memeorandum: Work-From-Home Congress Also Can't Figure Out How to Unmute (Kristina Peterson/Wall Street Journal)

1:35 PM ET, May 7, 2020

Top Items:

AP Exclusive: Admin shelves CDC guide to reopening country — GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A set of detailed documents created by the nation's top disease investigators meant to give step-by-step advice to local leaders deciding when and how to reopen public places such as mass transit …

Discussion: Washington Post, Mother Jones, Talking Points Memo, ABC News, The American Independent, Axios, CNN, The Moderate Voice, VICE, Raw Story, The Hill, Gizmodo, The Daily Beast, Daily Kos, POLITICUSUSA, The Daily Caller, IJR, Mediaite and The Week

CNN:

One of Trump's personal valets has tested positive for coronavirus — (CNN)A member of the US Navy who serves as one of President Donald Trump's personal valets has tested positive for coronavirus, CNN has learned Thursday, raising concerns about the President's possible exposure to the virus.

Discussion: Axios, Breitbart, Forbes, Raw Story, WBRZ, Just The News, Daily Kos, Mediaite, Political Flare, CNBC, IJR, WGN-TV, The Daily Caller, The Sun, Deadline, The Root, The Week, The Hill and New York Post

Associated Press:

Face masks make a political statement in era of coronavirus — WASHINGTON (AP) — The decision to wear a mask in public is becoming a political statement — a moment to pick sides in a brewing culture war over containing the coronavirus. — While not yet as loaded as a “Make America Great Again” …

Discussion: Washington Post, Progress Pond, Political Flare, Raw Story, The Week, Fox News and KTLA

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

The sharp hypocrisy of the White House position on testing — There's a straightforward way in which businesses and other institutions can relax social distancing measures without spurring a surge in new coronavirus infections: frequent and repeated assessments of employee health, including tests for those showing signs of infection.

Discussion: NPR, The Hill and Raw Story

Associated Press:

Trump tells allies his wearing a mask would ‘send the wrong message’, make him look ridiculous — The president said doing so would make it seem like he is preoccupied with health instead of focused on reopening. — WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has been mask averse for weeks.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and The American Independent

Libby Cathey / ABC News:
Government coronavirus response updates: Trump assistant tests positive for coronavirus, White House says

Discussion: NBC News, Politico, Fox News, The Daily Beast, One America News Network, Mediaite and WBRZ

New York Times:
Coronavirus Task Force Gets Its ‘Mission Accomplished’ Moment

Discussion: McSweeney's, Al Jazeera, WBRZ, Just The News and Mediaite

New York Times:
Most States That Are Reopening Fail to Meet White House Guidelines

Discussion: National Review and Forbes

New York Times:
Coronavirus Live Updates: White House Rejected C.D.C. Reopening Guidelines, Asking for Revisions

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, The Hill and Blue Virginia

Nancy Rommelmann / Reason:

She Said Anthony Fauci Sexually Assaulted Her. Now She Says Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman Paid Her to Lie. — I'd just finished Saturday morning's second cup of coffee when an email popped through, subject line: “Exposing Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman.” — “Hi Nancy, I hope you are having a nice weekend.

Politico:

Supreme Court overturns ‘Bridgegate’ convictions as Christie slams ‘political crusade’ — The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday tossed the federal government's case in the infamous “Bridgegate” scandal, clearing the convictions of two allies of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Discussion: Fox News, Washington Post, NBC News, Axios and The Hill

Washington Post: Trump administration asks Supreme Court to stop release of Mueller material

Brent Kendall / Wall Street Journal: Supreme Court Throws Out ‘Bridgegate’ Convictions

Nicole Cobler / Austin American-Statesman: Texas Supreme Court orders jailed salon owner released

Mairead McArdle / National Review: Supreme Court Overturns ‘Bridgegate’ Scandal Convictions

NBC New York: Supreme Court Tosses Out ‘Bridgegate’ Convictions

New York Times:

