The Commentariat -- March 9, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Saudi Arabia and Russia are arguing over the price and flow of oil. That, and the Fake News, is the reason for the market drop! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet Monday morning

Shorter Donald: What pandemic? -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

New York Times liveblog of market developments: "Five minutes into the trading day in the United States on Monday, the plunge in the S&P 500 hit 7 percent, triggering an automatic 15-minute trading halt known as a circuit breaker. The next trading halt would come if the S&P 500 falls 13 percent from Friday's close. Should stocks fall 20 percent, trading would end for the rest of the day.... It seemed to have helped on Monday: The S&P 500 recovered some ground soon after trading resumed, and was down about 6 percent by 10 a.m. in New York."

Kevin Liptak of CNN: "Fissures between the White House and national health agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have begun to expand as the coronavirus pandemic spreads to more American states, creating dissonance between ... Donald Trump and the professionals tasked with containing the virus further. The two sides have grown increasingly distrustful of one another, people inside both the CDC and the White House say, as officials on each side question decisions that either appear designed to downplay the growing crisis or to generate further concern.... While health officials have sought to present a realistic and cautious picture of the national situation, Trump and his political allies are hoping to relay an altogether different message: that the virus is contained, Americans face little risk, and life should proceed as normal."

Todd Spangler of the Detroit Free Press: "Former Vice President Joe Biden, riding a wave of momentum from primaries in South Carolina and Super Tuesday states, comes into Tuesday's Michigan primary with a 24-point lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders in a new Free Press poll. If Biden's 51%-27% lead in the poll, done by EPIC-MRA for the Free Press and its media partners, holds, it would guarantee him a signature victory in Michigan -- a battleground state that helped ... Donald Trump win the White House four years ago. It could also starve Sanders' formerly front-running campaign of delegates needed for the nomination and call into question how long his effort can remain viable." Mrs. McC: Looks like the primary race will be officially over by tomorrow night.

A few things Preet Bharara (& others) find slightly wanting in Donald Trump. Mrs. McC: Clean up the list a bit & make it about a third of the ad buy for the Democratic nominee (Joe Biden). Is James Earl Jones still available for voiceovers? Thanks to PD Pepe for the link.

Pete Buttigieg is hosting "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Thursday night. (Link is to a Vulture item; open in private window).

AND Nero has a twitter account:

Who knows what this means, but it sounds good to me! https://t.co/rQVA4ER0PV

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 8, 2020

~~~ As Akhilleus mentioned in today's Comments, Trump hasn't let Covfefe-19 interfere with his golf game: ~~~

~~~ Daniel Politi of Slate: "Around the world, leaders and health authorities were struggling to try to get a handle on the rapidly spreading coronavirus. But in the United States..., Donald Trump seems to have thought it would be a great time to hit the links with professional baseball players. On Sunday, the commander in chief played golf with current and former Washington Nationals players at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. The White House doesn't normally release details about the president's golf outings, but on Sunday, pitcher Patrick Corbin posted a series of photos on his Instagram of the game with the president." Maybe a golf club is the new fiddle bow.

Zack Budryk of the Hill: "Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) formally announced his 2020 Senate run on Monday, tweeting his first campaign ad.... The governor, who will challenge Sen. Steve Daines (R), announced his run on the filing deadline."

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Felicia Sonmez, et al., of the Washington Post: "Governments intensified their efforts Sunday to combat the global spread of the novel coronavirus, as Saudi Arabia followed Italy in enacting new travel restrictions, Iran suspended flights to Europe, and the United States, where the number of cases topped 500, warned citizens against cruise travel. Uncertainty continued to permeate the response effort, however, amid muddled directives from the Trump administration and reports of some patients unable to access testing. A virus-stricken cruise ship made its way to California to dock -- only for Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson to decline to discuss the details of the federal response plan during a national television interview. The Department of Health and Human Services said later Sunday that the Grand Princess cruise ship's more than 3,500 passengers, at least 21 of whom have tested positive for the coronavirus, will be quarantined in California, Texas and Georgia. Some White House officials privately believe the number of U.S. cases will double -- or more -- in the next 48 hours."

Yun Li & Eustance Huang of CNBC: "Stock futures tumbled Monday morning as investors braced for the economic fallout from the spreading coronavirus, while a shocking all-out oil price war added to the anxiety. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average indicated an opening drop of more than 1,300 points. The S&P 500 futures indicated a 5% drop at Monday's open. The sharp declines in the futures market signaled more turbulence ahead after a roller-coaster week that saw the S&P 500 swing up or down more than 2.5% for four days straight. The S&P futures trading was briefly halted overnight." The New York Times' live updates are here. ~~~

~~~ Jeanna Smialek of the New York Times: "The Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Monday announced that it will ramp up the amount of short-term loans it offers banks, an effort to keep cash flowing smoothly through the financial system as markets gyrate amid fears about economic fallout from the coronavirus." ~~~

~~~ Michael Bloom of CNBC: "With U.S. stocks set to plunge at the open, investors will be watching for additional market circuit breakers that could halt trading. Futures contracts hit 'limit down' on Sunday evening after CME-traded stock index futures contracts sank 5%, halting trading below that level and preventing futures from falling any further. According to the New York Stock Exchange, a market trading halt may occur at 'three circuit breaker thresholds' on the S&P 500 due to large declines and volatility. The exchange classifies this at three levels based on the preceding session's close in the S&P 500."

Darius Tahir of Politico: "The government's top infectious disease expert on Sunday said that the coronavirus outbreak is getting worse and warned elderly and sick people to think twice before traveling or circulating in crowds. The remarks from Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, signaled a change in tone from health officials representing the Trump administration, making it clear that the outbreak is past the point where it can be prevented from spreading or easily tracked. That contrasted with the more measured language from some Trump officials including Vice President Mike Pence." (Also linked yesterday.)

Matt Wilstein of the Daily Beast: "After Surgeon General Jerome Adams advised on State of the Union Sunday morning that older Americans and those with underlying medical issues should 'think very carefully' before taking long flights or going into big crowds, CNN host Jake Tapper noted him that all three men currently running for president -- Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump -- fall into that at least one if not both of those categories. 'Should those three stop traveling? Should they stop holding rallies?' Tapper asked. Without answering that question directly, Adams told Tapper that he has been reminding President Trump to wash his hands frequently. 'But speaking of being at risk, the president, he sleeps less than I do and he's healthier than what I am,' the surgeon general, who is in his mid-40s, insisted." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Two Degrees of Separation. Toluse Olorunnipa, et al., of the Washington Post: "A growing sense of concern and uncertainty about the reach of the novel coronavirus has begun to take hold in the White House, after an attendee at a recent political conference where President Trump spoke tested positive for covid-19, the disease caused by the virus. Trump was photographed shaking hands with Matt Schlapp, the chairman of the American Conservative Union who confirmed that he had been in direct contact with the infected man during the Conservative Political Action Conference last month. The handshake at CPAC put Trump just two degrees of separation away from the virus that he has sought to minimize.... There is growing tension among Trump administration officials, who now see the rapidly spreading outbreak as a black swan event that could consume the president's fourth year in office, even as Trump remains reluctant to see much cause for concern.... The White House is ... being cleaned more regularly and people with flu-like symptoms are being urged not to come into the complex.... Trump, 73, had no campaign rallies scheduled as of Sunday evening, marking the first time this year that there were no such events on the books."

