memeorandum: Aides, lawmakers work behind the scenes to try to sway Trump on Jeff Sessions before Alabama Senate primary (Christal Hayes/USA Today)

10:40 AM ET, February 28, 2020

Top Items:

U.S. workers without protective gear assisted coronavirus evacuees, HHS whistleblower says — Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services sent more than a dozen workers to receive the first Americans evacuated from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak …

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

When a Pandemic Meets a Personality Cult — The Trump team confirms all of our worst fears. — So, here's the response of the Trump team and its allies to the coronavirus, at least so far: It's actually good for America. Also, it's a hoax perpetrated by the news media and the Democrats.

Discussion: NewNowNext, The Intellectualist, Snopes.com, CNN and Washington Post

Catherine Rampell / Washington Post:

With coronavirus, Trump's lies and his reassurances backfire — It mattered when the White House press secretary, in his first day on the job, lied about President Trump's inaugural crowd size. — It mattered when Trump said that wind turbines cause cancer.

Discussion: Reuters

Dan Vergano / BuzzFeed News:

New York Is Making Its Own Coronavirus Test After The CDC's Tests Have Repeatedly Failed — Washington, D.C. — Federal health officials met with state and city public health labs on Wednesday to fix a crippling lack of options to diagnose the novel coronavirus, a shortfall driven by botched CDC testing kits.

Discussion: Chicago Boyz, Davis Enterprise, Politico and The American Conservative

Stephen Collinson / CNN:
Trump seeks a ‘miracle’ as virus fears mount

Discussion: The American Independent, National Review and Balloon Juice

Washington Post: Trump says he can bring in coronavirus experts quickly. The experts say it is not that simple.

New York Times:
U.S. Health Workers Responding to Coronavirus Lacked Training and Protective Gear, Whistle-Blower Says

Discussion: Washington Post, UPI, POLITICUSUSA, The Week, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos

Alexander Heffner / USA Today:
Trump's terrible coronavirus response hands 2020 Democrats a chance to show they can lead

Discussion: Colorado Times Recorder, New Republic and Media Matters for America

ProPublica: Key Missteps at the CDC Have Set Back Its Ability to Detect the Potential Spread of Coronavirus

New York Times:
Pence Will Control All Coronavirus Messaging From Health Officials

Washington Post: Coronavirus pushes Trump to rely on experts he has long maligned

Washington Post:
Pence seizes control of coronavirus response amid criticism of his qualifications

Discussion: The Last Refuge, Newsweek, The Week, Raw Story, IJR and Mediaite

Geoff Earle / Daily Mail:
White House GAGS government health experts from speaking about coronavirus saying they must …

Discussion: Washington Post, POLITICUSUSA and CNN

Anthony Brooks / WBUR:

WBUR Poll: Sanders Opens Substantial Lead In Mass., Challenging Warren On Her Home Turf — With Super Tuesday just days away, a new WBUR poll finds Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders well ahead of Sen. Elizabeth Warren in her home state of Massachusetts. — The poll shows Sanders is the choice …

Discussion: The Hill and National Review

Joe Cunningham / Redstate:
Even In Massachusetts, It's Clear Elizabeth Warren Is Done

Discussion: WBUR

Shane Goldmacher / New York Times:
Elizabeth Warren Gets Giant Lift From Persist PAC

Discussion: National Review and Politico

Stephanie Murray / Politico:
Warren at risk of losing her home state

Discussion: CANNONFIRE and Mother Jones

Dana Blanton / Fox News:
Fox News Poll: Sanders knocks Biden out of first, majority thinks Trump wins

Discussion: courthousenews.com, The Hill, No More Mister Nice Blog, POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story

Michael Gerson / Washington Post:
No, Bernie Sanders isn't authentic. Just like Trump.

Discussion: Slate, CNN and The Daily Caller

John Wagner / Washington Post:
Election 2020 live updates: Democrats make final arguments in South Carolina

Discussion: The Hill and The National Interest

David Brooks / New York Times:

No, Not Sanders, Not Ever — He is not a liberal, he's the end of liberalism. — A few months ago, I wrote a column saying I would vote for Elizabeth Warren over Donald Trump. I may not agree with some of her policies, but culture is more important than politics. She does not spread moral rot the way Trump does.

