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Deaths in United States linked to COVID-19 surpass 1,000

The United States has reached a grim milestone as the number of deaths linked to coronavirus passed 1,000 in the country on Thursday, according to a count by NBC News. The number of reported deaths associated with the disease in the U.S. was at least 1,001 as of Thursday morning, according to that count, and […]

Senate unanimously passes massive $2 trillion coronavirus spending bill

The Senate overwhelmingly passed a massive stimulus package late Wednesday meant to soften the economic blow of the coronavirus pandemic for American workers and businesses. The bill includes billions of dollars in credit for struggling industries, a significant boost to unemployment insurance and direct cash payments to Americans. The fate of the bill now rests […]

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti warns that LA will be on lockdown for another two months — and to ‘be prepared for longer’

Los Angeles residents will be confined to their homes until May, at the earliest, Mayor Eric Garcetti told Insider on Wednesday. “I think this is at least two months,” he said, “and be prepared for longer.” In an interview with Insider, Garcetti pushed back against “premature optimism” in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying […]

What to do if you think you have coronavirus symptoms

As more people across the United States test positive for the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, it’s important to know what to do if you think you have the virus. If you develop mild flu-like symptoms, call your doctor or your local health department and mention why you think you may have COVID-19, said Dr. Jennifer Ashton, ABC News’ […]

Handful of GOP senators threaten to delay Senate coronavirus bill over unemployment payments

A handful of Republican senators on Wednesday threatened to delay the $2 trillion coronavirus spending bill over a proposed increase to unemployment insurance. In a statement, Sens. Tim Scott, R-S.C., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said that the bill could provide a “strong incentive for employees to be laid off instead of going to work” because […]

Here are the stay-at-home orders state by state across the U.S.

As the coronavirus continues to tear its way through the U.S, millions of Americans face stay-at-home orders. But whether you have to stay in or can go outside — and for how long — depends largely on which state you live in. In hardest-hit New York, for example, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered residents to stay at home and all […]

Stephcast 3-25-20

Reed Galen: Considering business or death, Trump chooses inhumanity

The COVID-19 crisis has had massive effects on our country: A massive economic shock precipitated by a rampaging pandemic has now pushed some of our political leaders — starting with President Donald Trump, into unthinkable places — even for him. Despite intelligence community warnings as early as January that the coronavirus was exploding in the Wuhan province of China, […]

Lack of Federal leadership causes scramble for medical equipment as U.S. states and hospitals compete for rare supplies

A mad scramble for masks, gowns and ventilators is pitting states against each other and driving up prices. Some hard-hit parts of the country are receiving fresh supplies of N95 masks, but others are still out of stock. Hospitals are requesting donations of masks and gloves from construction companies, nail salons and tattoo parlors, and considering […]

Coronavirus: Prince Charles tests positive for COVID-19

Prince Charles has tested positive for coronavirus. His spokesman confirmed that the 71-year-old royal had been diagnosed with the COVID-19 disease in a statement released this morning. The heir to the throne is said to have displayed “mild symptoms” but “otherwise remains in good health”, and has been self-isolating in Scotland with the Duchess of Cornwall – […]

Obama Logs On To Twitter and Facebook To Share Vital Health and Safety Information

Former President Barack Obama is making use of his large social media platforms to address the coronavirus crisis and posting like never before since leaving the presidency. Obama, who has remained mum on many of the biggest issues to arise during President Donald Trump’s time in office, is now routinely posting messages to Twitter — […]

Sanders camp signals his presidential campaign will go on

Lacking a meaningful path to the Democratic nomination at a moment when the coronavirus crisis is gripping Washington and the country, Bernie Sanders stepped back from actively campaigning for president over the past week, leading some Democrats to wonder whether he would soon leave the race altogether. But Tuesday, Sanders appeared to signal anew that […]

White House public health expert says anyone who recently left New York should self-quarantine

The White House’s coronavirus response coordinator said Tuesday that anyone who has recently left New York should self-quarantine for 14 days in an effort to slow the spread of the virus in the US. “To everyone who has left New York over the last few days, because of the rate of the number of cases, you may have […]

Look Up Your State’s COVID-19 Test Results With This Tracker

We undoubtedly have far more cases of COVID-19 in the US than testing has revealed, but testing is still an important way to begin getting a handle on how far this outbreak has spread. An online tool called the Covid Tracking Project has collected each state’s testing data if you’d like to keep tabs on how that’s going. The […]

White House, Senate reach deal on massive $2 trillion coronavirus spending bill

The White House and Senate leaders reached an agreement early Wednesday on a massive $2 trillion coronavirus spending bill aimed at alleviating the economic impact of the outbreak. “At last, we have a deal. After days of intense discussions, the Senate has reached a bipartisan agreement on a historic relief package for this pandemic,” Senate Majority Leader […]

Bob Cesca: Trump’s “wartime president” shtick is ghastly — and it could totally work

Like every other petty con man, from back-alley hustlers to Wall Street fraudsters, Donald Trump is a thief and he’ll always be a thief. Now the president is clearly stealing from the George W. Bush playbook in one particularly awful way. Specifically, Trump appears to be desperately envious of Bush’s approval polls after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, […]

Multiple Tony-winning playwright Terrence McNally dies at 81 due to complications from coronavirus

Terrence McNally, one of America’s great playwrights whose prolific career included winning Tony Awards for the plays “Love! Valour! Compassion!” and “Master Class” and the musicals “Ragtime” and “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” has died of complications from the coronavirus. He was 81. McNally died Tuesday at Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Sarasota, Florida, according to […]

Trump says he wants country ‘opened up’ by Easter, despite caution from health experts

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he wants to have the country getting back to business by April 12, Easter Sunday, even as the coronavirus pandemic worsens. “I would love to have the country opened up and raring to go by Easter,” Trump said during a Fox News interview. Public health experts and local and state leaders have […]

Stephcast 3-24-20

Tokyo 2020 Olympics postponed over coronavirus concerns

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics have been postponed, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Tuesday. Abe said Japan and the International Olympic Committee came to an agreement during a phone call with the head of the IOC, Thomas Bach, following growing calls for the games to be delayed or canceled because of the concerns around coronavirus […]

Charlie Pierce: No Thinking Person Would Vote to Give Steven Mnuchin a Blank Check

As the ‘rasslin’ match in the Senate goes on, return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear—namely, 2017—when we all could hang out together and would socially distance ourselves only for petty personal reasons, and Steve Mnuchin was still merely the nominee for Secretary of the Treasury. It was clear throughout his confirmation […]