Justine Coleman of the Hill: "President Trump in an early morning tweet on Sunday accused the 'Fake News Media' of attempting to 'make us look bad' on the administration's coronavirus response. The president called the White House's plan to combat the growing outbreak in the U.S. 'perfectly coordinated and fine tuned.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Taylor Dolven of the Miami Herald: "The U.S. State Department is warning U.S. citizens not to take cruises, delivering what could be a major blow to one of South Florida's largest industries. In a travel advisory issued Sunday evening, the State Department said there is an increased risk of infection of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, on cruise ships. 'U.S. citizens, particularly travelers with underlying health conditions, should not travel by cruise ship.' The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has an equal warning, urging people to 'defer all cruise ship travel worldwide.' The announcements are direct contradictions of statements made Saturday by Vice President Mike Pence, who traveled to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale to reassure cruise company CEOs that cruising would continue, albeit with ramped-up screening and sanitizing protocols to be announced in the coming days." Mrs. McC: So much for message control.

The U.S. State Department is warning U.S. citizens not to take cruises, delivering what could be a major blow to one of South Florida's largest industries. In a travel advisory issued Sunday evening, the State Department said there is an increased risk of infection of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, on cruise ships. "U.S. citizens, particularly travelers with underlying health conditions, should not travel by cruise ship."

Rishika Dugyala of Politico: "Sen. Ted Cruz announced on Sunday that he is under self-quarantine after having interacted with the person who tested positive for coronavirus at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference. In a statement released on Twitter, the Texas Republican wrote that he was informed of the interaction on Saturday night, and that he had engaged in a brief conversation and handshake with the affected individual.... 'I'm not experiencing any symptoms, and I feel fine and healthy,' Cruz said in the statement. 'Given that the interaction was 10 days ago, that the average incubation period is 5-6 days, that the interaction was for less than a minute, and that I have no current symptoms, the medical authorities have advised me that the odds of transmission from the other individual to me were extremely low.' He added that physicians advised him that the interaction did not meet the CDC criteria for self-quarantine. However, 'out of an abundance of caution' for his constituents, Cruz said, he decided to remain in his Texas home for a full 14 days." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This could be the first responsible thing Ted has done in his public career.

Sandi Doughton of the Seattle Times: "Testing for the novel coronavirus in the Seattle area will get a huge boost in the coming weeks as a project funded by Bill Gates and his foundation begins offering home-testing kits that will allow people who fear they may be infected to swab their noses and send the samples back for analysis. Results, which should be available in one to two days, will be shared with local health officials who will notify those who test positive. Via online forms, infected people can answer questions about their movements and contacts, making it easier for health officials to locate others who may need to be tested or quarantined, as well as to track the virus' spread and identify possible hot spots.... The Gates Foundation recently announced it's committing $5 million for coronavirus response in the Seattle area, and much of that will go for the expanded testing and analysis."

Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: "Columbia University announced on Sunday night that it was canceling classes on Monday and Tuesday and that classes would be taught remotely for the rest of week after a university community member was quarantined for exposure to the new coronavirus.... Barnard College, which is considered one of Columbia's four undergraduate colleges but is an independent institution, announced that it was taking the same precautions.... [The town of Scarsdale, N.Y.] N.Y., announced on Sunday that a middle school teacher had tested positive for the virus and that classes had been canceled for the week at all public schools there.... Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York declared a state of emergency on Saturday as the number of coronavirus cases rose.

Chico Harlan & Stefano Petrelli of the Washington Post: "Italy on Sunday launched a complicated and urgent plan to restrict the movement of roughly 16 million people, a measure that unleashed confusion about how it could be enforced and whether it would be enough to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The plan to lock down large swaths of the north was the first major attempt by a democracy during the coronavirus crisis to radically halt the routines of daily life -- an effort that will have significant impacts on civil liberties. But in the hours before and after the measure became law, people continued to stream out of the northern hubs of Milan and Venice on trains and planes for southern Italy or elsewhere in Europe. Sunday, then, provided the first glimpse of a coronavirus lockdown, European-style...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Presidential Race

Hope Yen & Will Weissert of the AP: "As the coronavirus hits more states, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said Sunday his campaign is gauging when it may become necessary to cancel the large campaign rallies that public health experts say could be breeding grounds to spread the potentially deadly illness. 'Obviously what is most important to us is to protect the health of the American people,' Sanders said as he appeared in a series of TV interviews. 'And what I will tell you, we are talking to public health officials all over this country.'"

