memeorandum: Embattled Chris Matthews Left Out of MSNBC's S.C. Primary Coverage (Maxwell Tani/The Daily Beast)

10:25 PM ET, February 29, 2020

Top Items:

Joe Biden Is Now the Only Democrat Who Can Stop Bernie Sanders — After Joe Biden finished as astonishing 4th place in Iowa and then 5th place in New Hampshire, I wrote a post-mortem for his campaign. It now looks like one of the most wrong things I have ever written.

Discussion: New York Times

Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:

Embattled Chris Matthews Left Out of MSNBC's S.C. Primary Coverage — The MSNBC host was nowhere to be found on air a day after he was accused of sexual harassment. — A day after he was accused of sexual harassment by a journalist, MSNBC decided to keep host Chris Matthews off …

Discussion: The Federalist, Redstate, The Hill and Twitchy, more at Mediagazer »

CBS News:

South Carolina primary election live updates — Voting is underway in South Carolina's pivotal primary, the last primary before Super Tuesday. Joe Biden is hoping for his first 2020 win and Bernie Sanders has momentum from his victories in New Hampshire and Nevada, and his popular vote lead in Iowa.

Discussion: Townhall, Breitbart, Associated Press, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, NBC News, The Guardian, CNN and The Hill

NBC News:

Billionaire Tom Steyer quits Democratic primary race — The announcement came after an underwhelming finish in the South Carolina Democratic primary. — Tom Steyer, the California activist billionaire who has largely been a nonfactor in the Democratic primary campaign, dropped out of the race on Saturday night.

Discussion: Politico, The Daily Caller, The Last Refuge and Raw Story

Washington Post:

Early exit polls from the 2020 South Carolina Democratic primary … Who's winning each group — Groups that candidates are winning by six or more percentage points — Preliminary exit poll results will be updated as vote tallies are reported. — Former vice president Joe Biden …

Discussion: Vox, New York Times, Mother Jones, Slate and Spectator USA

Kaelan Deese / The Hill:

Professor with history of correctly predicting elections says it's 'the incumbent's election to lose' — A professor in political science with a history of accurately predicting the outcome of U.S. presidential elections said either Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) would win the primary election …

Discussion: NBC News, Washington Post, The Independent, Breitbart, TheBlaze and ABC News

Tina Nguyen / Politico:

Trump rallies conservatives — and drops charges of a coronavirus ‘hoax’ — Just hours after he somberly confirmed the first coronavirus-related death in the United States, President Donald Trump boasted to a packed room of conservatives that he was responsible for keeping them safe.

Discussion: USA Today, Breitbart, Unprecedented and The Hill

Brian Schwartz / CNBC: Joe Biden bundlers see surge of pledges from new big money donors after he wins South Carolina

Henry J. Gomez / BuzzFeed News:
Joe Biden's South Carolina Victory Has Him Back In The Running — But For How Long?

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Politico and CNN

New York Times:
South Carolina Primary Forecast

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Political Wire

Alex Seitz-Wald / NBC News:
South Carolina polls set to close as Biden hopes to rebound in 2020 primary

Discussion: WAVY-TV, UPI, The Week, Breitbart, CNN, MSNBC and ABC News

Washington Post: Eighteen days that resuscitated Joe Biden's nearly five-decade career

Marc Caputo / Politico:
Biden romps to victory in South Carolina

Discussion: Big League Politics, BuzzFeed News and The Hill

Andrew Prokop / Vox:
Tom Steyer drops out of the presidential race

Discussion: BuzzFeed News and New York Times

Matt Stevens / New York Times:
2020 South Carolina Primary: Live Coverage

Discussion: Vox, PJ Media Home and CNN

Joe DePaolo / Mediaite:
‘Two Person Race’: Ex-Obama Adviser Says 2020 Fight is Now Down to Bernie and Biden

Discussion: Vanity Fair

Li Zhou / Vox:
Live results for the South Carolina Democratic primary

Discussion: Washington Post and Breitbart

Sam Dorman / Fox News:
Trump jokes Biden won't be governing as president: 'He'll be in a home'

Discussion: NBC News

Maggie Severns / Politico:
Biden gets a late burst of cash at a key moment

Discussion: Vox, NBC News, Breitbart, The Hill, One America News Network, Axios and Washington Post

Washington Post:

Live updates: New coronavirus cases indicate virus is spreading in U.S.; FDA expands testing — More coronavirus infections were reported from South Korea to France to Qatar on Saturday after health officials in Washington state, Oregon and California on Friday reported a worrying development …

Discussion: NBC News, Mother Jones, The Daily Beast, Associated Press, Occupy Democrats, Slate, Redstate, Mashable, UPI, Vox, The Post Millennial, Twitchy, POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story

Associated Press:

Man in Washington state first in US to die from new virus — A man has died in Washington state of COVID-19, state health officials said Saturday, marking the first such reported death in the United States. — State officials issued a terse news release announcing the death, gave no details and scheduled a news conference.

