The Commentariat -- February 28, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Annie Karni of the New York Times: Speaking at CPAC, "Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, on Friday blamed the media for exaggerating the seriousness of coronavirus because 'they think this will bring down the president, that's what this is all about.'... The news media has [have!] been covering the global spread of coronavirus for months. But Mr. Mulvaney claimed that the news media was too preoccupied covering impeachment, he said, 'because they thought it would bring down the president.'" Mulvaney also complained that the press wasn't covering Trump's great relationship with his youngest son, even those Melania Trump has jealously guarded the child's privacy. Here's a Hill story.

Peter Sullivan of the Hill: "Democratic lawmakers expressed frustration Friday with the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus, saying they left a closed-door briefing by top health officials with many unanswered questions." ~~~

~~~ Adam Cancryn & David Liu of Politico: "Several House Republicans walked out of a closed-door coronavirus briefing Friday with Trump health officials in protest after a senior Democrat blasted the Trump administration's handling of the response effort. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) kicked off the briefing sharply criticizing the administration as disorganized and lacking urgency in combating the coronavirus, lawmakers said. Her speech frustrated Republicans and some Democrats assembled to hear from the slate of officials from the CDC, NIH and State Department.... [Dr. Tony] Fauci emphatically denied reports that the White House is preventing him from speaking publicly about the virus. Vice President Mike Pence's office had asked him to delay pre-scheduled television hits and seek renewed clearance to do the appearances in the wake of Pence's appointment as response leader, he said." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Rep. Ted Lieu, speaking on CNN, said he asked mike pence if pence thought the virus was a "hoax," and pence refused to answer. pence is so afraid of angering his lord & master that every federal professional must get pence's approval before saying "coronavirus," yet pence also is so petrified that he can't say one definitive thing about the virus. There's your government's "response."

Fred Imbert & Eustance Huang of CNBC: "Stocks tumbled once again on Friday, adding to the market's worst week since the financial crisis, as worries over the coronavirus and its impact on the economy continue to rattle investor sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 910 points, or more than 3.5%, to below 25,000. The S&P 500 slid 3.5% while the Nasdaq Composite fell nearly 3%. The major averages were under pressure on Friday in part because investors kept adding to their bond-market exposure and fleeing equities. The benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yield touched a fresh record low. It was last at 1.18%. Yields move inversely to prices."

** Maria Sachetti & Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "A federal appeals court in California halted the Trump administration's 'Remain in Mexico' immigration policy on Friday, a blow to the president's restrictive immigration agenda that cripples one of the government's approaches to curbing migration across the U.S. southern border. The program -- officially known as the Migrant Protection Protocols, or MPP -- called for pushing asylum seekers back into Mexico to await their U.S. asylum hearings, part of an effort to limit migrant access to U.S. soil and to lessen a record migration surge among Central American families. More than 470,000 parents and children crossed into the United States last fiscal year, and most were quickly freed into the country to await U.S. immigration court hearings.... The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 to uphold a lower-court's injunction on MPP, saying that the policy 'is invalid in its entirety due to its inconsistency with' federal law, and 'should be enjoined in its entirety.'" An NBC News story is here.

Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal appeals court has turned down a lawsuit claiming that ... Donald Trump's luxury hotel in Washington, D.C., is unfairly undermining the business of other venues in the city. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday against a lawsuit a D.C. wine bar filed in 2017, claiming it was losing business to the Trump International Hotel because some customers were seeking to use their dollars to win favor with the president."

Zach Montellaro & Holly Otterbein of Politico: "The Iowa state Democratic Party has completed its partial recount of the Feb. 3 presidential caucuses, and the result hasn't changed: Pete Buttigieg still has a very narrow advantage over Bernie Sanders in state delegate equivalents. The state party announced Thursday evening that it recounted results in 23 precincts that were requested by both campaigns, and Buttigieg leads Sanders by roughly one state delegate equivalent, a difference of about four hundredths of a percentage point."

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Too busy to read today's synopsis of the top stories? No problem. Read Akhilleus's synopsis of the synopsis at the top of today's Comments. P.S. If you're wheezy or raspy, better stay home, call the doc & pray with mike. Update: Here's an even briefer, if not as humorous, summary of the last couple of days of Trumpandemic news: ~~~

