"Two Very Big Words"

Following are links to reports about Donald Trump's declaration that the coronavirus pandemic was a national emergency.

New York Times (from the live updates on coronavirus): "President Trump on Friday afternoon officially declared a national emergency that he said would give states and territories access to up to $50 billion in federal funds to combat the spreading coronavirus epidemic. In a live address in the White House Rose Garden, he also gave broad new authority to the health secretary, Alex Azar, who he said would now be able to waive regulations, giving doctors and hospitals more flexibility to respond to the virus, including making it easier to treat people remotely. 'I am officially declaring a national emergency, two very big words,' he said. 'I'm urging every state to set up emergency operations centers effective immediately,' he added. Mr. Trump said he was waiving interest on student loans, and that with oil prices low, the government would buy large quantities of crude oil for the nation's strategic reserve. His comments marked the first time he has addressed the coronavirus as a problem within the country's borders, not just something that needed to be kept out with travel restrictions. But the optics of the address offered a contrast to the social distancing that many experts recommend: Mr. Trump and the top advisers he invited to speak crowded together around the lectern and shared a microphone. Mr. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence both lauded the administration's efforts, and the president particularly praised his own measures to keep the virus from entering the country. However, some Americans returning from coronavirus hot spots say they are not being screened for symptoms." Emphasis added.

"He said that millions of virus testing kits would become available, but added that he did not think so many would be needed. 'We don't want everybody taking this test,' he said. 'It's totally unnecessary.' 'This will pass, this will pass through, and we will be even stronger for it,' the president said. Asked if he would be tested for the coronavirus because of his contact at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, with an infected Brazilian official, he said, 'most likely, yeah,' countering earlier White House statements that he would not be tested. 'I think I will do it anyway. Fairly soon,' he said. Even as he spoke, news emerged that a second person who was at Mar-a-Lago had been found to have the coronavirus." ~~~

     ~~~ Update: "... around midnight [Friday, Trump's] physician, Sean P. Conley, said testing [Trump for the coronavirus] was 'not currently indicated.'" ~~~

~~~ Washington Post (from the live updates): "President Trump declared a national emergency over the coronavirus pandemic Friday as public life in America continued to grind to a halt. Trump's announcement sent the Dow soaring nearly 2,000 points.... When pressed by Yamiche Alcindor, the White House correspondent for PBS NewsHour, about the White House dismantling the office on pandemics, he called the question 'nasty' and suggested that Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, knew something he didn't. 'I didn't do it,' he said. 'I could perhaps ask Tony about that because I don't know anything about it. I mean you say we did that but I don't know anything about it.' Fauci, who works under the National Institutes of Health, does not have purview over the National Security Council, which the team worked for.... In May 2018, after John Bolton became national security adviser..., a team working on global health security under him was disbanded, The Post reported at the time. Beth Cameron, the former senior director for global health security..., said in a Washington Post editorial Friday that the decision most likely slowed the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic."

~~~ Anita Kumar of Politico: "... Donald Trump declared a national emergency on Friday to offset lagging coronavirus testing and unlock billions of dollars -- accelerating a response plan that has faced weeks of criticism. Trump touted partnerships with private companies that he claimed would allow patients to learn if they need to be tested and locate a testing site, some of which will be drive-thru facilities at big box retailers across the country.... Trump insisted the move would eradicate the testing shortcomings that health experts say hindered the country's ability to contain the virus when it first appeared on American shores. Yet even as Trump unleashed $50 billion in government funding, the announcement had a distinct market-first flavor. Trump outlined a series of agreements with private companies, including Google, Target and Walmart, to facilitate swifter coronavirus testing for Americans. Target and Walmart said they will set aside parking lot space for testing sites, while Google pledged to set up a website to determine whether a person needs a test, and where one is available.... 'I don't take responsibility at all,' Trump said of the government' struggles to produce enough tests, blaming existing rules set by prior administration for limiting his options."

~~~ Marina Fang of the Huffington Post: "... Donald Trump on Friday declared a national emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but spent much of the announcement refusing to take responsibility for testing delays and praising his own inadequate response that helped let the coronavirus spread rapidly throughout much of the country.... Trump opened his press conference Friday by praising his response to the pandemic, claiming it was better 'when compared to other places around the world,' touting 'our closing of the borders' and claiming experts told him his ban on travel from China 'saved a lot of lives.' He also invited Vice President Mike Pence to speak, who praised Trump's 'decisive action.' When asked about his demolition of President Barack Obama's pandemic response team, Trump called it 'a nasty question.' In announcing the increase in tests, Trump still appeared to downplay the public health crisis. He said that five million tests would be available 'within a month,' before adding: 'I doubt we'll need that.'"

If you'd like a better sense of the "atmospherics" of Trump's announcement, without actually having to watch, Akhilleus has done the honors: ~~~

By Akhilleus:

Just listened, slack-jawed, to the latest abomination of a press conference, brought to you by Fatty Productions. It was like some kind of weird pep rally unreality show. Lots of vague promises, peppered, comme d'habitude, with the usual yuuuuge pats on the back for his own amazing wonderfulness, and interrupted, just like a TV show, for commercials for huge corporations.

Representatives of giant private sector businesses were trotted out (Fatty having basically farmed out the work of the federal government to for-profit operations) to take a bow and kiss Trump's ass. "Hey, let's bring up Joe Blow from CVS, Joe's been a great friend for a long time [three hours] and he'll be blah, blah, blah. C'mon up Joe. Say a few words." "Well, thank you Mr. President. I'd like to suck your dick for the rest of my time on stage, but I see that there's a line up of other CEO's waiting to do that." "Well, thank you, Joe. You can blow me later. Let's hear from Google. They're doing blah, blah, blah, and it will be the greatest blah, blah, in the history of the world. Of course, I invented it all."

No word about when Google's greatest blah, blah, blah will be available or even what it will do, but hey, that would only interrupt the Giant Trump Jerk Off.

And on and on. One woman (didn't get her name) went waaaay out on a limb in offering her unearned encomiums to Fatty, lying that "The president realized that the old fashioned (read: Obama) way was not up to the present situation so he personally directed us to blah, blah, blah..."

Directed you to what? Make sure he doesn't continue to look like a fucking schmuck who couldn't find a communicable disease in the Black Hole of Calcutta. That's what.

It was disgusting. A smoke and mirrors Trump pep rally where he got to do things he loves to do....praise himself for being wonderful, declare a National Emergency where I Trump will save everyone! At one point, he slid into his trademarked form of self praise about how he has personally created the situation for the US energy self-sufficiency. (How did we get to energy while talking about a medical emergency??) "They all said it couldn't be done, but I did it in six days. No one else in the history of the world could do it, but I did it."

Did what? Oil prices are at rock bottom because of a pissing contest between two dictators on the other side of the world. Trump had NOTHING to do with anything. But somehow that gets translated into "energy sufficiency" created personally by the Orange Menace. Just incredible.

There were zero details. Lots of bullshit. The half-pence was led out on his leash (embroidered by Mother, no doubt) to announce that there would be hundreds of thousands of testing kits available. At some point. Soon. Sometime soon. Maybe. Hundreds of thousands? How about tens of millions? This is a huge step forward? Hell no. This is something that should have been accomplished a fucking month ago. This is a FIRST STEP, not the final solution for which they should all be crowned with laurel wreaths. "Oh look at how wonderful we all are!" It's like telling troops going into battle that a tenth of them will have a weapon. Soon. And they might even get ammunition! So, good luck. And don't forget to thank us.

Ronald Reagan had it half right. Government IS the problem. Government run by Republicans, that is.

Appalling.

Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: If you have some masochistic desire to see the annoucement, here's a less-then-10-minute YouTube video of an ABC News report. It doesn't include the Q&A. For the whole thing, which runs more than an hour, here's another YouTube video.

More on Trump's press conference in Saturday's Commentariat below.

The Commentariat -- March 14, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

The New York Times' coronavirus live updates for Saturday are here. The page is open to nonsubscribers. Among the highlights: "Spain and France announced drastic, countrywide restrictions on Saturday to contain the spread of the coronavirus.... The virus has been reported in more than 2,100 people in 49 [U.S.] states, as well as Washington and Puerto Rico, and has killed at least 48.... It was unclear if Mr. Pence, who interacted with some of the infected Mar-a-Lago visitors, had known that the president was tested. Answering a reporter's question about his own status, Mr. Pence said, 'I'm going to speak immediately after this news conference with the White House physician's office,' which he said had previously advised him that neither he nor his wife needed to be tested.... Despite being pressed repeatedly at the White House news conference on Saturday, Mr. Pence did not share substantive new details about Mr. Trump's earlier claim that Google was developing a website to help people decide whether a test for the coronavirus was warranted and where they could get one.... As thousands of Americans flee from Europe and other centers of the coronavirus outbreak, many travelers are reporting no health screenings upon departure and few impediments at U.S. airports."

Jessie Hellmann & Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump has ordered for travel to be suspended from the United Kingdom and Ireland as the United States seeks to stem the spread of the coronavirus domestically. The restrictions, which take effect Monday night at midnight, don't apply to American travelers returning to the U.S., Vice President Pence said during a White House briefing on Saturday.... Trump said Saturday his administration is also considering domestic travel restrictions. 'If you don't have to travel, I wouldn't do it. We want this thing to end. We don't want a lot of people getting infected,' he said." ~~~

