Trump escorted from briefing by Secret Service after shooting outside White House – live | US news

Secret Service has confirmed there was a shooting, but has not provided any more information:

During the press conference, Trump noted that when he was forced to leave the podium earlier, he saw a Fox News report saying there were “two shots in rapid succession”:

Trump has once again made confusing and contradictory remarks about healthcare coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. He said he would be pushing an “executive order” to protect people with pre-existing conditions, even though they are already covered under Obamacare, which the Trump administration is trying to dismantle.

Asked why an “executive order” is needed for a protection already in place (which he is trying to remove), Trump responded that it’s “just a double safety net”. He said he wanted Republicans to be known as protecting people with pre-existing conditions: “It’s a signal to people.”

Trump is now saying he would likely delay the G7 summit until “after the election … we we have a little bit more time to think about it”.

He also says he would “certainly” invite Vladimir Putin to G7:

The president dodged a question asking him to explain his previous remark that his opponent, Joe Biden, would “hurt God”. The president responded with a reference to Bernie Sanders and generic criticisms of Biden on taxes.

Asked for more information on the possible shooting incident outside the White House, Trump said he didn’t have any details to share about a possible suspect, adding, “I don’t think anything was breached. They were relatively far away.”

The press conference is back on, with Trump spreading blatant falsehoods about the state of the Covid-19 crisis in the US, while repeatedly using his racist “China virus” label.

He continues to downplay the crisis here, saying the reason the US is seeing major surges is due to the fact that “We are so far ahead of testing … If we have much smaller testing, we’d have fewer [cases]. … It’s a great record to have. No other country is close.”

In reality, the increases in cases in the US are outpacing the test increases. When Trump was called out on this in a viral interview recently, he stumbled to respond to questions about rising deaths and hospitalizations. The president also just shared false information about India’s testing, downplaying the nation’s capacity.

Before he abruptly left his press conference, Trump made numerous misleading and unsubstantiated claims attacking mail-in voting.

Trump was citing reports about absentee ballot applications that had inaccurate information in Virginia, but those applications were not ballots and they were sent by a private organization, not the government. Trump was falsely suggesting that this was a reflection of the dangers of mail-in voting, adding, “We don’t want to have a rigged election.

He also said, “When you have this mail-in voting, it’s something that can be easily attacked by foreign countries and by frankly Democrats and Republicans. It’s something to think about seriously.”

As AP noted in a recent fact check, it’s false to suggest that measures aren’t in place to confirm a voter’s identity or prevent fraud with mail ballots. Ballots typically require voters to provide identifying information such as a birth date or Social Security or driver’s license number. In most states, voters also sign the back of the envelope, which is then verified with the signature on their registrations.

Washington’s secretary of state, Kim Wyman, a Republican, recently told NPR: “Election officials spend a great deal of our time building in security measures. The idea that people could print millions of ballots either within the country or external to the country, just on its face, is not going to pass muster with an election official.”

More details on the president’s sudden departure.

The president said: “It was a shooting outside of the White House… I’d like to thank the Secret Service for doing their always quick and very effective work… Somebody’s been taken to the hospital.” He added, “You were surprised. I was surprised also. I think it’s pretty unusual.”

He said he understands the suspect was armed. “It might not have had anything to do with me.” Asked about the location, Trump said: “It was outside of the premises.”

The president has returned to the podium after his sudden exit. He said he was taken to the Oval Office after an incident outside the White House. The details of what happened are unclear.

It appears that Secret Service escorted Trump out of the briefing room just minutes after starting his news conference. The president said nothing as he walked out and did not answer a reporter’s question about why he was leaving.

While Trump has previously stormed out of press conferences in the face of critical questions, this appears to be a highly unusual exit at the beginning of his remarks. Here’s the moment that happened:

Just minutes into his press conference, Trump abruptly exited after a staffer said something to him and pulled him out.

His sudden exit is highly unusual, and reporters on the scene are trying to get more information about what’s going on. The live-stream was shortly cut off afterward.