~~~ Paul Krugman: "So, here's the response of the Trump team and its allies to the coronavirus, at least so far: It's actually good for America. Also, it's a hoax perpetrated by the news media and the Democrats. Besides, it's no big deal, and people should buy stocks. Anyway, we'll get it all under control under the leadership of a man who doesn't believe in science." But do read on. ~~~

~~~ Trump Expects "Miracle" to Make Coronavirus Epidemic "Disappear." Summer Concepcion of TPM: "... President Trump again touted his administration's response to the [coronavirus] outbreak [Thursday].... Trump also seemed to suggest that the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. would be worse if it hadn't been for him. '15 people is almost, I would say, a miracle,' Trump said, referring to the amount of confirmed cases in the U.S.... However, Trump added that the coronavirus outbreak could worsen before getting better. 'It's going to disappear. One day it's like a miracle, it disappear. And from our shores, you know, it could get worse before it gets better,' Trump said. 'It could maybe go away. We'll see what happens. Nobody really knows. The fact is the greatest experts I've spoken to them all, nobody really knows.'" Mrs. McC: Now, that's leadership! ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Will Sommer & Asawin Suebsaeng of the Daily Beast: "... Donald Trump spent 45 minutes [Thursday] talking to the lead actors of a low-budget conservative play about the so-called Deep State. Phelim McAleer, the playwright behind the play FBI Lovebirds: Undercovers, told The Daily Beast that the meeting with Trump had originally been scheduled for just 15 minutes but went 30 minutes longer than that.... Trump hasn't seen the play, according to McAleer, but praised its concept: a script based entirely on congressional testimony and the text messages between former FBI agent Peter Strzok and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, who discussed the FBI's investigation into Trump's campaign and Russia while having an affair." ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Steve Contorno of the Tampa Bay Times: "The country's new point man on coronavirus response, Vice President Mike Pence, is expected to travel to ... the moneyed barrier island town of Longboat Key, [Florida,] where he'll be the main attraction for Congressional Republicans in one of their biggest fundraisers of the year. It's $2,500 to get in the door and $5,000 to take a picture with the vice president, according to an invite obtained by the Tampa Bay Times. And $25,000 buys dinner with him, too.... The event, hosted by the Florida Republican congressional delegation, benefits the National Republican Congressional Committee, according to the invite."

Matt Phillips of the New York Times: "Global markets tumbled for a sixth consecutive day on Thursday, dragging down the S&P 500 more than 10 percent in just a week, reflecting rising fears over the coronavirus that is spreading quickly around the world. The S&P 500 fell 4.4 percent on Thursday, the worst single day slide for the market since August 2011. The index is on pace for its worst weekly performance since the 2008 financial crisis. Stocks in Europe and Asia were also hard hit on Thursday. The sell-off came after public health officials in the United States and Germany said new patients in each country had no known connection to others with the illness, a development that could complicate efforts to track the virus." The CNBC story is here. Mrs. McC: Wow! Democrats really upset traders. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Emily Cochrane, et al., of the New York Times: "Federal health employees interacted with Americans quarantined for possible exposure to the coronavirus without proper medical training or protective gear, then scattered into the general population, according to a government whistle-blower. In a portion of a complaint filing obtained by The New York Times that has been submitted to the Office of the Special Counsel, the whistle-blower, described as a senior leader at the health agency, said the team was 'improperly deployed' to two military bases in California to assist the processing of Americans who had been evacuated from coronavirus hot zones in China and elsewhere. The staff members were sent to Travis Air Force Base and March Air Reserve Base and were ordered to enter quarantined areas, including a hangar where coronavirus evacuees were being received. They were not provided training in safety protocols until five days later, the person said. Without proper training or equipment, some of the exposed staff members moved freely around and off the bases, with at least one person staying in a nearby hotel and leaving California on a commercial flight." The Washington Post story is here. The Hill has a summary report here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Stifling the Experts. Michael Shear & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: “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 appearance with the office of Vice President Mike Pence, according to several officials familiar with the new approach.... Mr. Pence said Thursday 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.... With Mr. Pence's announcement, Dr. Birx becomes the third person to be designated as the administration's primary coronavirus official. Mr. Trump said that 'Mike is going to be in charge, and Mike will report back to me.' Mr. Pence said it will be Dr. Birx. Meanwhile, Alex M. Azar II, the health and human services secretary, remains the chairman of the government's coronavirus task force.... Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, one of the country's leading experts on viruses and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infections Diseases, told associates that the White House had instructed him not to say anything else without clearance." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

Trump's plan for the coronavirus so far: -Cut winter heating assistance for the poor -Have VP Pence, who wanted to 'pray away' HIV epidemic, oversee the response -Let ex-pharma lobbyist Alex Azar refuse to guarantee affordable vaccines to all' -Disgusting. -- Sen. Bernie Sanders, in a tweet yesterday evening

Related Hill story here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Matt Gertz of Media Matters: "The Centers for Disease Control is warning that it expects to see an expanded outbreak [of coronavirus] in the United States and is planning for a worldwide pandemic.... But at this delicate moment, the feedback loop between Fox News and President Donald Trump is powering the president's response. The network hosts who influence Trump the most are fixating his attention on Democrats and the media, who they claim are deliberately politicizing coronavirus in order to damage his reelection campaign. And Trump is apparently listening to them and is spouting the same talking points.... Fox ... hosts and personalities targeted the media and Democrats for their treatment of coronavirus throughout Wednesday night and Thursday morning." --s

Dan Diamond of Politico (Feb. 26): "Hundreds of Americans were left stuck on a cruise ship that later became the single biggest source of U.S. coronavirus cases -- a CDC decision. Dozens of public health labs are still waiting for tests that will allow them to diagnose coronavirus -- a CDC responsibility. One of [CDC Director Robert] Redfield's deputies on Monday urged businesses and schools to start preparing for the disease's inevitable spread -- stamping the CDC's imprint on public fears and irking White House officials who worry about panicking Americans and driving down financial markets.... 'CDC's stumbled,' said one official, referencing the agency's lab-testing failures. 'It's too early to tell if those stumbles will mean we miss an outbreak ... It's a pray-and-see situation.'... Inside the health department, officials have complained that Redfield and CDC have been slow to resolve essential problems, like clarifying whether dozens of public health labs around the nation will soon have diagnostics capable of testing for coronavirus."

Martyn McLaughlin of the Scotsman: "Patrick Harvie MSP, co-leader of the Scottish Greens, said there were reasonable grounds for suspecting that the US president, or people he is connected with, 'have been involved in serious crime.' He has called on ministers to apply to the Court of Session to seek answers as to how Mr Trump's bankrolled his multimillion acquisitions of land and property in his mother's homeland. Responding at First Minister's Questions, Nicola Sturgeon stressed she was 'no defender' of Mr Trump, but said any allegations of criminality were a matter for Police Scotland and the Crown Office." Harvie asked the government to investigate via an "unexplained wealth order," a rarely-used tool designed "to target suspected corrupt foreign officials who have potentially laundered stolen money through the UK." (Also linked yesterday.)

Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: "The Department of Veterans Affairs' inspector general has opened an investigation into allegations that Secretary Robert Wilkie tried to dig up dirt on an aide to a top Democrat in Congress after she said she was sexually assaulted at the agency's Washington hospital. Inspector General Michael J. Missal, after a preliminary review of Wilkie's conduct following the woman's report last fall, told lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Thursday that he has decided to move forward with a full-blown inquiry."

Robert Reich in the American Prospect: "William Barr was installed as attorney general specifically to turn the Department of Justice into an arm of the Trump Cover-Up. And we've seen him do exactly that. Barr has corrupted and politicized the Department of Justice, working hand in hand with Donald Trump to bend federal law enforcement to the president's will. Here are some of the ways Barr is helping Trump turn our democracy into a dictatorship: 1. He intervened in the sentencing of Roger Stone.... 2. Barr has green-lit an 'intake process' for any information that ... Rudy Giuliani may dig up about Ukraine and the elections.... 3. Barr misled the public about the contents of the Mueller report.... 4. Barr refused to accept the findings of the inspector general report investigating the origins of the Russia probe.... 5. Barr buried the whistleblower complaint that kick-started the impeachment inquiry and tried to keep it from reaching Congress."

Ryan Mac, et al. of BuzzFeed News: "The United States' main immigration enforcement agency [ICE], the Department of Justice, retailers including Best Buy and Macy's, and a sovereign wealth fund in the United Arab Emirates are among the thousands of government entities and private businesses around the world listed as clients of the controversial facial recognition startup with a database of billions of photos scraped from social media and the web. The startup, Clearview AI, is facing legal threats from Facebook, Google, and Twitter, as well as calls for regulation and scrutiny in the US. But new documents reviewed by BuzzFeed News reveal that it has already shared or sold its technology to thousands of organizations around the world.... Clearview's software ... has been used by people in more than 2,200 law enforcement departments, government agencies, and companies across 27 countries, according to the documents.... Clearview AI's facial recognition has been deployed at every level of American society and is making its way around the world." --s

Impotent Dems, Ctd. Josh Lederman & Anna Schecter of NBC: "A House committee investigating potential surveillance of Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, is struggling to get records and text messages from Robert Hyde, the GOP congressional candidate who claimed to have her under surveillance, according to emails obtained by NBC News. Hyde, in response, is accusing the House Foreign Affairs Committee of 'trying to set me up.'" --s

Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "The top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee has privately expressed concerns about his colleagues' corruption investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden, further exposing divisions within the GOP over whether to continue pursuing an effort that led in part to President Donald Trump's impeachment. In a Dec. 5 meeting, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) told the leaders of the Senate Homeland Security and Finance committees -- Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, respectively -- that their probe targeting Biden could aid Russian efforts to sow chaos and distrust in the U.S. political system, according to two congressional sources familiar with the meeting.... Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has hinted at similar unease with the Biden investigation, and he has said that some of those concerns were relayed to him by Burr...."

Frank Rich is particularly Rich today, with ruminations on Trump the Virus King, the Democratic presidential primary (so depressing), & MSNBC's attempt to mirror Fox "News."

Presidential Race

Sheryl Stolberg & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi, facing deep alarm among moderate Democrats who worry that Senator Bernie Sanders will win their party's presidential nomination only to cost them control of the House, has begun distancing her caucus from the race for the White House in an effort to insulate her rank and file and preserve the party's majority. Ms. Pelosi, the highest-ranking Democrat and the de facto leader of her party, insisted in public and in private on Thursday that Democrats would be united around their nominee no matter who it was -- even as she pointedly refused to embrace Mr. Sanders's agenda, especially Medicare for All, which lacks the votes to pass the House."

Zack Budryk of the Hill: "The Boston Globe Editorial Board on Wednesday endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld's long-shot primary challenge to President Trump. 'Although sometimes dismissed as a gadfly because of his Libertarian Party vice presidential bid in 2016, Weld is a solid, substantive, hyper-smart figure. As governor of Massachusetts from 1991 to 1997, he demonstrated an ability to work with an overwhelmingly Democratic legislature to produce impressive results,' the Globe said." The Globe's editorial is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Hannah Dreier of ProPublica: "Previously undisclosed emails, including some filed in lawsuits against Purdue [Pharma] and others provided by sources, reveal a little-known relationship, forged in part by mutual philanthropic interests, between the Sacklers [of OxyContin infamy] and Michael Bloomberg. They show that when the Sacklers were facing critical media coverage, they looked to Bloomberg and his news and philanthropic organizations for help. Bloomberg advised Mortimer Sackler on how to handle negative coverage in 2017, and steered the family to a crisis communications specialist who had been his mayoral press secretary. In 2018, Bloomberg Philanthropies staff met with Sackler to discuss launching a joint initiative to combat the opioid crisis."

Courts Offer Small Favors

Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "A federal judge in Idaho ruled Thursday that a Trump administration policy limiting public input on oil and gas leasing decisions was 'arbitrary and capricious,' overturning the 2018 directive and voiding nearly 1 million acres of leases out West as a result. The ruling by U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge Ronald E. Bush represented a win for environmentalists, who challenged the leasing policy as part of a broader effort to block drilling in habitat for the imperiled greater sage-grouse. The contested area spans 67 million acres across 11 Western states." Mrs. McC: The accompanying photo of a couple of horny sage-grouse is awesome.

Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal appeals court has rejected former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio's bid to wipe out a judge's guilty finding that preceded ... Donald Trump's pardon of Arpaio in 2017. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that Arpaio is not entitled to have the guilty verdict on a misdemeanor contempt-of-court charge vacated because it has no legal significance in the wake of Trump's pardon."

Rachel Bitecofer in the New Republic has a long piece on how 'negative partisanship' is going to be a main driver in the 2020 election. --s

Beyond the Beltway

Alabama. American "Democracy". Sam Levine of the Guardian: "In 2018, with the midterm elections approaching, Alfonzo Tucker Jr [an African American] was particularly eager to vote. The mayor of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tucker's hometown, was running for governor, and the year before he had canvassed for Doug Jones, a Democrat running in a closely watched US Senate race. But Tucker wasn't able to cast a ballot -- state officials refused to even let him register. It wasn't until weeks later that he learned why he had been deprived of the right to vote. He owed the state $4." --s

Maryland. Luke Broadwater, et al., of the Baltimore Sun: “Former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, who held elected offices in Baltimore for two decades and was elevated by voters to lead the city following the upheaval of 2015, was sentenced to three years in federal prison Thursday for a fraud scheme involving a children's book series.... 'I have yet frankly to hear any explanation that makes sense,' the judge said. 'This was not a tiny mistake, lapse of judgment. This became a very large fraud. The nature and circumstances of this offense clearly I think are extremely, extremely serious.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

Turkey, Syria, Russia. Carlotta Gall of the New York Times: "The Turkish Army suffered mass casualties in an airstrike in northwest Syria late Thursday, an attack that could dramatically change the course of the Syrian war as fears grow of a direct conflict between Russia and Turkey, a NATO member. At least 33 Turkish soldiers were killed and more than 30 wounded, said Rahmi Dogan, the Turkish governor of the southern province of Hatay, where the Turkish casualties were arriving. Turkish officials said the strike had been carried out by Syrian government forces, but Russian jets have been conducting most of the airstrikes in the area in recent weeks. Turkish protesters in Istanbul converged on the Russian Consulate there early Friday, chanting 'Murderer Russia! Murderer Putin!'" ~~~

