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It's well known at this point that opportunistic third-party sellers on Amazon ($NASDAQ:AMZN) marketplace are doing whatever they can to cash inon coronavirus panic buying. As we've reported in the past, face mask sales have gone off the charts and disinfectants have been hard to come by for standard retail prices.

Amazon says it has removed tens of thousands of items that it determined were the result of price gouging, and pricing data shows that, so far, there hasn't been an appreciable rise in average prices across most of the site's categories.

The pricing data we've averaging here only accounts for the top 100 selling items per category, so it doesn't reflect the thousands of price gougers who may set up a new account and sell items at a high margin for a short period of time before the products begin to track in Amazon's best-selling product data. But it does show that across all of the relevant categories at Amazon, average prices have not risen, even in the site's Health & Household category where many items such as disinfectants are seeing price gouging.

At least among legitimate sellers (Amazon included) that move a lot of product, prices are holding steady for the top-100 products in each category. This data is also evidence that Amazon is indeed stamping out the price gougers before sales of their products can impact the average price of a category.

For instance, The Wall Street Journal found that a 33-count container of Clorox wipes was selling for $20.99 eight times the normal price on Thursday afternoon. By the next day, that product had disappeared from Amazon. And if products do work their way up the sales charts like face masks have their prices remain the same until they simply become unavailable.

But even if Amazon is keeping up with price gougers, less-regulated marketplaces like eBay and Facebook continue to see prices escalate as buyers make it clear that they're willing to pay whatever it takes to remain safe.

Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - andcreates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.

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Pricing data for thousands of products shows that Amazon is keeping coronavirus price gougers under control - Thinknum Media

HOLLYWOOD (CBS)

Disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison Wednesday on his rape and criminal sex act convictions following an emotional trial that was a landmark moment in the #MeToo era. Weinstein was convicted Feb. 24 of rape in the third degree for assaulting aspiring actress Jessica Mann in a New York City hotel room in 2013, and of committing a criminal sex act for forcing oral sex on former production assistant Mimi Haley in 2006.

Weinstein arrived in a wheelchair Wednesday morning to the Manhattan courthouse. He faced a minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 25 years in prison on the criminal sex act count. The third-degree rape count carried a maximum penalty of four years, meaning Weinstein faced a maximum possible sentence of 29 years.

Prosecutor Joan Illuzzi thanked the six women who testified against Weinstein, all of whom were in the courtroom gallery.

Without these women and others who were willing to come forward, Illuzzi said, this matter would never have been able to be taken, it never would have been successful, and the defendant would never have been able to stop hurting or destroying other peoples lives.

Illuzzi said Weinstein got drunk on power.

He could take what he wanted knowing there was very little anyone could do about it, Illuzzi said.

Mann and Haley both also addressed the court, describing the impact of the assaults on the lives.

I believe that when he attacked me that evening with physical force with no regard for anything I said, Haley said, what he did stripped me of my dignity as a woman.

Haley became emotional, describing how she felt trapped and unable to go to officials.

At the time all of this happened I thought I was alone in this, I had no idea there were others, I didnt realize the extent of Harvey Weinsteins manipulative and calculated predatory behavior, Haley said.

She asked Burke to impose whatever sentence is long enough for Harvey Weinstein to acknowledge what hes done to me and to others and to be truly sorry.

Haley, speaking with CBS This Morning after the trial, said hearing the guilty verdict was a huge relief.

I felt just very grateful that they that Id been heard and believed, Haley said.

In her impact statement on Wednesday, Mann asked the judge to please understand as she couldnt fight back during the assault. My spirit and my emotions are the last things I have to control, Mann said. I want to remind you that I told Harvey no.

Mann also emphasized the lasting impact on victims.

Rape is not just the moment of penetration, it is forever, she said.

