| Wednesday, April 8, 2020 | | | | We’re covering a shake-up of federal inspectors general, the death of the singer-songwriter John Prine, and elections in Wisconsin. | |  By Chris Stanford | | | Questions of accountability and loyalty have been persistent themes during President Trump's time in office. Doug Mills/The New York Times | | | The move comes as part of a larger push by Mr. Trump against independent voices within the government that he considers disloyal. | | | ■ The virus is infecting and killing black people in the U.S. at disproportionately high rates, figures from several states indicate. Mr. Trump acknowledged the disparity on Tuesday, and said that the authorities were working to provide more information. | | | ■ John Prine, the country-folk singer and songwriter whose lyrics made him a favorite of Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson and others, died on Tuesday at 73. His obituary is the latest in our series about those we’ve lost to the coronavirus. | | | New York didn't mandate distancing measures as early as some other localities. Ben Sklar for The New York Times | | | On March 2, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, “When you’re saying, what happened in other countries versus what happened here, we don’t even think it’s going to be as bad as it was in other countries.” | | | Over a month later, the New York City area has the most cases in the U.S., and far more than many countries have. More than 138,000 people in the state have tested positive for the virus. | | | A severe outbreak in New York was probably unavoidable — and a disorganized federal response didn’t help — but state and city officials were also hampered by their own confused guidance, unheeded warnings, delayed decisions and political infighting, a review by The Times has found. | | | Another angle: New York City’s transit agency was slow to offer protection for workers, and now a staffing shortage has made it difficult to keep even a diminished system running. The average wait for some trains, usually four minutes, has ballooned to 40. | | | Voters waiting to cast their ballots on Tuesday in Milwaukee, where the number of polling stations was reduced from 180 to five. Tannen Maury/EPA, via Shutterstock | | | Because of a court ruling, results won’t be released until next week, but procedural problems led some state party officials to predict that any final numbers would be contested. | | | Background: The election went ahead after Wisconsin’s Republican-dominated state legislature rejected the Democratic governor’s request to mail absentee ballots to all voters or to move the primary. The State Supreme Court, which is controlled by conservative justices, then overturned the governor’s ruling to postpone the election until June. Read more about the history of the dispute. | | | Quotable: “It feels bad to have to choose between your personal safety and your right to vote,” said Dan Bullock in Milwaukee. “But you have to be heard.” | | | What’s next: Voting rights experts said Wisconsin’s election could be an example of what might happen across the country if new voting methods aren’t implemented during the outbreak, possibly including the November general election. | | | Joe Lingeman for The New York Times | | | With much of the world looking to kill time, demand for jigsaw puzzles has surged past levels normally seen at Christmas. Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia even allowed people to leave the house to buy them. | | | PAID POST: A Message From XBrand | | Renewable Energy in Today's Age | | Look around you...All of the things that you love about this planet can be used to power it. the sun, rain, wind, tides and waves. We are creating renewable enery that benefits you and our planet, more efficiently and inexpensively. Recharge today with something different. | | | | Learn More | | | | New White House press secretary: Kayleigh McEnany, President Trump’s campaign spokeswoman, was named to replace Stephanie Grisham, who held the job for nine months. With a president who likes to conduct his own briefings, Ms. Grisham did not hold one during her tenure, and Ms. McEnany isn’t expected to either. | | | Ocean Park Hong Kong/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images | | | Snapshot: Above, Ying Ying and Le Le, two giant pandas who finally got into the mood after 13 years of living together in a Hong Kong zoo. The two members of the famously low-libido species mated this week, a cause for celebration in the animal conservation world. | | | Late-night comedy: The hosts were concerned as Wisconsin pressed ahead with its election. “Crowds of people packed into a tight space together sharing pens, elderly poll-workers — it’s a coronavirus all-you-can-eat buffet,” Trevor Noah said. | | | What we’re reading: This GQ feature about the elite Kenyan runner Eliud Kipchoge. “Come for the photos of the fastest marathoner in history, wearing couture,” says Talya Minsberg, a Sports editor. “Stay for the words by Knox Robinson and wisdom shared by Kipchoge.” | | | Cook: Melissa Clark writes, “A big bowl of garlicky, soupy greens is what I craved today, probably my body’s natural response to all the poundcake and cookies I’ve been obsessively baking.” | | | Do: Are the children squabbling? We asked a bar bouncer, a kindergarten teacher, a hockey referee, a marriage and family therapist, and a police officer: How do you break up a fight? Then we figured out how to farm, inside your house. | | | Stephen Castle, The Times’s London correspondent, has been covering Britain’s coronavirus outbreak and Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s personal experience with Covid-19. Melina Delkic, from the Briefings Team, spoke to him. | | | Walk us through Boris Johnson’s condition. | | | We heard on Tuesday that he was stable overnight and was still in intensive care. Critically, they said he had gotten some oxygen but had not been on a ventilator or required invasive treatment. | | | His girlfriend, Carrie Symonds, who is pregnant, tweeted about having symptoms, but we have no suggestion that she has suffered anything as serious as Boris Johnson. | | | Mr. Johnson is being treated at St. Thomas' Hospital in London. Andrew Testa for The New York Times | | | What’s the mood right now in Britain? | | | There was quite a lot of surprise and a certain amount of shock in the announcement. | | | Really until Thursday, and even into Friday, the plan was for him to come out of self-isolation on Friday, which would have been seven days from when he was diagnosed. Then he himself did a sort of rather shaky at-home video explaining his situation, in which he didn’t look terrible, but he didn’t look great either. That was as far as we knew. | | | What are the big questions about leadership in this time of crisis? | | | It has caused something of a power vacuum. We’re in a rather unpredictable position where we’re slightly unclear how the government is being run. There is no written constitution. | | | The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, is deputizing for the prime minister, but there does seem to be this feeling at the moment that everything is kind of going wrong for the government at an incredibly critical time for the country. | | | That’s it for this briefing. See you next time. | | P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Today’s episode is about the Navy’s leadership crisis.
• Here’s today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: Party souvenir (five letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
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