~~~ Plus Europe. Orhan Coskun & Ezgi Erkoyun of Reuters: "Turkey will no longer stop Syrian refugees from reaching Europe, a senior Turkish official said, as Ankara responded on Friday to the killing of 33 Turkish soldiers in an air strike by Syrian government forces in Syria's northwestern Idlib region.... Some one million civilians have been displaced near the Turkish border since December as Russia-backed Syrian government forces seized territory from Turkey-backed Syrian rebels, marking the worst humanitarian crisis in the nine-year war.... The threat to open the way for refugees to Europe would, if executed, reverse a pledge Turkey made to the European Union in 2016 and could quickly draw Western powers into the standoff over Idlib and stalled negotiations between Ankara and Moscow.... Turkey hosts some 3.7 million Syrian refugees[.]" --s

U.K. Thomas Colson of Business Insider: "Brexit is set to have cost the UK more than £200 billion in lost economic growth by the end of this year -- a figure that almost eclipses the total amount the UK has paid the European Union budget over the past 47 years. According to research by Bloomberg Economics, the cost of the UK's vote to leave has already reached £130 billion, with a further £70 billion likely to be added by the end of 2020.... [T]he British economy is 3% smaller than it might have been if the UK had not voted to leave the EU." --s

News Ledes

The New York Times' live updates of developments in the coronavirus epidemic are here.

Hill: "Health authorities in California have confirmed a second coronavirus case in a person who had no previous connection to anyone else with the disease. According to Santa Clara County officials, the person is an adult woman with chronic health conditions who has no known history of travel to countries hit by the outbreak. The Washington Post reported that she is 65 years old."

Forbes: "On Friday morning, U.K. authorities reported the first death of a British citizen from COVID-19, the disease caused by the now-worldwide SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus outbreak. The man who has not currently been named was a passenger on board the Diamond Princess Cruise ship and was made to stay in Japan for treatment after testing positive for the virus, as many other British passengers were evacuated last week. The other five fatalities from the ship so far are Japanese citizens. 705 people from the ship containing 3,711 people have now contracted COVID-19, with it becoming increasingly apparent that the quarantine protocols on the ship were poorly enforced and wholly inadequate to protect passengers. The 705 cases are thought to stem from just one man from Hong Kong who was a passenger on the ship in late January and later tested positive for the virus after returning home."

The Commentariat -- February 27, 2020

Afternoon Update:

Matt Phillips of the New York Times: "Global markets tumbled for a sixth consecutive day on Thursday, dragging down the S&P 500 more than 10 percent in just a week, reflecting rising fears over the coronavirus that is spreading quickly around the world. The S&P 500 fell 4.4 percent on Thursday, the worst single day slide for the market since August 2011. The index is on pace for its worst weekly performance since the 2008 financial crisis. Stocks in Europe and Asia were also hard hit on Thursday. The sell-off came after public health officials in the United States and Germany said new patients in each country had no known connection to others with the illness, a development that could complicate efforts to track the virus." The CNBC story is here. Mrs. McC: Wow! Democrats really upset traders.