The sentencing comes after documents were unsealed in the case Monday that revealed correspondence from Weinstein in 2017 as the public allegations against him mounted. In one October 2017 email, Weinstein responded to an inquiry from The National Enquirer about an allegation that he had groped Jennifer Aniston by saying, Jen Aniston should be killed.

A spokesperson for Aniston told media outlets Tuesday the claim Weinstein groped the actress was unfounded.

The correspondence also revealed that Weinstein reached out to about two dozen high-profile figures to ask for help that same month, including Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos and Michael Bloomberg.

My board is thinking of firing me, Weinstein wrote to Bloomberg. All Im asking for is, let me take a leave of absence and get into heavy therapy and counseling whether it be in a facility or somewhere else, and allow me to resurrect myself with a second chance.

In December 2017, in an unpublished response to the allegations, Weinstein calls himself a sex addict and an anger addict and says he is suicidal. And correspondence from the previous month shows his brother Bob Weinstein denounced the disgraced producer as a liar, writing to him: U deserve a lifetime achievement award for the sheer savagery and immorality and inhumanness, for the acts u have perpetrated. Oh I forgot. They were all consensual.

In a letter delivered to Judge James Burke on Monday, Weinsteins defense asked Burke to sentence Weinstein to the minimum term of five years, arguing the trial did not fairly portray who he is as a person.

His life story, his accomplishments, and struggles are simply remarkable and should not be disregarded in total because of the jurys verdict, the letter read.

Defense attorneys cited his age 67 and health issues, saying that even the shortest term could be a de facto life sentence. Weinstein was hospitalized due to concerns about high blood pressure and heart palpitations for more than a week after his conviction, reports the Associated Press. He was reportedly transferred to the infirmary at New York Citys Rikers Island jail complex late last week.

Weinstein used a walker during his trial, and his lawyers have said he had an unsuccessful back surgery following a car crash.

The defense also cited the intense media coverage of the case and said his life has been destroyed since allegations were first published about him in the media in 2017: Simply put, his fall from grace has been historic, perhaps unmatched in the age of social media, his attorneys wrote.

Weinstein was not convicted of more serious charges of predatory sexual assault, and the jury did not find that he used force against Mann, defense attorneys stressed.

But in their own letter, the Manhattan District Attorneys office asked Burke to sentence Weinstein to a term that reflects the seriousness of the defendants conduct, his total lack of remorse for the harm he has caused, and the need to deter him and others from engaging in further criminal conduct.

Prosecutors cited a series of allegations spanning decades from women who said Weinstein assaulted them, describing what they called a lifetime of abuse toward others, sexual and otherwise. The claims dated back to 1978, when prosecutors said Weinstein told an employee of his music company there was only one room left at a New York hotel. She agreed to share a room with him but later awoke to find him sexually assaulting her, according to the letter.

At Weinsteins trial, too, prosecutors sought to prove Weinstein had a pattern of assaulting women by calling accusers whose claims could not be prosecuted under state statutes of limitations.

Weinstein will also be offered the chance to speak at Wednesdays hearing. Following the sentencing, Weinstein is expected to undergo a medical evaluation before he is transferred from the city jail system to the state prison system, the AP reports.

Weinsteins lawyers have said he will appeal the verdict.

CBS News Cassandra Gauthier contributed reporting.

First published on March 11, 2020 / 6:18 AM

2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 23 years on rape and sex assault convictions - Wink News

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! Im Amy Goodman, with Juan Gonzlez.

JUAN GONZLEZ: We turn now to look at how healthcare workers are being put at risk as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread. The number of cases in the U.S. passed 1,000 Tuesday, with the rate of infections likely increasing. Thirty-two people in the country have died. Despite this, the U.S. continues to lag on testing, and healthcare workers say they lack adequate protection and protocols to allow them to safely care for infected patients. They also say the countrys hospitals are woefully unprepared to handle the crisis. Nurses in the hot zones of California and Washington had already reported having to beg for face masks and decried a systemic lack of guidance on how to address the virus. But Tuesday, National Nurses United said the Centers for Disease Control actually weakened its guidelines on responding to the pandemic.