~~~ Trump Unaware of His Own "Decisions." Here's Trump saying that "we're looking very seriously at" extending the European travel ban to the U.K. & Ireland (begins about 34 sec. in):

About 15 minutes later, in the same press briefing, mike pence said, "The President* has made a decision to suspend and travel to the United Kingdom & Ireland":

Susannah Luthi of Politico: "... Donald Trump said on Saturday that he has been tested for coronavirus after being questioned about it Friday. 'I also took the test last night,' Trump said during a briefing at the White House. 'And I decided I should, based on the press conference yesterday. People were asking, "Did I take the test?"' Asked when test results would be returned, he said: 'A day, two days. They send it to a lab.'... Late Friday, press secretary Stephanie Grisham released a memo from the White House physician saying Trump had dined at Mar-a-Lago with a person who has since tested positive for coronavirus. However, Navy Cdr. Sean Conley did not recommend testing the president as a necessity." Mrs. McC: So testing an old man who has been around three known virus carriers is unnecessary? I don't get it. It's almost as if you can't believe a single word that comes out of this White House.

Spitballing a National Crisis. Ashley Parker, et al., of the Washington Post: "The administration's struggle to mitigate the coronavirus outbreak has been marked by infighting and blame-shifting, misinformation and missteps, and a slow recognition of the danger. Warring factions have wrestled for control internally and for approval from a president who has been preoccupied with the beating his image is taking.... Jared Kushner ... -- who has zero expertise in infectious diseases and little experience marshaling the full bureaucracy behind a cause -- saw the administration floundering and inserted himself at the helm, believing he could break the logjam of internal dysfunction.... 'People just show up in the Oval and spout off ideas,' said a former senior administration official briefed on the coronavirus discussions. 'He'll either shoot down ideas or embrace ideas quickly. It's an ad hoc free-for-all with different advisers just spitballing.'"

Maureen Dowd: Trump "can't cover up his lack of empathy, his instinct to mislead, his refusal to do his homework and his blame-shifting.... Even when the president stopped being so blithe about the virus, even after his error-ridden national address and his press conference Friday declaring a national emergency -- 'two very big words' -- his attempt at maturity was crystallized in one sound bite. 'No, I don't take responsibility at all,' Trump said, when asked about the egregious lag in testing. It was far from his tweet in 2013, when he loved trolling Obama: 'Leadership: Whatever happens, you're responsible. If it doesn't happen, you're responsible.'"

AP: "The U.S. Defense Department is planning to halt all domestic travel for military members after ... Donald Trump declared the coronavirus pandemic a national emergency. The Pentagon says Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist has approved new travel restrictions on service members and Defense Department civilians assigned to military installations and surrounding areas within the United States and its territories." Mrs. McC: Could be partly because "a financial document obtained by The Daily Beast found massive shortfalls for detecting, treating, and preventing COVID-19 from spreading throughout 1.2 million soldiers and Army employees, as well as roughly 3 million dependent family members." (Daily Beast story linked below.)

Linda Qiu of the New York Times lists the major false claims Trump made during his news conference yesterday & summarizes the actual facts: "I don't take responsibility at all because we were given a set of circumstances and we were given rules, regulations, and specifications from a different time." "If you go back to the swine flu, it was nothing like this. They didn't do testing like this, and actually they lost approximately 14,000 people, and they didn't do the testing. They started thinking about testing when it was far too late." This is blatantly wrong. Diagnostic tests for the swine flu were approved and shipped out less than two weeks after the H1N1 virus was identified and a day before the first death in the United States. "... Google is helping to develop a website, it's going to be very quickly done, unlike websites of the past, to determine whether a test is warranted and to facilitate testing at a nearby convenient location." "As you know, Europe was just designated as the hot spot right now and we closed that border a while ago." "This includes the following critical authorities -- the ability to waive laws to enable telehealth, a fairly new and incredible thing that has happened in the not-so-distant past." It's been used for decades. "When you say me, I didn't do it [disband the White House's pandemic team]. We have a group of people I could ask -- perhaps my administration -- but I could perhaps ask Tony about that because I don't know anything about it." "To help our students and their families, I have waived interest that all student loans held by federal government agencies, and that will be until further notice." This needs context. Mrs. McC: Quite a list.

Grace Panetta & Lauren Frias of Business Insider: "A third person who visited Mar-a-Lago ... has tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Friday. 'Brazil's Chargé d'Affaires Ambassador Nestor Forster has learned tonight that he has tested positive for Covid-19,' the Brazilian embassy in the US announced Friday. 'Following medical advice, Amb. Forster will extend his self-quarantine, which he had already placed himself into as a precautionary measure, for another two weeks.' The Washington Post reported that the second infected person was present at a Sunday fundraising lunch 'hosted by Trump Victory, a committee that raises money for the Trump campaign and the Republican Party.'"

Joanne Kenen of Politico: "Local officials from around the country are worried about the readiness of the U.S. public health system, citing a sharply limited number of ventilators to help some of the sickest coronavirus patients and an inadequate supply of critical care beds in a hospital industry that has gone through years of cutbacks in inpatient beds. As they prepare for an expected influx of patients, local public health officials painted a picture of a system with only a limited 'surge' capacity, and stressed the importance of social distancing as a crucial way to keep the numbers of patients at a level the system can handle."

The Twitter Monster is busy this morning touting yesterday's market surge (hmm, nothing about the previous day's plunge), and promising a "full report latter" on his meetings today.

Oh, and today is Pi Day on account of 3/14 -- 3.14.

~~~~~~~~~~

Jim Tankersley & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "... early Saturday, the House passed a bill reflecting a deal with [the Trump] administration to provide billions of dollars to help sick workers and to prop up a slumping economy.... The relief deal, whose cost is unclear, would allow for two weeks of paid sick leave and up to three months of family and medical leave for those affected by the crisis. It provides tax credits to help small- and medium-size businesses finance the new benefit. It does not include the payroll tax suspension that Mr. Trump wants. Any such suspension could cost more than $800 billion and would not provide help to workers who lose their jobs or stop drawing salaries in the outbreak." The Hill's story, which is more comprehensive, is here: "The measure ... passed 363-40...." ~~~

~~~ Erica Werner, et al., of the Washington Post: "The White House and House Democrats reached agreement Friday on a coronavirus relief package to spend tens of billions of dollars on sick leave, unemployment insurance, food stamps and other measures to address the unfolding crisis. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced the agreement in a letter to fellow House Democrats.... A vote to pass the legislation was expected later Friday in the House, and in the Senate next week. The development came after a roller-coaster day that started with a deal seeming imminent, beforefcolli it looked like it was unraveling over successive hours. House Republicans indicated concerns and Trump himself voiced opposition, complaining at an afternoon news conference that Democrats were 'not doing what's right for the country.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: MSNBC is reporting that House Republicans are waiting for Trump to tweet about the package before they'll waive the rules to allow for a vote on it. Bear in mind that this is a deal Pelosi worked out with Trump lackey Steve Mnuchin. You might suspect House Republicans can't think for themselves. I could put this more crudely, but so can you. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Sarah Ferris, et al., of Politico: "Key Republicans said Friday that Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke prematurely when she declared an agreement with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on a large-scale coronavirus package, cautioning that there are still lingering issues to resolve. Mnuchin huddled with ... Donald Trump on Friday evening, more than an hour after Pelosi announced to her members that she and the White House had reached an agreement. Senior House Republicans said Trump has not yet given final sign-off on the package, and there are outstanding problems related to the tax credits to help pay for the sick leave provisions." ~~~

     ~~~ Update: Evidently this is the tweet we've been waiting for:

I fully support H.R. 6201: Families First CoronaVirus Response Act, which will be voted on in the House this evening. This Bill will follow my direction for free CoronaVirus tests, and paid sick leave for our impacted American workers. -- Donald Trump, in a tweet, 8:42 pm ET Friday

This is a farcical way to run a government. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

The New York Times, in its live updates on coronavirus, reports on Donald Trump's announcement of a national emergency. Also linked in the page above.

~~~The Washington Post's report, from the live updates, is here. Also linked in the page above.

