memeorandum: Georgia governor opens beaches a day after issuing statewide stay-at-home order (Mitchell Willetts/Yahoo News)

9:45 AM ET, April 5, 2020

Top Items:

Stranded in the Maldives by Coronavirus Travel Restrictions — Surrounded by a fleet of staff, who are also stranded, one couple is trapped in an eternal honeymoon in the Maldives. — Olivia and Raul De Freitas are currently on their honeymoon, at a five-star resort, in the Maldives …

New York Times:

Coronavirus Live Updates: Trump Warns of ‘a Lot of Death’ While Also Revisiting Easter Sunday Services — President Trump warns of what could be “the toughest week,” while also saying he would like to consider relaxing social distancing rules for Easter services.

New York Times: 24 Hours in a Pandemic Nation

Natasha Bertrand / Politico:

‘A searing time for whistleblowers’: Ousted intel watchdog wrote letter to Schumer — Two weeks before he was fired, Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson told the Senate's top Democrat that the past six months had been “a searing time for whistleblowers,” …

Discussion: NBC News and The Gateway Pundit

Edwin Mora / Breitbart: Former CIA Station Chief: DNI Richard Grenell Bringing ‘Much Needed Efficiency’ to ‘Bloated’ Intel Community

Speaker Nancy Pelosi:
Pelosi Statement on Firing of Intelligence Community Inspector General

Discussion: Rolling Stone, IJR and CNN

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Trump considers billionaire ally Steve Feinberg for senior intel role

Discussion: Raw Story and The Guardian

Tal Axelrod / The Hill:
Burr says intelligence watchdog should be ‘independent’ after inspector general firing

Discussion: Mediaite, Politico and Vox

Axios:
Trump's new purge — Sources close to President Trump expect …

Discussion: Fox News, Politico, Public Pool and Wall Street Journal

Sean Sullivan / Washington Post:

Some top Sanders advisers urge him to consider withdrawing — A small group of Bernie Sanders's top aides and allies — including his campaign manager and his longtime strategist — have encouraged the independent senator from Vermont to consider withdrawing from the presidential race …

Discussion: Politico, The Guardian, Raw Story and The Hill

J. Edward Moreno / The Hill: Larry David: Bernie Sanders should drop out of 2020 race

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
Larry David, Master of His Quarantine

Discussion: Breitbart and InsideHook

David Ignatius / Washington Post:

Inside the ouster of Capt. Brett Crozier — Civilian control of the military is part of the American bedrock. Acting Navy secretary Thomas Modly used that prerogative unwisely Thursday when he short-circuited a preliminary military investigation and fired an aircraft carrier captain …

Discussion: Task & Purpose, Axios, Lawyers, Guns & Money and New York Times

Juan Perez Jr / Politico:
'He shouldn't be talking that way': Trump rips ousted Navy captain

Discussion: Washington Post, Balloon Juice, CNN, Breitbart, HuffPost, The National Interest, Raw Story and Task & Purpose

Kansas City Star:

COVID-19 reshuffles 2020 Missouri governor race between Parson and Galloway — A little more than a month ago, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson was running TV ads making the case that a booming economy, record-low unemployment and his accomplishments as governor should earn him four more years in office.

Madeline Holcombe / CNN:

The US enters crucial weeks of coronavirus fight after a grim milestone of most deaths reported in one day — (CNN)The US reached a grim milestone with the highest number of coronavirus-related deaths reported in one day, and officials are warning the next two weeks will be crucial in the fight to stop the spread.

Discussion: FOX31 Denver and KTLA

Michael Biesecker / Associated Press:

U.S. ‘wasted’ months before preparing for virus pandemic — WASHINGTON (AP) — As the first alarms sounded in early January that an outbreak of a novel coronavirus in China might ignite a global pandemic, the Trump administration squandered nearly two months that could have been used to bolster …

Discussion: Politico, POLITICUSUSA and The Hill

Yahoo News:

A small trial finds that hydroxychloroquine is not effective for treating coronavirus — Food and Drug Administration approved the use of two antimalarial drugs, hydroxychloroquine and a related medication, chloroquine, for emergency use to treat COVID-19. The drugs were touted by

Discussion: The National Interest

Michelle Stoddart / ABC News:

Trump discusses opening the country as coronavirus peak approaches — The president would consider a task force focused on the country's economy. — President Donald Trump pushed to reopen the country Saturday, despite warning Americans “it's not going to be a good-looking situation” …

Discussion: One America News Network

Matthew Mosk / ABC News: George W. Bush in 2005: ‘If we wait for a pandemic to appear, it will be too late to prepare’

Helen Branswell / STAT:

CDC launches studies to get more precise count of undetected Covid-19 cases — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has begun preliminary studies to try to determine how many Americans have already been infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, an agency official revealed Saturday.

Discussion: Politico

Adam Kilgore / Washington Post:

How long until sports can return? You might not like the answer. — As fields, arenas and stadiums sit vacant and silent, the desire for sports to return far exceeds the capacity among those who oversee them to determine when they will. Assessing probability is futile …

Discussion: Axios, Associated Press and Florida Politics

Adam Schefter / ESPN:
Sources: President Donald Trump says NFL season should start on time

Discussion: New York Post, CNN, PJ Media Home, ABC7, The Comeback, Breitbart, The Wrap, Fox News and Talking Points Memo

Jason Easley / POLITICUSUSA:

Trump Is Crashing And Burning With His Own Supporters In New Coronavirus Poll — The number of Trump voters who say that he was unprepared for the coronavirus has jumped 17 points to 40% of his supporters in the past week. — A new daily tracking poll from Navigator Research found:

Paul Kane / Washington Post:

Early on, Cheney and Cotton warned about the coronavirus. They still face pushback in the GOP. — Frustrated by the-cure-is-worse-than-the-pandemic rhetoric, some prominent Republicans have begun to forcefully defend the medical science behind the virtual shutdown of the U.S. economy.

Sophie Lewis / CBS News:
U.S. Postal Service could shut down by June without more funding, Democratic lawmakers warn

Discussion: Business Insider

Mitchell Willetts / Yahoo News:

Georgia governor opens beaches a day after issuing statewide stay-at-home order — Many Georgia beach communities decided to close down their waterfronts due to concerns over coronavirus, but under a statewide stay-at-home order issued Thursday, all beaches are opening back up — whether the communities want to or not.

Discussion: Fox News and Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Politico:

Wisconsin's primary to go forward Tuesday even as coronavirus all but shutters the U.S. — The deadly coronavirus pandemic may have closed schools, shuttered businesses, ended sports seasons and postponed the Democratic National Convention, but it hasn't canceled Wisconsin's primary on Tuesday.

Discussion: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Althouse, Axios and New York Post

Washington Post:
Trump, GOP challenge efforts to make voting easier amid coronavirus pandemic

Discussion: One America News Network and Los Angeles Times

Daniel O'Day / Gilead Sciences, Inc.:

An Update on COVID-19 from our Chairman & CEO — Over the course of the past week, Gilead has been working in consultation with regulatory authorities to establish additional expanded access programs for remdesivir, our investigational medicine for COVID-19.

Discussion: The Hill and Bloomberg

Jada Yuan / Washington Post:

Inside the Javits Center: New York's militarized, makeshift hospital — NEW YORK — Soldiers in camouflage and civilians in polo shirts lined up for a life-or-death battle: Keeping a potentially deadly virus from overrunning this makeshift hospital inside a 2.1-million-square-foot convention center within …

Discussion: Fox News, Mediaite and Redstate