AMY GOODMAN: In response, nurses with the National Nurses United and the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee are holding a national day of action today to demand better protections for healthcare workers and the public. This all comes as coronavirus has also rallied nurses around the fight for Medicare for All. On Tuesday, Vice President Mike Pence spoke about health insurance for people who contract coronavirus.

VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: Today, President Trump assembled a top health insurance executives in America. And as we announced earlier today, all of our major health insurance companies have now joined with Medicare and Medicaid and agreed to waive all copays, cover the cost of all treatment for those who contract the coronavirus. They have committed to no surprise billing. And theyve committed to encourage telemedicine.

AMY GOODMAN: Bonnie Castillo, executive director of National Nurses United, tweeted earlier this week, #COVID19 lays bare truths #nurses know all too well: our health care system is cruel, inhumane, & inefficient. It is our duty to protect public health. We MUST rise to the challenge. Any vaccine or treatment developed with taxpayer dollars must be provided free of charge.

Well, for more, we go to Minneapolis, where were joined by National Nurses United President Jean Ross. Still with us, The Intercept's Naomi Klein and Alicia Garza, who's with National Domestic Workers Alliance.

Jean Ross, thank you for joining us. Talk about todays day of action, what youre calling for, and where Medicare for All fits into this story in this time of coronavirus.

JEAN ROSS: Well, basically, were calling for protections for registered nurses and other healthcare workers, who are the people that are going to be caring for the COVID-19-affected patients. Right now we did a survey at the end of February, and what we found was only 29% of our nurses and other nurses that were surveyed said that there was a plan in place to deal with any of these patients. Twenty-two percent said they didnt even know if there was a plan. We had only 63% that said they had enough N95 respirators. Twenty-three percent said they had what we call PAPRs, powered air purifying respirators. Only 30% said they could come up with enough what we call PPE, personal protective equipment, should there be a surge in COVID-19 patients. And some said they just plain didnt know. And we have been calling for this protection for healthcare workers, not just for many months now, but also, if you recall, since the Ebola crisis hit our shores. And sad to say, we are still very lacking.

JUAN GONZLEZ: Could you talk about the most vulnerable communities, including undocumented immigrants and those with no health insurance whatsoever, what prevents them then to go to a hospital to seek care even if they get sick?

JEAN ROSS: Well, if we had a national healthcare system, like some other countries do, we would be in a far better position. For example, if you look at a country like Canada, who had to undergo the SARS crisis, and they were able to do it in large part because of that system. We have such a patchwork here thats dependent on profit. Then our homeless communities, our immigrants, that you mentioned, those of lower economic status are going to be the ones hardest hit. Theyre going to not want to come in, because they dont have the money to pay. They may or may not have heard about what the vice president just said. But that still is insurance companies, for-profit companies, deciding what theyll do, and not our government, our society, deciding what well do for people who need care.

AMY GOODMAN: Exit polls in every state voting Super Tuesday 2 showed strong support for Medicare for All, including in Mississippi, where it has the backing of nearly two-thirds of Democratic voters. But speaking on MSNBC Monday, Joe Biden indicated, if elected president, he would veto Medicare for All legislation should Congress send it to his desk. This is what he said.

LAWRENCE ODONNELL: Youre president. Bernie Sanders is still active in the Senate. He manages to get Medicare for All through the Senate in some compromised version, the Elizabeth Warren version or other version. Nancy Pelosi gets a version of it through the House of Representatives. It comes to your desk. Do you veto it?

JOE BIDEN: I would veto anything that delays providing the security and the certainty of healthcare being available now. If they got that through, and by some miracle, and there was an epiphany that occurred, and some miracle occurred that said, OK, its passed, then youve got to look at the cost. I want to know: How did they find the $35 trillion? What is that doing? Is it going to significantly raise taxes on the middle class? Which it will. Whats going to happen? Look, my opposition isnt to the principle that there should be you should have Medicare. I mean, if everybody healthcare should be a right in America. My opposition relates to whether or not, A, its doable, two, what the cost is, and what the consequences for the rest of the budget are.

