memeorandum: New threshold for next debate likely rules out Tulsi Gabbard (Michelle L. Price/Associated Press)

6:05 PM ET, March 6, 2020

Top Items:

Robinson Meyer / The Atlantic:

Exclusive: The Strongest Evidence Yet That America Is Botching Coronavirus Testing — It's one of the most urgent questions in the United States right now: How many people have actually been tested for the coronavirus? — This number would give a sense of how widespread the disease is …

Discussion: VICE, Washington Post, ProPublica, Raw Story, Press Watch and TIME

Emily Baumgaertner / Los Angeles Times:

Chaos at hospitals due to shortage of coronavirus tests — As COVID-19 cases spike, the test kits needed to help stem the spread of the disease remain in short supply, with healthcare workers across the state reporting widespread failings in the federal government's response to the growing crisis.

Discussion: The Verge

Bloomberg:

Trump and CDC Director Insist Coronavirus Tests Are Working — The number of U.S. cases exceeds 200, death count at 14 — CDC hasn't said how many Americans have been tested for virus — President Donald Trump and the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defended …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, FactCheck.org, SELF, Reuters and KTLA

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
What Went Wrong? — Thomas Frieden, CDC Director from 2009 to 2017 …

Discussion: Balloon Juice and YouTube

Hanna Trudo / The Daily Beast:

Dems Pounce After Trump Says He Intends to Cut Entitlements — Any cuts would represent a change of direction, as Trump has generally maintained that he won't trim programs like Social Security and Medicare. — President Donald Trump said he intends to cut entitlement programs during …

Discussion: Fox News, Politico, Vox, The Hill, Breitbart, Raw Story, One America News Network, The Intellectualist, ABC News and The American Independent

Zach Montellaro / Politico:
DNC sets up Biden vs. Bernie clash in next debate

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Townhall, NBC News, Reason and Dem Primary Tracker 2020

Michelle L. Price / Associated Press:
New threshold for next debate likely rules out Tulsi Gabbard

Discussion: Vox and KRON4

Wall Street Journal: Behind Biden's Rise, a Boost From Centrists—and Trump

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
After Super Tuesday, Joe Biden Is A Clear Favorite To Win The Nomination

Discussion: The Week

Tyler Olson / Fox News:
March 10 primaries: Here are the states voting, and the delegates at stake

Discussion: Associated Press, ABC News, The Week and Washington Free Beacon

Mark Murray / NBC News:
President Trump plays on Sanders' supporters dislike of Joe Biden

Discussion: New York Times and The Hill

Nate Cohn / New York Times:
Bernie Sanders Might Have a Michigan Problem

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight and Outside the Beltway

Zack Beauchamp / Vox:

Elizabeth Warren's exit interview is a warning for the dirtbag left — Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders onstage at the Democratic primary debate in South Carolina on February 25, 2020. Win McNamee/Getty Images — Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders supporters, and how online meanness backfires.

Discussion: New York Times, Politico, Outside the Beltway, POLITICUSUSA, Fox News, The Hill, The Week and Breitbart

Fred Barbash / Washington Post:

Warren calls out Sanders for ‘organized nastiness’ and ‘bullying’ by his supporters — Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called out Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for not taking steps to control the “organized nastiness” of some of his supporters during the presidential campaign.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Moderate Voice, The Sun, Outside the Beltway and Bangor Daily News

Ryan Grim / The Intercept:
Elizabeth Warren Should Endorse Bernie Sanders — Not for Him, but for Herself and Her Mission

Discussion: CNBC and The Independent

Chantal Da Silva / Newsweek: Warren Urged by National Organization for Women Not to Endorse Sanders: He Has ‘Done Next to Nothing for Women’

Eli Yokley / Morning Consult:
Biden Boasts 16-Point Lead Over Sanders in Democratic Presidential Race

Discussion: The Banter, The Daily Caller and New York Post

CNN:

Six former wrestlers say Rep. Jim Jordan knew about abusive OSU doctor — Watch Drew Griffin's report on what Jim Jordan knew about the OSU abuse allegations at 5 p.m. ET, on CNN's “The Situation Room” with Wolf Blitzer. — (CNN)Tito Vazquez says he still remembers the day three decades ago when …

Discussion: Law & Crime

Ken Klippenstein / The Nation:

‘This Was a Grift’: Bloomberg Staffers Explain Campaign's Demise — When Elizabeth Warren embarrassed Bloomberg on the debate stage, his lackluster campaign was effectively over. — Michael Bloomberg ended his presidential campaign on Wednesday after being walloped on Super Tuesday.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, National Review and Raw Story

Alex Thompson / Politico:
‘Bailey’ vs. ‘blood and teeth’: The inside story of Elizabeth Warren's collapse

Discussion: Reason and CNN

Allyson Chiu / Washington Post:

‘This is absolutely abhorrent’: Nazi flag at Sanders rally sparks outcry, concerns about safety — Moments after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) took the stage at his campaign rally in Phoenix Thursday night, the crowd was on its feet cheering madly for the Democratic presidential candidate.

