"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-is-vertical-video-embed="false"
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2020-04-12T20:09:52Z"
data-video-section="business"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2020/04/12/trumps-faulty-narrative-about-reopening-the-economy.cnn"
data-branding-key=""
data-video-slug="Trump's faulty narrative about 'reopening the economy'"
data-first-publish-slug="Trump's faulty narrative about 'reopening the economy'"
data-video-tags="budget deficits,business, economy and trade,communicable disease control,coronavirus,coronavirus pandemic,diseases and disorders,donald trump,economy and economic indicators,epidemics and outbreaks,federal budget,federal budget deficit,government and public administration,government bodies and offices,government budgets,governors,heads of government,health and medical,heroes and heroism,infectious diseases,life forms,microscopic life,misc people,nicholas kristof,political figures - us,political platforms and issues,politics,public debt,public finance,public health,society,us federal government shutdowns,viruses"
data-details="">
Video Ad Feedback
Trump's faulty narrative about 'reopening the economy'
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-is-vertical-video-embed="false"
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2020-04-12T20:09:52Z"
data-video-section="business"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2020/04/12/trumps-faulty-narrative-about-reopening-the-economy.cnn"
data-branding-key=""
data-video-slug="Trump's faulty narrative about 'reopening the economy'"
data-first-publish-slug="Trump's faulty narrative about 'reopening the economy'"
data-video-tags="budget deficits,business, economy and trade,communicable disease control,coronavirus,coronavirus pandemic,diseases and disorders,donald trump,economy and economic indicators,epidemics and outbreaks,federal budget,federal budget deficit,government and public administration,government bodies and offices,government budgets,governors,heads of government,health and medical,heroes and heroism,infectious diseases,life forms,microscopic life,misc people,nicholas kristof,political figures - us,political platforms and issues,politics,public debt,public finance,public health,society,us federal government shutdowns,viruses"
data-details="">
Video Ad Feedback
Trump's faulty narrative about 'reopening the economy'
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-is-vertical-video-embed="false"
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2022-10-20T11:32:56Z"
data-video-section="world"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2022/10/20/china-covid-protest-new-york-selina-wang-pkg-ovn-intl-contd-ldn-vpx.cnn"
data-branding-key=""
data-video-slug="china covid protest new york selina wang pkg ovn intl contd ldn vpx"
data-first-publish-slug="china covid protest new york selina wang pkg ovn intl contd ldn vpx"
data-video-tags="arts and entertainment,asia,business and industry sectors,business, economy and trade,chemical industry and chemicals,chemicals and environment,china,communicable disease control,continents and regions,diseases and disorders,east asia,environment and natural resources,epidemics and outbreaks,graffiti art,health and medical,infectious diseases,isolation and quarantine,public health,toxic and hazardous substances,visual arts,coronavirus,life forms,microscopic life,respiratory diseases,viruses,international relations,international relations and national security"
data-details="">
Video Ad Feedback
Artist wears 27 hazmat suits to protest China's policies
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-is-vertical-video-embed="false"
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2022-10-03T04:07:55Z"
data-video-section="travel"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/travel/2022/10/01/hong-kong-attempts-to-revitalize-tourism-reopening-lu-stout-pkg-vpx.cnn"
data-branding-key=""
data-video-slug="hong kong attempts to revitalize tourism reopening lu stout pkg vpx"
data-first-publish-slug="hong kong attempts to revitalize tourism reopening lu stout pkg vpx"
data-video-tags="asia,china,continents and regions,coronavirus,coronavirus pandemic,diseases and disorders,east asia,epidemics and outbreaks,health and medical,hong kong,infectious diseases,kristie lu stout,life forms,microscopic life,misc people,public health,respiratory diseases,taiwan,tourism,travel and tourism,viruses"
data-details="">
Video Ad Feedback
See how Hong Kong is trying to revitalize itself after Covid-19
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-is-vertical-video-embed="false"
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2022-09-20T19:06:18Z"
data-video-section="business"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/media/2022/09/20/late-night-reaction-joe-biden-pandemic-is-over-orig-ht.cnn-business"
data-branding-key=""
data-video-slug="late night reaction Joe Biden pandemic is over orig ht"
data-first-publish-slug="late night reaction Joe Biden pandemic is over orig ht"
data-video-tags=""
data-details="">
Video Ad Feedback
See late night reactions to President Biden claiming pandemic over
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-is-vertical-video-embed="false"
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2022-09-05T13:32:45Z"
data-video-section="health"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2022/09/05/long-covid-brain-fog-video-game-treatment-gupta-pkg-newday-vpx.cnn"