AMY GOODMAN: Thats Joe Biden. Jean Ross, president of National Nurses United, lets get your response, then Alicia Garza and Naomi Klein.

JEAN ROSS: Well, first of all, its not that healthcare should be a human right. It just plain is. And we see now that the American people agree with us. As far as cost, I believe he knows exactly what its costing now, and we cant afford what we are doing. So, any costs that would be incurred with putting it in place would be far outweighed by the savings that we would have afterward. Im afraid that until we keep insisting that those for-profit insurance companies are part of a system, we will never achieve what we need to guarantee care for everyone as a human right.

AMY GOODMAN: Lets go to Alicia Garza, who, among the hats she wears, is with the National Domestic Workers Alliance. Alicia?

ALICIA GARZA: I mean, if nothing else, we can see here that Joe Biden is not Obama. And frankly, I would agree that whats at stake here are millions of workers, many of whom are immigrant workers and workers of color and women and people who are trying to put food on their tables while also caring for other people, and doing so in the midst, as I said earlier, of a global pandemic. I work with domestic workers, who are people who work inside of peoples homes. For us, a home is a workplace. And frankly, domestic workers are locked out of most federal labor protections that should protect all workers, that would give workers sick days and paid time off. And were seeing that in the midst of this pandemic, the real kind of underpinnings of the abuses that workers are facing in this economy are coming to broad daylight. Domestic workers already dont have access to paid time off, paid sick days, etc., and are caring for some of the most vulnerable people in our society and helping to make families make ends meet.

And so, one of the things that were really concerned about is making sure that, at the very least, that there is an expansion of access to the things that people need, particularly in this type of crisis, but in general and overall. People need access to affordable and quality healthcare. And in this very moment, people also need to be able to take time off, take care of their families and take sick days, or else this global pandemic will continue to spread. And under this current administration, I dont think theres any reason for us to think that theyve got it under control. In fact, that could have happened months ago, and now we are in a situation where, as we understand it, containment is not possible. So, what we can do in this moment is make sure, particularly, that the people who are caring for folk who have been affected by this crisis, including nurses, including domestic workers, are well taken care of in this moment. And a way to do that is to make sure that protections are strong. And another way to do that is to make sure that were holding this administration accountable for keeping insurance companies in check, and that were holding

JUAN GONZLEZ: Alicia, if I could just cut you off a second, because we just have about 30 seconds. We want to get Naomi to get her final words in on this.

NAOMI KLEIN: Well, look, I agree completely. This administration is uniquely ill-equipped to deal with this crisis, because they are not treating it as a health crisis. Theyre treating it as a PR crisis. Theyve shown again and again that they when they dont like reality, they just try to bury it, I mean, in the same way that they dont want to talk about what our satellites are measuring in terms of climate change, in the same that they suppress the number of people who died after Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Now they think that by not testing, this crisis is going to go away. And we need leadership that actually is guided by objective reality and science, and puts people first.

AMY GOODMAN: Were going to have to leave it there, but of course we continue with you. Tomorrow were going to focus on the issue of paid sick leave and so much more, bringing you updates from New Rochelle, the epicenter in the country, and other places around the world. Naomi Klein, senior correspondent at The Intercept, inaugural Gloria Steinem chair of media, culture and feminist studies at Rutgers University; Alicia Garza with the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Black Futures Lab, Black Lives Matter Global Network; and Jean Ross, president of National Nurses United, speaking to us from Minneapolis. That does it for our show. Im Amy Goodman, with Juan Gonzlez. Thanks so much for joining us, and be safe.

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Nurses on the Frontlines of Coronavirus Pandemic Demand More Protection & Medicare for All - Democracy Now!

