memeorandum: South Dakota's governor resisted ordering people to stay home. … (Griff Witte/Washington Post)

8:20 AM ET, April 14, 2020

Top Items:

South Dakota's governor resisted ordering people to stay home. Now it has one of the nation's largest coronavirus hot spots. — As governors across the country fell into line in recent weeks, South Dakota's top elected leader stood firm: There would be no statewide order to stay home.

Discussion: SmithfieldFoods, New York Times, Daily Kos, The Guardian, NPR, Fox News, Seeking Alpha and The Gateway Pundit

Reid J. Epstein / New York Times:

Upset Victory in Wisconsin Supreme Court Race Gives Democrats a Lift — A liberal challenger's surprise triumph over a Trump-backed incumbent demonstrated strong turnout and vote-by-mail efforts for the Democrats in a key general election state. — Democrats scored an enormous political …

Discussion: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The Week and Fox News

Patrick Marley / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Liberal Jill Karofsky defeats conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court justice Daniel Kelly — MADISON - Dane County Circuit Judge Jill Karofsky won the race for Wisconsin Supreme Court, narrowing the conservative majority after a tumultuous election conducted in the midst of a global pandemic …

Discussion: Politico, The Week, Slate and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Daniel Bice / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

All seven Supreme Court justices voted absentee, even those who hadn't in the past — (Photo: Michael Sears / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) — When the state Supreme Court took up Gov. Tony Evers' last-minute order to delay the April 7 election, they didn't have to worry about one possible consequence of their decision.

Washington Post:
Liberal challenger defeats conservative incumbent in Wisconsin Supreme Court race

Discussion: Mother Jones and courthousenews.com

James Carville / NBC News:
Trump poll numbers look good for Biden. But Republicans can still win in 2020 — if they cheat.

Discussion: The Hill and One America News Network

New York Times: How a Supreme Court Decision Curtailed the Right to Vote in Wisconsin

Tara Golshan / HuffPost:
Democrats Signal Funding Fight For Expanded Vote-By-Mail Elections

Discussion: New York Post, CNN, Old North State Politics and The Root

John Yoo / National Review:

No, Trump Can't Force States to Reopen — The Constitution reserves police powers for the states. The president will have to make do with persuasion. — President Donald Trump is appointing a new “Opening Our Country” task force today to jumpstart the economy by early …

Discussion: Reason and CNN

New York Times:

Coronavirus Updates: Trump Insists He Has ‘Total’ Authority to Supersede Governors — President Trump turned Monday's daily coronavirus task force briefing into an aggressive defense of his own halting response to the pandemic and used a campaign-style video to denounce criticism that he moved …

Discussion: Washington Post, Vanity Fair, Daily Kos, Forbes, TalkLeft, The US Sun and Axios

California Governor:
California, Oregon & Washington Announce Western States Pact

Discussion: Washington Post, Business Insider Malaysia, Letters from an American, WISC-TV, NPR, New York Post, Shot in the Dark, Axios, Patterico's Pontifications and Climate Online

Kim Wehle / The Bulwark:
Trump Claims ‘Total’ Authority to Order States Open

Discussion: Washington Post, NPR and Breitbart

Jesse McKinley / New York Times:
‘Worst Is Over,’ Cuomo Says as States Snub Trump on Restarting Economy

Discussion: The Guardian

Jeremy B. White / Politico:
Trump claims ‘total authority’ over state decisions

Discussion: Associated Press and The Hill

CNN:
Governors on East and West coasts form pacts to decide when to reopen economies

Discussion: New Yorker, The Week and No More Mister Nice Blog

New York Times:
Latest Updates: Coronavirus Outbreak in New York

Discussion: courthousenews.com

governor.wa.gov:
Washington, Oregon and California announce Western States Pact

Discussion: Breitbart, The Daily Beast, The Hill and Politico

Mark Sherman / Associated Press:
States largely have authority over when to shut down, reopen

Discussion: Breitbart

Susan Page / USA Today:

Trump on the defensive: A White House coronavirus briefing becomes a campaign rally — It was a White House briefing like no other. — President Trump late Monday turned a White House briefing on the coronavirus into a fervent defense of his actions to respond to the deadly pandemic …

Discussion: Raw Story, The Week and Washington Post

Washington Post:

Independent Rep. Justin Amash says he's looking ‘closely’ at White House run — Rep. Justin Amash (I-Mich.) said Monday that he's considering a White House run against President Trump, a move that could pose a challenge to the president's campaign for a second term.

