memeorandum: 'I'd Take Her In A Heartbeat': Joe Biden Says He Would Pick Michelle Obama To Be His Vice President (CBS Pittsburgh)

8:50 AM ET, April 21, 2020

Top Items:

CNN:

US monitoring intelligence that North Korean leader is in grave danger after surgery — (CNN)The US is monitoring intelligence that North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, is in grave danger after a surgery, according to a US official with direct knowledge. — Kim recently missed the celebration …

Hyonhee Shin / Reuters:

North Korea's Kim getting treatment after cardiovascular procedure: report — SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is receiving treatment after undergoing a cardiovascular procedure early this month, a South Korean media report said, amid speculation over Kim's health following his absence from a key anniversary event.

Discussion: Big League Politics and Reuters

Bloomberg:
Kim Jong Un Was in Critical Condition After Surgery, U.S. Official Says

Discussion: ABC17NEWS, The Week and Redstate

Justin McCurry / The Guardian: Kim Yo-jong: the sister of Kim Jong-un, fast ‘becoming his alter ego’

CBS Pittsburgh:

'I'd Take Her In A Heartbeat': Joe Biden Says He Would Pick Michelle Obama To Be His Vice President — PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Joe Biden says he would take Michelle Obama to be his running mate for the 2020 presidential election. — The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee told KDKA's Jon Delano …

Discussion: CNN, The Hill, Political Wire and The US Sun

Marc Caputo / Politico:

Democrats dream of Biden's perfect running mate: An Obama — With the Democratic primary settled, the Rev. Al Sharpton says he now includes a political consideration in his daily prayers: God, please let Michelle Obama be Joe Biden's running mate. — Sharpton's decision to implore …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, CBS Pittsburgh and Breitbart

Scott Bland / Politico:
Biden raised campaign-best $46.7 million in March

Discussion: Fox News, The Week and Axios

Nancy Cook / Politico:

‘Another nail in an almost closed coffin’: Trump faces his next coronavirus test — President Donald Trump's political fate now hinges on a simple premise: Everybody who needs a coronavirus test must be able to get a test. — More than five weeks into a devastating shutdown of the U.S. economy …

Discussion: Raw Story, Baltimore Sun, Axios, Blue Virginia and Commentary Magazine

Washington Post:

White House readies push to slash regulations as major part of its coronavirus economic recovery plan — Senior administration officials are planning effort to relax rules on firms by as soon as late April — Senior White House and Trump administration officials are planning to launch …

Rich Lowry / New York Post: Never mind the media critics: Team Trump got it right on ventilators

Dan Diamond / Politico: Surgeon general gets pushed to sidelines, sparking questions

Washington Post:

Most rate Trump's coronavirus response negatively and expect crowds will be unsafe until summer, Post-U. Md. poll finds — Most Americans expect no immediate easing of the health risks associated with the coronavirus pandemic, despite calls by President Trump and others to begin reopening the economy quickly.

Andrew Romano / Yahoo News:

Yahoo News/YouGov coronavirus poll: Most Americans reject anti-lockdown protests — An overwhelming majority of Americans, Republicans included, are rejecting right-wing protests — encouraged by President Trump — to immediately “reopen” the country in the midst of the world's largest and deadliest

Discussion: Washington Post, YouGov and POLITICUSUSA

Ariel Edwards-Levy / HuffPost: The American Public Isn't Ready To Reopen America

Politico:

Trump says he'll ‘suspend immigration’ into the U.S. — President Donald Trump on Monday night said that he was suspending immigration into the U.S. because of the coronavirus pandemic. — “In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, NBC News, New York Times, CBS Philly, PJ Media Home, Common Dreams and Associated Press

Wall Street Journal:

Trump to Temporarily Halt Immigration Into the U.S. Amid Coronavirus Crisis — President says in tweet that he plans to sign executive order ‘in light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy’ — WASHINGTON—President Trump said Monday he plans to sign an executive order temporarily suspending immigration …

Discussion: New York Times and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Harry Siegel / The Daily Beast: If You're Watching These Coronavirus Briefings for Free, You're a Sucker

BuzzFeed News:

Smithfield Foods Is Blaming “Living Circumstances In Certain Cultures” For One Of America's Largest COVID-19 Clusters — The journalists at BuzzFeed News are proud to bring you trustworthy and relevant reporting about the coronavirus. To help keep this news free, become a member and sign up for our newsletter, Outbreak Today.

New York Times:

28,000 Missing Deaths: Tracking the True Toll of the Coronavirus Crisis — At least 28,000 more people have died during the coronavirus pandemic over the last month than the official Covid-19 death counts report, a review of mortality data in 11 countries shows — providing a clearer …

Ovetta Wiggins / Washington Post:

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan credits his wife, Yumi, with helping secure coronavirus tests from South Korea — Maryland owes a debt of gratitude to the people of South Korea, Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said Monday after securing 500,000 coronavirus tests from the country over the weekend.

Discussion: The Guardian and CBS Baltimore

Kate Bennett / CNN:
Maryland's first lady capitalizes on her South Korean heritage to secure test kits

Discussion: The Week and Vox

Ryan Dezember / Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Oil Costs Less Than Zero After a Sharp Monday Selloff — Many traders are betting that the coronavirus pandemic will run its course and demand for oil will jump later this year — U.S. oil futures plunged below zero for the first time Monday, a chaotic demonstration of the dwindling capacity …

Discussion: Slate, Sputnik News, Just The News and Breitbart

CNBC:
Oil is getting crushed again with one futures contract down 90% to record low under $2

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Week and Power Line

Jackie Salo / New York Post:

Kentucky sees highest spike in coronavirus cases after lockdown protests — Kentucky experienced its highest single-day spike in coronavirus cases after protests broke out in the state to lift lockdowns, according to reports. — Gov. Andy Beshear announced there were 273 new cases Sunday …

Discussion: Instapundit

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

Matt Drudge draws Trump's ire, setting off a potentially substantial split between the conservative media power player and the president — President Trump's on-again, off-again relationship with one of the most powerful figures in conservative media appears to be off again.

