memeorandum: Official: White House didn't want to tell seniors not to fly (Mike Stobbe/Associated Press)

9:10 AM ET, March 8, 2020

Top Items:

Official: White House didn't want to tell seniors not to fly — NEW YORK (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.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Balloon Juice, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Dan Diamond / Politico:

Trump's mismanagement helped fuel coronavirus crisis — On Friday, as coronavirus infections rapidly multiplied aboard a cruise ship marooned off the coast of California, health department officials and Vice President Mike Pence came up with a plan to evacuate thousands of passengers …

Discussion: Raw Story, Outside the Beltway, Breitbart, Bloomberg and The Guardian

New York Times:

Inside Trump Administration, Debate Raged Over What to Tell Public — The administration's response to the coronavirus has repeatedly matched public health experts against a hesitant White House, where worry of panic dominates. — WASHINGTON — After weeks of conflicting signals …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Washington Post:

Coronavirus continues its rapid spread, confounding efforts by global leaders — Washington DC confirms its first case while U.S., global death toll rises — Efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak showed signs of faltering on Saturday as Florida reported the U.S.'s first deaths outside …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

Ross Douthat / New York Times:

The Coronavirus Is Coming for Trump's Presidency — Will a nationalist president be undone by his underreaction to a foreign threat? — On Jan. 31, over a month ago, the Trump administration made an excellent decision: In an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus …

Washington Post:
Squandered time: How the Trump administration lost control of the coronavirus crisis

Discussion: Raw Story

The Hill:
CDC has tested 1,583 people for coronavirus

Discussion: Shero and Politico

MSNBC:

Experts explain allegations of nepotism in the Trump White House — Do Donald Trump's children and in-laws benefit financially from his presidency? Experts explain the many allegations of Trump family favoritism in the Trump White House in conversation with Joy Reid.

Darlene Superville / Associated Press:
Trump ‘not concerned’ as coronavirus cases rise in DC area

Discussion: Politico

Greg Clary / CNN:
CPAC attendee tested positive for coronavirus

Discussion: HuffPost and Townhall

Alice Miranda Ollstein / Politico:
Trump ‘not concerned’ as first coronavirus case confirmed in Washington, D.C.

Discussion: Breitbart

Evan Semones / Politico:
CPAC attendee tests positive for coronavirus

Discussion: Associated Press

Lorenzo Tondo / The Guardian:

Italy set to quarantine whole of Lombardy due to coronavirus — Government's draft decree would impose fines on anyone caught entering or leaving northern region — The Italian government is to lockdown the northern region of Lombardy, as it battles to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Discussion: Bloomberg and Mother Jones

BBC:

Coronavirus: Northern Italy to ‘quarantine 16 million people’ — Italy is set to lock down at least 16 million people in the region of Lombardy and in 11 other provinces in the north and east of the country. — The mandatory quarantine will last until early April.

Jason Horowitz / New York Times:
Italy Locks Down Much of the Country's North Over the Coronavirus

Discussion: Quartz

Wall Street Journal:
Italy Plans Large-Scale Lockdown in Country's North to Fight Coronavirus

Discussion: New York Post and The Verge

Adam Rogers / Wired:

Trump's Coronavirus Press Event Was Even Worse Than It Looked — His remarks at the CDC on Friday were misguided, misleading, and show how misinformation could hamper Covid-19 containment efforts. — On a visit to the Atlanta headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Friday …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Twin Cities, USA Today, Bloomberg, Washington Post, The Hill and New York Times

Los Angeles Times: California man had coronavirus before he boarded Grand Princess, cruise ship official says

Politico:

Sanders, Biden camps clash over Arizona debate format — Bernie Sanders wants to stand up at the next debate — and his campaign is accusing Joe Biden of wanting to sit down. — During a private call Friday with CNN, which is moderating the March 15 debate with the Democratic National Committee …