Emily Cochrane, et al., of the New York Times: "Federal health employees interacted with Americans quarantined for possible exposure to the coronavirus without proper medical training or protective gear, then scattered into the general population, according to a government whistle-blower. In a portion of a complaint filing obtained by The New York Times that has been submitted to the Office of the Special Counsel, the whistle-blower, described as a senior leader at the health agency, said the team was 'improperly deployed' to two military bases in California to assist the processing of Americans who had been evacuated from coronavirus hot zones in China and elsewhere. The staff members were sent to Travis Air Force Base and March Air Reserve Base and were ordered to enter quarantined areas, including a hangar where coronavirus evacuees were being received. They were not provided training in safety protocols until five days later, the person said. Without proper training or equipment, some of the exposed staff members moved freely around and off the bases, with at least one person staying in a nearby hotel and leaving California on a commercial flight." The Washington Post story is here. The Hill has a summary report here.

Stifling the Experts. Michael Shear & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "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 appearance with the office of Vice President Mike Pence, according to several officials familiar with the new approach.... Mr. Pence said Thursday 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.... With Mr. Pence's announcement, Dr. Birx becomes the third person to be designated as the administration's primary coronavirus official. Mr. Trump said that 'Mike is going to be in charge, and Mike will report back to me.' Mr. Pence said it will be Dr. Birx. Meanwhile, Alex M. Azar II, the health and human services secretary, remains the chairman of the government's coronavirus task force.... Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, one of the country's leading experts on viruses and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infections Diseases, told associates that the White House had instructed him not to say anything else without clearance." ~~~

Trump's plan for the coronavirus so far: -Cut winter heating assistance for the poor -Have VP Pence, who wanted to 'pray away' HIV epidemic, oversee the response -Let ex-pharma lobbyist Alex Azar refuse to guarantee affordable vaccines to all' -Disgusting. -- Sen. Bernie Sanders, in a tweet yesterday evening

Related Hill story here.

Martyn McLaughlin of the Scotsman: "Patrick Harvie MSP, co-leader of the Scottish Greens, said there were reasonable grounds for suspecting that the US president, or people he is connected with, 'have been involved in serious crime.' He has called on ministers to apply to the Court of Session to seek answers as to how Mr Trump's bankrolled his multimillion acquisitions of land and property in his mother's homeland. Responding at First Minister's Questions, Nicola Sturgeon stressed she was 'no defender' of Mr Trump, but said any allegations of criminality were a matter for Police Scotland and the Crown Office." Harvie asked the goverment to investigate via an "unexplained wealth order," a rarely-used tool designed "to target suspected corrupt foreign officials who have potentially laundered stolen money through the UK."

Senator Warren gets pointers about South Carolina from a native son. Thanks to PD Pepe for the link:

Zack Budryk of the Hill: "The Boston Globe Editorial Board on Wednesday endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld's long-shot primary challenge to President Trump. 'Although sometimes dismissed as a gadfly because of his Libertarian Party vice presidential bid in 2016, Weld is a solid, substantive, hyper-smart figure. As governor of Massachusetts from 1991 to 1997, he demonstrated an ability to work with an overwhelmingly Democratic legislature to produce impressive results,' the Globe said." The Globe's editorial is here.

Luke Broadwater, et al., of the Baltimore Sun: "Former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, who held elected offices in Baltimore for two decades and was elevated by voters to lead the city following the upheaval of 2015, was sentenced to three years in federal prison Thursday for a fraud scheme involving a children's book series.... 'I have yet frankly to hear any explanation that makes sense,' the judge said. 'This was not a tiny mistake, lapse of judgment. This became a very large fraud. The nature and circumstances of this offense clearly I think are extremely, extremely serious.'"

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Michael Shear, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump named Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday to coordinate the government's response to the coronavirus, even as he repeatedly played down the danger to the United States of a widespread domestic outbreak. The president's announcement, at a White House news conference, followed mounting bipartisan criticism that the administration's response had been sluggish and came after two days of contradictory messages about the virus, which has infected more than 81,000 people globally, killing nearly 3,000. The announcement also came on a day when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a person with no known risk factors had been infected in Northern California. 'The risk to the American people remains very low,' said Mr. Trump, flanked by top health officials from several government agencies. 'We have the greatest experts, really in the world, right here.'... Several top health care experts at the news conference echoed Mr. Trump's optimism but also offered a more sober assessment of the future risks. Dr. Anne Schuchat, the principal deputy director of the C.D.C., warned Americans that there would be more infections.... About a half-hour later, Mr. Trump contradicted Ms. Schuchat's assessment, telling reporters that 'I don't think it's inevitable.' He left the door open to travel restrictions beyond China, to other hard-hit countries like South Korea and Italy, and said his early decision to stop flights from China had held the virus at bay." ~~~

~~~ Nisky Guy translation of Trump's remarks: I ignore the greatest experts in the world.

     ~~~ CNN's story, by Maegan Vasquez & others, is here. ~~~

~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: So it's Wednesday evening, & Trump is giving a rambling, disjointed speech about the coronavirus threat. Naturally, he occasionally contradicts himself, which should give you a lot of confidence he knows what he's talking about. It doesn't help that he's sniffing constantly, as if he caught the virus while he was in India. He says he put mike pence in charge of the federal government's response to the epidemic, so thank God we know we have someone praying for us. Now HHS Secretary Alex Azar is thanking Trump for his great leadership on the matter. I'm waiting for him to tell us to buy duct tape. IOW, we're screwed. BTW, I had to go to a couple of pharmacies today, so while I was there I asked if they sold surgical masks: yes, but sold out in both places. ~~~

     ~~~ Update: Trump claimed during the presser that a vaccine would be developed "fairly quickly." Later in the presser, Dr. Tony Fauci of NIH explained why, in the most optimistic scenario, it would take a minimum of a year for a vaccine to be made available to the public. ~~~

~~~ Everything Is Going Very Smoothly. Caroline Kelly of CNN: "Health and Human Services Secretary Alexander Azar stressed that he was still in charge of the task force addressing the novel coronavirus following ... Donald Trump's announcement that Vice President Mike Pence would lead US efforts to battle the outbreak.... Azar's post-news conference statements muddled the message on who is in charge of the administration's response to the crisis, which was perhaps the biggest news to come out of Trump's meandering news conference on the virus Wednesday evening.... When asked whether he felt he [was] being replaced, Azar relied, 'Not in the least.... When this was mentioned to me, I was delighted that I'd get to have the vice president helping me -- delighted, absolutely,' he continued. Azar also said the coronavirus poses a low risk to the American public, despite warnings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the contrary." Mrs. McC: According to MSNBC, pence's appointment was first "mentioned to Azar" at the press conference, surprising Azar. ~~~

~~~ Erin Banco & Asawin Suebsaeng of the Daily Beast: "The president's decision to put Pence in charge was seen by some as further evidence that he is not taking the threat of coronavirus seriously. Over the decades, Pence has amassed a public record that his critics have often bashed as anti-science. On matters of public health, for instance, he has made wild claims in the past. 'Despite the hysteria from the political class and the media, smoking doesn't kill. In fact, two out of every three smokers does not die from a smoking-related illness and nine out of 10 smokers do not contract lung cancer,' Pence said in 2000. Additionally, Pence has advocated teaching creationism in American public schools.... While top health agencies have warned that it is merely a matter of time before the virus spreads in the United States, Trump has seemed focused on controlling the narrative to prevent a financial crisis from getting in the way of his re-election campaign."