Mnuchin, Schumer say coronavirus rescue package deal very close

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that they are “very close” to an agreement on a nearly $2 trillion coronavirus economic rescue package, raising the possibility of a Senate vote on the legislation as early as Tuesday. Following a series of late-night meetings in Schumer’s office in the Capitol — […]

Critical inhaler medication shortage looms as coronavirus cases soar

When Brett Cavin went to a pharmacy last week in Gresham, Oregon, to pick up his inhaler prescription for his asthma, he was turned away and warned it could take up to a week for the pharmacy to replenish its supply. Cavin is not alone, according to doctors and pharmacists who spoke to ABC News. As emergency rooms […]

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick suggests he, other seniors willing to die to get economy going again

Dan Patrick, Texas’ Republican lieutenant governor, on Monday night suggested that he and other grandparents would be willing to risk their health and even lives in order for the United States to “get back to work” amid the coronavirus pandemic. “Those of us who are 70 plus, we’ll take care of ourselves. But don’t sacrifice the […]

Trump Claims U.S. Will See More Death By Keeping Economy Shut Than By Coronavirus

President Donald Trump’s insistence on downplaying the coronavirus risks reached dangerous levels Monday as he scoffed at medical advice and threatened to open up the economy despite skyrocketing case numbers. At the White House’s daily coronavirus briefing, the president focused on wanting to reopen businesses very soon despite global guidance to essentially shut down societies […]

UK government imposes 3-week national lockdown, enforced by police, to contain coronavirus

The United Kingdom went into full lockdown on Monday as the British government attempted to contain the spiraling number of coronavirus cases that have emerged in the country. The lockdown, which will be re-assessed in three weeks, will close all businesses deemed nonessential, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. “The time has now come for us […]

Partisan tensions erupt in the Senate as coronavirus stimulus bill fails for a second time

Partisan tensions erupted on Monday afternoon as the Senate failed for a second time to advance a massive stimulus package to address the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, with lawmakers from each side accusing the other party of holding up negotiations. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., excoriated Democrats ahead of the vote saying, “this body […]

Stephcast 3-23-20

Trump outlines National Guard activations for New York, California and Washington

President Donald Trump said Sunday that the federal government has activated US National Guard units for three of the states hardest hit by the novel coronavirus — New York, California and Washington state. “And through (Federal Emergency Management Agency), the federal government will be funding 100% of the cost of deploying national guard units to carry out […]

Fauci gets frank about Trump: ‘I can’t jump in front of the microphone and push him down’

Amid the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic, Anthony S. Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been charged with a herculean task: trying to keep President Trump’s public statements about the novel virus rooted in fact. Now it appears that Fauci’s frustration is showing. When asked Sunday by Science magazine’s Jon Cohen about having to stand […]

10 Ways to Ease Your Coronavirus Anxiety

It is easy to succumb to fear in the face of uncertainty and unpredictability. Yet, despite panic-inducing op-eds and a new study that estimates more than 9,000 Americans may already be infected, experts insist there is still room for a bit of optimism. In Italy, one of the primary hot spots of the pandemic, the number of recoveries continues […]

Americans turned to fun and creative ways to stay sane while social distancing this weekend

On any other Sunday, CNN News Editor Michelle Krupa, her husband and their two young boys would be hunting for empty seats at the St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Atlanta. But with all the Masses canceled due to the coronavirus, Krupa had to get creative. Transforming their living room couch into a church pew for […]

Coronavirus: What to do if you’re worried about paying your bills

Efforts are being made to help the millions of people who are expected to lose income because of the pandemic.   Tax day has been pushed back until July 15. Some homeowners can defer their mortgage payments. Federal student loan payments have been delayed interest-free for two months. Some foreclosures and evictions have been suspended. Utility shutoffs in some municipalities have been put on hold. And […]

Democrats Block Senate Coronavirus Bill, Calling It A ‘Corporate Bailout’

Democrats are raising serious concerns about the Senate’s massive emergency legislation aimed at propping up the economy and giving relief to workers hit hard by the growing coronavirus pandemic, saying it’s tilted too far in favor of Wall Street and big corporations. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) attempted to advance the bill on Sunday evening, […]

Marriott Furloughs Two-Thirds of Its Employees; CEO Calls Coronavirus Impact ‘Worse Than 9/11 and 2009 Financial Crisis Combined’

Marriott International, Inc., the world’s largest hotel company, announced on Sunday that it would furlough two-thirds of its workforce due to economic pressures from the coronavirus pandemic. The furlough will include two-thirds of the 4,000 employees at Marriott’s headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland and two-thirds of the 174,000 employees around the world, according to a report by Fox […]

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) Tests Positive For Coronavirus

Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, has tested positive for coronavirus, his office announced in a statement on Sunday. He is the first senator and the third member of Congress to test positive. Mr. Paul “is asymptomatic and was tested out of an abundance of caution due to his extensive travel and events,” his office said […]

Eric Boehlert: We’re still waiting for “Trump Lies About Pandemic” headlines

Stay healthy. Be kind. Trump’s lying about the global pandemic continues nonstop. At each White House daily briefing, he unfurls a multitude of falsehoods about the virus, the government’s response, and his own previous comments on the crisis. We’ve never seen anything like this before from an American president during a time of national peril. […]

The Rude Pundit: Why It Matters That Trump Is Calling COVID-19 “the Chinese Virus”

“Zika” and “West Nile virus” were named before 1950, when things were even more racist-y than they are now. “Ebola” got its name because scientists, including ones from the Centers for Disease Control, decided to name it for a river near the village in the Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire) where the first case was discovered. […]

DOJ Wants to Suspend Certain Constitutional Rights During Coronavirus Emergency

The Trump Department of Justice has asked Congress to craft legislation allowing chief judges to indefinitely hold people without trial and suspend other constitutionally-protected rights during coronavirus and other emergencies, according to a report by Politico’s Betsy Woodruff Swan. While the asks from the Department of Justice will likely not come to fruition with a Democratically-controlled House of Representatives, they […]

Coronavirus Myths vs. Facts

Don’t get fooled by rumors and myths surrounding coronavirus.  Here is a list of some of those myths, and the actual facts.   Read the rest of the story at The New York Times.