WASHINGTON The White House moved on Thursday to tighten control of coronavirus messaging by government health officials and scientists, directing them to coordinate all statements and public appearances with the office of Vice President Mike Pence, according to several officials familiar with the new approach.

But on a day that the White House sought to display a more disciplined strategy to the administrations communications about the virus, Mr. Trump used an evening event honoring African-American History Month to rail against the news media, claiming it is overstating the threat, and to congratulate himself for keeping the number of cases low.

I think its an incredible achievement what our countrys done, Mr. Trump said, noting that he had moved quickly to ban travel from China after the emergence of the virus. Even though a total of 60 people infected with the coronavirus are in the United States, he ignored all but the 15 who did not initially contract it overseas.

Fifteen people is almost, I would say, a miracle, the president bragged.

The comments came just a few hours after Mr. Pence convened a meeting of the coronavirus task force composed of some of the nations top public health officials. The vice president made it clear that they would report to him.

Im leading the task force, Mr. Pence told reporters at the Department of Health and Human Services, even as he promised to rely on the guidance of experts.

Mr. Trump announced Wednesday evening that Mr. Pence would coordinate the governments response to the public health threat while playing down the immediate danger from the virus that is spreading rapidly across the globe.

Officials insist Mr. Pences goal is not to control what experts and other officials say, but to make sure their efforts are coordinated, after days of confusion with various administration officials making contradictory statements on television.

But the attempt to demonstrate a unified administration voice was undercut early in the day, when Mr. Pence said that he had selected Dr. Deborah L. Birx, the director of the United States effort to combat H.I.V. and AIDS, to serve as the coronavirus response coordinator for the White House, enlisting an experienced scientist and physician to address the potential spread of the virus.

The announcements of the roles of the vice president and Dr. Birx were intended to show that Mr. Trump and those around him are taking seriously the potential threat to the health of Americans. Aides said the president wanted governors and members of Congress to have a single point person to communicate with, eliminating any jockeying for power in a decentralized situation.

Updated Feb. 29, 2020

But Dr. Birx is now the third person to have been designated as the administrations primary coronavirus official, along with Mr. Pence and Alex M. Azar II, the secretary of health and human services.

Mr. Trump said Wednesday that Mike is going to be in charge, and Mike will report back to me. Mr. Pence said it would be Dr. Birx. Mr. Azar, for his part, remains the chairman of the governments coronavirus task force.

The vice presidents move to control the messaging about coronavirus appeared to be aimed at preventing the kind of conflicting statements that have plagued the administrations response.

The latest instance occurred Thursday evening, when the president said that the virus could get worse or better in the days and weeks ahead, but that nobody knows, contradicting Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, one of the countrys leading experts on viruses and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.

At the meeting with Mr. Pence on Thursday, Dr. Fauci described the seriousness of the public health threat facing Americans, saying that this virus has adapted extremely well to human species and noting that it appeared to have a higher mortality rate than influenza.

We are dealing with a serious virus, Dr. Fauci said.

Dr. Fauci has told associates that the White House had instructed him not to say anything else without clearance.

The new White House approach came as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged Thursday that a California woman with coronavirus was made to wait days before she was tested for an infection because of the agencys restrictive criteria.

And despite Mr. Trumps efforts to calm jittery investors, stock markets plunged again Thursday. The S&P 500 fell 4.4 percent, the worst single-day slide for the market since August 2011 and leaving it 10 percent lower than it was a week earlier.

The presidents decision to appoint Mr. Pence to lead the coronavirus response came after several days in which his aides grappled with whether to name a coronavirus czar.

Mr. Trump said on Wednesday that he was pleased with Mr. Azars performance, calling the team that he has led totally brilliant. But White House aides, led by Mick Mulvaney, the presidents acting chief of staff, had debated for days whether the administration needed a point person to be the face of the response.

The decision to put Mr. Pence in charge was made on Wednesday after the president told some people that the vice president did not have anything else to do, according to people familiar with Mr. Trumps comments.