Travel From New York City Seeded Wave of U.S. Outbreaks — The coronavirus outbreak in New York City became the primary source of infections across much of the country by early March, researchers have found. — Munich — Paris — London — Rome — Barcelona, Spain — Rafina, Greece

Discussion: National Review, Louder With Crowder, Twitchy and Instapundit

Conrad Swanson / Denver Post:

Colorado GOP Chair Ken Buck pressured local official to submit incorrect election results — Fellow Republican says congressman tried to bully him into committing a crime — Colorado Republican Party Chair Ken Buck, a U.S. representative from Windsor, pressured a local party official …

Discussion: The American Independent, The Week and Mediaite

Charles M. Blow / New York Times:

The Killing of Ahmaud Arbery — Another black man falsely assumed to be a criminal is dead. — The video is short and shocking. — It's taken from the perspective of a vehicle following a young black man running at a jogger's pace. The jogger is 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery.

Discussion: Hotair, Washington Post, Daily Kos, The Bread Line, The Week, ABC News and Vox

David French / The Dispatch:
A Vigilante Killing in Georgia

Discussion: Tangle, VICE, Common Dreams and Law & Crime

Christian Living / Russell Moore:
The Killing of Ahmaud Arbery and the Justice of God

Discussion: Raw Story

George Conway / Washington Post:

Trump lashed out at me on Twitter. It's because he knows the truth. — Americans died from covid-19 at the rate of about one every 42 seconds during the past month. That ought to keep any president awake at night. — Not Donald Trump. — Just days ago, the president flipped …

Discussion: Raw Story, The Wrap, IJR, HuffPost, Breitbart, Political Flare, Palmer Report, Mediaite and Common Dreams

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:
Lincoln Project has its biggest day of fundraising after president attacks ‘Never Trump’ group

Discussion: Mediaite, The Hill, POLITICUSUSA, Newsweek and IJR

Reade Pickert / Bloomberg:

U.S. Jobless Claims Top 3 Million, With Little Relief in Sight — Figures bring total under pandemic to more than 33 million — April jobs report Friday set to show unprecedented losses — The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits topped 3 million for a seventh straight week …

Discussion: Redstate

Jeff Cox / CNBC:
US weekly jobless claims total 3.169 million, bringing seven-week tally to 33.5 million

Discussion: CNN and The Week

Jeffrey Collins / Associated Press:

Woman killed by alligator in SC was doing homeowner's nails — COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The woman attacked and killed by an alligator in a gated community along the South Carolina coast was visiting the homeowner to do her nails and was trying to touch the animal when it grabbed her, authorities said.

Wall Street Journal:

U.S. to Remove Patriot Missile Batteries from Saudi Arabia — Removing missiles, other measures mark end of recent military buildup to counter Iran, officials say — WASHINGTON—The U.S. is removing Patriot antimissile systems from Saudi Arabia and is considering reductions to other military capabilities …

Katherine Shaver / Washington Post:

Smartphone data shows out-of-state visitors flocked to Georgia as restaurants and other businesses reopened — One week after Georgia allowed dine-in restaurants, hair salons and other businesses to reopen, an additional 62,440 visitors arrived there daily, most from surrounding states …

USA Today:

Kristol, Coons: Republicans should reject Trump's divisive approach to pandemic — Too many members of Congress, following the lead of President Donald Trump, continue to engage in coronavirus denialism. — One of us is a Democratic senator, who, though certainly willing to seek common ground across …

Discussion: In These Times

Politico: Republicans praise Trump's pandemic response with Senate majority at risk

Washington Post:

SBA slashes disaster-loan limit from $2 million to $150,000, shuts out nearly all new applicants — Shortage of money and crush of applications leads the Small Business Administration to close its portal to most businesses and limit the size of loans. — An emergency disaster lending program …

Meghann Myers / Military Times:

Coronavirus survivors banned from joining the military — As the Defense Department negotiates its way through the coronavirus pandemic and its fallout, military entrance processing stations are working with new guidance when it comes to bringing COVID-19 survivors into the services.