~~~ Lauran Neergaard & Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar of NBC Miami & the AP: "Rep. Bennie Thompson [D-Miss.]..., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee..., [said] that putting Pence, 'someone with no public health expertise, in charge of the response will not instill confidence with the American people and raises questions about the administration's ability to coordinate an effective response to a complex public health threat.' During his time as Indiana's governor, Pence faced criticism for his response to a public health crisis in the southern part of the state. In 2015, Scott County saw the number of people infected with HIV skyrocket.... Indiana law at the time prohibited needle exchanges, exacerbating the outbreak, which primarily infected intravenous users of the painkiller Opana. Pence had long opposed needle exchanges but was eventually persuaded to issue an executive order allowing one in Scott County. Despite his own misgivings -- Pence said he didn't support the exchanges as an 'anti-drug policy' -- he signed a law allowing the state government to approve them on a case-by-case basis." ~~~

~~~ Gail Collins of the New York Times: "The run-up to the Pence unveiling had not been exactly calming for citizens who wanted to have faith in competent White House oversight. Barack Obama used to have special epidemic-watching groups just in case this kind of crisis developed. One was headed by the highly regarded Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer, who got sent packing by John Bolton. Another infectious disease expert, Tom Bossert, suddenly vanished from the Department of Homeland Security in 2018, presumably also at the hand of John You-know-who.... [Trump has] come up with a totally new explanation for the stock market skid. It turns out investors were not frightened so much by the pandemic as the Democratic debate. 'I think the financial markets are very upset when they look at the Democrat candidates standing on that stage making fools out of themselves,' Trump told reporters. Plus that virus thing is ... not necessarily a big deal. What really 'shocked' him, Trump said, was his discovery that 'the flu in our country kills 25,000 people to 69,000 people a year.' So the problems are the Democrats and the flu. The answers are Mike Pence and ... reminding the public once again that Nancy Pelosi's district has a big homeless problem." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It is worth noting here that the markets crashed Monday & Tuesday. The Democratic debate was Tuesday night. So evidently the markets crashed because traders anticipated the candidates would "stand on that stage & make fools of themselves."

From the Washington Post's live updates on coronavirus developments @4:30 pm ET Wednesday: "Rep. Donna Shalala (D-Fla.) who served as the health and human services secretary in Bill Clinton's administration, chastised Trump over his planned news briefing this evening, arguing that only medical professionals and scientists should be speaking to the public about the coronavirus. Shalala said during an appearance on MSNBC that this was especially so when it comes to Trump. 'This is an anti-science administration,' she said. 'The last person the American people trust is the president of the United States talking about science.'" Mrs. McC: Sorry, the link no longer works, & I can't retrieve the text. ~~~

President Trump responds to coronavirus w/acting WH chief of staff, acting intel director, acting Homeland Security sec'y; he has launched a loyalty purge; he wants to cut CDC and NIH budgets; he eliminated NSC post to safeguard against global pandemics -- John Harwood of CNN, in a tweet Wednesday morning

~~~ Trump to Hold Presser to Misinform Public about Health Crisis. Noal Weiland & Emily Chocrane of the New York Times: "President Trump blamed the media on Wednesday for 'doing everything possible' to make the coronavirus 'look as bad as possible,' even as he said his administration was 'doing a great job' with a virus that the Centers for Disease Control said would inevitably hit American shores. Mr. Trump set a 6 p.m. White House news conference to discuss the virus with officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But reassurances have not global markets, which were down sharply overseas Wednesday morning. A day after its worst one-day slide in two years, the S&P 500 closed down 3 percent on Tuesday, a decline that put the index deeper in the red for 2020. With cabinet secretaries fanning out on Capitol Hill, Wednesday promised more sharp questioning about the administration's preparedness for a virus that has now infected more than 81,000 people globally and killed more than 2,700." A Hill report is here. Mrs. McC: Maybe McQuack will be arrested for practicing medicine without a license. Meanwhile, shame on news media for reporting news. (Also linked yesterday.)

Intel Community to Mislead and/or STFU. Natasha Bertrand & Daniel Lippman of Politico: "... Donald Trump is tightening his grip on the intelligence community as part of a post-acquittal purge of career officials and political appointees deemed insufficiently loyal, and the abrupt firing of his last intel chief is only the tip of the iceberg, current and former intelligence officials say.... But it also revealed a deeper trend: namely, the steps Trump has taken to shield the public from intelligence that could be politically damaging for him, and keep the flow of information coming out of the agencies firmly under his control.... The NSA, CIA, and Pentagon have been urged by the White House not to share information about Russia and Ukraine with lawmakers, while the 'Gang of Eight' senior members of Congress were bypassed leading up to at least one major intelligence operation. And intelligence community leaders have backed out of the public portion of the annual worldwide threats hearing, fearing Trump's wrath if their assessments don't align with his." (Also linked yesterday.)

Justin Wise of the Hill: "The Marine Corps is calling for all paraphernalia related to the Confederacy to be removed from its bases around the world. Commandant Gen. David Berger made the directive in a memo to senior staff that included a list of initiatives that he is 'prioritizing for immediate execution,' according to a copy obtained by Military.com.... More than a third of all active-duty troops say they have personally witnessed an example of white nationalism or ideologically driven racism from another person within their ranks in recent months, according to survey conducted by The Military Times."

Aw, Sad. Chris Sommerfeldt of the New York Daily News: "Rudy Giuliani ... forgot to hang up on a Daily News reporter Wednesday and, thinking he was off the line, started trash-talking ex-Gov. George Pataki while complaining he only has 'five friends left.'" Read on for Rudy's beef with Pataki, which relates to Rudy's asking the then-governor to cancel NYC's 2001 mayoral election & leave him in office right after the 9/11 attack. Pataki put the story in a book he's hawking; Giuliani claims the conversation never happened.

Presidential Race

Lisa Lerer & Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Dozens of interviews with Democratic establishment leaders this week show that they are not just worried about [Sen. Bernie] Sanders's candidacy, but are also willing to risk intraparty damage to stop his nomination at the national convention in July if they get the chance. Since Mr. Sanders's victory in Nevada's caucuses on Saturday, The Times has interviewed 93 party officials -- all of them superdelegates, who could have a say on the nominee at the convention -- and found overwhelming opposition to handing the Vermont senator the nomination if he arrived with the most delegates but fell short of a majority.... The party leaders say they worry that Mr. Sanders, a democratic socialist with passionate but limited support so far, will lose to President Trump, and drag down moderate House and Senate candidates in swing states with his left-wing agenda of 'Medicare for all' and free four-year public college." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: If this leaves Democrats with nominee Biden, the party's chances will be far worse than with Sanders as the nominee. In either eventuality, I foresee a loss to Trump. However, there's this: ~~~

~~~ Aris Folley of the Hill: "Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I-Vt.) presidential campaign said this week that he would not accept money from fellow Democratic presidential candidate >Mike Bloomberg if the senator becomes the party's presidential nominee. 'It's a hard no,' Jeff Weaver, a senior advisor for Sanders's 2020 presidential campaign, said of the idea in an interview with NBC News on Tuesday night after the primary debate in Charleston, S.C. 'Bernie has said he's going to fund his presidential campaign with small-dollar contributions, and I think we can do that.'" ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Chait: "... Democrats should consider the possibility that Sanders is not merely pretending to be a fanatic. He may be prepared to follow his convictions to their logical conclusion, at whatever cost. And the message to Democratic voters is, if you want your nominee to have the tailwind of Bloomberg's billion, nominate anybody but Sanders." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: If you find yourself in a bind and refuse to take help from someone you despise -- say, your avaricious, hedge-fund-trading brother -- then fine, good for you. But the weight of the free world is not riding on your shoulders. A presidential candidate has a little more responsibility. It isn't that principles are like glass meant for breaking; it's that they must be applied within the context of other considerations. I see this is too much nuance for top Bernie Bro Jeff Weaver to understand, but the candidate himself has a moral obligation to be more pragmatic.

Brian Schwartz of CNBC: "Democratic megadonor Bernard Schwartz has started reaching out to party leaders, particularly House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, to encourage them to back a candidate for president in order to stop the surge of Sen. Bernie Sanders. Schwartz, the CEO of BLS Investments, told CNBC that in recent days he's been trying to speak with Pelosi and Schumer about making a pick, in the hope that voters will follow their lead and end up denying Sanders the party's presidential nomination. 'We should know who is the best person to beat Donald Trump, and with all due respect, Bernie Sanders cannot beat Trump,' he explained, describing the message he has relayed to the two Democratic leaders."

Caitlin Oprysko & Marc Caputo of Politico: "Rep. James Clyburn, the godfather of South Carolina Democratic politics, swung his support to Joe Biden's presidential campaign Wednesday, giving the former vice president a crucial seal of approval among black voters. 'I've been saying to the media, I've known for a long time who I'm going to vote for. But I had not decided -- well, not to share it with the public,' the House Majority Whip said at a news conference in North Charleston. 'But I want the public to know that I'm voting for Joe Biden. South Carolina should be voting for Joe Biden.'" ~~~

