US Domestic News Roundup: House passes $3 trillion coronavirus aid bill opposed by Trump; New York to reopen auto and more

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. U.S. CDC reports 1,435,098 coronavirus cases, 87,315 deaths

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Saturday reported a total of 1,435,098 cases of the new coronavirus, an increase of 22,977 cases from its previous count, and said the number of deaths had risen by 1,325 to 87,315. The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused by the new coronavirus, as of 4 p.m. ET on May 15, compared with its count a day earlier. (https://bit.ly/2LBFJ2a)

Coronavirus makes Democratic congressional challengers' uphill climb steeper

Before she suspended in-person campaigning in March, Arati Kreibich was knocking on upwards of 1,000 doors every weekend in the northern New Jersey congressional district she hopes to wrest away from a moderate Democratic incumbent. Now, with the state locked down due to the pandemic, she spends her days telephoning voters and hosting virtual town halls from her house in Glen Rock, where she is a councilwoman.

New COVID-19 cases in New York coming from people leaving home, Cuomo says

New York's new confirmed COVID-19 cases are predominantly coming from people who left their homes to shop, exercise, or socialize, rather than from essential workers, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Saturday. "That person got infected and went to the hospital or that person got infected and went home and infected the other people at home," Cuomo said during his daily news conference on the coronavirus outbreak.

House passes $3 trillion coronavirus aid bill opposed by Trump

The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday narrowly approved a $3 trillion bill crafted by Democrats to provide more aid for battling the coronavirus and stimulating a faltering economy rocked by the pandemic. By a vote of 208-199 Democrats won passage of a bill that Republican leaders, who control the Senate, have vowed to block despite some Republican support for provisions aimed at helping state and local governments.

California seniors get free restaurant meals delivered under a new program

About 200 Los Angeles cooks are back at work, launching a California project to use federal disaster relief money that pays restaurants to prepare and deliver thousands of healthy meals for at-risk seniors. The program, called Great Plates Delivered, is part of the state's effort to ease suffering inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic that has left a trail of death, unemployment, and hunger in its wake.

FDA suspends Gates-backed at-home COVID-19 testing program

An at-home coronavirus testing project in Seattle backed in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said on Saturday it was working with U.S. regulators to resume the program after being suspended by the Food and Drug Administration. The Seattle Coronavirus Assessment Network (SCAN), which aims to monitor the spread of the novel coronavirus in the region, had said it was suspending its testing of patient samples collected at home after the Food and Drug Administration tightened guidelines to require emergency approval first.

Disney says it will reopen shopping area at Florida resort on Wednesday

Walt Disney Co will partially reopen its Disney Springs entertainment and shopping complex at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida on May 20, it said late on Saturday. Disney and unions representing workers at Florida's Walt Disney World reached an agreement on safeguards to protect employees from the coronavirus, a union statement said on Thursday, removing one of the company's hurdles to reopening its popular theme parks.

Democrats launch probe of Trump's firing of State Department watchdog

Democrats in Congress on Saturday launched an investigation into President Donald Trump's move to oust the State Department's internal watchdog, accusing the president of escalating his fight against any oversight of his administration. Trump announced the planned removal of Inspector General Steve Linick in a letter to House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi late Friday night, making Linick the latest government inspector general to be ousted in recent weeks under the Republican president.

Georgia rally for slain black jogger calls for removing district attorneys

Protesters on Saturday demanded the removal of two district attorneys accused of dragging their feet in arresting two white men suspected in the shooting death of a young black jogger in the Brunswick, Georgia area. Speeches rang out from the steps of the small coastal community's courthouse during a rally that drew hundreds outraged by the video of the killing of Ahmad Arbery, 25. Activists saw his death as the latest U.S. case of white perpetrators killing a black man and going unpunished. The father-and-son suspects were not arrested until weeks after the shooting, and just days after the video surfaced online.

New York to reopen auto, horse racing tracks without fans

New York's Watkins Glen International auto race circuit and several horse racing tracks in the state can reopen without fans from June 1, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Saturday. NASCAR, which returns from a two-month, novel coronavirus-enforced hiatus on Sunday for a fanless event in South Carolina, had previously scheduled a Cup Series race at Watkins Glen for August.