Stimulus package could top $2 trillion as negotiators look to clear final major hurdles

US negotiators entered a crucial day in the effort to deploy more than $1 trillion in emergency stimulus to a staggering economy, with a growing consensus on a final agreement, but a handful of significant hang-ups still to be resolved. Bipartisan groups of senators worked late into Friday night with top officials from President Donald Trump’s administration to lock […]

How does it spread? Is takeout safe? Answering your most-asked questions

CNN readers from around the world have asked more than 50,000 questions about coronavirus. We’re reading as many as we can and answering some of the most popular questions here. If you have a question about coronavirus we haven’t answered, ask us here. You can also subscribe to our newsletter, Coronavirus: Fact or Fiction, or listen to Dr. […]

Over 80 million Americans under virtual lockdown as global coronavirus cases surge past 300,000

The number of global coronavirus cases surged past 300,000 on Sunday, with more than 13,000 deaths worldwide, according to John Hopkins University, which reported that China, Italy and the U.S. had the most people diagnosed with the respiratory illness. The news came as the number of Americans under virtual lockdown grew to over 80 million […]

If the coronavirus has you worried about your mortgage, do these three things

The health and economic impact of the spread of COVID-19 is both already devastating and only just beginning. Food-service and gig workers are already seeing their incomes dry up. Nest eggs are vanishing as the stock market collapses. It seems as if it’s only a matter of time before the impacts are felt in other […]

The Small Business Administration Is Offering Covid-19 Assistance

Click the link below to find out how the SBA can help your small business. Disaster Assistance from the Small Business Administration

“Very difficult to predict” how long “stay-at-home” orders will last, Dr. Fauci says

In the past 24 hours, some governors have begun issuing statewide stay-at-home orders in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Residents of California, New York and Illinois have all been ordered to remain in their homes as much as possible, barring some essential exceptions.  In an interview with “CBS Evening News” anchor […]

Grocery stores urge calm amid coronavirus crisis: ‘This is a demand issue. Not a supply issue’

Despite scenes of empty shelves and customers hoarding all the essentials, the grocery industry says they are doing everything they can to remain open, safe and stocked amid the coronavirus pandemic, emphasizing that the supply chain is still flowing. “We know what the risks are and retailers are addressing those risks in the store,” Heather Garlich, who […]

U.S. intelligence reports from January and February warned about a likely pandemic

U.S. intelligence agencies were issuing ominous, classified warnings in January and February about the global danger posed by the coronavirus while President Trump and lawmakers played down the threat and failed to take action that might have slowed the spread of the pathogen, according to U.S. officials familiar with spy agency reporting. The intelligence reports didn’t predict […]

Biden trashes Trump over coronavirus response: ‘Step up and do your job, Mr. President’

Joe Biden, the 2020 Democratic front-runner, slammed President Donald Trump over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic Friday, accusing him of being “behind the curve through his whole response.” Biden, speaking on a conference call with reporters, offered a series of blunt missives for Trump, and criticized him for repeatedly providing the American people with […]

Staffer for Vice President Mike Pence tests positive for the coronavirus

A member of Vice President Mike Pence’s staff has tested positive for the coronavirus, Pence’s office said Friday night. The staffer’s name and exact position was not released, but Pence’s press secretary, Katie Miller, said, “Neither President Trump nor Vice President Pence had close contact with the individual. “Further contact tracing is being conducted in accordance […]

FDA is working on treatment of coronavirus with blood from recovered patients

Dr. Arturo Casadevall was working from home in Baltimore on Thursday when his phone started to buzz with messages from colleagues. The commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration had just announced during a White House press briefing that the agency was investigating the possibility of using blood plasma donated by recovered coronavirus patients as a promising […]

Feeling depressed? You’re not alone — and you may want to seek help

It’s no exaggeration to say there’s a lot to worry about at the moment. That’s why mental health experts are advising people to pay attention to any feelings of anxiety or depression. “The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 may be stressful for people,” says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Fear and anxiety about […]

SM Happy Hour Videocast 3-20-20 CC Goldwater

Three more states join California in telling nonessential workers to stay home

Connecticut, Illinois and New York joined California on Friday in ordering nonessential workers to remain at home to slow the spread of coronavirus, which means 1 in 5 Americans live in a state under general stay-at-home orders. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he was hoping to alleviate what he said was an approaching “a total […]

Get Up-to-Date Information on COVID-19 From the WHO Using WhatsApp

With information changing quickly, it’s hard to find the latest and most up-to-date COVID-19 information. Today, the World Health Organization announced a new Health Alert system through WhatsApp. The free service is designed to help answer some of the questions the public might have about coronavirus. It’s available 24 hours a day. To access it […]

Stephcast 3-20-20

U.S. tax filing day moved from April 15 to July 15

Tax Day is being pushed back until July while the nation copes with the effects of the coronavirus, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin announced Friday. “At @realDonaldTrump’s direction, we are moving Tax Day from April 15 to July 15. All taxpayers and businesses will have this additional time to file and make payments without interest or penalties,” […]

Don’t ask employees if they have COVID-19, and other HR tips for employers

Can I ask an employee if he or she has COVID-19, the illness caused by coronavirus? Can I send a sick worker home and require a doctor’s note to return? Should I worry about staff getting the virus from the mail or a shipping container from China? Those were among the top questions from a […]

Food banks are seeing volunteers disappear and supplies evaporate as coronavirus fears mount

Hunger advocates say they are growing increasingly concerned about how they are going to get food to millions of vulnerable Americans, especially in coronavirus “hot spots” across the country — and the many more facing food insecurity because of business closures and market upheaval. The widening coronavirus outbreak is making it difficult for food banks, food pantries […]

Chloroquine, an old malaria drug, may help treat novel coronavirus, doctors say

What do malaria and COVID-19 have in common? On the surface, not much. But according to early research, an old malaria drug called chloroquine might also work for the new coronavirus. Could a decades-old malaria drug work to treat COVID-19? Elon Musk seems to think so, recently tweeting that it “might be worth considering chloroquine” for […]

Coronavirus: Explained

Everything you wanted to know about the virus itself is explained in the video from ABC News at this link: Coronavirus: Explained

Americans told ‘do not travel’ overseas by State Department amid coronavirus outbreak

The State Department is urging all Americans “do not travel” abroad because of the novel coronavirus pandemic and the severe travel restrictions or quarantines imposed by governments around the world. In an unprecedented global health advisory, the department issued its highest-level alert, usually reserved for war zones or hot spots like Syria, North Korea or Somalia. Read the rest of the story at ABC News.

