Michigan Dem lawmaker describes how Trump's boosting of hydroxychloroquine 'saved my life'

A Democratic Michigan state lawmaker has credited President Trump's publicizing of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine with saving her life after her health "plummeted" when she contracted coronavirus.
State Rep. Karen Whitsett of Detroit told "The Ingraham Angle" on Monday that if it wasn't for Trump pushing the drug through the Food and Drug Administration's approval process for off-label use and touting it repeatedly during his daily press briefings, she may not have made it through the terrible contagion.
"I really want to say that you have to give this an opportunity," she said. "For me, it saved my life. I only can go by what it is that I have gone through and what my story is, and I can't speak for anyone else. So that's not what I'm trying to do here. I'm only speaking for myself."
Whitsett said she went into home quarantine on March 12 -- the she day she last attended a session at the State House in Lansing -- and her health quickly deteriorated over the following week.
"It took the longest [time] for me to actually be able to get an appointment and getting with my doctor, which was the 18th of March, and then actually getting the COVID test," she said, adding that at first, she thought she had only contracted a bout of pneumonia and was put on the popular anti-viral drug amoxicillin.
On March 31, Whitsett continued, she tested positive for coronavirus and her well-being "just plummeted".
"It went from the headaches being severe to fluid building up in my lungs, to sweats breaking out to the cough and my breathing being labored," she said. "It all happened in a matter of hours."
When Whitsett did make it to the hospital, she found out about a state order prohibiting the use of hydroxychloroquine. The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, under Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, had issued the order, only for the governor to retract it several days later.
"I did have a difficult time, even that day, obtaining the medication because of an order that was put down in my state," said Whitsett. "And it was on that day so you can imagine how terrified I was that I had to beg and plead and go through a whole lot to try to get the medication."
Whitsett says that she has chronic Lyme disease and had heard of hydroxychloroquine but would not have thought of it as a potential coronavirus treatment if not for Trump's briefings.
"If President Trump had not talked about this it wouldn't have been something that would be accessible for anyone to be able to get right now," she said, adding that within a few hours of taking her prescription, she was feeling much better.

Trump hints that he may get involved in Navy episode as Modly issues apology

President Trump on Monday said at a press conference that he might get involved in the public crisis playing out in the Navy after an aircraft carrier commander was ousted after raising the alarm about a coronavirus outbreak on the ship in a leaked letter.
Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly appeared to worsen the situation when he gave a surprise speech to sailors on the USS Theodore Roosevelt and called ousted Captain Brett Cozier "too naïve or too stupid" to be a commanding officer of a ship like this, Reuters reported.
Modly later issued an apology to the Navy and Crozier and said, "Let me be clear, I do not think Captain Brett Cozier is naive nor stupid. I think, and always believed him to be the opposite. We pick our carrier commanding officers with great care. Captain Crozier is smart and passionate."
Modly said he wanted to apologize for any "confusion this choice of words may have caused."
Trump told a press conference that he is good at "settling arguments." Trump said Cozier  should have resisted sending the letter but he did not want to destroy "somebody for having a bad day," the report said.
Several Democrats in Congress are calling for Modly to be fired following the speech in which he admonished the ship's former commander for expressing concerns over the coronavirus in a strongly worded letter that was leaked to the media.
Virginia Rep. Elaine Luria, a Navy veteran and member of the House Armed Services Committee, called for Defense Secretary Mark Esper to fire Modly for his remarks about Capt. Brett Crozier, who he called “too naïve or too stupid” to lead the carrier.
"TR Sailors are on the frontlines of this pandemic and of our nation’s defense in the Pacific," Luria tweeted Monday. "Acting @SECNAV remarks to the crew show that he is in no way fit to lead our Navy through this trying time.@EsperDoD should immediately fire him."
Modly is facing a wave of criticism after he accused Crozier of "betrayal" for his letter warning that the coronavirus had created a dire situation on the ship, which is now docked in Guam. Modly apologized for his remarks Monday night, saying, "Let me be clear, I do not think Captain Brett Crozier is naïve nor stupid."
Last week The San Francisco Chronicle published the letter in which Crozier pleaded for help to contain the virus, which has infected at least 155 sailors aboard the ship, including himself.
He was relieved of his command last week after defense officials said he went outside the chain of command. Crew members cheered him as he departed the carrier.
"I did not come to this decision lightly," Modly said of his decision. "I have no doubt in my mind [Capt.] Crozier did what he thought was in the best interest [of] the safety and well being of his crew. Unfortunately, he did the opposite."
Many Democrats argued Crozier was looking out for the health and safety of his crew and was being punished for the Navy's muzzled response. Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, a Marine veteran, also called for Modly to be sacked over his remarks.
"Modly should be removed unceremoniously for these shocking remarks — especially after failing to protect sailors safety and health. He has betrayed their trust," Blumenthal tweeted, while also calling for a Department of Defense Inspector General investigation.
California Rep. Ted Lieu, who is a colonel in the Air Force Reserve, called Modly a "hypocrite" after his speech was leaked while saying he wasn't fit to lead the Navy.
Texas Rep. Filemon Vela plainly said: "Modly needs to RESIGN!"
In a statement, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine called Modly's comments "inappropriate and beneath the office of the Secretary of the Navy."
"It’s deeply disappointing that he would deliver a speech on board a U.S. aircraft carrier suggesting that Captain Crozier might be ‘stupid’ and bashing the media for trying to report the truth," he said. "These dedicated sailors deserve better from their leadership.”
President Trump backed Modly's decision over the weekend, saying Crozier "shouldn’t be talking that way in a letter. I thought it was terrible what he did."
Fox News' Edmund DeMarche, Danielle Wallace and Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.