The US Environmental Protection Agency is reversing Obama-era controls on methane, citing the global downturn as justification for lifting regulations of the powerful greenhouse gas.

The new EPA rule will be made public this week, according to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, which reported that the new rules would end requirements that oil and gas producers have systems and procedures in place to detect methane leaks.

Estimates used by the EPA say that methane accounts for roughly 10% of US greenhouse-gas emissions, and that methane is about 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide in trapping the earth’s heat, the Journal said. Citing senior administration officials, the paper said that the rule changes would apply to wells drilled starting in 2016, and would allow the largest pipelines to avoid EPA oversight.

Protections that Obama adopted in 2016 in his final months in office were aimed at reducing methane emissions from the US by 40% to 45% over 2012 levels by 2025 by requiring companies to capture gas from oil wells, and find and plug pipeline leaks. More from our coverage at the time:

Hi all – Sam Levin in Los Angeles here, taking over our live coverage for the rest of the day. Here in California, a judge has just issued a preliminary injunction that will block Uber and Lyft from classifying their drivers as independent contractors rather than employees.

The move came in response to a May lawsuit filed by the state of California against the companies, which alleged they are misclassifying their drivers under the state’s new labor law. The lawsuit, and Monday’s injunction, are the most significant challenges to the ride-hailing companies’ business model thus far.

More from my colleague Kari Paul here:

It’s a whirlwind of news but we’re keeping you in the know. Here’s what we covered in the latter half:

• Confusion and controversy rise as fallout over the president’s “executive orders” continue
• The GOP nomination will either be at the White House or Gettysburg, at least one of which a violation of the Hatch Act
• Public health officials have had enough of this pandemic
• John Bolton is voting neither Biden nor Trump
• And Guam’s governor is the latest state/territory leader to test positive for coronavirus

Keep it locked as my colleague Sam Levin keeps you in the loop.

The latest coronavirus totals are bad

For every 4 person in the world with coronavirus, one is an American. That’s a not-so-fun fact.

According to he US recorded a total of 5,079,453 confirmed coronavirus cases as of 2pm ET Monday, amounting to with 163,854 deaths. States experiencing highest percentage increase of cases over past 14 days?

• Hawaii: 313%
• New Jersey: 81%
• Rhode Island: 66%
• South Dakota: 35%
• Massachusetts: 34%

We’ll see how those numbers evolved as an estimated 250,000 unmasked and unbothered bikers descend on a small town in South Dakota this week.

According to the Pacific Daily News, Guam governor Lourdes “Lou” Leon Guerrero has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Guerrero, along with health officials in the US territory, confirmed the governor’s condition Monday. She had tested negative for the virus shortly after being exposed 5 Aug.

“On August 8th, I began to exhibit some symptoms. I was tested again this afternoon and received a positive result this evening. I have been in home quarantine since this weekend and will be isolated pending my recovery. I remain in good health despite exhibiting moderate symptoms of the virus.”

Guerrero insisted she followed all recommended health protocols, including wearing a mask and socially distancing. She implored others to “use [her] experience as a reminder of just how serious and contagious this virus is”.

“Help our island protect our loved ones,” Leon Guerrero said in a statement.

Guam, a small island of nearly 168,000 residents, is located in the north Pacific ocean. Its total coronavirus cases have risen sharply since the start of the pandemic, confirming 6 new cases Monday for a total of 416.

Sonam Sheth, Business Insider’s political correspondent, talked with former ambassador John Bolton Monday. In the interview, they discuss everything from this year’s impeachment trial (which feels like a decade ago), the coronavirus pandemic and the upcoming election.

Key takeaways?

• When it comes to Trump, “substance was not so important as politics”
• Donald Trumps gets an ‘F’ grade for his coronavirus response
• Bolton’s “not voting for Biden for philosophical reasons,” but also not for Trump “because he’s not competent”
• He found it “very troubling that the president would even talk about” delaying the election

Apparently Bolton weighed resigning several times before nobly choosing to withhold information essential to the president’s impeachment for a literary payday instead. Check out more of Bolton’s talk with Business Insider here.