Dr. Birx has spent more than three decades working on H.I.V./AIDS immunology, vaccine research and global health, according to the White House, which said in a statement that she would bring her infectious disease, immunologic, vaccine research and interagency coordinating capacity to this position.

The presidents selection of Mr. Pence and the decision to name Dr. Birx as the coordinator for the response further erodes Mr. Azars traditional role as the nations top health official in charge of directing the governments response to a medical crisis. Mr. Trump has told people that he considers Mr. Azar to be too alarmist about the virus.

Mr. Azar denied reports that he had not been consulted about the decision to bring in Mr. Pence before the presidents announcement Wednesday evening. He told lawmakers on Thursday during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing that when he was informed of Mr. Pences selection, I said, quote, thats genius.

Officials also announced that Mr. Pence was expanding the coronavirus task force to include key administration officials, including Dr. Jerome M. Adams, the surgeon general, as well as the presidents top two economic advisers, Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council, and Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary. The task force is made up of more than a dozen top administration officials and cabinet secretaries.

An administration official said Thursday night that Mr. Pence had discussed the coronavirus with several governors, including Andrew Cuomo, Democrat of New York; Greg Abbott, Republican of Texas; Larry Hogan, Republican of Maryland; Pete Ricketts, Republican of Nebraska; Jay Inslee, Democrat of Washington; and Gavin Newsom, Democrat of California.

The decision to bring in Mr. Pence was not without controversy.

Critics of the vice president pointed to Mr. Pences record on public health when he was the governor of Indiana as evidence that he was not the right person to lead the governments response to a health crisis. Democrats noted that Mr. Pence was blamed for aggravating a severe AIDS outbreak among intravenous drug users when he opposed calls for a clean needle exchange program on the grounds it would encourage more drug use.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters that she had told Mr. Pence directly that she questioned his new role given that as governor, he had slashed the public health budget in Indiana.

I spoke with the vice president this morning, made some of these concerns known to him, she said. We have always had a very candid relationship and I expressed to him the concern that I had of his being in this position.

Annie Karni and Emily Cochrane contributed reporting.

Originally posted here:
Pence Will Control All Coronavirus Messaging From Health Officials - The New York Times

Administration officials held a briefing at the White House featuring Alex M. Azar II, the secretary of health and human services, along with Russell T. Vought, the budget director, and Eric Ueland, the White House legislative director. After each official read off a series of prepared talking points, they took only a handful of questions from journalists.

Of the three officials, Mr. Azar went the furthest in suggesting that the United States might face a difficult next phase of the coronavirus, if it spreads. Mr. Trump has repeatedly told advisers he is concerned that Mr. Azar and others in the administration are presenting an alarmist view.

The administration has ignored or sidelined expert staff at agencies like the C.D.C. and the N.I.H., offered the public inconsistent and confusing information, and failed to provide clear leadership, said Dr. Kathleen Rest, the executive director of the Union of Concerned Scientists and a health policy expert, referring to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.

Mr. Pence went to Florida on Friday for a previously scheduled fund-raiser for the states Republican delegation, although he planned to give a briefing to Gov. Ron DeSantis while there. He also stopped by the radio broadcaster Rush Limbaughs studio to insist that the administration was not focused on politics.

Washington is always going to have a political reflexive response to things, Mr. Pence said. But were going to tune that out.

Mr. Limbaugh has been among the conservative commentators who have blamed the news media and political opponents for overemphasizing the coronavirus, which he compared to the common cold. It looks like the coronavirus is being weaponized as yet another element to bring down Donald Trump, Mr. Limbaugh, who was recently given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Mr. Trump, said on his show on Monday.

That theme has been amplified by some of the presidents favorite Fox News hosts, like Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, in recent days and animated Mr. Mulvaneys appearance on Friday at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Oxon Hill, Md.

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Trump Accuses Media and Democrats of Exaggerating Coronavirus Threat - The New York Times