Try and execute Trump for Treason.

Analysis: As Trump ignores deepening coronavirus crisis, Biden calls for
urgent response

Joe Biden has spent these early days as President-elect pleading with
Americans to pay attention to the relentless surge of COVID-19 � with
deaths averaging more than 1,000 a day in the past week � as President
Donald Trump continues to ignore the deepening crisis and touts the
promises of yet-to-be-approved vaccines as his panacea.

The continuing power struggle between two men with diametrically different
philosophies on how the US should handle the virus has left the nation
rudderless at this critical moment � forced by Trump into a governing
crisis as he refuses to let the transition to the Biden presidency proceed
and pass on knowledge that could be critical to slowing the spread of the
virus next year.

This past week, some Republicans in Congress finally seemed to take note
of how the President�s blockade was threatening national security � as
Republican Sens. James Lankford of Oklahoma, Chuck Grassley of Iowa and
Senate Majority Whip John Thune of South Dakota, among others, stepped up
to say that the President-elect should begin receiving intelligence
briefings as is customary during the transition of power.

But there is no indication that top GOP leaders are applying that same
logic to the deadly increase in coronavirus cases, even though the number
of patients in US hospitals hit an all time pandemic high last week,
according to data from the Covid Tracking Project. As of Saturday, more
than 69,000 Americans were hospitalized, according to the organization�s
tallies.

Many of the country�s top medical experts are underscoring the importance
of a functioning transition, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation�s top
infectious disease specialist, who has served six presidents over four
decades.

When asked about projections that another 200,000 deaths are possible in
the next four months, Fauci said the country can change that trajectory by
�very, very vigorously adhering to the public health measures� in
combination with swift distribution of a vaccine.

�We don�t have to accept those large numbers that are so terrifying,� he
said.

But the President is still adhering to the same hands-off approach that
led so many voters to reject his leadership on Election Day, inaccurately
stating that the increase in cases is the result of increased testing as
he tries to focus public attention on his administration�s efforts to
speed up a vaccine through Operation Warp Speed.

Adm. Brett Giroir, the COVID-19 testing coordinator for the Department of
Health and Human Services and a member of the White House coronavirus task
force, confirmed Sunday on ABC�s �This Week� that it has been five months
since Trump attended a task force meeting. He called the news about a
potential vaccine that is 90% effective �a game changer� but warned of the
dangers of the nation�s current predicament.

�We really are in a critical situation today, with over 180,000 cases
yesterday, hospitalizations up, mortality up,� Giroir told ABC�s Martha
Raddatz Sunday.

Trump�s focus however is still on the election results. For the first time
Sunday morning acknowledged Biden�s election victory, tweeting, �He won
because the Election was Rigged,� before continuing to blame his loss on
baseless and debunked conspiracy theories about the election. In another
tweet shortly after, he stood by his false belief that he may be able to
win the election, saying: �I concede NOTHING! We have a long way to go.�

The President spent most of Saturday golfing and tweeting similar false
conspiracy theories, and driving by a crowd of his supporters who gathered
in Washington to protest the election results on the basis of his lies and
propaganda.

He barely addressed the virus on Twitter Saturday, tweeting: �Congress
must now do a Covid Relief Bill. Needs Democrats support. Make it big and
focused. Get it done!�

Amid that leadership vacuum, many doctors and top medical experts are
bracing for even greater holiday spikes, noting that Americans have simply
let their guards down and given in to the desire to return to normal life.
The President unquestionably played a role in those attitudes as the
administration abandoned its public coronavirus task force briefings
months ago and he tried to win reelection by advancing the falsehood that
the US was �rounding the corner.�

Given the complexities of rapid vaccine distribution and the potential for
catastrophic consequences if doctors, hospitals and first responders don�t
have what they need to handle the current rise in COVID-19 cases,
Democrats � and even some Republicans from past administrations � are
sounding the alarm about the need for more communication between the
outgoing and incoming administrations in this moment of national crisis.

�It�s a very grave situation,� Incoming White House chief of staff Ron
Klain told NBC�s Chuck Todd on �Meet the Press.�

�He�s not the president now; there�s not that much that Joe Biden can do
right now to change things, other than to reiterate kind of message you
heard from (infectious disease expert) Dr. (Michael) Osterholm, which is
that all Americans and our state and local governments need to step up
right now,� said Klain, noting that Biden, as president, will institute a
national mask mandate.

�If the President, the administration is not going to lead, that�s where
the leadership has to come from,� Klain added. �That will change on
January 20 but right now we have a crisis that�s getting worse.�
Lack of communication raises alarm about virus response

Trump is blocking any meaningful exchange of coronavirus information �
beginning with the refusal of his appointee at the General Services
Administration to ascertain the election, the first step that would allow
the flow of transition funds and streamlined background checks for
incoming staff.

That�s forced the Biden team to get up to speed on the pandemic response
by back-channeling with governors, members of the private sector and the
medical community as they try to shape the nation�s coronavirus response
plan for next year.

While Biden is publicly projecting calm about the governing crisis �
allowing the Trump campaign�s election challenges to work their way
through the courts, where they are amassing a growing string of defeats �
he called for �urgent action� Friday by the Trump administration,
including an acknowledgment of how serious the current COVID-19 situation
is.

�This crisis demands a robust and immediate federal response, which has
been woefully lacking. I am the president-elect, but I will not be
president until next year,� Biden said, underscoring the limitations of
his position. �The crisis does not respect dates on the calendar, it is
accelerating right now.�

The President-elect�s advisers have been increasingly vocal about their
concerns about the lack of information sharing between the current and
future administrations.

�This is truly a national security threat,� Dr. Celine Gounder, an
infectious diseases specialist, epidemiologist and Biden Transition COVID-
19 board member, said on CNN�s �Anderson Cooper 360� Friday evening. �I
cannot even imagine another situation � if we were in the midst of a war �
that you wouldn�t have handoff of information and plans to a succeeding
president.�

As the US smashed through another set of coronavirus records on Friday
evening, Dr. Vivek Murthy, co-chair of Biden�s transition coronavirus
advisory board, told Blitzer it was �a grim day for the country.�

�We�re at a point now, even pre-Thanksgiving, where we are surging beyond
any level that we have seen over the last eight months,� Murthy, a former
surgeon general under President Barack Obama, said on �The Situation
Room.� �What we do over these next few weeks is going to have a profound
impact on whether this spread increases or whether we ultimately control
the spread of this virus.�

Fauci acknowledged Sunday that that alarming increase in cases,
hospitalizations and deaths could prompt more leaders to reinstate local
or statewide stay-at-home orders.

He said he expects governors and mayors to start looking at �very
surgical-type of restrictions, which are the function equivalent of a
local lockdown.�

�But we�re not going to have a national lockdown,� he added.
Local leaders weigh stronger measures to curb the virus

In the absence of a vigorous federal response to slow the spread of the
virus, there are signs that local leaders are once again considering more
dramatic action to control the spread, which could create economic and
logistical disruptions.

The 2.4% test positivity rate in New York City is now close enough to the
3% threshold that could lead the city to close schools and transition
students to remote learning, a possibility that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo
discussed during a call with journalists Saturday where he added that some
schools might be able to �test out� of closures if they have a much lower
positivity rate than the surrounding area.