~~~ Anita Kumar of Politico has a report here. Also linked in the page above. ~~~

~~~ J.M. Rieger of the Washington Post: "Trump shook hands, patted backs and touched the microphone at the White House lectern at least 31 times Friday, the sort of behaviors health experts and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have advised against to prevent the spread of the virus.... In total, Trump shook hands four times and patted the backs of officials five times.... When the last executive had finished speaking, Trump offered him a handshake. 'We'll practice that,' LHC Group Executive Vice President Bruce Greenstein said, offering Trump an elbow bump instead.... Over the past week, Trump has interacted with or been close to at least three people who were infected with the virus or who themselves interacted with virus-infected individuals." ~~~

I want to thank Google. Google is helping to develop a website. It's gonna be very quickly done -- unlike websites of the past -- to determine whether a test is warranted and to facilitate testing at a nearby convenient location. We have many, many locations behind us, by the way. We cover this country and large parts of the world, by the way. We're not gonna be talking about the world right now, but we cover very, very strongly our country. Stores in virtually every location. Google has 1,700 engineers working on this right now. They have made tremendous progress. -- Donald Trump, during his press conference Friday ~~~

~~~ Frederic Lardinois of Tech Crunch: "In a press conference at the White House, President Trump [Friday] announced that 1,700 Google engineers were working on a coronavirus screening site. That site was supposedly the first step in a new screening process that would lead people from figuring out if their symptoms warranted more testing to the location of new 'drive through' testing stations. But Trump was wrong. This screening site isn't being developed by Google. Instead, it's being built by Verily, Alphabet's life science division -- and it's not ready to launch yet either. While both share the same parent company in Alphabet, these are two very different companies. In addition, as Verily noted in a statement it provided almost three hours after Trump made the announcement, this site isn't quite ready yet. 'Verily is developing a tool to help triage individuals for COVID-19 testing. We are in the early stages of development, and planning to roll testing out in the Bay Area, with the hope of expanding more broadly over time,' the company said in its statement. 'We appreciate the support of government officials and industry partners and thank the Google engineers who have volunteered to be part of this effort.'" ~~~

~~~ Dieter Bohn of the Verge: "Google is not working with the US government in building a nationwide website to help people determine whether and how to get a novel coronavirus test, despite what ... Donald Trump said in the course of issuing an emergency declaration for the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, a much smaller trial website made by another division of Alphabet, Google's parent company, is going up. It will only be able to direct people to testing facilities in the Bay Area.... Carolyn Wang, communications lead for Verily, told The Verge that the 'triage website' was initially only going to be made available to health care workers instead of the general public. Now that it has been announced the way it was, however, anybody will be able to visit it, she said. But the tool will only be able to direct people to 'pilot sites' for testing in the Bay Area, though Wang says Verily hopes to expand it beyond California 'over time.'" ~~~

~~~ Brian Barrett & Louise Matsakis of Wired: "There is no nationwide site like the one Trump described. And Google had no idea the president was going to mention one.... That the White House is finally treating testing with any kind of urgency is a welcome if belated push. But the apparent miscommunication -- or outright misrepresentation -- may bode poorly for the administration's broader efforts."

Fred Imbert, et al., of CNBC: "Stocks soared Friday as Wall Street rebounded from the sharp losses suffered in the previous session -- the worst since the 'Black Monday' market crash in 1987. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1,985 points higher, or 9.4%, at 23,185.62. Friday marked the Dow's biggest-ever point gain. The S&P 500 climbed 9.2% to 2,711.02 while the Nasdaq Composite surged 9.3% to 7,874.23. The averages posted their biggest one-day gain since October 2008.... Equities rallied to their session highs into the close after ... Donald Trump also said 50,000 new coronavirus tests will be available next week. Trump also said he asked the Energy Department to purchase oil for the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve, boosting crude prices.... House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said U.S. lawmakers and the White House were close to a deal on economic relief amid the coronavirus outbreak. 'We've resolved most of our differences,' Pelosi told reporters Thursday evening, noting it's about 'testing, testing, testing.'" (An earlier version of this report was linked yesterday afternoon.)

Maggie Haberman & Noah Weiland of the New York Times: "President Trump on Friday again [falsely] claimed that his response to the coronavirus was hindered by the Obama administration, which left office three years ago. Mr. Trump attacked Mr. Obama, who served with Mr. Trump's likely Democratic challenger, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., in two posts on Twitter. 'For decades the @CDCgov looked at, and studied, its testing system, but did nothing about it,' Mr. Trump wrote. 'It would always be inadequate and slow for a large scale pandemic, but a pandemic would never happen, they hoped. President Obama made changes that only complicated things further. Their response to H1N1 Swine Flu was a full scale disaster, with thousands dying, and nothing meaningful done to fix the testing problem, until now,' he continued. 'The changes have been made and testing will soon happen on a very large scale basis. All Red Tape has been cut, ready to go!' he wrote. Mr. Trump was not specific about what changes President Barack Obama made to 'complicate things further.'... The F.D.A. took the position that during a public health emergency, nongovernment labs should come to it before doing tests. But at any time, the agency was prepared to suspend that practice, as it did in recently when it gave laboratories and hospitals around the country the go-ahead to conduct tests that had been limited to those analyzed by the C.D.C." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Weirdly, the report never specifically uses the word "falsely" or a word like it, yet the headline is "Trump Falsely Tries to Tie Obama to C.D.C.'s 'Inadequate' Testing System." ~~~

~~~ Lauran Neergaard & Calvin Woodward of the AP: "One day..., Donald Trump boasted of 'smooth' coronavirus testing across the country. The next day, he pronounced the testing system inadequate, and assailed the public-health bureaucracy, Barack Obama and Joe Biden for not fixing it before he became president. But nothing changed in that system over those two days -- Thursday and Friday -- except Trump's stated opinion of it. Trump has been saying inaccurately for days that the public health system was up and ready to give access to diagnostic tests for COVID-19 for everyone who needed them. He said a week ago the 'beautiful' tests were there for all in need. That's not true. But after the government's top infection expert told lawmakers Thursday that the testing system has been a failure, Trump's boasts about preparedness became even less tenable. In tweets Friday, he switched to blaming the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Obama administration, and seemed to hold them responsible for needless deaths in another pandemic. His account is inaccurate." Read on for the explanation.

Another Czar. Jake Sherman & Lauren Morello of Politico: "The administration ... tapped a new 'czar' housed at the Department of Health and Human Services, putting Adm. Brett Giroir in charge of coordinating testing efforts among public health service agencies. Giroir, a medical doctor, is the assistant secretary for health and head of the Public Health Service within HHS and briefly served as acting chief of the FDA last year. HHS Secretary Alex Azar has specifically tasked Giroir with improving coordination between the CDC and the FDA, 'as well as state and local public health authorities and private or public clinical laboratories,' according to an HHS official."

Spencer Ackerman & James LaPorta of the Daily Beast: "As the novel coronavirus threatens to overwhelm the U.S. public health systems, the Pentagon is withholding more than $104 million from the military's most important chemical and biological research facilities -- including a lab that conducts cutting-edge work on infectious diseases -- according to a senior Pentagon official. And that's only one aspect of the military's financial shortfall in the unfolding crisis. A document briefed to the top brass of the Army on Thursday and obtained by The Daily Beast from a second Defense Department official reveals that the service's response to the coronavirus outbreak is short of funding by almost $1 billion.... For the Army more broadly, a financial document obtained by The Daily Beast found massive shortfalls for detecting, treating, and preventing COVID-19 from spreading throughout 1.2 million soldiers and Army employees, as well as roughly 3 million dependent family members."

David Fahrenthold, et al., of the Washington Post: "In one televised event [-- Friday's press conference --], Trump seemed to defy two basic practices that the rest of his government has been urging Americans to follow to prevent the spread of the virus. People who were exposed to an infected person are urged to quarantine themselves and seek testing. And everyone -- exposed or not -- should stop shaking hands.... Trump also said he will not self-quarantine, as members of Congress and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have chosen to do after known exposures. 'No. We have no symptoms whatsoever,' Trump said.... Late Friday, the White House issued a memo from Trump's White House physician, Navy Cmdr. Sean P. Conley, that said the president does not need to be either tested or quarantined.... It was not clear early Saturday whether than meant that Trump had decided not to be tested after all. Trump's words and behavior seemed to signal that he still may be underestimating the diseases's threat to the country -- and even to his own health." ~~~