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

House seeks interviews with prosecutors who quit Stone case after Trump's intervention — House Democrats are seeking interviews with the four career prosecutors who quit the case of Roger Stone, a longtime confidant of President Donald Trump, after Trump and Justice Department leaders intervened to demand a lighter jail sentence.

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Robert Reich / American Prospect: Five Ways William Barr Is Turning America Into a Dictatorship

Spencer Hsu / Washington Post: Former U.S. prosecutors in Washington call on new head Tim Shea to assert independence from Barr, Trump

The Daily Beast:

Trump Spends 45 Minutes With ‘Deep State’ Play Actors Amid Coronavirus Mayhem — Meanwhile, the man he tapped to run point on the virus, VP Pence, took to a conservative activists conference and had meetings with pro-Trump media luminaries. — NATIONAL HARBOR, MD — One day after briefing …

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, The Week, Progress Pond, The Intellectualist, Raw Story, Political Flare and Occupy Democrats

Ben Jacobs / GEN:

Michael Bloomberg's North Carolina Game Is Seriously Unlike Anything Else — The Super Tuesday state is the former New York mayor's best shot at primary delegates — and he knows it — eeing the Bloomberg presidential campaign up close, there is no easy way to describe it.

Daily Sabah:

Turkey will no longer stop Syrian migrant flow to Europe, official says — Turkey has decided to no longer stop Syrian refugees from reaching Europe by land and sea, a senior Turkish official told Reuters on Thursday, in anticipation of the imminent arrival of refugees from Syria's Idlib where nearly a million have been displaced.

Discussion: Foreign Exchanges

Carlotta Gall / New York Times:
Airstrike Hits Turkish Forces in Syria, Raising Fears of Escalation

Discussion: National Review, Foreign Policy, Slate, Washington Post, UPI, Reuters, Al Jazeera and TheBlaze

Pat Rynard / Iowa Starting Line:

Final Iowa Caucus Results: Pete Buttigieg Wins — The final Iowa Caucus results are finally final: Pete Buttigieg has won (still). — This evening, the Iowa Democratic Party released the results of the recount requested by Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg's campaigns for 23 precincts.

Discussion: Iowa Democrats, Outside the Beltway and The Hill

Associated Press: AP decides not to declare Iowa caucus winner after recount

Hannah Dreier / ProPublica:

When the Billionaire Family Behind the Opioid Crisis Needed PR Help, They Turned to Mike Bloomberg — Bloomberg gave media advice to the Sacklers and recommended his longtime mayoral spokesman to them. The relationship could shadow his presidential bid. — Long celebrated …

Discussion: National Review

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Roger Stone lashes out in Florida testimony — Take a look inside a Roger Stone Deposition — Roger Stone looked like a man on edge, under extreme stress and struggling to contain pent-up fury. — The GOP provocateur was just days away from finding out his fate from a criminal case …

Steve Contorno / Tampa Bay Times:

What's on Mike Pence's schedule as coronavirus point man? A fundraiser in Florida. — The $25,000-per-plate GOP event featuring the vice president is in Longboat Key. — The country's new point man on coronavirus response, Vice President Mike Pence, is expected to travel to Florida on Friday — but not on a public health mission.

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Intellectualist, ABC News, The Hill, Washington Post, Sarasota Herald-Tribune and Fox News

Nihar Kabinittal / ABC News:

FDA reports 1st drug shortage due to novel coronavirus outbreak — The FDA said the issue continues to be “an evolving and very dynamic” one. — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it's been alerted to the first manufacturing shortage of an unnamed drug, due to a viral coronavirus outbreak …

David Lauter / Los Angeles Times:

Bernie Sanders holds 2-1 lead in California, poll shows — Sen. Bernie Sanders has taken a commanding lead in California's Democratic presidential race, ahead of his nearest rival by 2 to 1 and on track to win a majority of the huge trove of delegates at stake in the state's March 3 primary …

Discussion: The Hill

Rana Ayyub / TIME:

Narendra Modi Looks the Other Way as New Delhi Burns — Ayyub is an Indian journalist and the author of Gujarat Files: Anatomy of a Cover Up — Two days before the anti-Muslim riots began in Delhi this week, a member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet said Muslims should have been sent …

Ryan Lizza / Politico:

Coming to a podcast near you: Hillary Clinton — Hillary Clinton is starting a podcast. — The former first lady, secretary of State, and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee is planning to launch a new audio program in late spring, just in time for her to have a powerful new megaphone during the 2020 election.