Im brian thomas thanks so much for joining us today on the 1st of july germany will be assuming the presidency of the council of the European Union now this means that until the end of this year germany will chair the meetings of the council and will be tabling e. U. Legislation this morning on a macro will set out to the German Parliament her vision for europe and where it should be heading were seeing some live images right now for from that session thats just getting underway at the bundestag at this hour. The president of the german bund a cycle of gong show you blow will be addressing parliament 1st medicals statement is expected to include details of a massive stimulus package to all economies recover from the impact of the coded pandemic and plans for the distribution of a 1 point one trillion euro budget you have used chief Political Editor Michelle Acuff theyre standing by for us at this hour at the Parliament Good day to you michelle can you tell us about the priorities berli
Commissioner rettig, thank you for agreeing to testify on 2020 tax Filing Season and the irs handling of challenges that are posed because of the pandemic. 2020 Filing Season got off to its typical start at the end of january. However since then, this Filing Season has been anything but typical. This includes the individual and Corporate Income tax filings and payment deadlines which were pushed back from the normal april 15 to july 15. There is some rumors it might be extended again. I dont know. I have heard that at least once. Despite these extended dialogue deadlines, the tax Filing Season continued with money still filing taxes as usual asy still filing taxes usual. At the same time consistent with Government Shutdown orders and cdc guidance, the irs limited much of its work to essential services, closed a number of facilities and instituted telework policies where practical. Shortstaffed irs during the busiest time of the year. That meant taxpayers experience longer wait times to
And greatly appreciate all of the work done by law enforcement, my heart goes out to georges family and friends, justice will be served. I can tell you as im briefing you at this moment, the president is receiving a briefing from the attorney general, bill barr, on this, and the Deputy Director of the f. B. I. That is ongoing as i begin this briefing. Secondly i want to transition into some news from s. B. A. And treasury that was announced that today the u. S. Small Business Administration in consultation with the u. S. Treasury department announced it is setting aside 10 billion of round two funding for the Paycheck Protection Program to lent exclusively to cdfis, Community Development financial institutions. Cdfis work to expand Economic Opportunity in lowincome communities by providing access to products and services to local residents an businesses. We are encouraged to see that finally before taking your questions i want to address whats going on on twitter and social media. I be
Good afternoon are three people who need no introduction. The woman to my right, the commissioner of the department of health, and to her right, the state epidemiologist, and the man on my left, the state police superintendent. Also joining us per usual is the director of the office of Homeland Security preparedness, Deputy Council of the guard. One quick reminder that is off given the date we the find ourselves meeting, is before i go through our discussion, a quick reminder that although today is april 15, your state tax returns are not due today. Pursuant to the legislation that i signed actually yesterday, you now have until july 15. And the three month extension is automatic. You need do nothing. Just want to remind folks of that. Now we want to get to the numbers up front if we can. Today we are reporting an additional 2625 positive test results and a total of 71,030 new jerseyans have now tested positive. According to our online dashboard, accessible again for gov, as of 10 00 p
Donald trumps trial in the senate, but some important things have been happening in russia as well, particularly the announcement wednesday by Vladimir Putin shifting Greater Authority to parliament which has left many wondering what this means about putins own plans to relinquish the presidency, or not, in a few years here so we are especially fortunate to have with us this evening an expert on putins russia, joshua yaffa, who is the moscow correspondent for the new yorker. Hes been covering russia from much of the past decade. His new book between two fires offers a truly fascinating and revealing look at the impact that the putin era has had on above all the nations psyche and the moral struggles and calculation that Many Russians confront. Josh has written a very nuanced portrait of russia, nothing le the simplistic view of that country, and oppressed people lorded over by a kgb trained dictator. Josh describes the people who fall somewhere in the middle between an oppressor and op