Kyle Balluck of the Hill: "Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden's presidential campaign early Monday." ~~~

~~~ Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "Mr. Booker's endorsement comes 24 hours after Senator Kamala Harris of California endorsed Mr. Biden, and the two senators will appear with him at a rally in Detroit on Monday night." ~~~

Sarah Mucha of CNN: "US Senator and former Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris said Sunday she's endorsing Joe Biden for president, the latest in a series of high-profile announcements from Democrats backing the former vice president."

Ben Smith of the New York Times: "While [Bernie] Sanders's criticism of the media has more merit than most reporters like to acknowledge, the media has often gotten Mr. Sanders right, too. His weaknesses, from a rigid attachment to the battles of an earlier generation to his struggle to persuade older black Democrats to join his revolution, aren't media inventions. They're good, fair stories. And in 2020, far more than in 2016, the media has also captured his strengths: his consistency, his commitment to the poor, his deep popularity with young people."

Zak Cheney-Rice of New York: "Trump is going to try dampening black voter enthusiasm for Biden by contrasting the two men's criminal justice records. The framing will be simple: Trump signed a bipartisan criminal-legal reform bill, the First Step Act, and has been generous with his pardon powers toward unjustly imprisoned black people.... Trump's is not a meritless strategy. It has the benefit of a soft target.... While Trump's status as a self-styled reformer is laughable, Biden's record is grotesque. Most of its lowlights occurred in the 'tough on crime' 1980s and 1990s, when he was a senator.... Back then, he viciously characterized people who commit crimes as sociopathic 'predators' who are beyond rehabilitation.... He authored the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act..., which Biden liked to call the '1994 Biden crime bill' as recently as 2015. Its main legacy is cruelty: It expanded the death penalty, eliminated education funding for imprisoned students, created harsher sentencing guidelines for a wide range of crimes, and increased funding for local police departments and corrections departments.... Perhaps more than any other official of the era, he embodied the Democratic impulse to outflank Republicans from the right by locking more people in jails and prisons.... He said he was 'not at all' ashamed of his involvement as recently as 2016."

Twitter Knocks Trump's Fake News. Cat Zakrzewski of the Washington Post: “Twitter applied its new 'manipulated media' label for the first time on Sunday to a deceptively edited video of former vice president Joe Biden. The video was shared by White House social media director Dan Scavino and retweeted by President Trump. The video was the first test of a new policy the social media company implemented on March 5 to label tweets that contain manipulated or synthetic media, ranging from edited videos to more sophisticated examples known as 'deepfakes' that can fabricate events that never happened. In this case, the altered video of Biden -- who has surged to the front of the Democratic race to oust Trump in November -- is based on a speech he gave in Kansas City, Mo., on Saturday. It was then shared on Twitter by Scavino, only edited to make it appear as if Biden inadvertently endorsed Trump for reelection.... Twitter applied the ["! Manipulated media"] label to Scavino's tweet at about 5 p.m. on Sunday evening, about 18 hours after Scavino first shared the video."

Matt Steib of New York: "In an interview with Axios on HBO, [Donald Trump, Jr.,] challenged Hunter Biden, the son of Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, to a nepotism contest. 'Let's talk about who profited off of whose public service,' the president's eldest son said.... 'I'm not going to say I haven't benefited from my father's last name, just like Hunter Biden did. That would be foolish to say But I haven't benefited from my father's taxpayer-funded office.' That too would be foolish to say: Trump Jr. is the vice-president of an organization that the president has fattened repeatedly while in office -- from bilking the Secret Service to reportedly requiring the U.S. military to spend taxpayer funds at his hotels. DJT also saw his book shoot to the top of the New York Times bestseller list only after the Republican National Committee purchased thousands of copies."

Amy Guthrie of the AP: "Women filled the streets of the world's largest cities Sunday to protest gender violence and inequality on International Women's Day, with the mothers of murdered girls leading a march in Mexico City and participants in Paris inveighing against the 'virus of the patriarchy.' While many protests were peaceful celebrations others were marred by tension, with security forces arresting demonstrators at a rally in Kyrgyzstan and police reportedly using tear gas to break up a demonstration by thousands of women in Turkey."

News Ledes

The New York Times' live updates of developments in the coronavirus epidemic are here. "Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte of Italy has extended restrictions on movement to the entire nation, banning public gatherings and telling eople not to travel except for work or emergencies."

New York Times: "Max von Sydow, the tall, blond Swedish actor who cut a striking figure in American movies but was most identified with the signature work of a fellow Swede, the director Ingmar Bergman, died on Sunday. He was 90."

The Commentariat -- March 8, 2020

Afternoon Update:

Darius Tahir of Politico: "The government's top infectious disease expert on Sunday said that the coronavirus outbreak is getting worse and warned elderly and sick people to think twice before traveling or circulating in crowds. The remarks from Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, signaled a change in tone from health officials representing the Trump administration, making it clear that the outbreak is past the point where it can be prevented from spreading or easily tracked. That contrasted with the more measured language from some Trump officials including Vice President Mike Pence."

Matt Wilstein of the Daily Beast: "After Surgeon General Jerome Adams advised on State of the Union Sunday morning that older Americans and those with underlying medical issues should 'think very carefully' before taking long flights or going into big crowds, CNN host Jake Tapper reminded him that all three men currently running for president -- Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump -- fall into that at least one if not both of those categories. 'Should those three stop traveling? Should they stop holding rallies?' Tapper asked. Without answering that question directly, Adams told Tapper that he has been reminding President Trump to wash his hands frequently. 'But speaking of being at risk, the president, he sleeps less than I do and he's healthier than what I amthe surgeon general, who is in his mid-40s, insisted."

Justine Coleman of the Hill: "President Trump in an early morning tweet on Sunday accused the 'Fake News Media' of attempting to 'make us look bad' on the administration's coronavirus response. The president called the White House's plan to combat the growing outbreak in the U.S. 'perfectly coordinated and fine tuned.'"

Chico Harlan & Stefano Petrelli of the Washington Post: "Italy on Sunday launched a complicated and urgent plan to restrict the movement of roughly 16 million people, a measure that unleashed confusion about how it could be enforced and whether it would be enough to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The plan to lock down large swaths of the north was the first major attempt by a democracy during the coronavirus crisis to radically halt the routines of daily life -- an effort that will have significant impacts on civil liberties. But in the hours before and after the measure became law, people continued to stream out of the northern hubs of Milan and Venice on trains and planes for southern Italy or elsewhere in Europe. Sunday, then, provided the first glimpse of a coronavirus lockdown, European-style -- a test of how the open-borders spirit of this continent might change as countries grapple with the scale and risks of the disease."

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Brian Resnick of Vox with "eight things to know about 'springing forward.'" Mrs. McC: One thing to know about daylight savings time, which I never knew: "... it's definitely called 'daylight saving time.' Not plural. Be sure to point out this common mistake to friends and acquaintances. You'll be really popular."

Brett Samuels & Jessie Hellmann of the Hill: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has tested 1,583 people for the coronavirus since the first cases were identified in the U.S. in January, health officials said Saturday. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen Hahn told reporters at the White House that figure would increase as more tests are shipped nationwide to address demand. But officials made clear that an individual could be tested only if it was approved by a doctor or public health official, contradicting President Trump's previous claims about test availability. Meanwhile, the CDC had recently shipped enough kits to public health labs to test 75,000 patients, Hahn said.... After facing criticism over the CDC's slow pace of testing in the U.S., the FDA made it easier for commercial labs to manufacture and perform their own tests. More than 2.1 million of those tests will be shipped by Monday to commercial labs, Hahn said, which would translate to roughly 850,000 people who could be tested because current CDC guidelines require two swabs per patient. However, Americans will not be able to get tested for the coronavirus unless it is ordered by a doctor or public health official, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Saturday. Azar's comments contradict President Trump's assertion a day earlier that 'anybody that wants a test can get a test.'..."

** Mike Stobbe of AP: "The White House overruled health officials who wanted to recommend that elderly and physically fragile Americans be advised not to fly on commercial airlines because of the new coronavirus, a federal official told The Associated Press. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention submitted the plan this week as a way of trying to control the virus, but White House officials ordered the air travel recommendation be removed[.]" --safari: Only one source of the info., but believable. ~~~

     ~~~ Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: "... Donald Trump was harshly criticized following the [AP] report's publication, here's some of what people were saying[.]"

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: If you're over the age of 60, see advice in the right-hand column under "Public Service Announcements" on how to avoid contracting the coronavirus (or other communicable illnesses, for that matter). The advice includes, uh, avoiding air travel.

Darlene Superville of the AP: "... Donald Trump says he isn't concerned 'at all' about the coronavirus getting closer to the White House after the nation's capital reported its first case Saturday. Maryland officials warned Saturday that a person who attended the recent Conservative Political Action Conference [CPAC] in the suburb of Oxon Hill had tested positive for the virus. Both Trump and Vice President Mike Pence spoke at the conference. The White House said Saturday there was no indication that either had met or were in 'close proximity' to the infected attendee. Asked if he was concerned about the virus getting closer, Trump said: 'No, I'm not concerned at all. No, I'm not. We've done a great job.'"

Michael Shear, et al., of the New York Times: "From the beginning, the Trump administration's attempts to forestall an outbreak of a virus now spreading rapidly across the globe was marked by a raging internal debate about how far to go in telling Americans the truth. Even as the government's scientists and leading health experts raised the alarm early and pushed for aggressive action, they faced resistance and doubt at the White House -- especially from the president -- about spooking financial markets and inciting panic." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Situation Normal -- All Fucked Up. Ashley Parker, et al., of the Washington Post: The Trump Administration made "many preventable missteps and blunders in [its] handling of the coronavirus crisis -- the embodiment of an administration that, for weeks, repeatedly squandered opportunities to manage and prepare for a global epidemic that has killed thousands worldwide and at least 19 so far in the United States.... Public health experts and officials faced a deluge of challenges, almost from the beginning. First there were the problems with the initial coronavirus test kits, which contained an unspecified problem with a compound that prompted inconclusive results.... Infighting quickly materialized among agencies that have long had poor relationships ... and when the situation went awry, recriminations were swift.... Trump and many of his aides were initially skeptical of just how serious the coronavirus threat was, while the president often seemed uninterested as long as the virus was abroad." ~~~

~~~ Dan Diamond of Politico: "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.... Interviews with 13 current and former officials, as well as individuals close to the White House, painted a picture of a president who rewards those underlings who tell him what he wants to hear while shunning those who deliver bad news."