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Governors plead for food stamp flexibility amid pandemic

PHOENIX (AP) — Yvonne Knight, who has respiratory problems that make her especially vulnerable in the coronavirus pandemic, can’t buy groceries online with her food stamps — even though each trip to the store is now a risky endeavor.

Going out to buy food terrifies the 38-year-old woman with cerebral palsy, but she is one of millions of people who receive food aid through the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that can’t be used in flexible ways.

“Every time I go out, I put myself at risk — and other people,” said Knight, who lives in Erie, Pennsylvania. “I’m so terrified when people come up to me now. I don’t want to go out to the store.”

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Buying groceries online — which many Americans are doing to drastically reduce how often they leave their homes — is only open to SNAP recipients in six U.S. states, and Pennsylvania is not one of them.

Now, state governments and food security activists across the country are imploring the U.S. Department of Agriculture to make the program more flexible and easier to access at a time when so many people are losing their jobs and turning to the government for support.

The calls have even come from conservative states where lawmakers have tried to reduce or limit food aid.

In Arizona, Republican Gov. Doug Ducey has asked the agency to waive interview requirements for applicants, allow families to purchase hot meals, waive work requirements for some and enact other changes that would help families deal with the economic fallout of the pandemic.

Ashley St. Thomas, the public policy manager for the Arizona Food Bank Network, lauded the governor’s request, adding that relaxing requirements that program recipients prove they are working at least some hours each month is “critical right now” — especially as millions get laid off and jobs dry up for people who work in the informal or gig economies.

Amanda Siebe, a 35-year-old who lives in Hillsboro, Oregon, suffers from a chronic pain condition and has a compromised immune system, so she tries to avoid leaving the house.

But she struggles to stretch her SNAP benefit — $194 a month — in normal times, and she would love to have more cash now to be able to buy larger food quantities to limit grocery trips.

“We need food that will not only last the whole month but give us a little bit to stock up so we can get ahead without having to worry what’s gonna happen in the future,” Siebe said. “Especially because the majority of us cannot leave the house very often.”

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For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and can lead to death — meaning those people need to take special precautions.

The increased need for food aid and calls to make it more flexible come directly on the heels of a stalled Trump administration attempt to purge an estimated 700,000 people from SNAP rolls. The changes would have taken away states’ ability to waive a rule that able-bodied adults without dependents show a certain number of hours worked per month. A court blocked the changes, and the USDA vowed to appeal.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue now says he’s undecided and notes that the congressional virus relief package contains a blanket waiver on the work requirement — though the agency seems likely to revisit the issue in calmer times.

For now, with large parts of the economy shuttered, state governments are clamoring to expand the recipient ranks and cut the red tape.

In Pennsylvania, where Knight lives, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday asked the agency to waive several requirements. He urged the federal government to expand a pilot program launched in New York and Washington state that allows people to use their debit-style benefit cards to order online groceries. Amazon and Walmart now accept SNAP payments online in Iowa, Nebraska, Oregon, Washington and New York, where ShopRite also accepts the payments. In Alabama, Wright’s Markets, Inc. accepts the online payments.