Senate Republicans release massive economic stimulus bill for coronavirus response

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) released a massive economic stimulus bill Thursday to fight the coronavirus’s fallout, even as opposition emerged from some key Republicans to one of the central elements of the plan — direct cash payments to many Americans. Some conservatives expressed opposition to these cash payments entirely, while others warned that GOP […]

Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), head of powerful committee, sold large amount of stocks before sharp declines in market

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.), who had expressed confidence in the country’s preparedness for the coronavirus outbreak, sold a significant share of his stocks last month, according to public disclosures. The sales included stocks in some of the industries that have been hardest hit by the global pandemic, including hotels and restaurants, shipping, drug manufacturing, […]

See who’d be eligible for coronavirus checks under Senate GOP plan

The plan unveiled Thursday night by Senate Republicans to send direct cash payment to help Americans hurt by the coronavirus pandemic would send checks of up to $1,200 per person in a one-time payment — and payments would be based on income. Under the plan, the details of which were revealed on the Senate floor by Majority Leader […]

Gov. Gavin Newsom orders all Californians to stay at home

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday ordered Californians to stay at home, marking the first mandatory restrictions placed on the lives of all 40 million residents in the state’s fight against the novel coronavirus. The governor’s action comes at a critical time in California, where 19 people have died and at least 1,000 have tested positive […]

New York Mayor De Blasio calls on Tesla’s Elon Musk to make ventilators for New York City

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has been raising concerns for weeks about an impending ventilator shortage as coronavirus rapidly spreads throughout the city. Now, he’s turning to Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk for help. “New York City is buying! Our country is facing a drastic shortage and we need ventilators ASAP — […]

U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Rises To 150

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday reported 10,491 cases of coronavirus, an increase of 3,404 cases from its previous count, and said the death toll had risen by 53 to 150. The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness, COVID-19, caused by a new coronavirus, as of 4 p.m. ET on March 18 […]

Tulsi Gabbard ends presidential campaign, endorses Biden

Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has announced the end to her campaign following continued low placement in national polls, a weak finish during Super Tuesday and subsequent contests and failing to meet the thresholds to participate in the most recent series of Democratic National Committee sponsored debates. In a letter to supporters, Gabbard cited that the […]

Democrats sue to expand voter access amid spread of coronavirus

Amidst rapid changes surrounding in-person voting as concerns of novel coronavirus spread, Democratic groups are suing to expand voter access at the polls in some states. The Ohio Democratic Party (ODP) sued Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose after Gov. Mike DeWine ordered the polls closed on Tuesday due to a health emergency caused by coronavirus. LaRose […]

Experimental drug holds promise for treating the coronavirus

There are early signs that an experimental treatment for people who become very sick from the coronavirus may start working within 24 hours of the first dose. The treatment, an antiviral therapy called remdesivir, is thought to work by blocking the virus from reproducing itself in the body. “It basically stops the production of the […]

Coronavirus: State Department warns Americans not to travel

The U.S. State Department raised the global travel advisory Thursday to Level 4: Do Not Travel, citing the coronavirus pandemic. Americans should consider returning to the U.S. immediately through whatever commercial means are available, the advisory warned. The guidance comes as Americans traveling abroad struggle to make their way home amid widespread border closures and […]

StephCast 3-19-20

What to Do if the Coronavirus Outbreak Is Affecting Your Finances

All jokes about Netflix and social distancing aside, the coronavirus outbreak is causing financial uncertainty for a lot of people. From workers who rely on tips to events staffers for now-canceled festivals and trade shows, there are plenty of scenarios where the income you can typically count on may not come through. If you’re lucky, it’s a minor inconvenience. […]

Live Updates On Coronavirus Statistics

If you’d like to see live updates on coronavirus cases and deaths around the world, this website gives a great snapshot.

New York Stock Exchange temporarily closing trading floors, going all electronic

The New York Stock Exchange will temporarily close its trading floors and switch to all-electronic trading beginning when markets open next Monday amid the novel coronavirus outbreak. “Trading and regulatory oversight of all NYSE-listed securities will continue without interruption,” its operator, Intercontinental Exchange, Inc., said in a statement Wednesday. The facilities that will be closed include the […]

Trump Signs Coronavirus Aid Bill

After some changes that watered down its paid sick leave provisions over the weekend, a bipartisan bill offering financial relief to vulnerable Americans affected by the coronavirus was passed by the U.S. Senate and signed by Trump on Wednesday.  Forty-five Republicans joined all Democrats in voting to send the measure to his desk.  “The Act makes emergency supplemental appropriations […]

Large Number of Patients with COVID-19 Are Younger — United States, February 12–March 16, 2020

As of March 16, a total of 4,226 COVID-19 cases had been reported in the United States, with reports increasing to 500 or more cases per day beginning March 14. Among 2,449 patients with known age, 6% were aged ≥85, 25% were aged 65–84 years, 18% each were aged 55–64 years and 45–54 years, and […]

Two members of the U.S. House of Representatives test positive for COVID-19

Two members of the House of Representatives have tested positive for the coronavirus illness COVID-19 and are self-quarantining, the lawmakers said Wednesday. Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., and Ben McAdams, D-Utah, are the first two members of Congress who have said they tested positive for COVID-19. Diaz-Balart was the first to make the announcement Wednesday. His office said […]

The coronavirus pandemic began in China. Today, it reported no new local infections for the first time

China has reported no new locally transmitted coronavirus cases for the first time since the the pandemic began, marking a major turning point in the global battle to contain Covid-19. At a news conference on Thursday morning, officials from China’s National Health Commission announced there had been just 34 new cases in the past 24 hours — […]

What is and isn’t allowed during a ‘shelter-in-place’ order

The basics of a “shelter-in-place” order during the coronavirus pandemic are fairly clear: Stay at home. But as cities, states and the federal government take increasingly aggressive moves to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, the precise details of a “shelter-in-place” order and its many exceptions for “essential activities” may soon become familiar to millions of […]

Lincoln Project: Can Trump handle the virus?

Today, The Lincoln Project released a new ad, ‘A Virus In The World’ that asks tough questions about the real threat Donald Trump poses to America. “Echoing one of the most iconic political ads of all time, this new ad poses the same kind of compelling questions that the 1984 Reagan “Bear in the Woods” […]

Health officials caution young people to ‘heed the advice’ on coronavirus

President Donald Trump and a top US health official cautioned young people to heed the advice to socially distance and be wary of the coronavirus pandemic even though they do not fall in the highest risk groups. Dr. Deborah Birx said during Wednesday’s briefing at the White House that the coronavirus task force is concerned about reports indicating […]

Senate Approves Relief Package to Provide Paid Sick Leave and Other Benefits

The Senate approved a relief package Wednesday to provide sick leave, unemployment benefits, free coronavirus testing, and food and medical aid to people impacted by the pandemic, sending it to President Trump, who is expected to sign it. The package passed by a vote of 90 to 8 after the majority leader, Senator Mitch McConnell, […]

U.S. to suspend evictions, authorize Defense Production Act to mobilize businesses to aid coronavirus response

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he is invoking the Defense Production Act to mobilize U.S. private production capacity to combat the coronavirus outbreak. Trump also said his administration is “suspending all foreclosures and evictions until the end of April” to help those affected by the virus. The Defense Production Act, enacted in 1950, allows the […]