Yahoo Finance:

Iowa Sends National Guard Troops to Defend Meat Plants From Virus — (Bloomberg) — Hundreds of National Guard personnel are being activated in Iowa as coronavirus sweeps through meat-processing plants in a state that accounts for about a third of U.S. pork supply.

NBC News:

Conservative activist family behind ‘grassroots’ anti-quarantine Facebook events — A family-run network of pro-gun groups is behind five of the largest Facebook groups dedicated to protesting shelter-in-place restrictions. — Protests against state stay-at-home orders have attracted …

Discussion: Shot in the Dark, Letters from an American, Forbes, Reclaim The Net, POLITICUSUSA, Vox and Minnesota Reformer, more at Techmeme »

Caleb Ecarma / Vanity Fair:
Fox News Is Desperately Trying to Turn Coronavirus Protests Into the Next Tea Party

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Popular Information and Los Angeles Times

Carrie Dann / NBC News:

Two-thirds of voters back vote-by-mail in November 2020 — In a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, 58 percent want election rules changed permanently. — WASHINGTON — A majority of voters — 58 percent — favor nationwide reform of election rules that would allow all eligible voters …

Discussion: The National Interest

Aris Folley / The Hill:

Idaho state lawmaker faces criticism after comparing stay-at-home order to Nazi Germany — A Republican state representative from Idaho is facing criticism after she blasted Gov. Brad Little's (R) stay-at-home order in a recent interview and compared the mandates categorizing certain workers as nonessential to those of Nazi Germany.

Discussion: New York Post and The Root

Perla Trevizo / The Texas Tribune:

Officials knew coronavirus could spread at the Houston Rodeo and proceeded with the event anyway — The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is the city's largest annual event, attracting 2.5 million people and generating nearly $400 million. But officials pushed forward with this year's 20 …

Discussion: Raw Story

Scott Soshnick / Variety:

Alex Rodriguez, Jennifer Lopez Retain JPMorgan to Raise Money for Mets Bid (EXCLUSIVE) — Retired baseball star Alex Rodriguez and his fiancé, recording artist and actor Jennifer Lopez, have retained JPMorgan Chase to raise capital for a possible bid on the New York Mets, people familiar with the matter said.

Discussion: The US Sun, New York Post and The Week

Washington Post:

Female world leaders hailed as voices of reason amid the coronavirus chaos — Silveria Jacobs is not messing around. — When coronavirus cases started increasing in the Caribbean nation of Sint Maarten, the 51-year-old prime minister delivered blunt instructions. — “Simply. Stop.

Ben Jacobs / GEN:

Can Joe Biden Successfully Run a Campaign Out of His Delaware Basement? — The former vice president is reviving the ‘front porch’ style of campaigning to connect with voters amid the pandemic — 1896, William McKinley won the presidency while sitting on his front porch smoking cigars.

Bloomberg:

U.S. Debt to Surge Past Wartime Record, Deficit to Quadruple — The U.S. budget deﬁcit may quadruple this year to almost $4 trillion. Projections from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) say that by 2023 U.S. debt held by the public will surpass records set in the post-World War II years.

John Simerman / New Orleans Times-Picayune:

U.S. Supreme Court abolishes split jury verdicts; dozens of convictions voided — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that juries across the nation must be unanimous to convict or acquit a criminal defendant, outlawing the split verdicts that had persisted in Louisiana since openly racist …

Discussion: Slate, National Review, The Root, CNN and LifeSiteNews

Alexandra Petri / Washington Post:

Powerless to help, Donald Trump worries about incompetent pandemic leadership — Why was nobody doing anything? That was the question President Trump kept asking himself, over and over, as he gazed at the United States' response to the covid-19 pandemic. — “The states have to step up their TESTING!” he tweeted.

Discussion: The Week

The Hill:

Anger mounts after corporations tap small-business relief funds — Congress is under increasing pressure to ensure an extension of the popular Payment Protection Program (PPP) gets desperately needed funds to the small businesses it's intended to help, not to big corporations.

Discussion: Politico

Hannah Natanson / Washington Post:

Fairfax temporarily cancels face-to-face video instruction, retains law firm to review botched debut of online learning — Fairfax County Public Schools is canceling face-to-face virtual instruction for now and launching an outside review of its distance learning, as a second attempt …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Frances Martel / Breitbart:

China: U.S. a ‘Primitive Society,’ ‘American Democracy Is Dying’ — China's state-run Global Times propaganda newspaper began the week on Monday with columns proclaiming the end of American democracy and declaring that Washington was “no match for China” in fighting diseases.

Ed Scarce / Latest from Crooks and Liars:

Man Who Called Ohio's Lockdown Order ‘Bullshit’ Has Succumbed To COVID-19 — John McDaniel railed against Ohio's Gov. Mike DeWine's lockdown order on social media. Weeks later he contracted the virus. A few days ago he died. — In March, John McDaniel called Ohio's shutdown order of non-essential businesses “madness.”

Discussion: New York Post and Raw Story