David Nakamura of the Washington Post assesses Trump's performance at his CDC Atlanta visit Friday. Nakamura doesn't grade Trump, but his review reads like a "D-", at best. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Adam Rogers of Wired: "As a reporter, in general I'm not supposed to say something like this, but: The president's statements to the press were terrifying. That press availability was a repudiation of good science and good crisis management from inside one of the world's most respected scientific institutions. It was full of Dear Leader-ish compliments, non-sequitorial defenses of unrelated matters, attacks on an American governor, and -- most importantly -- misinformation about the virus and the US response."

~~~ Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "Do you have a nagging medical concern?... Well, fret no more. America now has a leading medical expert -- some say the best -- who will dispense diagnoses and prognoses to all -- for free! This bold new telemedicine initiative, 'Ask Dr. Trump,' will be offered on an unpredictable but highly frequent basis to all Americans (whether they like it or not). Dr. Donald J. Trump, of course, is the pioneering scientist who first determined that climate change is a hoax and, more recently, discovered that windmills cause cancer. In between, he proved that forest fires could be contained by 'raking' and identified a previously unrecognized tropical cyclone pattern targeting Alabama. Dr. Trump acquired what he calls 'a natural instinct for science' not through formal education but because 'my uncle was a great professor at MIT for many years.' Sadly, the elder Trump didn't live to see his nephew's greatest discoveries in the medical field: The flu shot is basically 'injecting bad stuff into your body' and exercise can shorten your life. Dr. Trump used his instinctive grasp of medicine to become 'the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency' with an innate life expectancy of 200 years." Read on. (Also linked yesterday.)

The Know-Nothing President*. Ctd. ... I didn't know people died from the flu.... And ... you had a couple of years where it was over a 100,000 people died from the flu. -- Donald Trump, Friday ~~~

~~~ Gillian Brockell of the Washington Post: "There have been several years where more than 100,000 Americans were killed by particularly nasty influenza strains. One of those episodes was ... 1918. That is the year Trump's paternal grandfather ... died of the flu.... Friedrich Trump was a successful, 49-year-old businessman, husband and father of three living in Queens, according to Gwenda Blair in her 2001 book 'The Trumps: Three Generations That Built an Empire.' One day in May, he came home from a stroll feeling sick. He died almost immediately. He was a victim of the first wave of the Spanish flu pandemic. A second, deadlier wave hit in the fall. All told, the pandemic killed at least 50 million people worldwide and 675,000 in the United States, according to the CDC." ~~~

     ~~~ ** Kali Holloway of the Daily Beast has the story here. "The president's grandfather, in fact, was one of the first domestic casualties of the world's worst modern pandemic, which ultimately millions. The death toll was undoubtedly worsened by the efforts of President Woodrow Wilson's administration to talk down the health risk. Sound familiar?" Mrs. McC: Holloway's report on the 1918 Sedition Act should terrify you. What probably is saving us from a similar law now is House Democrats.

Not So Funny Now, Is It, Frat Boy? Kim Bellware of the Washington Post: "Days after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) wore an enormous gas mask during a House floor vote on an emergency funding package for the coronavirus response, the congressman announced that a resident in his northwestern Florida district had died of covid-19." Mrs. McC: It doesn't take a stable genius to figure out that joking about a pandemic will not well-serve the joker, but perhaps he does have to extricate himself from the Trump Bubble to know that Covid-19 is not a "Democrat hoax" ripe for mocking.

Taylor Locke of CNBC: "Amtrak is canceling its high-speed Acela nonstop service between Washington, D.C. and New York through late May as consumer demand weakens amid concern over the coronavirus outbreak.... The Acela nonstop service will be temporarily suspended starting Tuesday, March 10 until Tuesday, May 26. Passengers can still take Amtrak’s slower, northeast regional trains between the two cities."

Lorenzo Tondo of the Guardian: "The Italian government is to lockdown the northern region of Lombardy, as it battles to contain the spread of the coronavirus. A draft decree would extend the quarantined areas, so-called 'red-zones', ordering people not to enter or leave the region.... Rome is also considering prolonging the closure of schools across the country until 3 April, while major sporting events, such as Serie A football games, will be played behind closed doors. The number of coronavirus cases in Italy leapt by more than 1,200 in a 24-hour period, the civil protection agency said on Saturday." According to the Wall Street Journal, the quarantined area also would include 11 surrounding provinces. (Via the Verge.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "Italy's government early Sunday took the extraordinary step of locking down much of the country's north, restricting movement for about a quarter of the Italian population in regions that serve as the country's economic engine.... By taking such tough measures, Italy, which is suffering the worst outbreak in Europe, sent a signal that restrictive clampdowns at odds with some of the core values of Western democracies may be necessary to contain and defeat the virus.... More generally, the wobbly Italian government, which has had difficulty passing basic laws, was attempting a crackdown of historic scope in a continent fiercely protective of its personal liberties and in a country with a tendency to interpret laws as suggestions or hurdles to circumvent."

Igor Derysh of Salon: "President Donald Trump's properties have charged taxpayers nearly eight times more than previously claimed for Secret Service stays, according to new documents obtained by the watchdog group Public Citizen. Eric Trump has claimed that Secret Service agents 'stay at our properties for free -- meaning, like, cost for housekeeping.' He insisted last year that 'we charge them, like, 50 bucks.' But receipts ... show that Trump's properties have charged the Secret Service $396 per night for 177 rentals at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort since he took office.... The report found that taxpayers spent more than $471,000 on Trump properties, but the new receipts show that the Trump Organization charged Secret Service an additional $157,000 since 2017, bringing the total to more than $628,000." --s

Martyn McLaughlin of The Scotsman: "[A]n official European Union agency has issued a series of far-reaching decisions which experts believe will impact on the Trump Organisation's ability to enforce its rights over numerous products and services associated with the Trump brand.... Trump's company has been engaged in a fight with a little-known firm based in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg since March 2018...,[producing] nearly 1,300 pages of evidence..., includ[ing] a series of statistical sets detailing a decline in golf custom at Turnberry, the US president's flagship international resort, since he bought it in 2014.... [T]he number of visitors booking use of golf facilities at the property ... has fallen from 11,835 in 2014 to 7,483 in 2018.... [T]he number of golf club members ... has dropped from 434 to 373 over the same period ... despite a sizable investment..., anywhere between £150m and £250m." --s

Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: AND I guess we'll have to mention Melanie's Covfefe-19 Memorial White House Tennis Pavillion, since Anonymous raiseed the matter in yesterday's Comments: ~~~

~~~ Eliza Relman & Ellen Cramley of Business Insider: "... Melania Trump tweeted on Thursday about the construction of a new private White House tennis pavilion amid concern that the Trump administration isn't doing enough to contain the coronavirus outbreak. 'I am excited to share the progress of the Tennis Pavillion at @WhiteHouse,' she tweeted alongside photos of herself in a hard hat at the construction site. 'Thank you to the talented team for their hard work and dedication.' Critics were quick to condemn Trump's announcement.... The first lady pushed back against her critics in a tweet on Saturday morning.... 'I encourage everyone who chooses to be negative & question my work at the @WhiteHouse to take time and contribute something good & productive in their own communities,' she tweeted, adding the hashtag for her childhood wellness campaign, #BeBest." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Sharon LaFraniere of the New York Times: "Attorney General William P. Barr ... increasingly appears to be chiseling away at [Robert Mueller's investigation]. The attorney general's handling of the results of th Russia inquiry came under fire when a federal judge questioned this week whether Mr. Barr had sought to create a 'one-sided narrative' clearing Mr. Trump of misconduct.... In fact, Mr. Barr's comments then were but the first in a series of actions in which he cast doubt not just on the findings of the inquiry by the special counsel ... and some of the resulting prosecutions, but on its very premise.... Mr. Barr has assigned a federal prosecutor to investigate the [investigation] further and has suggested that the inquiry might conclude that the F.B.I. acted in bad faith.... Last month, Mr. Barr appointed another outside prosecutor to review a case that Mr. Mueller brought against the president's former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn for lying to the F.B.I. And in a second case that the Mueller team brought against Roger J. Stone Jr., Mr. Trump's longtime friend, the attorney general overruled career prosecutors to seek a more lenient prison sentence...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

"All the Best People," Ctd. Daniel Lippman of Politico: "The White House has placed another college senior in an influential administration position.... Anthony Labruna, who starts on Monday, is not slated to graduate from Iowa State University until early May. In the meantime, he'll be deputy White House liaison at the Department of Commerce.... One person familiar with the matter said that Labruna was foisted on Commerce at the urging of 29-year-old PPO director John McEntee, who has been charged by the president with keeping his administration stocked with loyal officials.... The role is a sensitive one: The job of a White House liaison entails matching qualified people with political vacancies at the department, headed up by Secretary Wilbur Ross, and moving appointees in and out of those positions as needed." --s

How Low Will They Go? So Low, Can't Get Under It. Mark Mazzetti & Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "Erik Prince, the security contractor with close ties to the Trump administration, has in recent years helped recruit former American and British spies for secretive intelligence-gathering operations that included infiltrating Democratic congressional campaigns, labor organizations and other groups considered hostile to the Trump agenda, according to interviews and documents. One of the former spies, an ex-MI6 officer named Richard Seddon, helped run a 2017 operation to copy files and record conversations in a Michigan office of the American Federation of Teachers.... [Prince's sister Betsy] DeVos has been a vocal critic of teachers' unions.... Using a different alias the next year, the same undercover operative infiltrated the congressional campaign of Abigail Spanberger, then a former C.I.A. officer who went on to win an important House seat in Virginia as a Democrat. The campaign discovered the operative and fired her. Both operations were run by Project Veritas.... The Trump Foundation gave $20,000 to Project Veritas in 2015, the year that Mr. Trump began his bid for the presidency." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

~~~ Dave Itzkoff of the New York Times reports on SNL's cold open.

Presidential Race

Sarah Kendzior of the Globe and Mail: "On Super Tuesday, voters decided that the best people to determine the American future were old men who, statistically, will likely not live to see even the near-term outcomes of their efforts.... Americans do not know if they will live in a democracy or an autocracy, but they will undoubtedly live in a gerontocracy. A gerontocracy is dangerous in a time of profound existential threats. The Democratic nominee will be battling the climate crisis, rising autocracy worldwide and a global recession exacerbated by a pandemic. They will also be facing off against the Trump regime, whose flagrant corruption and decimation of institutions has put American democracy in unprecedented peril.... To capture their votes, Democrats must make a compelling case about how they will protect that future -- even though their presidential nominee will not live to see it." --s

An Aspirational Freudian Slip. Benjamin Fearnow of Newsweek: "Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar mistakenly told cheering Joe Biden supporters in Michigan Saturday that she's honored to join his 2020 'ticket,' before she quickly corrected the apparent verbal slip-up.... Klobuchar's brief suggestion immediately encouraged speculation about who is vying for the vice president role on a potential Biden ticket."

The Guardian has a live blog on activities commemorating International Women's Day. --s

Nice Company, Andy! Ryan Fahey of the (U.K.) Daily Mail: "Prince Andrew has recruited an extradition lawyer once used by Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet after the FBI demanded an interview with the royal over his links to Jeffrey Epstein.... Claire Montgomery QC, known as the leading extradition lawyer in the UK, is said to be advising the 60-year-old Duke...."

Beyond the Beltway

Massachusetts. Ed Pilkington of the Guardian: "The US government has banned an electric shock machine that is used to zap children and young adults with special needs in a school outside Boston -- the only institution in the world known to practice the controversial punishment 'treatment'.... The ban brings to an end a decades-long battle against the use of electric shocks at the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center (JRC) in Canton, Massachusetts.... More than 40 special needs residents of JRC, many with severe forms of autism, are understood to be on the electric shock regime." --s

Way Beyond

Poland. A PBS Network Even Trump Would Like. Vanessa Gera of the AP: "Poland's president has signed a bill earmarking nearly 2 billion zlotys ($510 million) to fund public television and radio, broadcast outlets that have become mouthpieces for the country's right-wing government and given the president positive coverage as he campaigns for reelection. President Andrzej Duda, who hails from the ruling Law and Justice party, signed the funding bill late Friday as he campaigns for a second five-year term in a May election.... In [signing the bill], he allowed a large injection of money to go into broadcasters that were already helping his campaign." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ I am excited to announce the introduction of "Fifth Avenue," an educational entertainment show for the kiddies featuring Big Eagle, Barack the Grouch & a cast of beautiful, rich white people. Today's show stars the Letter "A" for "Abercrombie." Tune in tomorrow to meet the letter "B" for "Bergdorf." And the kids won't want to miss "C" for "Cartier" -- they'll all enjoy learning to tell time the old-fashioned way with this beautiful Cartier watch with fuchsia alligator strap for only $70,800.00 (free shipping!).

Saudi Arabia. David Kirkpatrick & Ben Hubbard of the New York Times: "The scope of a new roundup of Saudi royals widened on Saturday with word that a fourth senior prince has been detained under orders from the crown prince, according to two people close to the royal family, the latest step by the kingdom's de facto ruler to consolidate power. The wave of arrests has now ensnared a former head of army intelligence, Prince Nayef bin Ahmed, as well as at least three other senior princes, all detained on Friday. The full extent of the roundup is still not clear. The detentions raised questions about whether Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 34, would soon seek to take formal power from his aging father, King Salman, 84. They could also indicate that the crown prince was worried about discontent within the royal family as plummeting oil prices strained the country's budget and economy...."