In Missouri, the state’s social services department requested and was granted waivers to extend SNAP certifications by six months so that people won’t be kicked out of the program during the pandemic.

Food security advocates recommend the government go further, giving states blanket latitude to adjust their programs.

That would allow states to expand their beneficiary ranks with minimal paperwork, said Ellen Vollinger, legal director for the Food Research and Action Center.

“One can imagine a set of waivers that are so common that every state would benefit,” she said.

Among the specific changes she recommends: eliminating the personal interview that precedes a recipient’s entry into the program — as Arizona’s governor requested — and allowing a recipient’s status in the program to automatically renew without paperwork.

The built-in flexibility of the program has proved vital in natural disasters that devastated individual cities or regions — and activists argue that SNAP benefits could be one of the core instruments used to help Americans endure a pandemic hitting the whole country at once.

“The benefits turn over quickly in the economy. They get spent,” Vollinger said.

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Khalil reported from Washington. Associated Press journalists Summer Ballentine in Columbia, Missouri; Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Brian Witte in Annapolis, Maryland; Melinda Deslatte in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina; Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine; John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas; Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska; and Jim Anderson in Denver contributed to this report.

US, UK brace for soaring death tolls as pandemic bears down

LONDON (AP) — The United States and Britain braced for one of their darkest weeks in living memory on Monday as the social and financial toll of the coronavirus pandemic deepened. Italy, Spain and France saw signs that they are flattening the pandemic curve, but still reported hundreds of people dying each day.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was infected last month, was hospitalized overnight in what his office described as a “precautionary step,” after persistent symptoms. The 55-year-old Conservative leader, who has had a fever for days, is the first known head of government to fall ill with the disease.

He remained in charge of the government and was awaiting test results Monday.

“(I’m) sure this is very frustrating for him ... (but) nonetheless he’s still very much in charge,” Housing and Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick told the BBC. Still, Jenrick did not rule out a more prolonged stay in the hospital for Johnson.

Some hard-hit European areas were seeing glimmers of hope — deaths and new infections appeared to be slowing in Spain, Italy and France. Leaders cautioned, however, that any gains could easily be reversed if people did not continue to adhere to strict social distancing measures and national lockdowns.

In Washington, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams offered a stark warning about the expected wave of deaths.

“This is going to be our Pearl Harbor moment, our 9/11 moment,” he told “Fox News Sunday.”

More than 9,600 people have died of the virus in the United States, and it leads the world in confirmed infections at more than 337,000.

In New York City, the U.S. epicenter of the pandemic, daily confirmed deaths dropped slightly, along with intensive care admissions and the number of patients who needed breathing tubes inserted. But New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned it was “too early to tell” the significance of the new numbers.

U.S. President Donald Trump later suggested the hard weeks ahead could foretell the turning of a corner.

“We’re starting to see light at the end of the tunnel,” Trump claimed at an evening White House briefing.

Louisiana health officials reported 68 coronavirus-related deaths, the state’s biggest jump in reported deaths since the outbreak began.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said his the state will return more than 400 of the 500 ventilators it has received from the federal government so they can go to New York and other states hit harder by the pandemic.

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The outlook was bleak in Britain, which reported more than 600 deaths Sunday, surpassing Italy’s daily increase for the second day in a row. Italy still has, by far, the world’s highest coronavirus death toll — almost 16,000, but pressure on northern Italy’s intensive care units has eased so much that the hardest-hit region of Lombardy is no longer airlifting patients out to other regions.

In a rare televised address, Queen Elizabeth II appealed to Britons to rise to the occasion, while acknowledging enormous disruptions, grief and financial difficulties they are facing. In the midst of the speech Sunday night, Johnson was admitted to the hospital.

“I hope in the years to come, everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge,” the 93-year-old monarch said. “And those who come after us will say that the Britons of this generation were as strong as any.”

Worldwide, more than 1.2 million people have been confirmed infected and nearly 70,000 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University. The true numbers are certainly much higher, due to limited testing, different ways nations count the dead and deliberate under-reporting by some governments.

The virus is spread by microscopic droplets from coughs or sneezes. For most people, the virus causes mild to moderate symptoms such as fever and cough. But for some, especially older adults and those with existing health problems, it can cause pneumonia and death. Over 263,000 people have recovered worldwide.

In Asia, Japanese officials were considered declaring a state of emergency. Infections are soaring in the country that has the world’s third-largest economy and its oldest population, but are still not even among the top 25 hardest-hit nations in the world.