~~~ Rachel Olding of the Daily Beast: "Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who met with several U.S. officials including ... Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence during an official visit over the weekend, has denied that he tested positive for the 2019 novel coronavirus. Brazilian news outlet Jornal O Dia and Fox News, citing Bolsonaro's son Eduardo, reported Friday that Bolsonaro had the flu-like virus. He was tested Thursday after his press secretary Fabio Wajngarten, who was part of the visiting Brazilian delegation, tested positive for the virus in a diagnosis confirmed by the president's office.... Bolsonaro's son, Eduardo, had earlier confirmed his father's test result to Fox News and said secondary testing was being done on Friday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Joey Flechas of the Miami Herald: "Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has tested positive for COVID-19 ... four days after the mayor attended a Miami event with a Brazilian government official who later tested positive for the virus.... The mayor was present at Thursday's commission meeting, seated on the dais between City Attorney Victoria Méndez and City Manager Art Noriega for much of the morning. Top-level city administrators who were in close contact with the mayor have been told to self-isolate. Government workers who do not need to be physically present at city offices are being told to work from home. Suarez was one of several politicians, including Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, Sen. Rick Scott and ... Donald Trump, who interacted with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his staff during a visit to South Florida last week. The mayor went into isolation Thursday after learning that one of Boslonaro's staffers tested positive." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Veronica Stracqualursi & Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "Australia's home affairs minister confirmed Friday that he tested positive for the novel coronavirus, less than a week after meeting with Attorney General William Barr, senior White House adviser Ivanka Trump and other White House officials. In a statement, Minister Peter Dutton said that he woke up on Friday morning 'with a temperature and sore throat' and was 'subsequently tested for COVID-19.' Dutton was advised by Queensland Health that his tests returned positive on Friday afternoon. Dutton had met with Trump, Barr, Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway and Director of the Domestic Policy Council Joe Grogan in the US less than a week ago." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Zahra Hirji & Katie Baker of BuzzFeed News have mapped out the "growing number of people in ... Donald Trump's orbit have been in contact with someone known to be infected with COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus -- with a few testing positive themselves."

Yeah, That Was a Hostage Video. Shannon Pettypiece of NBC News: "As ... Donald Trump jetted back to Washington on Monday after a weekend of golfing and fundraising in Florida, an intervention was awaiting him at the White House. Administration officials, increasingly concerned about the messaging on and response to the coronavirus, had spent the weekend scrambling to craft a strategy to shift the president's response, which had been focused on downplaying the threat and accusing the media of creating undue concern, according to people involved in the effort. So, as Trump stepped off Marine One and walked straight to the West Wing just after 3 p.m. Monday, his top economic and health officials were waiting to make their case for why a more serious fiscal and public health response was urgently needed. Those at the meeting included economic adviser Larry Kudlow, Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin." (Also linked yesterday.)

Collins to Trump: STFU. Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said public health officials, not President Trump, should lead the administration's messaging on the coronavirus. Collins, speaking to reporters in Maine, said the president should 'step back' from the administration's public coronavirus messaging, which she characterized as 'inconsistent' so far.... Collins's comments on Friday came before a Rose Garden press conference in which Trump declared a national emergency that allows the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to tap into billions of dollars and mobilize personnel more quickly to help state and local agencies and leaders respond."

Terry Gross of NPR interviews Politico reporter Dan Diamond where he reports that the Trump administration knew about the need for testing kits back in January. --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Here's a major report, dated March 7, by Diamond on Trump's mismanagement of the coronavirus crisis: "For six weeks behind the scenes, and now increasingly in public, Trump has undermined his administration's own efforts to fight the coronavirus outbreak -- resisting attempts to plan for worst-case scenarios, overturning a public-health plan upon request from political allies and repeating only the warnings that he chose to hear. Members of Congress have grilled top officials like Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Centers for Disease Control Director Robert Redfield over the government's biggest mistake: failing to secure enough testing to head off a coronavirus outbreak in the United States. But many current and former Trump administration officials say the true management failure was Trump's."(Previously linked in the March 8 Commentariat.)

Now, This Isn't Funny. John Koblin of the New York Times: "'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,' 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' and 'Late Night With Seth Meyers' are all suspending production next week, NBC and CBS said Thursday, making them the biggest daily American television series to go off the air because of concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. The earliest date that the three shows would return with new episodes is March 30, the networks said. 'Saturday Night Live,' which like 'The Tonight Show' and 'Late Night' tapes at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, is on hiatus until March 28. Its immediate future could be in doubt as well." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Presidential Race

Jacob Pramuk of CNBC: "Louisiana will postpone its presidential primaries set for next month, becoming the first state to take the step as fears about the coronavirus outbreak spread. The state will push its presidential nominating contests back to June 20 from the planned date of April 4, Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin announced Friday. It has also delayed its municipal elections until July 25." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

John Kruzel of the Hill: "A full federal appeals court bench will reconsider a Democratic bid for the testimony of former White House counsel Don McGahn, after a three-judge panel said he could defy a congressional subpoena. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday said a majority of judges had voted to vacate the panel's ruling and hold a rehearing, which will take place April 28. The review by the full bench, a relatively rare procedural allowance, gives the Democratic-led House Judiciary Committee another chance to persuade the court to enforce its subpoena against McGahn, whom lawmakers consider an eyewitness to wrongdoing by Trump."

Dahlia Lithwick of Slate: A former Hawaii state judge, James Dannenberg, has resigned from the prestigious Supreme Court Bar. "On Wednesday, Dannenberg tendered a letter of resignation from the Supreme Court Bar to Chief Justice John Roberts. He has been a member of that bar since 1972. In his letter, reprinted in full below, Dannenberg compares the current Supreme Court, with its boundless solicitude for the rights of the wealthy, the privileged, and the comfortable, to the court that ushered in the Lochner era in the early 20^th century, a period of profound judicial activism that put a heavy thumb on the scale for big business, banking, and insurance interests, and ruled consistently against child labor, fair wages, and labor regulations."

Cristiano Lima of Politico: "Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has stepped down from the company's board of directors to devote more time to his philanthropic projects, the firm announced Friday. Gates, who oversaw the software giant's meteoric rise through the late 20th and early 21st century before stepping back from day-to-day operations, will continue to serve as technology adviser to CEO Satya Nadella and others, Microsoft announced in a press release."

Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "The National Geographic revealed in a story on Friday that what the Museum of the Bible has claimed are fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls are a complete fraud. The museum, founded by Hobby Lobby CEO Steve Green, already faced problems when they were 'forced to forfeit thousands of cuneiform texts from Iraq, and pay a $3 million fine for illicit importation,' reported Politico.... [Re: the fake scroll fragments,] the museum says that they were duped by the collector and Green, as well as biblical scholars. 'The new findings don't cast doubt on the 100,000 real Dead Sea Scroll fragments, most of which lie in the Shrine of the Book, part of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem,' said National Geographic."

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. David Smiley & David Ovalle of the Tampa Bay Times: "Andrew Gillum, who in 2018 came within 34,000 votes of becoming Florida's governor, was discovered by police at a South Beach hotel early Friday morning in a room with bags of possible methamphetamine and in the company of a man who appeared to have overdosed on drugs, according to a Miami Beach police report. Police say they were called to the Mondrian South Beach early Friday morning and found paramedics treating Travis Dyson, a 30-year-old Miami man, for an apparent heart attack. They say two other men were in the room: Aldo Mejias and Gillum. Police say Gillum, who was not arrested, was too intoxicated to answer questions. An offense incident report says that officers found three clear plastic baggies of suspected crystal meth on the bed and floor. Gillum, a former Tallahassee mayor and Democrat, issued a statement Friday afternoon in which he denied using drugs. 'I was in Miami last night for a wedding celebration when first responders were called to assist one of my friends. While I had too much to drink, I want to be clear that I have never used methamphetamines,' he said. 'I apologize to the people of Florida for the distraction this has caused our movement.'"