~~~ Joe's Fabulous Arrest. Katie Glueck of the New York Times: "At least three times this month, Joseph R. Biden Jr. has asserted that he was arrested as he sought to visit the anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela in prison, even saying that Mr. Mandela later thanked him for going to such an effort. And for a week, Mr. Biden's campaign declined to answer questions seeking comment and clarification on those remarks, which were rebutted by a former United States ambassador to the United Nations in an article in The New York Times.... But on Tuesday, Kate Bedingfield, a deputy campaign manager, said Mr. Biden was referring to an episode in which he was separated from black colleagues in Johannesburg while on a congressional delegation trip to South Africa in the 1970s. It was the campaign's first explanation to date -- but one that still left many questions unanswered and did not square with Mr. Biden's most recent remarks." ~~~

     ~~~ Dan MacGuill of Snopes puts Biden's arrest story to bed with a rating of "false."

Andrew Kaczynski, et al., of CNN: "Mike Bloomberg has vowed as a Democratic candidate for president to 'strengthen entitlement programs.' But when he was mayor of New York City, Bloomberg twice compared Social Security to a 'Ponzi scheme' and repeatedly said cuts to that program as well as Medicare and Medicaid had to be part of any serious solution to reducing the federal deficit.... 'We are giving monies out with the next guy's money coming in and at the end of -- when the music stops -- it's just not gonna be enough chairs for everybody,' Bloomberg said."

Michael Grynbaum & Marc Tracy of the New York Times: "President Trump's re-election campaign sued The New York Times for libel on Wednesday, alleging that an Op-Ed article published by the newspaper falsely asserted a 'quid pro quo' between Russian officials and Mr. Trump's 2016 campaign. Mr. Trump often threatens to sue media organizations but rarely follows through. The lawsuit, filed in New York State court in Manhattan, is the first time his political operation has taken legal action against an American news outlet since he took office. The lawsuit concerns an essay published by the Opinion section of The Times in March 2019. The article, headlined 'The Real Trump-Russia Quid Pro Quo,' was written by Max Frankel, who served as executive editor of The Times from 1986 to 1994. (The Opinion section of The Times operates separately from its newsroom.)... The suit also accuses The Times, without evidence, of harboring 'extreme bias against and animosity toward' Mr. Trump's re-election campaign.... Earlier Wednesday, several media law experts reacted with skepticism about the Trump campaign's chances of succeeding in the suit. 'A publisher cannot be held liable for commentary based on public facts,' said Brian Hauss, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union." A CNBC story is here. ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Michael Scherer & Anu Narayanswamy of the Washington Post: "Former president Barack Obama on Wednesday called on South Carolina television stations to stop running an ad from a super PAC supporting President Trump that uses Obama's words out of context in a misleading attack on former vice president Joe Biden. The Committee to Defend the President, a pro-Trump group, circulated an ad that falsely suggests that words Obama spoke in the narration of his own 1995 book were meant to describe Biden.... The ad repurposes a similar attack the Committee to Defend the President ran last year in several states with many black politicians, including Georgia, Michigan and Louisiana, according to PolitiFact."

Larry Neumeister of the AP: "The Trump administration can withhold millions of dollars in law enforcement grants to force states to cooperate with U.S. immigration enforcement, a federal appeals court in New York ruled Wednesday in a decision that conflicted with three other federal appeals courts. The ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan overturned a lower court's decision ordering the administration to release funding to New York City and seven states -- New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Washington, Massachusetts, Virginia and Rhode Island." Mrs. McC: Two of the three judges were appointed by Republican presidents, though neither by Trump. The third is a Democratic appointee.

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd.

David Bauder of the AP: "ABC News has suspended political reporter David Wright after he was recorded in a barroom conversation calling ... Donald Trump a 'nightmare spouse that you can't win an argument with.' Wright also used a common vulgarity to describe why he didn't like the president in a conversation recorded by Project Veritas, the conservative website that uses hidden cameras and undercover reporters to ensnare journalists in embarrassing conversations.... Wright said voter are poorly informed by the media and that his bosses 'don't see an upside in doing the job we're supposed to do, which is to speak truth to power and hold people to account.' He described himself politically as a socialist who believes in national health insurance. ABC News would not say how long Wright would be suspended. He will be reassigned from political coverage when he returns to avoid any possible appearance of bias."

Justin Baragona & Maxwell Tani of the Daily Beast: "Following MSNBC contributor Dr. Jason Johnson's inflammatory remarks about supporters and campaign staffers of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the academic has been temporarily benched by the network, sources confirmed to The Daily Beast. In recent months, Johnson -- a fixture of the network's Democratic primary analysis -- has drawn considerable heat for his relentlessly anti-Sanders commentary on MSNBC, which has also come under fire from the left for its skeptical and largely negative coverage of the democratic-socialist senator. During an interview last week on SiriusXM's The Karen Hunter Show, Johnson claimed 'racist white liberals' support Sanders and that the senator has done 'nothing for intersectionality.' The MSNBC contributor then took aim at the women of color who work for Sanders. 'I don't care how many people from the island of misfit black girls you throw out there to defend you,' Johnson exclaimed."

News Ledes

New York Times: "A person in California who was not exposed to anyone known to be infected with the coronavirus, and had not traveled to countries in which the virus is circulating, has tested positive for the infection. It may be the first case of community spread in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday." A CDC report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Update: New York Times: "A California coronavirus patient had to wait days to be tested because of restrictive federal criteria, despite doctors' suggestions. The patient, who has tested positive, may be the first person to be infected through community spread in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday." ~~~

~~~ This raises the possibility that we only think we have few cases in the US, because we have only tested a few hundred people. -- Ronald Klain, who oversaw the Ebola response, in tweet ~~~

~~~ The New York Times' live updates of developments in the coronavirus epidemic are here.