Discussion: New Republic, Talking Points Memo, Newsweek, NBC News, CNN, The Hill, LifeSiteNews and New York Post

Noah Bierman / Los Angeles Times:

Can't decipher Trump-speak? Meet Margaret, the computer bot — Bill Frischling's moment of inspiration came three years ago, when Margaret, his artificial intelligence bot, tried to transcribe a 127-word section of a speech by President Trump. — The passage, ostensibly commemorating a World War II battle, careened wildly.

Alana Wise / NPR:

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez Says Biden Sexual Assault Allegation ‘Not Clear-Cut’ — Toggle more options — Editor's note: This story contains graphic descriptions of an alleged sexual assault. — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., says an accusation of sexual assault against former Vice President Joe Biden …

Discussion: Breitbart, IJR, VICE and The Hill

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Biden says he'll reverse DeVos rule bolstering protections for those accused of campus sexual assault

Discussion: The Federalist, Townhall, The Daily Caller, Joanne Jacobs, The Bulwark, Politico, Reason, Outside the Beltway, Los Angeles Times and ED News

CHINAdaily:

EU-China ties vital amid global crisis — This year we celebrate the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the European Union and China, established on May 6, 1975. It is an important milestone in an ever more important relationship between our union of 27 European states and China.

Discussion: Politico and One America News Network

Josh Rogin / Washington Post:
GOP to launch ‘China Task Force’ that Democrats bailed on

Discussion: Politico, Fox News, Axios, The Hill, Defeat the Virus and The Daily Caller

Ben Harris / Jerusalem Post:

Meet the 107-year-old woman who survived the coronavirus and Spanish flu — “It's remarkable,” Shapiro said. “That's all I can say. It's just unbelievable. I think perhaps it's because of her art that she's still involved in.” — After Marilee Shapiro Asher was admitted to the hospital …

Politico:

Azar faulted workers' ‘home and social’ conditions for meatpacking outbreaks — The country's top health official downplayed concerns over the public health conditions inside meatpacking plants, suggesting on a call with lawmakers that workers were more likely to catch coronavirus based …

Discussion: The Hill, Daily Kos, Wired, Raw Story and The Sun

New York Times:

Germany and U.S. on Divergent Paths to Reopen — Online retailers, backed by Amazon, are beginning a campaign to press for billions of dollars to rescue the Postal Service. Nearly one in five children in the U.S. are not getting enough to eat. — Here's what you need to know:

Discussion: VICE, Brookings, The Daily Caller, Raw Story and Daily Kos

Ed Mazza / HuffPost:

James Carville Warns Trump: Your ‘Grifter’ Campaign Aides Are Lying To You — Trump aides are “giving him fake polls” so they can continue to make money off the failing campaign, the Democratic political consultant says. — Democratic political consultant James Carville said President Donald Trump …

Discussion: Palmer Report and Balloon Juice

Walter Russell Mead / Wall Street Journal:

What Trump Has in Common With Napoleon — A brash outsider who knew his terrain like nobody else, he succeeded until he faced a new kind of enemy. — Russia is the country that, more than any other, has haunted Donald Trump's presidency. It began when allegations of Russian collusion …

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

House Republicans should be getting nervous about November — Generic congressional polling has shown a steady and significant lead for Democrats. The latest Monmouth survey shows Democrats leading 52 percent to 42 percent. That margin is “similar to the polling advantage Democrats held …

Discussion: New York Magazine, POLITICUSUSA and CNN

Kevin Yamamura / Politico:

California faces $54B budget deficit — SACRAMENTO — California faces a $54.3 billion deficit as the coronavirus pandemic hammers the economy, the state's worst budget gap since the Great Recession, state finance officials said Thursday. — The shortfall is almost 37 percent …

Discussion: The Hill and One America News Network

ProPublica:

On the Same Day Sen. Richard Burr Dumped Stock, So Did His Brother-in-Law. Then the Market Crashed. — The brother-in-law, a Trump appointee, sold between $97,000 and $280,000 worth of stock. Burr is under federal investigation over whether he traded on non-public information gathered through his work in the Senate.