Discussion: NBC News

Jonathan Allen / NBC News:
Why Bernie Sanders may be Joe Biden's best surrogate

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, MSNBC and Breitbart

Brie Stimson / Fox News: Klobuchar ‘ticket’ slip-up at Biden event in Michigan sparks speculation she'll be his VP pick

Martyn McLaughlin / Scotsman:

Revealed: Blow for Trump Organisation in obscure legal fight as member numbers fall at Turnberry — The Trump Organisation has suffered a major blow as part of a long-running European legal fight to protect its trademarked use of the US president's name for an array of goods and services …

Kim Bellware / Washington Post:

Matt Gaetz made light of coronavirus by wearing a gas mask. Now one of his constituents has died. — 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 …

Discussion: Congressman Matt Gaetz, emptywheel, Florida Politics, NBC News, POLITICUSUSA, floridahealth.gov, New York Post and HuffPost

Jack Montgomery / Breitbart:

PICTURES: Greek Border in Flames as Migrants Keep Trying to Break Through — Dramatic pictures and video are emerging of fires raging along the border between Greece and Turkey, as migrants — aided and even armed by the Turks, according to the Greeks — continue their efforts to force their way in.

Discussion: Jihad Watch

Associated Press: Tear gas sprayed across migrants at Turkey-Greece border

Mike Baker / New York Times:

Nursing Home Hit by Coronavirus Says 70 Workers Are Sick — As a federal team arrived to help, a spokesman for the Kirkland, Wash., center said 70 staff members were out with symptoms that resembled coronavirus. — SEATTLE — A week after a deadly coronavirus outbreak was reported inside …

Michael Levenson / New York Times:

Florida Woman Changed Voters' Party Affiliations, Officials Say — Cheryl A. Hall falsified 10 registration forms, at least six of which enrolled Democratic and independent voters as Republicans, said the authorities, who are eyeing an additional 109 forms.

Discussion: The Hill

Josh Dawsey / Washington Post:

When an emergency room suspected I had coronavirus, things got serious fast — The snaking check-in line at the emergency room last Friday and the scores of sickly patients seeking comfort in the spartan lobby presaged a long, dreadful morning. — Then something worse happened …

The Boston Globe:

Prayers in Vegas, slumped shoulders in N.H. — inside the final days of Warren's campaign — LAS VEGAS — It was debate day, and on the 33rd floor of the grand Bellagio hotel, high above a city of spectacle and risk, Senator Elizabeth Warren was ready to pray.It was a ritual she and her husband …

Gillian Brockell / Washington Post:

Trump 'didn't know people died from the flu.' It killed his grandfather. — In Atlanta Friday, President Trump talked about the number of people infected with the novel coronavirus in other countries vs. the United States. He also compared coronavirus with influenza.

Discussion: The Independent and The National Interest

Jon Levine / New York Post:

YouTube socialist Carlos Maza slams the wealthy but lived in luxury … Carlos Maza doesn't like rich people. — The social media socialist with more than 150,000 followers on Twitter and YouTube combined regularly uses his platforms to rail against the wealthy and powerful and urges fans to be skeptical of their opinions.

Discussion: Twitchy

Natasha Bertrand / Politico:

Trump's intel power play spooks the spooks — President Donald Trump's nomination of Texas Rep. John Ratcliffe to serve as the nation's intel chief has led to some apprehension within the intelligence community, which has only grudgingly come to accept the Office of the Director of National Intelligence as a force for good.

Brianne Pfannenstiel / Des Moines Register:

Iowa Poll: Joni Ernst's approval rating slips as she mounts reelection campaign — U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst's approval rating has fallen among all Iowans as she begins mounting her re-election campaign, but a plurality of Iowa voters say they would definitely vote to re-elect her.

New York Times:

Erik Prince Recruits Ex-Spies to Help Infiltrate Liberal Groups — Mr. Prince, a contractor close to the Trump administration, contacted veteran spies for operations by Project Veritas, the conservative group known for conducting stings on news organizations and other groups.