Who gets a ventilator? Hospitals facing coronavirus surge are preparing for life-or-death decisions

Amid growing fears that the United States could face a shortage of ventilators for coronavirus patients, state officials and hospitals are quietly preparing to make excruciating decisions about how they would ration lifesaving care. The plans may not be necessary, as officials are scrambling to secure more ventilators, which can make the difference between life and death for coronavirus […]

Covid-19 Is Already Wreaking Havoc on the Blood Supply – Here’s How To Safely Give

Covid-19 is expected to tear through the already fragile U.S. healthcare system, as waves of pneumonia and severe respiratory illness begin to flood the country’s emergency rooms and hospitals. But the outbreak is also imperiling a vital part of our medical infrastructure: the blood supply. U.S. blood centers have been experiencing rapidly declining levels of […]

StephCast 3-18-20

White House, Senate GOP working on $1 Trillion stimulus package, cash payments to Americans

After leaving a White House news conference with President Donald Trump, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met behind closed doors with Senate Republicans for a little over an hour Tuesday, pitching lawmakers on a $1 trillion economic stimulus package, the third infusion of emergency spending designed to help a U.S. economy crushed by the novel coronavirus outbreak, […]

Projections: Biden sweeps three states, doubles delegate lead over Sanders

Joe Biden doubled his delegate lead over Bernie Sanders in Tuesday’s primaries, giving him a nearly insurmountable advantage after sweeping Florida, Illinois and Arizona, according to NBC News projections. The former vice president now has 315 more delegates than the senator from Vermont — 1,132 to Sanders’ 817 — after having started the night with an edge of 154. Biden has passed […]

Hello from Italy. Your future is grimmer than you think.

My family lives in the Veneto, in Northern Italy, one of the regions worst hit by the novel coronavirus. We are on lockdown. It’s scary. It’s lonely. It’s uncomfortable. And did I mention scary? I’ll spare you the statistics and the sermons; both are already abundant. But I do want to make one thing clear: If […]

Bob Cesca: GOP Groundhog Day… Why do we keep electing Republicans? They’re no good at this

If the slow-on-the-uptake response to COVID-19 by the White House seems a little familiar to you, you’re definitely not imagining it. As if we’re caught in some sort of “Groundhog Day” loop in the time-space continuum, we’ve absolutely been here before. Cue “I Got You Babe” on the alarm clock. I realize too many Americans […]

Mitch McConnell Calls For House Coronavirus Bill To Be Passed Without Amendment: ‘Gag and Vote For It Anyway’

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said the Senate would move ahead with a vote on the House’s coronavirus response bill, and urged his Republican colleagues to withhold their objections to the bill and “vote for it anyway.” Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, McConnell said his intention was to hold a vote on the House’s bill as […]

New York City mayor says ‘shelter in place’ decision coming in next 48 hours

The City That Never Sleeps could be shutting down in 48 hours. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday that he was considering whether to impose a shelter in place order which would essentially require residents to stay in their homes and keep outside social contact to a minimum to slow the spread of […]

White House eyes giving Americans checks to combat economic impact of outbreak

The White House announced Tuesday that it is pitching a $1 trillion economic package to combat the coronavirus outbreak, $250 billion of which would be used for direct payments to Americans. “We have put a proposal on the table that would inject one trillion dollars into the economy,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Capitol […]

Stephcast 3-17-20

Ohio governor announces polls will be closed today over coronavirus

Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced late Monday night that polls will be closed in the state on Tuesday as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The order came from Ohio Health Director Dr. Amy Acton, who said she was ordering “the polling locations in the State of Ohio closed on March 17” in order to “avoid […]

Dow slides 3,000 points in worst point loss ever, despite massive intervention from Fed

Wall Street had a grisly start to the week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average sliding by 3,000 points, or 13 percent, to end the day at 20,188, a few hundred points above where it was when President Donald Trump took office. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed the day with a decline of around […]

Charlie Pierce: Joe Biden Is a Party Man. Will He Go Along With the Party’s New Progressive Direction?

Two of the three guys in the prime risk category who want to be President of the United States next year debated in a largely empty studio Sunday night. Both Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders proved themselves to be preferable alternatives to the angry talking yam presently in the White House. In that sense, they […]

Idris Elba announces he tested positive for coronavirus, but says he’s feeling fine

Actor Idris Elba announced Monday that he has tested positive for coronavirus, but says he has not shown symptoms. Elba, 47, told his social media followers that he was tested after he discovered he was in close contact with someone else who tested positive, but that he is not experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19, the disease […]

Rep. Louie Gohmert delays House coronavirus relief bill from moving to Senate

Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, is holding up the House-passed coronavirus relief bill and preventing it from being delivered to the Senate for a vote. The House was expected to make technical corrections Monday to the bipartisan measure, passed by the House early Saturday, but Gohmert is insisting on reading them, a Democratic leadership aide confirmed to NBC […]

Stephcast 3-16-20

Millions across the US wake up to massive shutdowns to curb spread of coronavirus

The end of a weekend spent indoors, away from neighbors, friends, and communities of worship, will not bring relief to Americans on Monday as they face a slew of new restrictions designed to curb the spread of coronavirus. More than 30 million students are out of school. A growing number of restaurants are prohibited from inviting customers […]

Federal Reserve cuts rates to near zero in emergency action

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates to nearly zero Sunday, an emergency move that represented its second attempt to stimulate an economy that has been ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic. By making borrowing as cheap as possible, the central bank hopes businesses and individuals will have ready access to nearly interest-free cash to invest and […]

Biden says he will pick a woman running mate, Sanders likely to do same

Joe Biden said for the first time during Sunday’s debate that he will “pick a woman to be my vice president” if he’s the Democratic nominee. “If I’m elected president, my Cabinet, my administration will look like the country, and I committed that I will pick a woman to be my vice president,” Biden said […]

Eric Boehlert: To protect America, the press needs to unplug Trump’s pandemic misinformation

As the coronavirus crisis becomes increasingly dire, news organization have to choose between covering the truth, and covering Trump. Today, every time Trump addresses the novel virus and America’s unfolding pandemic, he makes things worse with his steady stream of reckless contradictions, lies, and misinformation. A proud agent of chaos, Trump is the worst possible leader […]

The Rude Pundit: Trump Vs. the Virus Is Really Trump Vs. Us

I’ve been trying for the last couple of days to wrap my head around, well, fucking everything. Yes, there are the ways the coronavirus pandemic affects me personally and professionally (I’m not just a tenured liberal professor; I’m the tenured liberal chair of a whole goddamn department).  But I’ve been trying to get used to […]