The Commentariat -- March 13, 2020

Afternoon Update:

Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump will hold a news conference on Friday afternoon to discuss the coronavirus as cases continue to mount in the U.S. Trump tweeted that he would speak about the virus at 3 p.m. at the White House. He did not specify what he would cover, but Bloomberg News reported he plans to declare a national emergency, a move that had been under consideration for some time."

Rachel Olding of the Daily Beast: "Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who met with several U.S. officials including ... Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence during an official visit over the weekend, has denied that he tested positive for the 2019 novel coronavirus. Brazilian news outlet Jornal O Dia and Fox News, citing Bolsonaro's son Eduardo, reported Friday that Bolsonaro had the flu-like virus. He was tested Thursday after his press secretary Fabio Wajngarten, who was part of the visiting Brazilian delegation, tested positive for the virus in a diagnosis confirmed by the president's office.... Bolsonaro's son, Eduardo, had earlier confirmed his father's test result to Fox News and said secondary testing was being done on Friday."

Joey Flechas of the Miami Herald: "Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has tested positive for COVID-19 ... four days after the mayor attended a Miami event with a Brazilian government official who later tested positive for the virus.... The mayor was present at Thursday's commission meeting, seated on the dais between City Attorney Victoria Méndez and City Manager Art Noriega for much of the morning. Top-level city administrators who were in close contact with the mayor have been told to self-isolate. Government workers who do not need to be physically present at city offices are being told to work from home. Suarez was one of several politicians, including Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, Sen. Rick Scott and ... Donald Trump, who interacted with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his staff during a visit to South Florida last week. The mayor went into isolation Thursday after learning that one of Boslonaro's staffers tested positive."

Veronica Stracqualursi & Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "Australia's home affairs minister confirmed Friday that he tested positive for the novel coronavirus, less than a week after meeting with Attorney General William Barr, senior White House adviser Ivanka Trump and other White House officials. In a statement, Minister Peter Dutton said that he woke up on Friday morning 'with a temperature and sore throat' and was 'subsequently tested for COVID-19.' Dutton was advised by Queensland Health that his tests returned positive on Friday afternoon. Dutton had met with Trump, Barr, Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway and Director of the Domestic Policy Council Joe Grogan in the US less than a week ago."

Yeah, That Was a Hostage Video. Shannon Pettypiece of NBC News: "As ... Donald Trump jetted back to Washington on Monday after a weekend of golfing and fundraising in Florida, an intervention was awaiting him at the White House. Administration officials, increasingly concerned about the messaging on and response to the coronavirus, had spent the weekend scrambling to craft a strategy to shift the president's response, which had been focused on downplaying the threat and accusing the media of creating undue concern, according to people involved in the effort. So, as Trump stepped off Marine One and walked straight to the West Wing just after 3 p.m. Monday, his top economic and health officials were waiting to make their case for why a more serious fiscal and public health response was urgently needed. Those at the meeting included economic adviser Larry Kudlow, Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin."

Fred Imbert, et al., of CNBC: "Stocks gave up most of their earlier rally on Friday as Wall Street tried to rebound from the sharp losses suffered in the previous session -- the worst since the 'Black Monday' market crash in 1987. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 125 points higher, or 0.7%. At one point, the Dow was up more than 1,300 points and on pace for its biggest one-day gain since March 2009."

Terry Gross of NPR interviews Politico reporter Dan Diamond where he reports that the Trump administration knew about the need for testing kits back in January. --s

Jacob Pramuk of CNBC: "Louisiana will postpone its presidential primaries set for next month, becoming the first state to take the step as fears about the coronavirus outbreak spread. The state will push its presidential nominating contests back to June 20 from the planned date of April 4, Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin announced Friday. It has also delayed its municipal elections until July 25."

Now, This Isn't Funny. John Koblin of the New York Times: "'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,' 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' and 'Late Night With Seth Meyers' are all suspending production next week, NBC and CBS said Thursday, making them the biggest daily American television series to go off the air because of concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. The earliest date that the three shows would return with new episodes is March 30, the networks said. 'Saturday Night Live,' which like 'The Tonight Show' and 'Late Night' tapes at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, is on hiatus until March 28. Its immediate future could be in doubt as well."

~~~~~~~~~~

My name is Lyndon Baines Johnson. I am your president. I am here to make sure you have the help you need! -- Lyndon Johnson, at a New Orleans shelter after Hurricane Betsy, his face illuminated in the dark by a flashlight & speaking through a megaphone, September 1965

~~~ New York Times live updates on the coronavirus pandemic are here. "Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s presidential campaign told staff members to work from home, closed all its offices to the public and said it would begin holding smaller events and virtual fund-raisers.... Senator Bernie ... Sanders' ... campaign said that it had asked all staff members to work from home and that it would no longer hold large events or door-to-door canvasses, focusing on digital outreach instead.... The National Collegiate Athletic Association has called off the men's and women's Division 1 basketball tournaments, among the most-watched annual sports events. They joined a long list of event and venue closures and cancellations in a global push to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Major League Baseball halted spring training and postponed the start of the season by at least two weeks. The N.H.L. paused its season with its teams having about a dozen games before the Stanley Cup playoffs, scheduled to begin in about a month.... The Walt Disney Company said on Thursday that it would close the Disneyland resort in Anaheim for the first time since the Sept. 11 attacks." Mrs. McC: I heard on the teevee that Disneyworld near Orlando, Fla., also would close beginning this coming Sunday.

New York Times (from the paper's live market updates Thursday): "Stocks continued their plunge on Thursday, as President Trump's latest effort to address the coronavirus outbreak -- a ban on the entry from most European countries to the United States -- disappointed investors who have been waiting for Washington to take steps to bolster the economy. Trading was turbulent, with stocks staging a brief comeback as investors reacted to the Federal Reserve's decision to offer at least $1.5 trillion worth of loans to banks to help smooth out the functioning of the financial markets. But the selling picked up again by midafternoon. The S&P 500 closed down about 9.5 percent, its biggest daily drop since the stock market crashed in 1987, on what came to be known as Black Monday. The decline has left stocks in the United States firmly in a bear market -- a term that signifies a decline of 20 percent from the most recent highs. For the Dow Jones industrial average, the drop of 10 percent was also its worst since the 1987 stock market crash." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Pippa Stevens & Fred Imbert of CNBC: "The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 10%, posting its largest one-day percentage drop since the October 1987 crash. That day, the Dow collapsed by more than 22%. The S&P 500 joined the Dow in closing Thursday's session squarely in a bear market, down more than 20% from the all-time highs set just a month ago. The indexes also ended an 11-year bull run, the longest on record. It took the Dow just 19 trading days fall from a record high into a bear market. The S&P 500's move was even swifter, taking the broad index just 16 trading days to tumble into a bear market. Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group, said the economic damage is 'deep and profound' and that 'until we get to spring time when hopefully this goes away, we as investors are all flying blind.' The Federal Reserve announced extraordinary funding actions of more than $1 trillion to ease strained capital markets in the wake of the coronavirus sell-off. The news gave stocks a brief boost before they headed lower again." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Maybe it isn't a coincidence that the markets crash when a Republican is president: 1929, 1987, 2008, 2019. This time an "adjustment" was inevitable, but Trump's indifference & incompetence was the immediate cause for the past week's tumble. BTW, Mr. Bleakley there, with his brilliant belief that the virus will "hopefully go away in the spring," is suffering from a severe case of festering Trumpophilia.

"The President as Bystander." Peter Baker & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "... President Trump has been assertive in closing borders to many outsiders, one of his favorite policies. But within the United States, as the coronavirus spreads from one community to another, he has been more follower than leader. While he presents himself as the nation's commanding figure, Mr. Trump has essentially become a bystander as school superintendents, sports commissioners, college presidents, governors and business owners across the country take it upon themselves to shut down much of American life without clear guidance from the president.... Mayors and county executives, hospital executives and factory owners received no further direction from the president as he talked about the virus in the Oval Office on Thursday than they did during his prime-time address to the nation the night before. Beyond travel limits and wash-your-hands reminders, Mr. Trump has left it to others to set the course in combating the pandemic...."

Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post: President* "Trump's 10-minute Oval Office address Wednesday night reflected not only his handling of the coronavirus crisis but, in some ways, much of his presidency. It was riddled with errors, nationalist and xenophobic in tone, limited in its empathy, and boastful of both his own decisions and the supremacy of the nation he leads.... In the most scripted of presidential settings, a prime-time televised address to the nation, President Trump decided to ad-lib -- and his errors triggered a market meltdown, panicked travelers overseas and crystallized for his critics just how dangerously he has fumbled his management of the coronavirus. Even Trump -- a man practically allergic to admitting mistakes -- knew he'd screwed up by declaring Wednesday night that his ban on travel from Europe would include cargo and trade, and acknowledged as much to aides in the Oval Office as soon as he'd finished speaking.... Jared Kushner ... reassured Trump that aides would correct his misstatement..., and they scrambled to do just that.... Other administration officials rushed to alert the public that U.S. citizens would be exempt from the travel ban.... Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average fell in real time with virtually each word Trump uttered.... The speech was largely written by [Jared] Kushner and ... Stephen Miller, who were still making tweaks to the text until moments before Trump delivered it...." ~~~

~~~ Asawin Suebsaeng & Erin Banco of the Daily Beast: "Two officials in the U.S. State Department told The Daily Beast that foreign service officers and diplomats were unprepared for the president's [travel ban] announcement and spent the early hours of Thursday scrambling to figure out how their work and travel would be affected in the short term. 'It is just total chaos,' said one official currently abroad, adding that they did not know if they would have to return to the U.S. immediately or if they would need to quarantine for two weeks upon arriving. Diplomats and other U.S. staff overseas ... frantically searched for answers that weren't immediately available from Foggy Bottom or the West Wing.... As of Thursday night, U.S. officials abroad said they were still unclear exactly how Trump's proclamation would be implemented in real-time. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had not updated embassies with any guidance or notes on preventive measures.... The [White House's] corrective blitz went late into the night [Wednesday] and then continued well into Thursday, as senior officials held several closed-door meetings into the early afternoon gaming out how to finish cleaning up for the misinformation and inaccurate assertions that President Trump made in his prepared remarks...."

     ~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Three years in office, and the Trump-Kushner-Miller team still doesn't think it's necessary to roll out a coordinated response to anything, even an international crisis. They just make up stuff on the fly and leave it to others to mop up after them. And there's no way in hell they'll learn from this mistake -- the same mistake they have made many times before. See also Akhilleus's account in today's Comments of his trip to the local supermarket. We do have to give Trump a lot of "credit" for his disastrous address to the nation, but I also think we have to give all of the entities that serve Trumpbot nation & have closed up shop have done a double service to the ignoramuses. Not only have these organizations saved the lives of some who directly access the services, they have waked up many who don't go to games or amusement parks. Could all of these sports organizations, restaurants, Disneyland!, etc., really have been willing to lose millions on account of a "Democrat hoax"? ~~~

~~~ Charles Pierce: "This was not a speech.... It was the desperate wailing of a man who has fallen down a well, and there's nobody up there to hear him.... This was a cry for help, an SOS from a guy who knows, as Micheal Ray Richardson once put it, that the ship be sinking. You could almost imagine thousands of tiny feet running for lifeboats behind his eyes. You could see him reacting to storm sirens only he could hear. He is thrashing and floundering and he is surrounded by thrashers and flounderers who owe their entire careers to him now. This isn't chaos. It is surrender to it."

** Washington Post Breaking News: "A Brazilian official who met President Trump and Vice President Pence at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday has tested positive for coronavirus. Fabio Wajngarten, a spokesman for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, tested positive for covid-19, Brazilian officials said. Wajngarten stood next to Trump and Pence, a photograph taken in Florida shows. Trump said he 'isn't concerned' about the development, according to a White House pool report." (From the WashPo's live updates for Thursday.) (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Jim Acosta of CNN: "A source close to Donald Trump said the President is telling people close to him that he is indeed concerned about coming into contact with people who have contracted the coronavirus, including the Brazilian official who tested positive after coming face-to-face with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. 'He is very concerned about all the people he met who have it, including the Brazilian,' the source said. Fabio Wajngarten, the press secretary for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday, two sources have told CNN. Bolsonaro's health is being monitored." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump may be trying to pin the severity of the coronavirus pandemic on pence, but Mother pence has brought the calico curtains down from the attic & is embroidering "25th Amendment" into the hems. ~~~

     ~~~ Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is self-quarantining after a trip to Mar-a-Lago where Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was also present. Graham, according to a statement from his office, 'has no recollection of direct contact' with Bolsonaro, who is being monitored for the coronavirus, or his spokesman, who has tested positive.... Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) also announced on Thursday that he will self-quarantine." Mrs. McC: Scott is self-quarantining because he attended the same Mar-a-Lago functions with Graham, Trump, Pence, et al., & the Brazilian delegation.

Rebecca Shabad of NBC News: "Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday that there has been 'irresponsible rhetoric' from people who have downplayed the seriousness of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak. In an interview on the 'Today' show, Savannah Guthrie asked what message Pence sends to people who aren't afraid of the coronavirus and think it's just politics and hype, quoting from ... Donald Trump who said on Monday that the 'fake news media and their partner, the Democrat Party, is doing everything to inflame the coronavirus situation.' 'There's been some irresponsible rhetoric, but the American people should know President Trump has no higher priority than the health and safety and well being of the people of this country,' Pence said in response but it was not clear who he was referring to." (Also linked yesterday.)

Mike Stobbe & Matthew Perrone of the AP: "The U.S. lag in coronavirus testing is 'a failing,' a top federal health official said Thursday, and public health experts say they still don't have a good understanding of how widely the new virus has spread. The effort initially was hobbled by delays in getting testing kits out to public health labs, but the stumbles have continued, leading scientists to conclude that the virus has already spread far wider than government officials are reporting. U.S. health officials, for example, promised nearly a month ago to tap into a national network of labs that monitor for flu. That system is only just getting started. On Thursday, Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health agreed that the U.S. needs to improve how it's testing. 'The system is not really geared to what we need right now,' he said. 'That is a failing. It is a failing, let's admit it.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Shawn Boburg, et al., of the Washington Post: "Many Americans who are sick and seeking a coronavirus test continue to be turned away.... The problem persists, doctors and patients across the country say, despite increased production and distribution of the tests in recent days. At a time when U.S. fatalities from the virus have risen, there remain limited numbers of tests and the capacity of laboratories is under strain. The constraints are squeezing out patients who don't meet rigid government eligibility criteria, even if their doctors want them tested, according to dozens of interviews with doctors and patients this week. The gap between real-life obstacles to testing and President Trump's sweeping assurances that 'anybody that needs a test gets a test' has sown frustration, uncertainty and anxiety among patients who have symptoms consistent with covid-19.... The federal government's handling of testing erupted as a political issue Thursday, with even members of the president's party venting...." ~~~

~~~ Farah Stockman of the New York Times: "Many who fear they have the virus have faced one roadblock after another as they try to get tested, according to interviews with dozens of people across the country. Some have been rejected because they had no symptoms, even though they had been in proximity to someone who tested positive. Others were told no because they had not traveled to a hot spot abroad, even though they had fevers and hacking coughs and lived in cities with growing outbreaks. Still others were told a bitter truth: There simply were not enough tests to go around.... Even [where efforts have been made to make testing easier], demand has far outstripped supply. By 11 a.m. at one drive-through lab in the Denver neighborhood of Lowry on Thursday, a three-hour line of cars had formed. The clinic had to stop allowing more vehicles.... In cities that have experienced serious outbreaks -- Seattle; Boston; New Rochelle, N.Y. -- patients who fear they have coronavirus describe Kafkaesque quests to find out their status."

Noam Levey of The Los Angeles Times: "Despite mounting pleas from California and other states, the Trump administration isn't allowing states to use Medicaid more freely to respond to the coronavirus crisis by expanding medical services. In previous emergencies, including the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Hurricane Katrina and the H1N1 flu outbreak, both Republican and Democratic administrations loosened Medicaid rules to empower states to meet surging needs.... One reason federal health officials have not acted appears to be President Trump's reluctance to declare a national emergency.... Another element may be ideological: The administration official who oversees Medicaid, Seema Verma..., has been a champion of efforts by conservative states to trim the number of people enrolled in Medicaid."

Common Dreams in RawStory: "The Trump administration made clear this week that it has no plans to scrap -- or, at the very least, delay -- a rule change that could strip federal food assistance from over a million people in the United States as the coronavirus spreads across the nation, heightening the need for measures to protect the most vulnerable from the economic fallout.... Lauren Bauer, a fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank, told BuzzFeed that she estimated prior to the coronavirus outbreak that 1.3 to 1.5 million people could lose federal nutrition assistance under the Trump administration's SNAP rule change. The Agriculture Department's own estimate indicated that the rule would strip benefits from more than 700,000 people." --s

Emily Cochrane, et al., of the New York Times: "... Congress neared a deal with the White House on a sweeping economic rescue package to respond to the colossal effect of the coronavirus pandemic. After a day of intense negotiations between Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and the Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, Ms. Pelosi told reporters that 'we've resolved most of our differences' and the House would vote on Friday on the measure 'one way or another.' It would then go to the Senate, which called off a recess that had been scheduled for next week in anticipation of a compromise. The legislation, according to a letter Ms. Pelosi sent to her members, will include enhanced unemployment benefits, free virus testing, aid for food assistance programs and federal funds for Medicaid. The package also ensures 14 days of paid sick leave, as well as tax credits to help small- and medium-size businesses fulfill that mandate. Language was still being drafted for provisions related to family and medical leave, according to a Democratic aide, as staff members worked through the night to prepare the bill. Ms. Pelosi, in her letter to lawmakers, also said that the House would soon pursue another package 'that will take further effective action that protects the health, economic security and well-being of the American people.'" ~~~

