My Wild, Totally Surreal Experience Covering a Trump Coronavirus Briefing  —  Watching President Donald Trump and his task force in person was enormously revealing.  —  President Donald Trump speaks about his administration's coronavirus response in the White House press briefing room.

Michael Cohen will be released from prison due to pandemic  —  (CNN)The federal Bureau of Prisons has notified Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, that he will be released early from prison due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to people familiar with the matter and his lawyer.

Most Americans Say Trump Was Too Slow in Initial Response to Coronavirus Threat  —  Wide concern that states will lift COVID-19 restrictions too quickly  —  How we did this  —  As the death toll from the novel coronavirus pandemic continues to spiral, most Americans do not foresee a quick end to the crisis.

Early peek at data on Gilead coronavirus drug suggests patients are responding to treatment  —  A Chicago hospital treating severe Covid-19 patients with Gilead Sciences' antiviral medicine remdesivir in a closely watched clinical trial is seeing rapid recoveries in fever and respiratory symptoms …

Who will Joe Biden pick as his running mate?  Here's what Vegas betting odds show  —  With the Democratic primary field down to one candidate, attention has turned to who former Vice President Joe Biden will pick as his running mate.  —  While pundits are discussing the options …

For Mark Meadows, the Transition From Trump Confidant to Chief of Staff Is a Hard One  —  Only weeks into the job, the former congressman has confronted the same problems that frustrated his three predecessors.  It hasn't helped him with his new White House colleagues that he's emotional and sometimes cries.

Trump's Job Rating Slides; U.S. Satisfaction Tumbles  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — As President Donald Trump works to contain the damage from the novel coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., the rally in support he enjoyed as the nation entered a virtual lockdown has faded.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer: Abortion During Coronavirus ‘Is Life Sustaining’  —  The governor of Michigan said Thursday that abortion is “life sustaining.”  —  Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, discussed abortion in times of the coronavirus pandemic during David Axelrod's Axe Files podcast posted Thursday.

Small-Business Rescue Shows Not All States Are Created Equal  —  During the first 10 days of the federal government's small-business rescue program, the spigot was wide open in Nebraska.  Firms there got enough money to cover about three-fourths of the state's eligible payrolls.

DNC Milwaukee Host Committee reduces staff by more than half through layoffs and transfers  —  In the latest sign of trouble for the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee this summer, the host committee announced Thursday that it is cutting its staff by more than half by reassigning some employees and laying off others.

‘Ellen’ Crew Furious Over Poor Communication Regarding Pay, Non-Union Workers During Coronavirus Shutdown (EXCLUSIVE)  —  Endeavor Content, Keller/Noll Launch Game Show Podcast With ‘American Ninja Warrior’ Host Matt Iseman  —  Crew members from Ellen DeGeneres' long-running daytime talk show …

As testing outcry mounts, Trump cedes to states in announcing guidelines for slow reopening  —  President Trump released federal guidelines Thursday night for a slow and staggered return to normal in places with minimal cases of the novel coronavirus, moving to try to resume economic activity …

Family of New York woman blames hydroxychloroquine combo for fatal heart attack  —  The 65-year-old woman was prescribed the malaria drug and an antibiotic by her doctor to treat coronavirus symptoms.  —  A New York woman with coronavirus symptoms died last week after being prescribed …

The Trump administration paid a bankrupt company with zero employees $55 million for N95 masks, which it's never manufactured  — The Trump administration has awarded a $55 million contract for N95 masks to a company with no experience producing medical supplies and whose parent company filed for bankruptcy protection last year.

Why Michael Savage is blasting Sean Hannity and the right-wing media on the coronavirus  —  There are a lot of people who are ruining the country right now, according to Michael Savage.  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.  Liberal mayors in big cities like San Francisco.  Undocumented immigrants.