News Lede

The New York Times' latest live updates on developments in the coronavirus epidemic are here. "The Grand Princess cruise ship that has been held off the coast of California after 21 people onboard tested positive for the coronavirus will dock on Monday at the port of Oakland, the vessel's operator said. Passengers on the ship who require 'acute medical treatment and hospitalization' will disembark first and be taken to facilities in California, according to the boat's operator, Princess Cruises." ~~~

The Commentariat -- March 7, 2020

Afternoon Update:

How Low Will They Go? So Low, Can't Get Under It. Mark Mazzetti & Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "Erik Prince, the security contractor with close ties to the Trump administration, has in recent years helped recruit former American and British spies for secretive intelligence-gathering operations that included infiltrating Democratic congressional campaigns, labor organizations and other groups considered hostile to the Trump agenda, according to interviews and documents. One of the former spies, an ex-MI6 officer named Richard Seddon, helped run a 2017 operation to copy files and record conversations in a Michigan office of the American Federation of Teachers.... [Prince's sister Betsy] DeVos has been a vocal critic of teachers' unions.... Using a different alias the next year, the same undercover operative infiltrated the congressional campaign of Abigail Spanberger, then a former C.I.A. officer who went on to win an important House seat in Virginia as a Democrat. The campaign discovered the operative and fired her. Both operations were run by Project Veritas.... The Trump Foundation gave $20,000 to Project Veritas in 2015, the year that Mr. Trump began his bid for the presidency."

Michael Shear, et al., of the New York Times: "From the beginning, the Trump administration's attempts to forestall an outbreak of a virus now spreading rapidly across the globe was marked by a raging internal debate about how far to go in telling Americans the truth. Even as the government's scientists and leading health experts raised the alarm early and pushed for aggressive action, they faced resistance and doubt at the White House -- especially from the president -- about spooking financial markets and inciting panic."

David Nakamura of the Washington Post assesses Trump's performance at his CDC Atlanta visit Friday. Nakamura doesn't grade Trump, but his review reads like a "D-", at best. ~~~

~~~ Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "Do you have a nagging medical concern?... Well, fret no more. America now has a leading medical expert -- some say the best -- who will dispense diagnoses and prognoses to all -- for free! This bold new telemedicine initiative, 'Ask Dr. Trump,' will be offered on an unpredictable but highly frequent basis to all Americans (whether they like it or not). Dr. Donald J. Trump, of course, is the pioneering scientist who first determined that climate change is a hoax and, more recently, discovered that windmills cause cancer. In between, he proved that forest fires could be contained by 'raking' and identified a previously unrecognized tropical cyclone pattern targeting Alabama. Dr. Trump acquired what he calls 'a natural instinct for science' not through formal education but because 'my uncle was a great professor at MIT for many years.' Sadly, the elder Trump didn't live to see his nephew's greatest discoveries in the medical field: The flu shot is basically 'injecting bad stuff into your body' and exercise can shorten your life. Dr. Trump used his instinctive grasp of medicine to become 'the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency' with an innate life expectancy of 200 years." Read on.

Sharon LaFraniere of the New York Times: "Attorney General William P. Barr ... increasingly appears to be chiseling away at [Robert Mueller's investigation]. The attorney general's handling of the results of the Russia inquiry came under fire when a federal judge questioned this week whether Mr. Barr had sought to create a 'one-sided narrative' clearing Mr. Trump of misconduct.... In fact, Mr. Barr's comments then were but the first in a series of actions in which he cast doubt not just on the findings of the inquiry by the special counsel ... and some of the resulting prosecutions, but on its very premise.... Mr. Barr has assigned a federal prosecutor to investigate the [investigation] further and has suggested that the inquiry might conclude that the F.B.I. acted in bad faith.... Last month, Mr. Barr appointed another outside prosecutor to review a case that Mr. Mueller brought against the president's former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn for lying to the F.B.I. And in a second case that the Mueller team brought against Roger J. Stone Jr., Mr. Trump's longtime friend, the attorney general overruled career prosecutors to seek a more lenient prison sentence...."

A PBS Network Even Trump Would Like. Vanessa Gera of the AP: "Poland's president has signed a bill earmarking nearly 2 billion zlotys ($510 million) to fund public television and radio, broadcast outlets that have become mouthpieces for the country's right-wing government and given the president positive coverage as he campaigns for reelection. President Andrzej Duda, who hails from the ruling Law and Justice party, signed the funding bill late Friday as he campaigns for a second five-year term in a May election.... In [signing the bill], he allowed a large injection of money to go into broadcasters that were already helping his campaign." ~~~

     ~~~ I am excited to announce the introduction of "Fifth Avenue," an educational entertainment show for the kiddies featuring Big Eagle, Barack the Grouch & a cast of beautiful, rich white people. Today's show stars the Letter "A" for "Abercrombie." Tune in tomorrow to meet the letter "B" for "Bergdorf." And the kids won't want to miss "C" for "Cartier" -- they'll all enjoy learning to tell time the old-fashioned way with this beautiful Cartier watch with fuchsia alligator strap for only $70,800.00 (free shipping!).

Mrs. McCrabbie: AND I guess we'll have to mention Melanie's Covfefe-19 Memorial White House Tennis Pavillion, since Anonymous raises the matter in today's Comments: ~~~

~~~ Eliza Relman & Ellen Cramley of Business Insider: "... Melania Trump tweeted on Thursday about the construction of a new private White House tennis pavilion amid concern that the Trump administration isn't doing enough to contain the coronavirus outbreak. 'I am excited to share the progress of the Tennis Pavillion at @WhiteHouse,' she tweeted alongside photos of herself in a hard hat at the construction site. 'Thank you to the talented team for their hard work and dedication.' Critics were quick to condemn Trump's announcement.... The first lady pushed back against her critics in a tweet on Saturday morning.... 'I encourage everyone who chooses to be negative & question my work at the @WhiteHouse to take time and contribute something good & productive in their own communities,' she tweeted, adding the hashtag for her childhood wellness campaign, #BeBest."

~~~~~~~~~~

** Your Friday Night News Dump. Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump on Friday announced [in a tweet] that Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) would replace Mick Mulvaney as his chief of staff. Trump announced the news in a tweet, saying he would appoint Mulvaney as U.S. special envoy for Northern Ireland." This is a developing story. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. The New York Times story, by Peter Baker, is here. Mrs. McC: It's surprising the Times first posted its story at 9:49 pm ET, an hour-and-a-half after Trump's tweet. NYT reporter Annie Karni said on MSNBC the other day that every time Trump announces a new hire, the paper mocks up a story about that person's dismissal (as they do for prominent, elderly people), inasmuch as it won't be long till Trump axes him. Mulvaney lasted 14 months, but only because, as Baker notes, "The president soured on Mr. Mulvaney long ago but was warned by advisers not to get rid of him until after his [impeachment] trial in the Senate...." Anyway, I hope Mulvaney enjoys Northern Ireland. I guess positions in Greenland and Mongolia were unavailable.

Thanks to Ken W. for the lead.Jonathan Lemire, et al., of the AP: "... Donald Trump's visit to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday turned into a scattershot defense of his administration's handling of the coronavirus outbreak, veering into political score-settling, exaggerations and talk harking back to his impeachment.... Trump called Washington state's governor [Jay Inslee (D)], who is dealing with the most serious outbreak in the nation, a 'snake.' He said he'd prefer that people exposed to the virus on a cruise ship be left aboard so they wouldn't be added to the count for the nation's total number of infections. And he falsely claimed that a test for the virus was available immediately to all who want it. He also suggested the accuracy of the coronavirus test was 'perfect -- like the letter was perfect.' With that, Trump was making a comparison to the July phone call with Ukraine's president that led to his impeachment.... Trump touted the ratings of his town hall this week on Fox News and mocked a CNN reporter. He cut off Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar as he tried to counsel Americans to be patient.... The president, while touring the CDC, talked up his ability to understand the virus, although he has repeatedly misstated how long it would take for a vaccine to be developed and available. 'I like this stuff. I really get it,' Trump said. 'People are surprised that I understand it.... Maybe I have a natural ability.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Yes, if the Stable Genius would have just one more chat with Ben Carson, I'd feel safe having Trump cut into my skull & operate on my brain. He has a natural ability. ~~~

This video in which Trump repeatedly claims that "anybody who wants a test gets a test" is remarkable, not just because it isn't true but because of the way Trump keeps repeating the lie: ~~~