Discussion: Mediaite and Associated Press

Ted Hesson / Reuters:

Exclusive: U.S. weighs restrictions at border with Mexico over coronavirus threat — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration is considering imposing entry restrictions at the U.S.-Mexico border to control the spread of the coronavirus in the United States, according to two U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials.

Discussion: Political Flare and Raw Story

KIRO:

Department of Health confirms first coronavirus death in Washington state — The Washington Department of Health confirmed Saturday the first coronavirus-related death in Washington state, according to a press release. — Health officials said there are new King County cases in addition to the two new cases confirmed Friday evening.

Discussion: The Seattle Times, Breitbart, Daily Kos, TheBlaze, Fox News and New York Post

Nicole Acevedo / NBC News:
First coronavirus death in the U.S. happens in Washington state

Discussion: Big League Politics, Vox, Townhall, Mashable, SFist, The Week and Deadline

New York Times:
Coronavirus Updates: First Death in U.S. Confirmed In Seattle Area

Discussion: Vox, CNBC, The Daily Beast and Mother Jones

Tara Lee / governor.wa.gov:
Inslee issues COVID-19 emergency proclamation

Discussion: Breitbart and Talking Points Memo

Tony Romm / Washington Post: Millions of tweets peddled conspiracy theories about coronavirus in other countries, an unpublished U.S. report says

Washington Post:
Trump misidentifies first coronavirus fatality in U.S. as a woman

Discussion: Occupy Democrats

Los Angeles Times: California sees third case of ‘community spread’ coronavirus as first U.S. death is reported near Seattle

Washington Post:

Inside Trump's frantic attempts to minimize the coronavirus crisis — Minutes before President Trump was preparing Wednesday to reassure a skittish nation about the coronavirus threat, he received a piece of crucial information: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had identified …

Nellie Bowles / New York Times:

The Pied Pipers of the Dirtbag Left Want to Lead Everyone to Bernie Sanders — Many listeners would never repeat what these podcast hosts say. So why do they desperately want to hear from them? — IOWA CITY — The people in the crowd were angry, and “Chapo Trap House” wanted them to stay that way.

TMZ.com:

Bernie Sanders Boards the Wrong Private Jet, Campaign Brain Fart — BERNIE SANDERS BOARDS THE WRONG PRIVATE JET ... Case Of Campaign Brain — Bernie Sanders is on the go all the time — which seems to have given him a momentary case of a campaign brain fart as he accidentally boarded the wrong jet.

Discussion: Redstate and PJ Media Home

Betsy Swan / The Daily Beast:

Jackie Speier's Question to DOJ on Epstein Raises Eyebrows in House Intel Committee — In a closed-door briefing to members of Congress on government surveillance, a senior Justice Department official was asked a surprising question. — In a closed-door briefing to members of Congress …

Discussion: New York Post and Raw Story

Martin Pengelly / The Guardian:

Republican mega-donor buys stake in Twitter and seeks to oust Jack Dorsey - report — Billionaire Paul Singer's Elliott Management has taken a ‘sizable state’ and intends to ‘push for changes’, reports Bloomberg News — A major Republican donor has purchased a stake in Twitter …

Discussion: Political Flare, The Daily Caller, Deadline, Raw Story and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »

BBC:

Coronavirus: Nasa images show China pollution clear amid slowdown — Satellite images have shown a dramatic decline in pollution levels over China, which is “at least partly” due to an economic slowdown prompted by the coronavirus, US space agency Nasa says. — Nasa maps show falling levels of nitrogen dioxide this year.

The Boston Globe:

New Suffolk/Globe poll finds Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren locked in statistical tie in Massachusetts — Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders of Vermont are locked in a statistical tie ahead of the Massachusetts primary on Tuesday, according to a poll released Saturday by Suffolk University …