Berkeley institution Top Dog is on the ropes.  But they still won't take federal aid.  —  You never forget your first trip to Top Dog.  —  The tiny, Berkeley-born grab-and-go grill is a rite of passage for Cal students, slinging superlative sausages late night 'til 3 a.m. — along with a side of libertarian literature.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine says Ohio will begin to reopen after coronavirus May 1  —  CLEVELAND, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine plans to begin reopening Ohio on May 1, he said Thursday.  —  Ohioans will have to live with the threat of coronavirus until a vaccine is developed, he said.

Sen. Richard Burr's Pre-Pandemic Stock Sell-Offs Highly Unusual, Analysis Shows  —  • The recent stock sales by the North Carolina Republican were a market-beating anomaly that didn't match his typically middling trading history, according to a new Dartmouth College analysis.  —  CORONAVIRUS LIVE UPDATES

What AOC Gets that Bernie Didn't  —  The 27-year-old progressive activist Sean McElwee made the POLITICO 50 list of influential thinkers in 2017 for “Abolish ICE,” a pithy slogan that more liberal Democrats adapted into a quixotic campaign to dismantle the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

China's Economy Shrinks, Ending a Nearly Half Century of Growth  —  The contraction comes at a time when the rest of the world needs an economic boost, underscoring how momentous the task of reviving the global economy will be.  —  BEIJING — The coronavirus outbreak has brought China's extraordinary …

A Gloomy Prediction on How Much Poverty Could Rise  —  Researchers suggest the poverty rate may reach the highest levels in half a century, hitting African-Americans and children hardest.  —  The pandemic crippling the American economy portends a sharp increase in poverty …

An Open Letter to the New New Left From the Old New Left  —  Now it is time for all those who yearn for a more equal and just social order to face facts.  —  “THESE are the times that try men's souls.  The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country....

Glitches prevent $1,200 stimulus checks from reaching millions of Americans  —  Several million people who filed their taxes via H&R Block, TurboTax and other popular services were unable to get their payments.  Some parents reported they didn't get the $500 promised for their dependent children.

Judge denies new trial for Roger Stone  —  Judge Amy Berman Jackson said Stone's lawyers failed to demonstrate that a woman selected as a juror was biased against President Donald Trump.  —  The federal judge overseeing the trial of longtime Trump associate Roger Stone on Thursday denied …

Liz Cheney Donates to Massie Opponent After Forced Stimulus Vote  —  Rep. Liz Cheney, the chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, donated to the primary challenger to Rep. Thomas Massie four days after Massie forced House members from around the country to return to Capitol Hill for a vote on the bipartisan stimulus bill.

Army Decides a Pandemic Is a Good Time to Give GOP Donors $569 Million to ‘Build the Wall’  —  What coronavirus crisis?  Big Republican donors get a half-billion dollar, no-bid deal that one watchdog calls “a travesty that must be investigated and audited immediately.”  —  BEAST INSIDE

Midwest governors form COVID coalition  —  Gov. J.B. Pritzker and his regional colleagues are working together to judge when best to start easing stay-at-home restrictions and reopen their states' economies.  —  By On Politics  —  A coalition of seven Midwestern governors today announced …

Exclusive: As Washington DC Faces Coronavirus Spike, Secret Military Task Force Prepares to Secure the Capital  —  District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser yesterday ordered a one-month extension of the state of emergency, as cases in the region grow at a rapid pace.

Here Are the Questions the Right's Favorite Coronavirus Truther Isn't Willing to Answer  —  Alex Berenson, the world's foremost former New York Times reporter, is also one of the world's foremost coronavirus truthers.  He has spent the last month or so tweeting nearly non-stop about what he sees …

Brazil's Bolsonaro fires health minister after virus dispute  —  FILE - In this March 18, 2019 file photo, Brazil's Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta, right, gives anti-bacterial gel to President Jair Bolsonaro as they give a press conference on the new coronavirus at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil.

The US is failing the test of the century  —  A new wave and second lockdown would be a bigger hit to wealth than a cautious return to work, but Donald Trump is refusing to listen  —  Like an asteroid, coronavirus is the textbook example of an exogenous shock.  The threat came from beyond.