~~~ BUT the lie works, at least as far as spreading disinformation goes. The "news" team at Atlanta's Channel 11, an NBC affiliate, reported Friday that "the agency [CDC] is expected to ship out about a million tests by tomorrow." That isn't even marginally true, as Steve Kornacki of MSNBC makes clear in his report embedded above. ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE, in the Real World. Katie Thomas, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump claimed again on Friday that anyone who needed a coronavirus test 'gets a test.' But from Washington State to Florida to New York, doctors and patients are clamoring for tests that they say are in woefully short supply, and their frustration is mounting alongside the growing number of cases around the country. In California, where thousands are being monitored for the virus, only 516 tests had been conducted by the state as of Thursday. Washington health officials have more cases than they can currently process. And in New York, where cases have quadrupled this week, a New York City official pleaded for more test kits from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 'The slow federal action on this matter has impeded our ability to beat back this epidemic,' the official said in a letter Friday. More than 300 cases have been confirmed, at least 17 have died, and thousands are in self-quarantine. Public health officials are warning that no one knows how deeply the virus will spread, in part because the federal government's flawed rollout of tests three weeks ago has snowballed into an embarrassing fiasco of national proportions."

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Trump signed an $8.3 billion emergency spending bill to confront the coronavirus outbreak on Friday morning and decided to visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, reversing his decision hours earlier to skip touring the nerve center of the government's response to the health crisis." Mrs. McC: The reason Trump's visit to the CDC was on-again/off-again was because of a suspected case of coronavirus at the Atlanta center. But then it turned out the person had tested negative for the virus. Everything is going very smoothly. A Politico story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~

~~~ Guardian (from the liveblog @9:50 am ET): "Trump ... reiterated his lack of worry about the spread of [coronavirus] in the US. Perhaps problematic, though is that, to many, he's coming across as casually dismissive and posturing, not measured, and reassuringly presidential. 'You have to be calm,' he said, at the White House this morning before departing to tour the tornado damage in Tennessee and just after signing an $8.3 billion emergency spending bill to deal with the virus. 'It will go away,' he said. 'We have very low numbers [of confirmed cases] compared to many countries throughout the world, our numbers are lower than almost anyone ... deaths, is it 11?' It is. 'In terms of cases, it's very very few because we have been very strong at the borders.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ John Harwood of CNN: "... Donald Trump sent a message Friday to anyone expecting major economic aid to head off a coronavirus recession: Don't hold your breath. With financial markets reeling, some economists back direct bailouts for affected workers and businesses to prevent a contraction of the already-slowing American economy. But as he signed the $8.3-billion emergency coronavirus spending bill passed by Congress -- more than triple the amount the White House had requested -- Trump waved off the idea of a new fiscal stimulus to protect America's record-breaking economic expansion, again calling on the Federal Reserve to use its monetary policy tools. 'The Fed should cut and the Fed should stimulate,' Trump told me before leaving the White House to tour tornado damage in Tennessee. And he evinced little concern about the chance of recession anytime soon, declaring, 'I think we're in great shape.'... 'We're not looking at these massive, federal, throw-money-at-people plans,' National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow told reporters. 'We are looking at timely and targeted (efforts) where we can do the most good.'"

Jonathan Chait enjoys ragging Donald Trump & Larry Kudlow for their wildly incorrect claims & prognostications on the coronavirus & its impact on the markets. (Also linked yesterday.)

Morgan Chalfant, et al., of the Hill: "Vice President Pence said Friday that 21 individuals on a cruise ship off the coast of California tested positive for the coronavirus and that the Trump administration would bring the passengers stateside this weekend. The cruise ship will be brought into a noncommercial port. Passengers will be tested for the coronavirus and then officials will quarantine and offer medical attention to those who need it. The vice president said 46 people aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship were tested for the virus. Of the 21 who tested positive, 19 are crewmembers and two are passengers, Pence said. He said 24 tests came back negative and one inconclusive. There are 3,500 people on the ship.... [Donald Trump] said he preferred those who tested positive for the virus remain on the ship in part because he didn't want the number of confirmed cases in the U.S. to spike.... 'I like the numbers being where they are,' he said. 'I don't need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn't our fault.'"

KGO San Francisco: "Stanford University is canceling all in-person courses for the remainder of the winter quarter due to coronavirus concerns. The school's website states, those classes will not meet in person but will move to online formats. It also says that large-group events are being canceled or adjusted." This is a live update of coronavirus-related developments in the San Francisco area. It gives you a good idea of how life is changing for residents of an area directly affected by the virus. Here's the Seattle Times' liveblog; the University of Washington & other local colleges also have cancelled in-person classes.

David Enrich, et al., of the New York Times: "The spiraling fears [of the coronavirus outbreak] have caused financial carnage. The S&P 500 index has dropped 12 percent since Feb. 19, the sharpest dive in nine years. The plunge has obliterated roughly $3 trillion in wealth. In the past two weeks, even decent days have been tinted with a scary aura. On Friday afternoon, the S&P was poised to lose more than 2 percent, before the index pared its losses amid a blizzard of buying in the moments before the closing bell."

If you don't think Trump's lies are a danger to your health, there's this: ~~~

~~~ Brad Heath of Reuters: "Democrats are about twice as likely as Republicans to say the coronavirus poses an imminent threat to the United States, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted this week. And more Democrats than Republicans say they are taking steps to be prepared, including washing their hands more often or limiting their travel plans."

Aaron Rupar of Vox: "During his Fox News town hall on Thursday night..., Donald Trump said he planned to propose cuts to government benefit programs like Medicare and Social Security in his second term. The White House spent the hours that followed trying to walk those comments back.... Host Martha MacCallum pointed out that 'if you don't cut something in entitlements, you'll never really deal with the debt.'... Oh, we'll be cutting,' [Trump] said.... Press secretary Stephanie Grisham responded on Twitter to a story from the Daily Beast about how Democrats like Joe Biden were already messaging on Trump's entitlement comments.... 'Fake news -- POTUS was taking about cutting deficits, NOT entitlements,' Grisham tweeted. On Friday morning, Trump himself weighed in. 'I will protect your Social Security and Medicare, just as I have for the past 3 years. Sleepy Joe Biden will destroy both in very short order, and he won't even know he's doing it!' he tweeted. Around that same time, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway was on Fox News denying that Trump said what he said...."

** Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "A union representing federal asylum officers said on Friday that a Trump administration policy that diverts migrants at the southwestern border to Guatemala unlawfully sends a vulnerable population to a country 'in which their lives and freedom directly threatened.' In an amicus brief filed in Federal District Court in Washington, a union representing 700 asylum and refugee officers with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services said the deal with Guatemala violates international treaty obligations by deporting migrants to a country where they are likely to face persecution. Under the asylum deal, initially described as a 'safe third country agreement,' the administration can deport migrants at the southwestern border seeking safety in the United States to Guatemala to seek refuge there.... In the brief, the asylum officers said enforcing the policy violated their oath. The State Department's own country condition reports on Guatemala warn about rampant gang activity and high levels of violence."

Spencer Hsu & Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "House Democrats asked a federal appeals court in Washington on Friday to reconsider enforcing a congressional subpoena for President Trump's former White House counsel Donald McGahn. The request comes after a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit found that the courts have no authority to resolve the separation-of-powers dispute between the White House and Democrats in Congress. Lawyers for ... Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) want a full complement of judges on the appeals court to overturn the ruling from a three-judge panel of the same court. If last week's ruling stands, it means McGahn can defy the subpoena from the House Judiciary Committee."

Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal judge in Washington has ordered the National Security Agency to turn over to her a memo that details an unusual conversation in which ... Donald Trump pleaded with former NSA chief Adm. Mike Rogers to take action to rebut news reports about collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said in a ruling Friday that she needs to read the memorandum -- written by Rogers’ deputy, Rick Ledgett -- in order to decide whether it can be entirely blocked from release in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.... The Justice Department has argued that the entire memo is classified and exempt from disclosure under a form of executive privilege, because the document describes a confidential conversation between the president and a top adviser. The watchdog group pressing for the memo's release, the Protect Democracy project, contends that the privilege was waived after special counsel Robert Mueller included a summary of the conversation in his report that was published last year. Kollar-Kotelly said it is simply too hard for her to resolve those issues without seeing the memo herself."

Presidential Race

Misogynist-in-Chief Says Warren Is "Mean," Lacks Talent. Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Friday shot down questions about whether sexism grounded the presidential campaign of Elizabeth Warren.... 'I think lack of talent was her problem,' Trump told reporters at the White House when asked about the role sexism played in her demise. 'She had a tremendous lack of talent. She was a good debater. She destroyed Mike Bloomberg very quickly like it was nothing. That was easy for her but people don't like her.' But Trump then employed language likely to strike Warren's defenders as an example of the very gender-coded criticism her male opponents have not faced. 'She is a very mean person and people don't like her. People don't want that,' the president argued. Trump then claimed that 'people like a person like me, who is not mean.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) will vote to subpoena a former consultant linked to Burisma Holdings, as part of a GOP probe into Hunter Biden and the Ukraine gas company." (Also linked yesterday.) Update: A Washington Post story is here.

Veronica Stracqualursi & Annie Grayer of CNN: "A man was kicked out of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' rally in Arizona after he unfurled a Nazi flag during the Democratic presidential candidate's speech. The appearance of a Nazi flag at the Sanders campaign event Thursday night was widely denounced on social media, sparked outcry and prompted calls for security.... Sanders communications director Mike Casca told CNN that the Vermont senator did not see the flag.... Later in the night, the crowd wrestled away 'Trump' banners from protesters, who were also escorted out of the rally, according to footage from CNN affiliate KNXV.... Sanders addressed the flag incident on Friday, telling reporters, 'I will simply say this, and I speak not only as a Jewish American, I think I can speak for the families of some 400,000 American troops who died fighting Nazism, fighting fascism. That is, it is horrific. It is beyond disgusting to see that in the United States of America. There are people who would show the emblem of Hitler and Nazism.'"

"Warren's Exit Interview Was a Warning for the Dirtbag Left." Zack Beauchamp of Vox: In "Sen. Elizabeth Warren's campaign exit interview with Rachel Maddow, aired Thursday night..., Warren showed palpable anger with the online Sanders army's treatment of her and other progressives.... Maddow asked about Sanders's disavowal of his supporters' attacks on her, and Warren seemed not to find it very persuasive.... From Warren's point of view, it might seem like Sanders is speaking out of both sides of his mouth: vaguely disavowing online anger in public statements while his campaign reaches out and appeals directly to the people purveying it.... Online anger and abuse may not filter down to the ordinary voter directly, but it shapes the way Democratic Party elites see the Sanders campaign.... If Sanders's fans are really serious about helping their guy, they need to think carefully about whether what they're doing is actually working." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: There's no reason to think Sanders' dirtbag brigade gives a flying fuck about effective governance and issues. Their point is to show off their "power" with crude insults & bullying. Many fascist movements have been at least theoretically left-wing or populist. This is something Bernie has refused always to understand.

Sarah Smarsh in a New York Times op-ed: "Consider every moment, since the dawn of woman, when a female aspired but to no avail. She asked to attend school but was denied. She raised her hand but wasn't called on. She applied but wasn't hired. She enlisted but wasn't deployed. She created but wasn't credited. She ran but wasn't elected. Imagine the sadness and frustration of every such instance as a spark, their combined energy the size of many suns. That is the measure of grief and fury I felt rise inside me as I watched Elizabeth Warren's bid for the Democratic nomination wane."

Mrs. McCrabbie: As Joy Reid pointed out in a discussion on MSNBC Thursday night, it's not entirely surprising that Americans elected a black male president before they elected a female president: as Reid said, "Black men got the vote in the U.S. 50 years before women did." (Paraphrase. It was 55 years, but you get the point.)

Trump Campaign Brings Another Frivolous Lawsuit. Matt Shuham of TPM: "The Trump campaign's lawsuit spree against major media outlets continued Friday, with a third suit in 10 days alleging unfair coverage. After suing The New York Times last week and The Washington Post on Tuesday -- both over pieces from opinion writers -- the President's reelection organization sued CNN Friday in federal court in Georgia, alleging 'a systematic pattern of bias against the Campaign.'... CNN's libel against the Trump campaign, the suit alleged, came from a a nine-month-old op-ed from Larry Noble, the law professor and former Federal Election Commission general counsel who's a vocal critic of President Trump."

Bill & Hillary Decide This Is a Good Time to Remind Voters Democratic Men Treat Women Badly, Get Impeached, Too. Neil Vigdor has the New York Times' story. Dan Merica writes CNN's story. Thanks, Billary! Stay relevant! Whacha got planned for late October? (Also linked yesterday.)

News Lede

The New York Times' live updates of developments in the coronavirus epidemic are here. "Officials across the United States reported 308 cases of coronavirus and 17 deaths as of Friday, with Florida reporting the first deaths on the East Coast. The number of infections does not count the 21 people who have tested positive aboard a cruise ship off California, the Grand Princess. Florida officials reported on Friday night that there had been two deaths in the state related to the coronavirus. Both of the people who died had traveled internationally, they said. More tests are planned after 21 cases are found on the cruise ship. On the East Coast, a cluster has emerged in New York State. All but a few of its 33 confirmed cases as of Friday were linked to a New Rochelle man. More than 2,700 people are under some form of quarantine in New York City."