In South Korea, which has been praised for its heavy testing to combat the virus, vice health minister Kim Gang-lip expressed concerns over loosened attitudes toward social distancing that he says is putting the country at potential risk of an infection “explosion.”

South Korea reported 47 new cases of the coronavirus, the smallest daily jump since Feb. 20, but rising infections have been linked to international arrivals as students and other South Korean nationals flock back from the West.

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Hinnant reported from Paris. Associated Press writers around the world contributed to this report.

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Follow AP news coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

Wisconsin Nine mayors push for primary election postponement amid coronavirus outbreak

Nine mayors from some of Wisconsin’s most influential cities on Sunday called on the state to postpone the primary election scheduled for Tuesday due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The state is under a stay-at-home order and the mayors claim that the decision puts “hundreds of thousands of citizens at risk,” Reuters reported.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has called for a special session of his state’s legislature to overhaul Tuesday’s scheduled primary -- by allowing for an all-mail election, sending absentee ballots to every registered voter and pushing the deadline back until May 26 for ballots to be sent back.
The Democratic governor initially joined Republican leaders in seeking to hold the primary as planned, but he now favors an all-mail election with absentee voting well into May. Republicans maintain that Tuesday’s in-person voting should go on as planned.
The election features the Democratic presidential primary between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, but a bigger concern for Republicans is a high-stakes state Supreme Court race featuring a conservative incumbent against a liberal challenger.
The Washington Post reported that Ann S. Jacobs and Mark L. Thomsen—two commissioners—wrote a letter to Robin Vos, the Republican state House speaker.
“Your failure to address these profound issues and the safety of all of Wisconsin’s residents during yesterday’s special session is unconscionable and is an abdication of your constitutional responsibilities as our leaders,” the letter read, according to the paper.
Fox News' Paul Steinhauser and the Associated Press contributed to this report

Trump slams 'complaining' Dem Pritzker at coronavirus briefing, signals openness to more stimulus checks

Saying "we hope we're seeing a leveling off in the hottest spots of them all," President Trump revealed Sunday evening that 1.67 million people have now been tested for coronavirus in the United States as the "light at the end of the tunnel" emerges  -- although he made clear he felt some politicians have let their constituents down during the crisis.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, in particular, was "complaining all the time" despite underperforming, Trump charged at a briefing with the president's coronavirus task force. The two officials have sparred in recent days, with the Democrat accusing the White House of failing to provide all the ventilators he wanted.
“He’s not able to do what he’s supposed to be able to do as a governor," Trump said. "He has not performed well."
Later during the briefing, Vice President Mike Pence said he had spoken to Pritzker, and the governor did "express great appreciation for the fact that our Army Corps of Engineers had constructed 500 beds at McCormick Place [convention center], and before the end of this week would construct another 2,500 beds for an overflow health facility in Chicago." Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the Army Corps was "outstanding," Pence noted.
"We have sent 600 ventilators to the state of Illinois, but I assured the governor,  and I assured the mayor, that while the principle focus that we have in the next several days is the rising cases in the greater New York City area and Louisiana, that Michigan and Illinois are in the forefront of our thinking," Pence said. "At the president's direction, we're gonna make sure that the people of Illinois and the people of Michigan have the resources, equipment and support that they need."
The flareup was notable given that some prominent left-wing Democratic governors have come to the president's defense.
"This is not time to bicker," California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said last Wednesday on CNN. “Let me just be candid with you. I’d be lying to you to say that [Trump] hasn’t been responsive to our needs. He has. And so, as a sort of an offer of objectivity, I have to acknowledge that publicly."
Newsom added: "The fact is, every time that I've called the president, he's quickly gotten on the line. When we asked to get the support for that [USNS] Mercy ship in Southern California, he was able to direct that in real-time. We've got 2,000 of these field medical sites that are up, almost all operational now in the state, because of his support. Those are the facts."
Also at the briefing Sunday, Rear Adm. John Polowczyk said U.S. operatives were going to facilities in China to inspect all medical equipment being sent to U.S. and make sure it is functional, amid reports that China has sent faulty testing kits and other supplies to several other countries.
Trump further signaled he'd be open to the government sending out an additional round of stimulus checks to Americans, saying: "I like the concept of it." He added that the current round of stimulus money should be distributed within two weeks.
Additionally, Dr. Deborah Birx observed that Spain and Italy have provided "really helpful signs" that social distancing was working, and new cases and deaths were declining in both countries.
Birx said "we're very hopeful" over the next week that there will be a "stabilization of cases across these large metro areas where the outbreak began several weeks ago." Spain and Italy were "giving us hope of what our future could be," she asserted.
"In the days ahead, America will endure the peak of this terrible pandemic," Trump said, before remarking that the end of the crisis could soon follow.
Trump separately told reporters that an additional 600,000 N95 masks will be arriving to New York City on Monday "to take care of the needs of the public hospital system," on the request of Mayor Bill de Blasio. Another 200,000 masks will be headed to Long Island after officials there made the request, Trump added.
Some 500 ventilators were on their way to New Jersey, 200 to Louisiana, 300 to Michigan, 600 to Illinois and 100 to Massachusetts, the president said. Louisiana's Gov. John Bel Edwards said earlier in the day that his state could run out of ventilators by Thursday.

