New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says the Christopher Columbus statue in New York City should not be taken down, as it is a symbol of Italian American appreciation.

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Cuomo was asked about the statue, which is located at Columbus Circle, during a press conference, Thursday. A reporter asked Cuomo is if was "time for" the statue "to go."

"I understand the dialogue that has been going on for a number of years. The Christopher Columbus statue, in some ways, represents the Italian American legacy in this country. I understand the feelings about Christopher Columbus and some of his acts, which nobody would support," said Cuomo. "But the statue has come to represent and signify appreciation for the Italian American contribution to New York. For that reason, I support it."

Cuomo is of Italian descent.

Statues of historical figures with racist ideology across the globe have been taken down or vandalized by protesters in recent weeks. In Richmond, V.A., protesters threw a Columbus statue into the lake in the city’s Byrd Park. In Boston, a similar statue was decapitated. 

Similarly, the upcoming Columbus Day holiday has been renamed Indigenous People’s Day in several states, in response to the brutality of Columbus' actions.

New York City will begin the first phase of its reopening process Monday, June 8. Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed the date proposed by Governor Andrew Cuomo earlier this week.

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“[These businesses] were chosen because you can create physical separation,” said Mayor de Blasio. “That’s a lot of employees coming back to work … we want to emphasize safety throughout. We say ‘restart’ — we do not mean rushing back to something we used to think of as normal. We do not mean flicking a switch and suddenly everything is where it was again. We have to make sure this virus is in check. We’ve come a long way, not going to blow it now.”

Gov. Cuomo said he planned to have the city open on June 8th, last week, contradicting de Blasio, who said a date had not been determined at that time.

“It is reopening to a new normal. It’s a safer normal. Reopening doesn’t mean going back to the past,” Cuomo explained. “People will be wearing masks. It’s just a new way of interacting, which we have to do.”

De Blasio says that New York City will be giving out 2 million free masks to employees returning to work during phase 1.

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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is allowing sports teams in the state to resume training camps, taking the first step towards sports resuming as a whole.

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"Starting today, all the New York professional sports leagues will be able to begin training camps,'' the governor said in a news conference, Sunday.

Sports facilities have been on pause for over two months, due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has issued an executive order that reopens the state’s beaches, in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, sparking backlash.

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“The Governor’s Executive Order suspends the enforcement of any local ordinance or order adopted or issued since March 1, 2020, that relates to COVID-19,” Josh Hildebrandt, director of public and governmental affairs for DNR, said in a statement, according to The Hill. “This Executive Order thus lifted any local ordinances or orders that had closed or restricted access to Georgia beaches.

“People who voluntarily leave their shelters to go to our beaches can only do so for the purpose of outdoor exercise,” he continued.

State government still strongly encourages everyone to adhere to social distancing guidelines.

Tybee Island mayor Shirley Sessions is vehemently opposed to the Governor’s decision and explained why in a public statement.

“As the Pentagon ordered 100,000 body bags to store the corpses of Americans killed by the Coronavirus, Governor Brian Kemp dictated that Georgia beaches must reopen, and declared any decision makers who refused to follow these orders would face prison and/or fines,” she wrote. “While the beaches have to reopen under the Governor’s order, Tybee will not have beach access and parking lots will remain closed until further notice. It should also be noted that Tybee currently is not properly staffed with Emergency Medical Services and there are no life guards in place.”

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Georgia Governor Brian Kemp confessed that he had only just recently learned that people who haven't shown symptoms of coronavirus could still spread the disease to others. During a press conference on Wednesday, Kemp revealed that he had just been informed earlier this week "that this virus is now transmitting before people see signs," despite medical professionals stressing this possibility for quite awhile.

Netflix’s Tiger King is the latest docuseries to shine a bright spotlight on an issue that was otherwise under the radar. However, it also put the limelight on Joe Exotic, the incarcerated zoo owner who found himself entangled in a murder-for-hire plot. The newfound fame has earned him support from major celebrities, though some of the retracted their co-sign after footage of him arguing about the use of the N-word emerged. 

One person who hasn’t bought into the Tiger King hype is Marilyn Manson. Taking to Instagram, he shared a screenshot of a DM he received from Joe Exotic in early January 2018. Apparently, this was around the time when Joe Exotic wanted to run for the governor of Oklahoma and asked Manson for an endorsement, though he clarified that he wasn’t looking for any money.

“Hey. Thanks for the follow. I’m running for Governor of Oklahoma and trying to speak for the real people for a change and get some people help with addiction in this State that no one cares about,” he wrote to Manson. “Would you endorse me? Not asking for money. Just to use your name as an endorsement.”

Manson shared the photo with a simple caption referencing another Netflix program. “Nope. Don’t Fuck With Cats.” 

Check out Marilyn Manson’s incredibly strange DM from Joe Exotic below.  

Despite the world's best efforts to contain the novel coronavirus, things are quickly shutting down in the United States. Earlier today, it was announced that the entire state of California was ordered to stay at home and self-isolate and now, New York is pretty much in the same boat.

With thousands of new COVID-19 cases being announced in the U.S. this week, state governments have been deciding whether or not to impose similar shutdowns as the ones we're seeing in Italy and Spain. Governor Andrew Cuomo announced just now that all non-essential workers are required to stay home for twenty-four hours, in an effort to slow the spread of the virus.

The executive order will take place on Sunday. Cuomo gave a press conference where he spoke about the possible implications, recognizing that his actions "will cause disruption."

President Trump decided to call out New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Twitter Tuesday morning, after Cuomo called Trump’s response to the coronavirus “inexcusable” during a press conference Monday. Trump, most likely sitting on the toilet, had another series of tweets a little while ago, asking Governor Cuomo to keep politics out of it. During his hypocritical tweet, Trump continued his deflection of his poor handling of the pandemic by referring to the coronavirus as “The Chinese Virus” too, not wanting to take any responsibility for his delayed actions.

At 7:22 this morning, Trump tweeted: “Cuomo wants “all states to be treated the same.” But all states aren’t the same. Some are being hit hard by the Chinese Virus, some are being hit practically not at all. New York is a very big “hotspot”, West Virginia has, thus far, zero cases. Andrew, keep politics out of it.”

Halle Berry has a very surprising distant relative in her family tree, but let her be clear, former Alaska governor and vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin is NOT invited to the cookout. Halle threw some shade Ms. Palin's way on Friday Twitter, after the Daily Blast Live tweeted the little known fact about her family tree as part of a thread on celebrities who are surprisingly related. Among the herd are Hillary Clinton and Madonna, best buddies Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, sisters Dakota and Elle Fanning and the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton, Kerry Washington and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, and lookalikes Sen. Bernie Sanders and Larry David, who actually plays the Democratic presidential candidate on SNL.