~~~ The Unflappable Nancy Pelosi. Heather Caygle & John Bresnahan of Politico: “... for all Trump's omnipresence on Twitter and cable TV, [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi remains the dominant figure on Capitol Hill when it comes time to actually getting something accomplished.... The [coronavirus] episode plays to her strengths as the longtime Democratic leader: Figure out your goals, move quickly, and build your support on the fly, while always keeping your eye on the magic 218-vote number. The sheer variety of national emergencies Pelosi has faced during her 17 years as House Democratic leader is stunning, and represents the turbulent nature of 21st century American life -- Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, the 2008 financial crisis, the federal government shutdowns of 2013 and 2018-19, and Trump's recent impeachment, are among the highlights.... 'I've gone through a number of these crises with her as the leader and she is unflappable,' said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.). 'The last thing we need is some kind of a hot-headed leader trying to figure out what we can do to hurt the other side,' he added. 'She don't play that game.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Eric Levitz of New York: "In response to this mounting [pandemic] crisis, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called on Congress to waste no time in commencing its previously planned vacation.... McConnell insisted that the Senate would not pass any legislation addressing the coronavirus emergency until it took a seven-day breather.... Hours later, however, McConnell changed course. After calls from multiple Senate Republicans to cancel the impending recess, the Senate Majority Leader announced that his caucus would work through next week on compromise legislation.... Even [if going ahead with the recess was] a bluff, McConnell's stance was insane. It's hard to imagine a more politically toxic talking point than, 'Democrats may want to take immediate action on this public health emergency, but the Republican Party believes it is entitled to a weeklong break before tackling such a demanding project.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Sarah Burris of RawStory: "Republicans are holding up progress on legislation for coronavirus because of abortion.... 'A key sticking point in the talks appears to be GOP demands to include Hyde amendment language in the bill to prevent federal funds from being used for abortion,' [Bloomberg News reporter Erik Wasson] tweeted." --s

Katie Porter Saves Lives. In a House hearing Thursday, Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) nails down a commitment from CDC Director Robert Redfield. to guarantee that all Americans can receive coronavirus tests (assuming the kits become widely available) regardless of ability to pay. Watch Redfield start out arrogant & end up squirming! ~~~

MEANWHILE. Pay for Me But Not for Thee. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) is taking two weeks off to self-quarantine at home even though he has tested negative for Covid-19. Gasmask Gaetz, of course, receives paid sick leave, even though he isn't sick. As Lee Fang of the Intercept points out, Gaetz voted against paid sick leave for Florida residents when he was in the state legislature. AND Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who also is self-quarantining after coming into contact with a person sick with the virus, is getting paid, too. As Fang writes, "In 2013, then-Gov. Rick Scott signed Gaetz-backed preemption legislation that barred every city and county in Florida from enacting paid sick leave legislation."

Mrs. McCrabbie: Joe Biden gave a speech Thursday on what is needed to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The contrast between Biden's remarks and Trump's robotic teleprompter performance Wednesday night was jarring. Biden's speech was fairly perfect. I hope Trump watched to get a glimpse of what it means to "be presidential." ~~~

A short time later Thursday afternoon, Sen. Bernie Sanders delivered remarks on the coronavirus pandemic:

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: There isn't clearer evidence of Trump's monumental inability to do his job than to contrast Sanders' and Biden's remarks with his.

Sarah Ferris, et al., of Politico: "The U.S. Capitol will cease all public tours through at least the end of March amid mounting fears of a widespread coronavirus outbreak, according to multiple people familiar with the decision. Speaker Nancy Pelosi informed members of the decision in a Wednesday afternoon meeting, which is intended to help prevent the spread of the virus across the sprawling Capitol campus, where many senior-aged lawmakers are already at higher risk. The restriction applies to all tours -- public, staff-led and member-led. By the end of the week, the Capitol complex will be restricted to official business only, people familiar with the decision said. The move -- which was made jointly by congressional leaders, Capitol security officials and medical staff -- comes amid mounting pressure from lawmakers and aides to restrict public access to the building." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Getting Real. Issam Ahmed of AFP: "Between 70 to 150 million people in the United States could eventually be infected with the novel coronavirus, according to a projection shared with Congress, a lawmaker said Thursday. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib made the remarks during a hearing of the House of Representatives with members of the president's coronavirus task force, confirming earlier reports by US media outlets including Axios and NBC News. 'Congress's attending physician told the Senate that he expects between 70 to 150 million people to eventually contract the coronavirus in the United States,' Tlaib said. Axios had reported that doctor Brian Monahan conveyed the projection to Senate senior staff on Tuesday.... The upper end of the projection is about 46 percent of the US population of 327 million people. By comparison German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned this week that up to 70 percent of her country's population could get the virus." ~~~

~~~ Peter Sullivan of the Hill: "A top health official in Ohio estimated on Thursday that more than 100,000 people in the state have coronavirus, a shockingly high number that underscores the limited testing so far. Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton said at a press conference alongside Gov. Mike DeWine (R) that given that the virus is spreading in the community in Ohio, she estimates at least 1 percent of the population in the state has the virus. 'We know now, just the fact of community spread, says that at least 1 percent, at the very least, 1 percent of our population is carrying this virus in Ohio today,' Acton said. 'We have 11.7 million people. So the math is over 100,000. So that just gives you a sense of how this virus spreads and is spreading quickly.' She added that the slow rollout of testing means the state does not have good verified numbers to know for sure.... The state currently has just five confirmed positive cases, and 30 negative tests. Acton said Thursday that it appears that the number of cases of the virus doubles every six days."

Johnny Diaz & Karen Zraick of the New York Times: "Walmart, Uber and other major companies announced new policies this week to grant paid leave or other compensation to workers who contract the new coronavirus or are quarantined by order of the government or their companies. The changes could help hourly and gig-economy workers in the service industry who do not normally receive paid time off, and who would bear an especially difficult burden of lost wages. But the policies may not go far enough to protect delivery people, store clerks, restaurant workers, taxi drivers and others whose public-facing and often low-paying jobs cannot be done remotely." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Someone suggested recently (sorry, I don't recall who) that businesses that do not provide paid sick leave to their employees should be required to post prominent notices that their workers do not get paid if they get sick. An excellent suggestion. Would you eat in a restaurant where there was a good chance the salad chef was sneezing Covid-19 globules on the romaine? I didn't think so.

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Oliver Darcy of CNN: "... over the past several weeks, top hosts and personalities on [Fox 'News'] downplayed concerns about the virus, baselessly accusing credible news organizations of overhyping the crisis to hurt Trump politically. At other times, Fox News hosts and personalities pointed to the death toll of the seasonal flu, misleading the network's audience into thinking that the coronavirus was receiving more attention because it is novel.... A significant part of Fox News' coverage had been aimed toward framing the response to coronavirus as unwarranted hysteria. The often-dismissive messaging from Fox News hosts was particularly notable, given that, like other cable news channels, the viewers who make up the network's audience skew older and are, thus, the most vulnerable to the disease.... Meanwhile..., Fox Corporation, the parent company of the network..., has restricted all non-essential travel. And, in a Thursday email..., Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott and President and Executive Editor Jay Wallace announced several sweeping measures to protect employees, including asking staff able to work from home to do so starting Monday."

Angela Dewan of CNN: "More and more of the world is working from home as the novel coronavirus spreads -- and so is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Canada's leader is currently trying to run his country in self-isolation as his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, awaits the results of a coronavirus test, his office confirmed on Thursday. The indiscriminate virus has caused dozens of government officials around the world -- from administrators to heads of state -- to take precautionary measures after finding that they have been infected or have been in contact with infected people.... The president of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, is also self-isolating for two weeks as a precaution, after going to Italy over the last weekend. On Tuesday, he chaired a European Union meeting in Brussels by video-conference." Mrs. McC: Rachel Maddow reported that Sophie Trudeau tested positive for the virus. Other outlets, including the NYT in its Thursday live updates linked above, have since reported Sophie Trudeau's positive test result.

Lily Kuo of the Guardian: "One of the most popular topics on the Chinese microblog Weibo on Thursday was ... a conspiracy theory that has been gaining traction over the past two weeks in China -- that the coronavirus did not originate in China but may have come from the US instead." --s

Eric Schmitt & Thomas Gibbons-Neff of the New York Times: "United States warplanes struck five targets in southern Iraq on Thursday night, hitting back at an Iraqi militia with ties to Iran that is believed to have been part of a rocket attack on Wednesday that killed two Americans and a British soldier, American officials said. The airstrikes, which were supported by the British military, targeted the militia Kataib Hezbollah and facilities that were believed to store the type of rockets used in the attack on coalition forces on Wednesday. It is not known how many militia members, if any, were killed, a military official said." ~~~

