North America

ATLANTA (AP) — Democratic candidate Joe Biden said Thursday that if he wins the presidency, he would not use his power to pardon Donald Trump or stop any investigations of Trump and his associates. “It is not something the president is entitled to do, to direct a prosecution or decide to drop a case,” Biden said on MSNBC.

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — President Donald Trump says he intends to prepare for future pandemics by replenishing the national stockpile and bringing manufacturing of critical supplies and equipment back to the U.S. His comments came the same day a whistleblower told Congress the Trump administration had failed to properly prepare for the current pandemic.

“Wouldn’t that be nice?” Trump said Thursday during a visit to a Pennsylvania distributor of medical equipment. “My goal is to produce everything America needs for ourselves and then export to the world, including medicines.”

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Two weeks into the reopening of Texas, coronavirus cases are climbing. New outbreaks still crop up. And at Guero’s Taco Bar in Austin, which offers the occasional celebrity sighting, a log of every diner and where they sat is begrudgingly in the works.

“It seems like a huge invasion of privacy,” said owner Cathy Lipincott, who is nonetheless trying to comply with Austin’s local public health guidelines by asking, but not requiring, customers to give their information.

(AP) --- Almost 75% of small businesses in a survey applied for help from a federal loan program designed to keep workers employed during the coronavirus pandemic, but only 38% of small businesses received any money, according to survey results the U.S. Census Bureau released Thursday.

Oil extraction and mining businesses had the best success in getting loans from the Paycheck Protection Program with more than half of businesses surveyed in that sector reporting getting some help, according to the Census Bureau’s Small Business Pulse Survey.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers warned Thursday of “massive confusion” after the state Supreme Court tossed out the Democrat’s stay-at-home order and Republicans said they may leave it up to local governments to enact their own rules for combating the coronavirus pandemic.

The court’s order threw communities into chaos, with some bars opening immediately while local leaders in other areas moved to keep strict restrictions in place to prevent further spread of the virus.

DETROIT (AP) — Defying a wave of layoffs that has sent the U.S. job market into its worst catastrophe on record, at least one major industry is making a comeback: Tens of thousands of auto workers are returning to factories that have been shuttered since mid-March due to fears of spreading the coronavirus.

Until now, it was mostly hair salons, restaurants, tattoo parlors and other small businesses reopening in some parts of the country. But the auto industry is among the first major sectors of the economy to restart its engine.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials on Thursday released some of their long-delayed guidance that schools, businesses and other organizations can use as states reopen from coronavirus shutdowns.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted six one-page “decision tool” documents that use traffic signs and other graphics to tell organizations what they should consider before reopening.

NEW YORK (AP) — As calls grow nationwide for mandatory coronavirus testing in nursing homes, New York facilities are sounding alarms about the state’s ambitious new demand to test roughly 185,000 workers twice a week.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has passed legislation that would extend a set of expired federal surveillance tools designed to help law enforcement officials track suspected terrorists and spies, moving one step closer to reviving them.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican senator with access to some of the nation’s top secrets became further entangled in a deepening FBI investigation as agents examining a well-timed sale of stocks during the coronavirus outbreak showed up at his home with a warrant to search his cellphone.

Hours later, Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina stepped aside Thursday as chairman of the powerful Senate Intelligence Committee, calling it the “best thing to do.” Burr has denied wrongdoing.