data-branding-key=""
data-video-slug="long covid brain fog video game treatment gupta pkg newday vpx"
data-first-publish-slug="long covid brain fog video game treatment gupta pkg newday vpx"
data-video-tags="business and industry sectors,business, economy and trade,computer science and information technology,experimentation and research,human subjects,misc people,sanjay gupta,science,software and applications,technology,video games"
data-details="">
Video Ad Feedback
Dr. Gupta: This treatment for 'brain fog' from long-Covid just might surprise you
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-is-vertical-video-embed="false"
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2022-07-27T14:01:41Z"
data-video-section="world"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2022/07/27/covid-origins-wuhan-market-live-jiang-newday-intl-ldn-vpx.cnn"
data-branding-key=""
data-video-slug="covid origins wuhan market live jiang newday intl ldn vpx"
data-first-publish-slug="covid origins wuhan market live jiang newday intl ldn vpx"
data-video-tags="asia,beijing,business and industry sectors,business, economy and trade,central china,china,computer chips,computer equipment,computer science and information technology,consumer products,continents and regions,coronavirus,diseases and disorders,east asia,experimentation and research,farmers markets,food and drink,food products,health and medical,hubei province,infectious diseases,kinds of foods and beverages,life forms,memory technology,microscopic life,respiratory diseases,retail and wholesale trade,science,seafood,street markets and traders,technology,viruses,wuhan"
data-details="">
Video Ad Feedback
New studies suggest Covid-19 likely originated from Wuhan wet market
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-is-vertical-video-embed="false"
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2022-07-21T15:19:38Z"
data-video-section="politics"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2022/07/21/jill-biden-sot-joe-biden-positive-coronavirus-nr-vpx.cnn"
data-branding-key=""
data-video-slug="jill biden sot joe biden positive coronavirus nr vpx"
data-first-publish-slug="jill biden sot joe biden positive coronavirus nr vpx"
data-video-tags=""
data-details="">
Video Ad Feedback
Jill Biden speaks out after President Biden contracts Covid-19
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-is-vertical-video-embed="false"
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2022-07-15T12:31:33Z"
data-video-section="business"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2022/07/15/china-economy-covid-wang-henan-bank-pkg-intl-hnk-vpx.cnn"
data-branding-key=""
data-video-slug="China economy covid wang henan bank pkg intl hnk vpx"
data-first-publish-slug="China economy covid wang henan bank pkg intl hnk vpx"
data-video-tags="asia,banking, finance and investments,beijing,business, economy and trade,china,continents and regions,coronavirus,diseases and disorders,east asia,economic migration,economic policy,economy and economic indicators,employment and income status,epidemics and outbreaks,globalization,government and public administration,government bodies and offices,health and medical,immigration,immigration, citizenship and displacement,infectious diseases,international relations and national security,labor and employment,labor sector performance,life forms,local governments,microscopic life,migrant workers,personal finance,politics,public debt,public finance,public health,respiratory diseases,social and economic status,society,trade and development,viruses,unemployment,workers and professionals,demographic groups,families and children,males (demographic group),parents and parenting,population and demographics,economic conditions,economic crisis,economic decline"
data-details="">
Video Ad Feedback
'I'm losing my mind': Chinese depositor loses life savings in bank
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-is-vertical-video-embed="false"
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2022-07-13T12:50:23Z"
data-video-section="health"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2022/07/13/dr-anthony-fauci-coronavirus-new-variant-immunity-sot-newday-vpx.cnn"
data-branding-key=""
data-video-slug="dr anthony fauci coronavirus new variant immunity sot newday vpx"
data-first-publish-slug="dr anthony fauci coronavirus new variant immunity sot newday vpx"
data-video-tags="anthony fauci,diseases and disorders,health and medical,infectious diseases,life forms,microscopic life,misc people,viruses"
data-details="">
Video Ad Feedback
Dr. Fauci explains why new BA.5 subvariant is concerning
Editor’s Note: In this weekly column “Cross Exam,” Elie Honig, a CNN legal analyst and former federal and state prosecutor, gives his take on the latest legal news. Post your questions below. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion on CNN. Watch Honig answer readers’ questions on “CNN Newsroom with Ana Cabrera” at 5:40 p.m. ET Sundays.
CNN
—
During his Friday press conference on the federal government’s response to the coronavirus, President Donald Trump referred to a decision about when to reopen the country as “the biggest decision I’ll ever make.” Staying at home, he said, “if you look at numbers, that leads to a different kind of death perhaps. But it leads to death also. So it’s a very big decision.”