The Commentariat -- February 26, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

From the Washington Post's live updates on coronavirus developments @4:30 pm ET Wednesday: "Rep. Donna Shalala (D-Fla.) who served as the health and human services secretary in Bill Clinton's administration, chastised Trump over his planned news briefing this evening, arguing that only medical professionals and scientists should be speaking to the public about the coronavirus. Shalala said during an appearance on MSNBC that this was especially so when it comes to Trump. 'This is an anti-science administration,' she said. 'The last person the American people trust is the president of the United States talking about science.'" Mrs. McC: Sorry, the link no longer works & I can't retrieve the text.

Trump to Hold Presser to Misinform Public about Health Crisis. Noal Weiland & Emily Chocrane of the New York Times: "President Trump blamed the media on Wednesday for 'doing everything possible' to make the coronavirus 'look as bad as possible,' even as he said his administration was 'doing a great job' with a virus that the Centers for Disease Control said would inevitably hit American shores. Mr. Trump set a 6 p.m. White House news conference to discuss the virus with officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But his reassurances have not calmed global markets, which were down sharply overseas Wednesday morning. A day after its worst one-day slide in two years, the S&P 500 closed down 3 percent on Tuesday, a decline that put the index deeper in the red for 2020. With cabinet secretaries fanning out on Capitol Hill, Wednesday promised more sharp questioning about the administration's preparedness for a virus that has now infected more than 81,000 people globally and killed more than 2,700." A Hill report is here. Mrs. McC: Maybe McQuack will be arrested for practicing medicine without a license. Meanwhile, shame on news media for reporting news.

Intel Community to Mislead and/or STFU. Natasha Bertrand & Daniel Lippman of Politico: "... Donald Trump is tightening his grip on the intelligence community as part of a post-acquittal purge of career officials and political appointees deemed insufficiently loyal, and the abrupt firing of his last intel chief is only the tip of the iceberg, current and former intelligence officials say.... But it also revealed a deeper trend: namely, the steps Trump has taken to shield the public from intelligence that could be politically damaging for him, and keep the flow of information coming out of the agencies firmly under his control.... The NSA, CIA, and Pentagon have been urged by the White House not to share information about Russia and Ukraine with lawmakers, while the 'Gang of Eight' senior members of Congress were bypassed leading up to at least one major intelligence operation. And intelligence community leaders have backed out of the public portion of the annual worldwide threats hearing, fearing Trump's wrath if their assessments don't align with his."

~~~~~~~~~~

Jonathan Martin & Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "The Democratic presidential candidates delivered a barrage of criticism against their party's emerging front-runner, Senator Bernie Sanders, at a debate on Tuesday night, casting him as a divisive figure with unrealistic ideas, even as they continued to batter Michael R. Bloomberg for his extreme wealth, his record on policing and his alleged behavior toward women. Mr. Sanders, in his first debate since a smashing victory in the Nevada caucuses last weekend, cut a combative but perhaps not a commanding figure, firmly defending his left-wing agenda on subjects like health care and foreign policy against attacks from all sides. The forum plunged repeatedly into an unsightly spectacle of flailing hands and raised voices, and even outright chaos, with candidates talking over one another and the moderators struggling and failing at times to direct an orderly argument." ~~~

     ~~~ Marc Caputo & Noland McCaskill of Politico look at the "key moments." ~~~

     ~~~ Emily Stewart, et al., of Vox: "There was a lot of yelling at the Democratic debate in South Carolina on Tuesday, to the point that sometimes it was really unclear what was going on." ~~~

     ~~~ Russell Berman of the Atlantic: "Well, that was loud." ~~~

~~~ AND, in criticizing Bernie Sanders' 2007 vote to protect gun manufactrers from liability, Joe Biden said 150 million people (presumably Americans affected by Bernie's vote) had died since then from gun violence. Were that true, there's a good chance you would be too dead to read this. If you had survived, nearly half your neighbors would be dead. There would be regular shoot-outs on local streets. It's clear Biden doesn't listen to what he says because making a mistake like that is one thing; not realizing what a ridiculous mistake it is is another. ~~~

~~~ Here's the highlights reel:

The New York Times' debate snark-a-thon is here. It includes a live videofeed of the debate. Here's Politico's live analysis. It also includes a live videofeed.

The Boston Globe Editors endorse Elizabeth Warren for the Democratic presidential nomination.

You may ask about the coronavirus, which is very well under control in our country. We have very few people with it, and the people that have it are, in all cases, I have not heard anything other -- the people are getting better, they're all getting better. -- Donald Trump, Tuesday ~~~

~~~ Pam Belluck & Noah Weiland of the New York Times: "The coronavirus almost certainly will begin spreading in communities in the United States, and Americans should begin preparations now, officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday. 'It's not so much of a question of if this will happen anymore but rather more of a question of exactly when this will happen,' Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said in a news briefing. In the event of an outbreak, communities should plan for 'social distancing measures,' like dividing school classes into smaller groups of students, closing schools, canceling meetings and conferences, and arranging for employees to work from home." (Also linked yesterday.) Bloomberg, via Yahoo!, has the story here. ~~~

~~~ Alexander Bolton of the Hill: “Sen. Mitt Romney (Utah) ... told senior Trump administration officials Tuesday that they are not adequately prepared for the possibility the coronavirus may spread more widely in the United States. Romney confronted administration officials at a private briefing on Capitol Hill about the same time that President Trump downplayed concerns about spreading infections, telling reporters in New Delhi the situation is 'under control' and is a 'problem that's going to go away.'... 'At this stage, I think we are substantially underinvesting in what would be appropriate for a setting which could be serious,' he [said'.... 'I think we should be pulling out all the stops,' he said." ~~~

~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "The Department of Homeland Security is coordinating the U.S. government's response to the increasing threat of the novel coronavirus. The agency has also been under the control of acting head Chad Wolf for more than four months, with no full-time replacement selected. And Wolf's testimony Tuesday morning wasn't exactly confidence-inspiring -- particularly for one GOP senator. Appearing in front of a Senate appropriations subcommittee, Wolf was on the receiving end of a brutal line of questioning from Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.). Throughout the exchange, Wolf struggled to produce basic facts and projections about the disease." Mrs. McC: If you have access to the WashPo, the article is worth reading. Wolf was entirely unprepared to answer the most basic questions about the virus. This could become Make America Hurricane Katrina Again. ~~~

~~~ Fred Imbert of CNBC: "National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow tried on Tuesday to assuage concerns over the cornavirus and its impact on the U.S. economy. 'We have contained this. I won't say [it's] airtight, but it's pretty close to airtight,' Kudlow told CNBC's Kelly Evans.... He added that, while the outbreak is a 'human tragedy,' it will likely not be an 'economic tragedy.' 'There will be some stumbles. We're looking at numbers; it's a little iffy,' Kudlow said. 'But at the moment ... there's no supply disruptions out there yet.'" ~~~

~~~ Steve M.: "But Tucker Carlson knows it's time for the right to seize the initiative and do what right-wingers always do when something bad happens: blame it on liberals.... 'He said:... "Countless publications wagged their fingers in the face of readers, and told them it was irrational, probably immoral in fact to worry about the coronavirus than the annual flu. Identity politics trumped public health and not for the first time. Wokeness is a cult. They would let you die before they admitted that diversity is not our strength."'... Rush Limbaugh also seized the moment -- and leveled the exact opposite charge at liberals, or at least at the 'liberal media': They're being overly alarmist.... Trumpism is popular among the untraveled; they're suspicious of people who gad about the planet rather than settling into a small town or gated retirement village. They'll regard this as a disease of rootless cosmopolitanism -- or, rather, as a disease rootless cosmopolitans have spread to simple, decent, travel-averse Volk." ~~~

~~~ James Hamblin of the Atlantic explains why (1) you're likely to contract a strain of coronavirus and (2) it isn't apt to kill you. Quite a helpful article.

