Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Trump leaves White House grounds for first time since March 28

U.S. President Donald Trump, cooped up in the White House for weeks due to the coronavirus lockdown, flew to Camp David, Maryland, on Friday for a weekend away at the presidential retreat. When his Marine One helicopter left the South Lawn, it was the first time Trump had left the White House grounds since March 28, when he visited Norfolk, Virginia, to see the U.S. Navy hospital ship Comfort set sail for New York harbor.

Former Trump lawyer will not be released from prison this week: source

Michael Cohen, the former personal lawyer to President Donald Trump, will not be released from prison this week to serve the remainder of his term in home confinement, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday. Reuters and other media reported last month that Cohen was set to be freed from a minimum-security camp at Otisville, New York on May 1. He had pressed to be released early due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has hammered New York and surfaced in prisons nationwide.

Americans begin to surface from isolation as states ease clamp-downs

Americans in about half of U.S. states, led by Texas and Georgia, began emerging on Friday from home confinement while California and New York held fast to business closures and other restrictions imposed in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Texas on Friday began a phased-in reopening of businesses shuttered more than a month ago, with restaurants, retail stores and malls allowed to open at 25% capacity. A second phase is planned for May 18 if infection rates continue to decline.

'No $, no rent' - protesters call for economic help at New York May Day demonstrations

Protesters in New York City staged a rolling demonstration from their cars to mark May Day on Friday, calling on the government to protect workers' rights and provide aid to help people reeling economically from the effects of the coronavirus crisis. The caravan of cars rolled through a largely empty Times Square, honking their horns and displaying banners saying: 'Cancel the Rent.' New York has been the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States.

California governor says coronavirus easing 'days away' as protesters throng beach

California is days away from announcing a meaningful loosening of its coronavirus-related restrictions, Governor Gavin Newsom said on Friday, as protesters sneaked on to closed beaches and crowded the lawn outside the state Capitol in Sacramento. Newsom hinted that restaurants would soon be allowed to re-open for table service with some restrictions, and promised additional relief as stay-at-home orders in place since March 19 wore on residents' nerves and pocketbooks.

U.S. emergency approval broadens use of Gilead's COVID-19 drug remdesivir

Gilead Science Inc's antiviral drug remdesivir was granted emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for COVID-19 on Friday, clearing the way for broader use of the drug in more hospitals around the United States. During a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House with President Donald Trump, Gilead Chief Executive Daniel O'Day called the move an important first step and said the company was donating 1.5 million vials of the drug to help patients.

U.S. House panel calls on Amazon's Bezos to testify on third-party sellers

The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee on Friday called on Amazon.com < AMZN.O> founder Jeff Bezos to testify to the panel about allegations that the online retailer uses data from its own third-party sellers to create competing products. In a letter to Bezos signed by Democratic and Republican members of the panel, the lawmakers referred to an April 23 Wall Street Journal story about Amazon, saying, "If the reporting in the Wall Street Journal article is accurate, then statements Amazon made to the committee about the company’s business practices appear to be misleading, and possibly criminally false or perjurious."

Trump now says he hopes U.S. coronavirus deaths less than 100,000

President Donald Trump on Friday seemingly increased his estimate of possible deaths in the United States from the coronavirus, telling a White House event he hopes for less than 100,000 fatalities, a higher upper limit than the 60,000 to 70,000 deaths he discussed on Monday. "Hopefully we're going to come in below that 100,000 lives lost, which is a horrible number nevertheless," Trump said.

New Mexico orders city lockdown near Navajo country over 'frightful' virus spread

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday ordered a lockdown of the western city of Gallup, saying tougher measures were needed in the surrounding county which includes part of the Navajo Nation where coronavirus deaths have been high. All roads into Gallup, which borders the Navajo Nation, were closed and businesses in the city of 22,000 will close from 5 p.m. through 8 a.m., according to Lujan Grisham’s order, which invoked New Mexico’s Riot Control Act.

Conservative groups advising White House push fast reopening, not testing

Conservative groups advising the White House have issued an array of coronavirus economic reopening plans with a common theme - Americans should go back to work immediately to halt the economic and societal damage from prolonged lockdowns. The Trump administration's response to the coronavirus has coalesced in recent days around the same message - the need to reopen quickly. The White House did not renew federal guidelines on social distancing that expired April 30, and President Donald Trump is expected to go to Arizona next week, after a month without travel.