Discussion: The Hill

Ben Jacobs / New York Magazine:
Where the Risk of Coronavirus Comes With Unparalleled Access

Discussion: PressThink

Nancy Cook / Politico:
Trump's grand reopening council triggers a slew of new questions

Discussion: Associated Press

Brett Samuels / The Hill:
Trump uses coronavirus briefing to fire back at critics

Discussion: CNN, Metro.co.uk and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

Tamar Lapin / New York Post:

Coronavirus-stricken Chris Cuomo trashes CNN gig during radio show meltdown — Chris Cuomo's coronavirus-induced fever may have subsided but the CNN anchor was red hot on Monday. — The longtime cable host, 49, had a mini-existential crisis on his SiriusXM show, lashing …

Discussion: Townhall, Althouse, Summit News, The Daily Caller, Washington Times and Mediaite

Ezra Klein / Vox:

How Joe Biden won over Bernie Sanders — and the Democratic Party — Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images — Joe Biden and the power of transactional politics. — On Monday, Joe Biden's campaign teased a “special guest” would join him for an afternoon livestream.

NBC News:
Biden's Biden: How the former VP is approaching his running mate search

Discussion: MSNBC

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:
Hello, What's This? The Democrats Aren't in Disarray

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Bruce Bartlett / USA Today:
Ex-Republican on Trump coronavirus failures: Our lives depend on electing Joe Biden.

Discussion: Too Much Information, Outside the Beltway, Fox News and Politico

Samantha J. Gross / Miami Herald:

DeSantis deems pro wrestling ‘essential business’ amid statewide stay-at-home order — Count professional wrestling among the essential businesses like grocery stores and pharmacies that can stay open despite coronavirus-related restrictions statewide. — WWE will continue taping …

Discussion: Raw Story

ESPN:
WWE deemed ‘essential business’ in Florida, will resume live shows

Discussion: CBSSports.com, The Hill and New York Post

Devlin Barrett / Washington Post:

Anti-malarial drug touted by Trump was subject of CIA warning to employees — The CIA has privately advised its workforce that taking an anti-malarial drug touted by President Trump and some of his supporters as a promising treatment for the novel coronavirus has potentially dangerous side effects, including sudden death.

Ben Smith / New York Times:

The Times Took 19 Days to Report an Accusation Against Biden. Here's Why. — Dean Baquet, the executive editor of The New York Times, said the article was published when there was enough reporting “to present to readers for them to make their own judgment.”

Discussion: The Federalist, Townhall, Power Line, Washington Free Beacon, Fox News, Redstate, The Daily Caller, Vanity Fair, Twitchy, Instapundit, NB Blog, Slate, The Bread Line and Breitbart, more at Mediagazer »

Lee Brown / New York Post:

Virginia pastor who defiantly held church service dies of coronavirus — He practiced what he preached — then he died of coronavirus. — An evangelical pastor died of COVID-19 just weeks after proudly showing off how packed his Virginia church was — and vowing to keep preaching “unless I'm in jail or the hospital.”

Discussion: JONATHAN TURLEY, Disrn, Friendly Atheist, Queerty, Raw Story and LGBTQ Nation

Josh Rogin / Washington Post:

State Department cables warned of safety issues at Wuhan lab studying bat coronaviruses — Two years before the novel coronavirus pandemic upended the world, U.S. Embassy officials visited a Chinese research facility in the city of Wuhan several times and sent two official warnings …

Discussion: New York Post, The Daily Caller and National Review

Miami Herald:

Everyone on exclusive Fisher Island, even the staff, can get tested for coronavirus — Fisher Island — an exclusive enclave of multi-million dollar condos and homes and one of the wealthiest ZIP Codes in the country — has purchased thousands of rapid COVID-19 blood test kits from the University …

Discussion: Raw Story, CBS Miami, New York Post and Florida Politics

Politico:

Pelosi looks to seize Trump's bully pulpit — As President Donald Trump beams into American homes with his daily coronavirus briefings, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has decided the best way to counter him is to be everywhere — even if that means doing so from her San Francisco kitchen.

Politico:
‘Almost sinful’: Pelosi skewers Trump over threats to reopen country too soon

Discussion: Associated Press, Breitbart and The Daily Caller

CNN:

Fact check: A list of false claims from Trump's bitter coronavirus briefing — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump delivered another litany of false and misleading claims on Monday at a White House coronavirus briefing during which he repeatedly accused the media of dishonesty.

Discussion: New York Times, Informed Comment, Fox News, Axios and The Hill

ohpredictiveinsights.cmail19.com:

Biden Extends Lead in Arizona — PHOENIX (April 14th, 2020) -As Arizona residents endure a stay-at-home order and thousands of people suffer from coronavirus, President Donald Trump continues to fall in a head-to-head matchup with former Vice President Joe Biden.

US Census / 2020Census.gov:

U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and U.S. Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham Statement on 2020 Census Operational Adjustments Due to COVID-19 — APRIL 13, 2020 — The 2020 Census is underway and more households across America are responding every day.