But Trump seems to misstate — and overstate — his power as president. In fact, many key decisions about when to resume life as normal are not Trump’s to make.
Elie Honig
Jeremy Freeman
To be sure, the president has vast powers in an emergency like the coronavirus crisis. He can, through the Department of Health and Human Services, impose measures reasonably necessary “to prevent the introduction, transmission, or spread of communicable diseases from foreign countries into the States” or between states. He can declare a national emergency.
He controls billions of dollars in federal funding, which he can distribute to assist state and local response efforts. He can open or close the executive branch of government — federal agencies, national parks, the military. And he can issue voluntary or recommended guidelines, which do not carry legal force but are broadly persuasive and important.
While the president has vast and grave responsibility for leading the nation’s coronavirus response, he cannot, on his own, simply reopen the country with a wave of his hand. Many of the key decisions affecting the everyday lives of Americans lie with state and local officials. In fact, it has been governors and mayors who have issued the stay-at-home orders while the president’s task force has issued guidelines that aren’t mandatory.
For example, every state governor has the authority to issue quarantine or stay-home orders, and to revise or revoke those orders. The president does not have the legal authority, however, to undo a state-level quarantine order. The president also holds little if any power over matters of local government. He cannot, for example, decide when to reopen local public schools or parks. This could come to a head if the President attempts to “reopen” the country, contrary to existing state-level quarantine orders. In that scenario, the state quarantine order prevails; the president simply has no legal mechanism empowering him to overrule a state governor and to lift a state-level stay-home order.
While the President undoubtedly is the most powerful government official in the nation’s response to the pandemic, it is vital to understand that he does not have the final word on every decision. The president certainly holds vast power, but he is not all-powerful.
Now your questions:
Jim (New York): Does the Environmental Protection Agency have the legal power to relax pollution standards during the coronavirus pandemic?
Yes. Under federal law, once the president declares a national emergency — which Trump did on March 13 — the federal government, through the EPA, can relax some (but not all) pollution regulations.
For example, the federal government can relax certain parts of the Clean Air Act, including regulations relating to disposal of waste at sea, and regulations on transportation and storage of potentially dangerous chemicals.
On March 26, the EPA announced that it would scale back its enforcement operations during the coronavirus crisis due to shortages of personnel and social distancing restrictions. Essentially, the EPA announced that, while no law or regulation has been relaxed, it will not be able to fully monitor and enforce existing law as the crisis continues. Opponents of the move called it an “open license to pollute,” while defenders note that the EPA has not rolled back any existing law or regulation.
Chris (Colorado): Is there a legal definition of “essential services” that would allow certain types of businesses — such as gun shop owners — to challenge a forced closure?
There is no single overarching, universally-applicable legal definition of “essential services,” but the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued useful guidance on what types of business are “essential,” including health care operations, supermarkets, pharmacies, garbage collection, law enforcement, gas stations, banks and warehousing and distribution, among others.
The specific criteria for “essential services” vary by state and locality, and even then, the term often remains vague or completely undefined. Like a decision to impose or lift quarantine orders, determinations about “essential” businesses lie largely in the hands of state and local authorities.
A business does have the legal authority to challenge a determination that it is not “essential” by applying to state and local authorities for a waiver enabling it to open during the pandemic. Those determinations can, and likely will, vary from state to state, particularly with respect to businesses outside the core guidance from HHS.
Thomas (Colorado): As Attorney General, could William Barr overrule a decision to charge (or not charge) made by Justice Department prosecutors who are investigating stock sell-offs by certain senators shortly before the market downturn caused by the coronavirus crisis?
Yes, he can. As attorney general, Barr is head of the Justice Department, and he has the authority to overrule federal prosecutors — US attorneys and assistant US attorneys — throughout the country. Justice Department supervisors tend to respect and follow the recommendations of the team working a case directly, but at times, supervisors can and do overrule the rank-and-file.
Given the potential political implications of a decision to charge (or not charge) a sitting US senator with a federal crime, expect Barr to be directly involved. The Justice Manual, a guide to internal Justice Department policies, requires that US attorneys notify Justice Department headquarters of key decisions on any “sensitive matter.” And Barr recently issued a memo stressing that investigations that could impact the 2020 election must be forwarded to top Justice Department officials for review. So, Barr certainly should have notice and opportunity to intervene, if he so chooses.
Three questions to watch:
1. When, if ever, will the Supreme Court follow the lead of other courts and adopt readily available video technology to resume full functioning?
2. Will the President use the Defense Production Act more aggressively, as several state governors and other officials have urged?