Struggling Europeans tighten virus measures as China relaxes

Spain prepared to declare a state of emergency on Saturday and Italy tightened its lockdown by closing down parks, while Denmark and Poland became the latest countries to shut their borders to most travelers in a bid to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. As European countries took ever more severe, though widely varying, measures to reduce contact between […]

White House doctor says Trump doesn’t need coronavirus test

The president does not need to take a test to determine if he’s positive for coronavirus because two interactions he had with known patients were “low risk,” a White House doctor said in a memo released Friday. The memo was made public hours after Trump said he would be tested. “Not for that reason, but […]

Trump declares national emergency to combat coronavirus, authorizes waiving of laws and regulations

President Donald Trump on Friday announced a new series of measures to combat the coronavirus and treat those who are affected, while pushing back on criticism that his administration was unprepared to confront the pandemic. Speaking in the White House Rose Garden, Trump declared a national emergency that could free up $50 billion to help fight the […]

Democratic-led House passes sweeping coronavirus response package

The House passed sweeping legislation Saturday to respond to the coronavirus outbreak battering the nation, an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote to expand access to free testing, provide $1 billion in food aid and extend sick leave benefits to vulnerable Americans. The bill’s bipartisan passage, 363-40, was virtually assured when President Donald Trump backed the measure — […]

SM Happy Hour Videocast 3-13-20 Shelby Lynne

Stephcast 3-13-20

Dow’s 10% loss most since 1987 market crash

U.S. financial markets fell even further on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing more than 2,350 points, almost 10%, in the biggest single-day decline since one of more than 22% in 1987’s Black Monday crash. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq similarly tumbled by 9.51% and 9.43%, with the S&P 500 joining the Dow […]

Two-thirds of Americans concerned about contracting coronavirus, as country grapples with growing crisis: POLL

Two-thirds of Americans are concerned that they or someone they know will be infected with the novel coronavirus, but in a country with a growing partisan divide, political tribalism is having a large impact when it comes to anxiety over the disease, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll released Friday. Although unease over the coronavirus is high, […]

Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) gets CDC chief to agree to pay for coronavirus testing

Democratic Rep. Katie Porter successfully pressed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chief during a congressional hearing on Thursday to agree that the agency will pay for testing for the novel coronavirus. The exchange came after President Donald Trump, while addressing the nation on Wednesday night, incorrectly implied that coronavirus patients could access free treatment. Many insurers have said they […]

Top Disease Expert Fauci: Virus Testing Is A ‘Failing,’ Leaving Cases Uncounted

Seven weeks have passed since the first U.S. case of coronavirus was announced, and the government is failing to account for what could be thousands of additional infections because of ongoing problems with testing. “The system is not really geared to what we need right now,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert […]

Stephcast 3-12-20

Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson Say They’ve Tested Positive For Coronavirus

Actors Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have tested positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, Hanks said in a statement on Wednesday.  The married couple are currently in Australia where Hanks was working on director Baz Luhrmann’s untitled Elvis Presley film. Hanks plays Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker, in the movie. Hanks tweeted […]

NBA Suspends Season After Player Tests Positive For Coronavirus

The NBA announced Wednesday evening that it is suspending the 2019-2020 basketball season after a player tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. “The NBA is suspending game play following the conclusion of tonight’s schedule of games until further notice,” the association said in a statement. “The NBA will use this […]

House Democrats Unveil Broad Package To Help Americans Affected By Coronavirus

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday unveiled a broad package of proposals to help Americans affected by the coronavirus outbreak, while officials suspended public tours through the Capitol building. The legislation, which Democratic leaders aimed to rush to the House floor for debate and passage on Thursday, would grant workers 14 days of paid sick leave and […]

Trump Responds To Spiraling U.S. Coronavirus Outbreak By Unveiling Europe Travel Ban, Ignoring Lack Of Tests

In the face of a rapidly expanding global coronavirus pandemic that has already killed dozens and infected at least 1,200 within the United States, President Donald Trump delivered a strange Oval Office speech Wednesday in which he focused on banning travel from Europe, said nothing about the lack of available testing across the country, and […]

Stephcast 3-11-20

Next Democratic debate to be held without an audience, DNC and CNN announce

The next Democratic debate set to take place in Phoenix, Arizona will be held without a live audience due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, the Democratic National Committee and CNN announced Tuesday.   “At the request of both campaigns and out of an abundance of caution, there will be no live audience at […]

Trump pushes economic relief amid coronavirus crisis: Stay calm and ‘it will go away’

President Donald Trump headed to Capitol Hill Tuesday to push what he called a “very dramatic” economic relief plan to counter the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, and on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, after experiencing the biggest-ever point drop on Monday, rose close to 800 points in trading near the opening Tuesday before settling […]

As U.S. coronavirus cases top 1,000, mixed signs of recovery in China, South Korea

As the number of novel coronavirus cases topped 1,000 in the United States amid widening public disruption, Asian nations were struggling to recover from their own outbreaks Wednesday. In the United States, government officials and businesses announced sweeping steps to contain the rapidly expanding outbreak. Five more deaths — including two in Washington state and […]

Biden rolls on with big win in Michigan, grows delegate lead over Sanders

Joe Biden is extending his delegate lead over Bernie Sanders in Tuesday night’s primaries, according to NBC News projections. The former vice president now has a 145-delegate lead over the Vermont senator after winning four of the six states that voted Tuesday, according to NBC News. Nationally, Biden has 830 delegates to Sanders’ 685, as of 1:30 am ET. Biden appears […]

Bob Cesca: The presidency is an actual job… This idiot can’t do it

Steven Wright, the great surrealist comedian, once inadvertently described how the last several weeks, if not the last three years, have felt to so many of us.  On his 1985 “I Have a Pony” concert album, Wright joked about the sensation of leaning too far back in his chair, but catching himself at the last second […]

Stephcast 3-10-20

Democratic primaries today in Michigan, 5 other states: Everything you need to know

Voters in six states will get to weigh in on the Democratic presidential primary campaign Tuesday for the first time since Joe Biden’s Super Tuesday surge last week gave him a delegate lead over Bernie Sanders. The contests are also the first since Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and billionaire Mike Bloomberg dropped out of the race. Click here for what […]

California Cruise Ship With Coronavirus Cases Docks In Oakland To Unload Passengers

A cruise ship that was held off the California coast for days after several passengers tested positive for coronavirus docked Monday in the port of Oakland. The Grand Princess cruise ship will gradually unload its around 2,500 guests onboard to send them to facilities for further testing and treatment. Of around 45 people tested onboard […]

Dow closes with decline of 2,000 points, almost ending 11-year bull market

Wall Street took a beating on Monday, as collapsing oil prices and fears about the impact of the coronavirus almost nudged the American economy out of the longest bull market in history, exactly 11 years to the day since it began. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the day with a loss of around 2,000 […]

Charlie Pierce: Who the Hell Wants Another Four Years of This?