National Guard personnel walking outside the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, after officials set up a temporary hospital there amid the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Also on the way, Trump said, was more hydroxychloroquine. Limited studies have suggested the antimalarial drug could, in fact, treat coronavirus. Journalists who previously bashed the Trump administration for suggesting hydroxychloroquine have largely changed their tune.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, went from threatening doctors who prescribed the drug with "administrative action" to requesting that the federal government ship her state some. Other state leaders have followed suit, including Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, also a Democrat. And, an international poll of thousands of doctors rated hydroxychloroquine the “most effective therapy” for coronavirus.
"We've bought a tremendous amount of the hydroxychloroquine," Trump told reporters, saying the country has stockpiled 29 million pills of the drug. "There are some signs it works on this, some very strong signs. ... They're not expensive. What do you have to lose?"
The president noted he's "not a doctor," but observed that the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] had issued emergency authorization for physicians to use the drug to treat coronavirus.
Pressed on whether he was irresponsibly offering medical advice, the president insisted he's "not acting as a doctor," and said there were "good signs" the drug could save lives -- and at worse, it wouldn't cause deaths on its own. The drug requires a prescription regardless.
In a surreal moment, a reporter then bizzarely queried Trump as to why all businesses, including essential ones like grocery stores, weren't forced to immediately close.
Trump opened the briefing by offering words of hope for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was hospitalized Sunday after testing positive for coronavirus and exhibiting symptoms.
"All Americans are praying for him," Trump said. "I'm hopeful and sure that he's going to be fine. He's a strong man, a strong person."
Asked by a reporter whether he was thinking of standing apart from Pence "to ensure continuity of government," Trump responded that "sometimes we are forced into positions where I'd rather be away," but that it was "very difficult" sometimes to keep his distance from everyone else.
The president said he was considering "very substantial tariffs" on foreign oil if the current price war were to continue.
Trump added: "I'd like to ask for your prayers for the families who have lost loved ones. Ask God to comfort them in their hour of grief -- it's a great hour of grief, for our nation and for the world. ... With the faith of our families and the spirit of our people and the grace of our God, we will endure, we will overcome, we will prevail. We have learned so much; we will be stronger than ever.”
The president also touted the news that New York state has seen its first drop in daily coronavirus deaths, as U.S. Northern Command officials said it would deploy a combined total of 1,000 Air Force and Navy medical providers to the New York City area to support relief efforts in the next three days.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, said earlier in the day that New York also experienced a slight drop in intensive-care admissions and the number of patients who need breathing tubes inserted. The hospital discharge rate was "way up" he said, calling it "great news."
"We sent federal troops -- not only troops, but a lot of talented doctors, nurses, first responders," Trump said.
The military said in a statement that the 1,000 personnel would work in support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA]. A total of 300 of these "uniformed medical providers will work from the Javits Center and the rest will deploy to other area locations to expand local medical capabilities in the war against COVID-19," U.S. Northern Command added.
Americans were bracing for what the nation's top doctor warned Sunday would be “the hardest and saddest week” of their lives while Britain assumed the unwelcome mantle of the deadliest coronavirus hotspot in Europe after a record 24-hour jump in deaths that surpassed even hard-hit Italy.
As of Sunday, Britain has recorded over 47,800 virus cases.and over 4,900 deaths overall.
"This is going to be our Pearl Harbor moment, our 9/11 moment,’’ U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams told "Fox News Sunday."
Fox News' Andrew O'Reilly and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

April 5th 2020 Political Cartoons