Discussion: NBC News, Daily Kos, The Independent, Breitbart, CNN, VICE, POLITICUSUSA, Common Dreams, New York Post, The Hill, The Week, HuffPost, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Raw Story

Helen Chernikoff / The Forward: I saw a Nazi flag at a Sanders rally and I had to act — for my Jewish dad

BuzzFeed News:
A Man Unfurled A Nazi Flag And Shouted Jewish Slurs At A Bernie Sanders Rally

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Right Wing Watch and The Daily Dot

Nihar Kabinittal / Associated Press:
Nazi flag display at Sanders rally sparks broad condemnation

Discussion: Common Dreams and The Hill

Anita Kumar / Politico:

Trump cancels, then re-reschedules trip to CDC after coronavirus scare — President Donald Trump abruptly canceled and then re-scheduled a Friday visit to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta as the coronavirus outbreak escalates. — Trump told reporters early Friday morning …

Discussion: American Oversight, Associated Press, The Hill, IJR and Breitbart

CNN:
Trump muddles coronavirus message as response team struggles to match ‘wishful thinking’

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, No More Mister Nice Blog and FOX31 Denver

Politico:
A presidency of two for coronavirus: Trump hands his sidekick the job of a savior

Discussion: Associated Press, The Hill, Florida Politics, No More Mister Nice Blog and Breitbart

Mark Hemingway / Real Clear Politics:
Media Can't Keep Politics Out of Coronavirus Coverage

Discussion: The Guardian

Fox News:

Trump campaign sues CNN over ‘false and defamatory’ statements, seeks millions in damages — EXCLUSIVE: President Trump's re-election campaign filed a libel lawsuit against CNN on Friday for publishing “false and defamatory” statements about seeking Russia's help in the 2020 election.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Townhall, The Guardian, Variety, New York Post, The Gateway Pundit, Deadline, The Sun, The Daily Caller, Law & Crime and The Wrap, more at Mediagazer »

Steven Nelson / New York Post:

How the White House protects Trump and his staff from coronavirus … WASHINGTON — The White House is holding meetings on how to reduce the threat of coronavirus infecting President Trump and his staff after quietly tightening visitor rules last month, The Post has learned.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller and The Intellectualist

John Harwood / CNN:
Trump waves off economists' prescriptions for preventing US coronavirus slowdown

Discussion: Reason, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Judiciary Committee says McGahn ruling leaves only extreme options — such as arrests — to get White House info

Discussion: The Hill

Wall Street Journal:

WSJ News Exclusive | Top Saudi Royal Family Members Detained — Saudi Arabian authorities took into custody two of the kingdom's most prominent figures, clearing away key rivals to the throne for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and further consolidating his power.

U.S. Department of Justice:

Former Acting Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Indicted on Theft of Government Property and Scheme to Defraud the United States Government — A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned a 16-count indictment against a former Acting Inspector General …

Discussion: The Federalist and The Gateway Pundit

Matt Naham / Law & Crime: Former Obama Admin Acting DHS Inspector General Indicted on Theft, Fraud Charges

Brad Heath / Reuters:

Americans divided on party lines over risk from coronavirus: Reuters/Ipsos poll — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans who now find themselves politically divided over seemingly everything are now forming two very different views of another major issue: the dangers of the new coronavirus.

NBC News:

Officials: U.S. has ‘persuasive’ intel Taliban do not intend to abide by terms of peace deal — “They have no intention of abiding by their agreement,” one official said. Trump said Friday, “Countries have to take care of themselves.” — WASHINGTON — The U.S. government …

Andrew Desiderio / Politico:

Romney to vote for subpoena seeking records on Hunter Biden's Ukraine work — Sen. Mitt Romney will vote in favor of a subpoena seeking records about the work Joe Biden's son Hunter did for the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, a spokeswoman for the Utah Republican said on Friday.

Discussion: Associated Press, New York Post, Raw Story, Vanity Fair, Twitchy, POLITICUSUSA, Washington Examiner, Breitbart, Fox News and RealClearPolitics

Marcus Kolga / Toronto Sun:

Is Toronto under the sway of Kremlin propaganda? — Last Spring, an application was made to the City of Toronto to have a street named in honour of a respected Russian pro-democracy opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated five years ago just steps away from the Kremlin.

Greg Olear / PREVAIL:
Bern & Rave at Close of Day / Rage, Rage Against the Dying of the Campaign

Discussion: New York Times, Mother Jones and Lawyers, Guns & Money

New York Times:

First U.S. Colleges Close Classrooms as Virus Spreads. More Could Follow. — The University of Washington said it would move to online classes for its 50,000 students. With colleges nationwide about to empty for spring break, students fear they might not be coming back.

Discussion: The Verge, VICE and Daily Kos

New York Times:

The Bernie Sanders Personality Test — Bernie Sanders was several takes into a video delivering a message he desperately needed to convey last fall — that he was healthy enough to soldier on after his heart attack — when his team realized something was not clicking.

Associated Press:

Florida woman charged with changing party affiliations of voters — Some of the forms changed the registrations of Democrats or no party affiliation to Republican, officials said. — CLERMONT — A central Florida woman is accused of submitting false voter registration information that switched …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story