As the weekend rolled on, and as the president*’s deranged performance at the Centers for Disease Control became an iconic moment in executive incompetence, I remembered reading something in The New York Times during the Obama Administration about a guy who went all over the world, and deep into the boondocks, to help various countries fight malaria. […]

“He’s Definitely Melting Down Over This”: Trump, Germaphobe in Chief, Struggles to Control the Covid-19 Story

Publicly, he sees it as yet another (“Fake News”) media war; privately, he worries about virus-carrying journalists on Air Force One. But cancel his rallies? “I’m not going to do it,” he says. Ever since the coronavirus exploded outside of China at the end of January, Donald Trump has treated the public health crisis as a media […]

Stephcast 3-9-20

Cory Booker endorses Biden

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, a former Democratic presidential candidate, endorsed Joe Biden’s White House bid Monday — becoming the latest of the former vice president’s old primary rivals to back his campaign over that of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. “The answer to hatred & division is to reignite our spirit of common purpose,” Booker wrote on […]

Dow futures tumble as Saudi-Russia oil price war adds to coronavirus stress

Stocks across the world tumbled early Monday after a shocking all-out oil price war added to anxiety around the economic fallout from the spreading coronavirus. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average indicated an opening drop of more than 1,300 points. The S&P 500 futures indicated a 5 percent drop at Monday’s open. The S&P futures trading was briefly halted […]

Eric Boehlert: Memo to media… Maybe voters don’t care about Biden “gaffes”

As Joe Biden basked in the glow of his stunning Super Tuesday primary victories, which established him as the clear front-runner for the Democratic nomination, he took the stage to address supporters in Los Angeles. At one point amidst the celebration, he turned around and appeared to confuse his wife, Jill, and his wife’s sister, […]

The Rude Pundit: What Did That Dumb Orange Motherf**ker Say Now? (CDC Visit Version)

So it was that our hairless yeti of a president lumbered into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta in order to show that he can pretend to be interested in what’s being done to slow the outbreak of COVID-19, the coronavirus that is breeding exponentially and spreading with seemingly little pushback in […]

Former Blackwater Head Erik Prince Recruits Ex-Spies to Help Infiltrate Liberal Groups

Erik Prince, the security contractor with close ties to the Trump administration, has in recent years helped recruit former American and British spies for secretive intelligence-gathering operations that included infiltrating Democratic congressional campaigns, labor organizations and other groups considered hostile to the Trump agenda, according to interviews and documents. One of the former spies, an […]

Trump’s mismanagement helped fuel coronavirus crisis

On Friday, as coronavirus infections rapidly multiplied aboard a cruise ship marooned off the coast of California, health department officials and Vice President Mike Pence came up with a plan to evacuate thousands of passengers, avoiding the fate of a similar cruise ship, the Diamond Princess, which became a petri dish of coronavirus infections. Quickly removing […]

Matt Gaetz Wore Gas Mask To Mock Coronavirus Concerns. One Of His Constituents Just Died From It.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) mocked coronavirus concerns by wearing a gas mask on the House floor just days before an infected man from his district died. “Reviewing the coronavirus supplemental appropriation and preparing to go vote,” he said in a tweet Wednesday before the Senate approved an $8.3 billion emergency funding bill to combat the […]

Sen. Kamala Harris endorses Joe Biden for president

Kamala Harris endorsed Joe Biden on Sunday and said she would “do everything in my power’’ to help elect him, becoming the latest dropout from the Democratic race for president to line up behind the former vice president in his battle with Bernie Sanders for the nomination. The decision by the California senator who was […]

SM Happy Hour Videocast 3-6-20 Live in Seattle

Stephcast 3-6-20

Stephcast 3-5-20

Elizabeth Warren Ends Presidential Campaign

Senator Elizabeth Warren is suspending her presidential campaign and ending her pursuit of the White House in the 2020 election. Ever since the results of Super Tuesday made the Democratic primary a head-to-head between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, there have been numerous questions about whether Warren will continue her run, or back out and presumably urge her […]

Trump falsely claimed that Obama administration slowed down diagnostic disease testing

President Donald Trump sought to lay blame on the Obama administration for slowing down new diagnostic testing, but a Republican senator’s office and a lab association said this is not correct. “The Obama administration made a decision on testing that turned out to be very detrimental to what we’re doing,” Trump said Wednesday during on a meeting addressing […]

Bloomberg ends presidential campaign, endorses Biden after dismal Super Tuesday

Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire former New York mayor who jumped into the 2020 presidential race late and spent over $500 million on an unorthodox campaign, ended his bid for the Democratic nomination on Wednesday, but vowed to stay in the fight in an attempt to defeat President Donald Trump in November. “After yesterday’s results, the delegate […]

Stephcast 3-4-20

Coronavirus triggers cancellations, closures and contingency planning across the country

With daily reports of the deadly coronavirus spreading into communities across the country, schools, companies, religious organizations and local governments are grappling with whether to shut down facilities and cancel events or to proceed, cautiously, as planned. Increasingly, organizations are opting to cancel large gatherings, encourage remote work or take other steps reflecting an abundance of caution about the virus, […]

Trump launches an urgent fight to save his ticket to reelection

Eight months from a general election, President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers are considering an urgent effort to rescue the U.S. economy from a coronavirus panic. Trump advisers and GOP lawmakers have spent the past few days pushing the White House to develop a package of economic stimulus measures, designed to prop up the economy […]

Bloomberg spends $500 Million to notch first win — in American Samoa, 6,000 miles from U.S. mainland

Mike Bloomberg won his first contest, carrying the American Samoa Democratic caucuses and winning at least four delegates on Super Tuesday, NBC News projected. Bloomberg won 49.9 percent of the vote, or 175 votes. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, who was born in American Samoa, received 29.3 percent, or 103 votes, and earned one delegate with 99 percent […]

Biden Revives Campaign, Winning Nine States, but Sanders Takes California

The Democratic presidential race emerged from Super Tuesday with two clear front-runners as Joseph R. Biden Jr. won Texas, Virginia, North Carolina and at least six other states, largely through support from African-Americans and moderates, while Senator Bernie Sanders harnessed the backing of liberals and young voters to claim the biggest prize of the campaign, California, and several other […]

Bob Cesca: Biden vs. Bernie… If it’s down to a two-man race after Super Tuesday, how do we decide?