Trump Tries to Stifle Female Judge & Justices:

Darren Samuelsohn & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal judge swung back at ... Donald Trump on Tuesday over his heated criticism of the Roger Stone case, warning that the president's commentary about his longtime associate's conviction had helped fuel threats to the jury. U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson cited Trump's public comments and Twitter posts, as well as an accompanying campaign from the president's conservative media allies to identify and critique the jury, as one of the reasons for her decision to clamp down on public access to a hearing on Stone's request for a new trial. 'Any attempt to invade the privacy of the jurors or to harass or intimidate them is completely antithetical to our entire system of justice,' Jackson said before issuing a ruling that cleared the courtroom..., highly unusual hearing that featured testimony from the jury foreperson and two other members of the Stone jury. Not long after Jackson made her remarks, Trump tweeted three times in rapid fashion about the judge and the Stone jury. 'There has rarely been a juror so tainted as the forewoman in the Roger Stone case. Look at her background. She never revealed her hatred of "Trump" and Stone,' he wrote in one post. 'She was totally biased, as is the judge. Roger wasn't even working on my campaign. Miscarriage of justice. Sad to watch!' The president also posted comments from a conservative lawyer complaining that Stone's jury wasn't impartial and a link to a Fox News story with a headline suggesting Jackson's bias 'may have jeopardized the whole trial.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Update. The New York Times story is here.

~~~ Eli Okun of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Tuesday slammed Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, saying both should recuse themselves from cases involving him or his administration. His comments at a press conference in India -- and previous tweets to the same effect -- came after Sotomayor criticized the court's conservative majority for granting a number of the administration's emergency stay requests.... Riffing off Laura Ingraham's commentary on her Fox News show, Trump used Sotomayor's dissent as a jumping-off point to hit the pair of liberal justices." (Also linked yesterday.) Update: The New York Times story is here. ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Chait: "'She's trying to shame people with a different view into voting her way, and that's so inappropriate,' Trump complained. In other words, Sotomayor' offense is to try to make arguments in her written dissents that persuade other justices to change their minds. That is not a cause for recusal, it is literally the job description for a Supreme Court justice. It is true that Ginsburg clumsily opined on Trump during the campaign (probably assuming, as many people did, he was bound to lose). That is certainly a form of bias that detracts from the image of nonpartisanship the court attempts to project. On the other hand, Trump appointed two members of the Supreme Court. A third justice, Clarence Thomas, currently has a spouse working for his administration, where she is at this moment helping lead a purge of putatively disloyal officials and attempting to replace them with a list of right-wing lunatics."

Muslim-Ban Prez Praises Anti-Muslim PM. Anne Gearan, et al., of the Washington Post: "As violence erupted in the streets Tuesday over a citizenship law that critics say discriminates against Muslims, President Trump defended Prime Minister Narendra Modi's record on religious tolerance.... 'We did talk about religious freedom, and I will say that the prime minister was incredible in what he told me. He wants people to have religious freedom and very strongly,' Trump said during a news conference that capped the public portion of his largely ceremonial visit.... The bonhomie and praise for Modi's leadership was all the more striking for its contrast with an apparent communal riot between Hindus and Muslims.... At least 13 people were killed, including a police officer, in clashes in the capital city during Trump's visit. The violence began when supporters of the citizenship law confronted opponents of the measure. Heavy police presence in the affected areas failed to stem the violence.... The U.S. State Department has repeatedly expressed concerns about the crackdown in Muslim-majority Kashmir after Modi revoked its autonomy. The citizenship law along with India's other actions have drawn bipartisan criticism in Congress...."

Jim Acosta Is Tired of Trying to Reason with Donald Trump:

Mr. President, I think our record on delivering the truth is a lot better than yours sometimes. -- Jim Acosta of CNN, to Donald Trump, after Trump questioned CNN's credibility ~~~

~~~ Eli Okun: "... Donald Trump was half a world away from his usual Washington fights on Thursday but couldn't resist a press conference spat with an old standby from back home: CNN's Jim Acosta. A question from Acosta at Tuesday's news conference in New Delhi about foreign electoral interference and Trump's new acting director of national intelligence quickly degenerated into a splatter of cross-talk once the president took aim at CNN's credibility." The exchange starts at 30:05 minutes in this video. Trump seems very low-energy throughout the presser. (Also linked yesterday.)

Michael Stern of USA Today: "'Things have only gotten worse since Trump survived his Senate impeachment trial. For a start, [AG Bill] Barr has said that he must personally approve any investigation into corruption by a presidential candidate or campaign.... No agent or prosecutor is going to tap the attorney general on the shoulder to ask permission to investigate the man Barr lives to protect. That means Trump and his campaign can solicit assistance from foreign adversaries in this year's presidential election, and no one will stop them.... If Trump can harness the power of the U.S. Department of Justice to do his personal bidding, we are no longer the America we thought we were. If we cannot rely on the U.S. Department of Justice to do the right thing, we are lost." --s

Undergrad May Fire Veteran Admin Officials. Daniel Lippmann & Meredith McGraw of Politico: "The White House has hired a college senior to be one of the top officials in its powerful Presidential Personnel Office, according to three administration officials familiar with the matter. James Bacon, 23, is acting as one of the right-hand men to new PPO director John McEntee, according to the officials. Bacon, a senior at George Washington University pursuing a bachelor's degree, comes from the Department of Transportation, where he briefly worked in the policy shop. Prior to that role, while still taking classes, he worked at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, where he was a White House liaison.... At HUD, he distinguished himself as Secretary Ben Carson's confidential assistant, according to two other administration officials.... Bacon will be PPO's director of operations overseeing paperwork and will assist on vetting. The role was previously filled by Katja Bullock, who is in her late 70s and was a veteran of the office in both Bush administrations, as well as the Reagan administration." --s ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: But I'm sure Bacon is a sensitive kid with good judgment. Seriously, I found it alarming that McEntee, the 29-year-old former Trump "body man," would be snooping around looking for communists never-Trumpers to oust, but "college student" is ridiculous.

Matthew Daly of the AP: "Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked a pair of Republican bills that would ban most late-term abortions and threaten prison for doctors who don't try saving the life of infants born alive during abortions. The measures have been defeated multiple times in recent years, but Senate Republicans pushed for renewed votes to allow GOP lawmakers to make an election-year appeal to conservative voters."

News Ledes

USA Today: "In one of the worst shootings in Wisconsin history, six people were killed during a shooting rampage on the Milwaukee campus of Molson Coors on Wednesday afternoon, according to multiple sources who spoke to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The New York Times' live updates of developments in the coronavirus epidemic are here." The Journal Sentinel front page has links to numerous related stories.

The New York Times' live updates of developments in the coronavirus epidemic are here.