~~~ Juan Cole: "Tom O'Connor at Newsweek reports that 18 katyusha rockets slammed into al-Taji Air Base in Iraq on Wednesday, killing two Americans and one Briton, and leaving 12 other Coalition personnel injured. In response, US fighter jets conducted air strikes against the Haydariyun brigades of the Kata'ib Hizbullah, a Shiite Iraqi militia, in Albu Kamal on the Iraq-Syria border, allegedly killing 40 officers and fighters, including the commander of the Haydariyun, Gen. Wisam al-Tufayli. It is alleged that officers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards at the base were also killed.... Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, whose Sairun Party is the largest single party in parliament, accused Donald Trump of creating the novel coronavirus and unleashing it on Iraq as an act of biological warfare.... [T]he fact is that Trump's rashness [killing Soleimani] just got two US soldiers killed." --s

Lauren White & Linnaea Honl-Stuenkel of CREW: "Donald Trump Jr.'s Mongolian trophy hunting trip cost taxpayers $17,704 in Secret Service charges alone, according to records obtained by CREW.... The eight day trip was already controversial for many reasons: Don Jr. was retroactively awarded his permit to hunt the endangered argali sheep after killing it, he had a private meeting with Mongolia's president that we still don't know much about, and hunted alongside a major Republican donor." --s

Aaron Gregg of the Washington Post: "The Pentagon has asked a federal court to give it 120 days to 'reconsider certain aspects' of a controversial decision to award an important cloud computing contract known as JEDI to Microsoft, according to a court document made public Thursday. Amazon is suing the Defense Department over the decision, which it claims fell in Microsoft's favor because of improper meddling by President Trump. The decision comes just days after U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge Patricia Campbell-Smith sided with Amazon on a motion to halt contract performance. (Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.) The Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure contract, known as JEDI, is meant to create a powerful centralized computing system through which military agencies can harness data centers and technology from a commercial tech company. The Pentagon awarded it to Microsoft in late October, spurning a bid from Amazon's market-leading cloud computing division."

Ryan Mac, et al. of Buzzfeed: "Last month, a BuzzFeed News investigation found that people at more than 2,200 organizations have tried Clearview's facial recognition technology.... Prior to BuzzFeed News' report, Clearview insisted its tool was strictly for law enforcement.... Clearview, however, has shared its technology with organizations it designated as friends, conservative think tanks, Republican lawmakers, and more than 20 potential investors around the world, according to company documents seen by BuzzFeed News. Some of those entities have connections to the far right and the Trump administration, as do Clearview CEO Hoan Ton-That, a MAGA-supporting mobile app developer, and cofounder Richard Schwartz, who was once an adviser to ... Rudy Giuliani." --s

Ryan Goodman & Julia Brooks of Just Security: "Several commentators have said that the president's action toward Ukraine fit a pattern of his calling on foreign governments to interfere in US elections.... We ... provide a timeline of events surrounding an earlier incident at the Trump White House involving Qatar and the Kushner Companies. We leave it to readers and further investigation to reach any conclusions -- whether this was a shakedown of a foreign partner motivated or clouded by personal financial interests or something quite innocent. At a minimum, we believe it raises important questions and concerns that deserve further scrutiny.... The following is a timeline of events related to the Kushners' pursuit of funding from Qatar for 666 Fifth Avenue and the Trump-Kushner support for the Saudi-UAE blockade of Qatar." --s

Presidential Race

Kate Sullivan & Jennifer Agiesta of CNN: "Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will win California's Democratic primary, CNN projects, after holding a lead in the state since Election Night.... CNN's delegate estimate in the state currently shows Sanders winning 184 delegates to [Joe] Biden's 144, with 81 delegates left to be allocated. Six delegates in the state thus far have been estimated to go to candidates who have already dropped out of the race: Elizabeth Warren (five) and Michael Bloomberg (one)."

Gary Fineout of Politico: "Joe Biden is in line to deliver a knockout punch to Bernie Sanders in Florida in Tuesday's Democratic primary, according to a new poll that gives the former vice president a staggering 44-point lead over his opponent. Biden is lapping Sanders in voter support, with support from 66 percent of likely Democratic primary voters to 22 percent for Sanders, according to a University of North Florida poll taken March 5-10." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) Mrs. McC: Florida's primary is Tuesday, March 17.

Katelyn Polantz, et al., of CNN: "Former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning will be released from jail after being held for 10 months because testimony she refused to give to a secret grand jury is no longer needed, a federal judge said on Thursday. Manning's release comes because 'the business of (the grand jury) had concluded,' Judge Anthony Trenga of the federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, wrote on Thursday. 'The Court finds that Ms. Manning's appearance before the Grand Jury is no longer needed, in light of which her detention no longer serves any coercive purpose.' Manning was fined $256,000 in fines for refusing to testify, according to the judge. She had not been released from jail as of Thursday evening and was still being held in the Alexandria Detention Center, her lawyer, Moira Meltzer-Cohen, told CNN."

Damian Carrington of the Guardian: "Monsanto secretly funded academic studies indicating 'very severe impacts' on farming and the environment if its controversial glyphosate weedkiller were banned, an investigation has found. The research was used by the National Farmers' Union and others to successfully lobby against a European ban in 2017.... The secret funding of the ADAS studies was uncovered by a German transparency campaign group, LobbyControl." --s

Beyond the Beltway

Georgia. Sara Swann of The Fulcrum: "It's a startlingly bold move, the legality of which is now being challenged in court: Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, already an enemy of voting rights groups nationwide, has canceled an election and says he'll fill a seat on the Georgia Supreme Court all by himself.... When justices leave in the middle of a term, Georgia law permits the governor to fill the vacancy. In this case, however, Justice Keith Blackwell said two weeks ago he was no longer seeking re-election and would resign a few weeks early -- eight months from now, in November. For a few days, it looked like the race for his spot on the becnch [sic] would feature the two remaining candidates: John Barrow of Athens, a former Democratic congressman, and former Republican state legislator Beth Beskin of Atlanta. But a week ago, Kemp's successor as secretary of state, Republican Brad Raffensperger, said he was deferring to the governor's wishes and calling off a contest that was to be decided in the May 19 nonpartisan judicial elections."--s

North Carolina. Ames Alexander of The Charlotte Observer: "The public can now listen to the secret recordings that formed the core of the federal government's corruption case against Durham billionaire Greg Lindberg. On March 5, a jury convicted the insurance mogul of using the promise of millions in campaign money to bribe North Carolina's insurance commissioner Mike Causey. Causey cooperated in the federal sting and wore a clandestine recording device to capture his conversations with Lindberg and two associates.... Lindberg and his associates repeatedly asked Causey to replace a regulator named Jackie Obusek, who was responsible for overseeing one of Lindberg's companies[.]" --s