additional $300.

Pelosi said these comments by Kudlow show the "weakness and meagerness in what the President proposed," adding that the states do not have this money.

President Trump’s directive regarding student loans seems to be the one executive action of the four he took Saturday which will deliver the results the administration hopes.

This is the only area of the four, the others being mortgage relief, unemployment aid and a payroll tax holiday, most under control of the Trump Administration and which doesn't need Congressional funding action, state governments or the private sector to fully implement.

The memorandum on student aid Trump signed Saturday directs the Education Department to extend the student loan relief granted in the CARES Act until the end of the year.

Some context: Currently, payments are paused and interest is suspended on federally held student loans until September 30.

Democrats have pushed for extending the relief for another year and making private student loans eligible.

In March, Trump waived student loan interest by executive order and the administration said borrowers could request a deferment on their payments. Congress later codified that policy into law and took it a step further by automatically suspending monthly payments.

Top White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told CNN that the administration expects states to be able to cover the portion of enhanced unemployment benefits that President Trump ordered through executive action on Saturday. 

If states don’t agree to participate and meet the financial requirement of paying 25% of the $400 amount, then the unemployed in those states will not receive any of the extra assistance.

Kudlow also acknowledged that some people may not receive the full enhanced benefit depending on where they live, he argued most people would get $400 per week on top of normal unemployment insurance.

“We’re talking about averages here,” Kudlow told CNN’s Dana Bash.

“Our estimates from the Treasury Department in terms of the CARES Act one was that states have not spent all the money that was allocated to them,” Kudlow said, referring to the sweeping stimulus package Congress passed in March.

More details: Kudlow said the White House expects states to use what he described as that “considerable overflow” of previous stimulus funding to pay for the unemployment benefit.

Trump’s order requires states to provide $100 of the $400 enhanced benefit, with the federal government providing the remaining $300. Some experts have said states will not be able to use those funds for this unemployment aid since it is a new program not authorized by Congress.

“We will be repurposing funds from other areas” to pay for the federal portion of the benefit, Kudlow said. “Based on our estimates, the states will be able to provide the extra $100."

Kudlow defended the President’s order establishing what the White House had described as an eviction moratorium, but which does not actually provide one.

“We’re setting up a process, a mechanism,” Kudlow said of the order.

He said the executive action establishes a process that will allow the Department of Health and Human Services to flag areas of concerning Covid-19 spread, and within those areas the moratorium could apply more broadly.

“If HHS declares emergencies, then evictions will be stopped,” he said. Kudlow noted people living in federally-financed single family homes will continue to be protected.

President Trump on Saturday signed executive actions that would provide $400 a week in federal enhanced unemployment benefits after lawmakers and the White House were unable to reach an agreement on a coronavirus stimulus relief bill this week.

Trump's chief economic advisor Larry Kudlow and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will appear on CNN at 9 a.m. ET to discuss these developments. Watch the interviews live at the top of this story.

The US is nearing five million cases of coronavirus since the start of the pandemic -- and as experts have highlighted in the past, the true number of infections could be many times higher.

The number means the country holds about a fourth of global cases of the virus and also tops the list with the most reported deaths in the world. More than 162,000 Americans have died.

The pandemic shows no sign of slowing and health officials from coast to coast have urged the use of face masks in public places and pleaded with residents to avoid all kinds of social gatherings until the spread of the virus is under control.

As of this week, five states together hold more than 40% of all US infections: California (with the most cases in the country), Florida, Texas, New York and Georgia.

Read the full story here.