Here’s an unsettling fact of life, now that Amy Klobuchar, Tom Steyer and Pete Buttigieg have dropped out of the Democratic primary race: The Super Tuesday polling you’ve seen so far has been rendered more or less irrelevant. All of the polls conducted through this weekend measured support for a field of seven candidates, but that […]

Stephcast 3-3-20

5 Things To Watch In The Democratic Presidential Race On Super Tuesday

The single largest day of voting in the 2020 presidential primary has arrived: Super Tuesday. Fourteen states including California and Texas, as well as American Samoa and Democrats abroad, will cast ballots on March 3, a day that will likely play a big role in shaping the race for the Democratic nomination. Super Tuesday has […]

Chris Matthews announces retirement, mutually parts ways with MSNBC

Chris Matthews, one of the longest-tenured voices at MSNBC, announced his retirement during Monday’s night’s airing of his talk show, “Hardball.” Matthews, 74, said he and MSNBC had mutually agreed to part ways. The decision followed a series of events that resulted in criticism of the host’s statements about Bernie Sanders, African-American lawmakers, and comments he had […]

Charlie Pierce: The Republican Senate Will Go Scorched Earth on Joe Biden. Does He Have the Mental Stamina to Make It?

The great ungainly, blundering Borg called The Democratic Party Establishment seems finally to be getting its act together, and with remarkable speed. In just three days, it has managed to assimilate the campaigns of Tom Steyer, Pete Buttigieg, and Amy Klobuchar, the latter of whom was folded into the Collective early Monday afternoon. Klobuchar immediately […]

Elizabeth Warren Announces Plan For Swift Federal Action On Coronavirus

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Monday will lay out a detailed plan for swift federal action to combat the coronavirus outbreak. The proposed initiative, which Warren’s presidential campaign shared with HuffPost on Sunday evening, is not another item on Warren’s agenda for what she would do if she becomes president.  It is, instead, a list of steps that she […]

Pete Buttigieg Will Endorse Joe Biden for Democratic Nomination

Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg plans to endorse former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in the Democratic presidential race, according to a person informed of the decision, as the Democratic Party’s moderate wing quickly began coalescing around Mr. Biden in an effort to stop Senator Bernie Sanders from winning the Democratic nomination. Mr. Buttigieg’s endorsement, which is set to […]

Amy Klobuchar Drops Out Of 2020 Presidential Race

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) dropped her presidential bid Monday, an aide told HuffPost. Klobuchar is set to endorse former Vice President Joe Biden at an event in Dallas on Monday night, The Associated Press reports. Her decision comes after a poor showing in the South Carolina primary. She picked up just 3% of the vote, flailing in comparison to her […]

Stephcast 3-2-20

Pete Buttigieg Drops Out of Democratic Presidential Race

Pete Buttigieg, the former small-city Indiana mayor and first openly gay major presidential candidate, said Sunday night he was dropping out of the Democratic race, following a crushing loss in the South Carolina primary where his poor performance with black Democrats signaled an inability to build a broad coalition of voters. The decision comes just […]

Mike Pence: There ‘Will Be More’ Coronavirus Cases, Possible Deaths

Vice President Mike Pence, addressing coronavirus concerns in the U.S. on Sunday morning talk shows, said the risk of Americans contracting COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, “remains low” though future deaths are “possible.” “There will be more cases. There’s no question,” he said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” during which he […]

Billionaire Tom Steyer quits Democratic primary race

Tom Steyer, the California activist billionaire who has largely been a nonfactor in the Democratic primary campaign, dropped out of the race on Saturday night. Steyer’s departure came after a disappointing finish in the South Carolina Democratic primary. With 70 percent of the vote in, Steyer had just 11.5 percent of the vote — despite […]

Biden wins South Carolina primary, Sanders in 2nd

Joe Biden got the resounding victory his struggling campaign needed in South Carolina on Saturday night, buoyed by strong support from black voters, according to an NBC News projection. “Just days ago, the press and the pundits had declared this candidacy dead,” Biden told supporters. “Now, thanks to all of you, the heart of the Democratic Party, we’ve […]

Eric Boehlert: The press crucified Obama for Ebola, gives Trump a pass for coronavirus

The coronavirus health crisis has suddenly caught the media’s full attention. Monday’s stock market crash, with the Dow Jones industrial average plunging 1,000 points, was fueled by investor fear surrounding the possible pandemic, as infections spread globally. This, while a Harvard University epidemiologist this week predicted the coronavirus “will ultimately not be containable.” Trump’s slow-motion response to […]

The Rude Pundit: The Other Batshit Appearance Trump Made This Week

Yes, President Donald Trump acted more like a cartoon bear that had been hit in the head with a frying pan than the Leader of the Semi-Free World at his coronavirus press conference on Wednesday. But it was just as bad at another event he held the next day. It was a meeting with African American “leaders” […]

SM Happy Hour Videocast 2-28-20 (Vintage) Chez Pazienza

Stephcast 2-28-20

Trump Takes Victory Lap Over Coronavirus Outbreak That’s Still Growing and Crashing World Markets

The politicization of the coronavirus continues to spread faster than the potential pandemic itself. President Donald Trump called out “Do Nothing Democrats” for ostensibly saying that the new virus is “the fault of ‘Trump’” while at the same time taking credit for how slow it has spread in the United States. Weird flex, but okay. In a […]

Whistleblower: HHS Staff Who Met Coronavirus Evacuees Had No Training Or Protection

A government whistleblower has alleged that federal health employees who interacted with Americans quarantined for potential exposure to coronavirus were not wearing protective gear or given proper medical training, according to several media reports on Thursday. Officials from the Department of Health and Human Services sent more than a dozen ill-equipped workers to California earlier this […]

Stephcast 2-27-20

Dow plunges by another 780 points, worst week for Wall Street since the 2008 crisis

Wall Street fell sharply on Thursday for the sixth straight day, with all three major indices entering correction as investor fears multiplied that the coronavirus epidemic could spread to the U.S. A correction indicates a drop of 10 percent from the 52-week high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq all […]

Obama demands pro-Trump group stop using his voice to attack Biden

Former President Barack Obama is demanding that a pro-Trump group stop airing a “despicable” ad that uses a recording of Obama’s voice to attack former Vice President Joe Biden — a rare intervention in a race that Obama has largely avoided so far. “[T]his despicable ad is straight out of the Republican disinformation playbook, and […]

5 killed in shooting at Molson Coors campus in Milwaukee; gunman also dead

Five people were killed after an employee opened fire at the Molson Coors headquarters in Milwaukee on Wednesday, police said. Milwaukee police said they responded to reports of a shooting in the area just after 2 p.m. and found the gunman, a 51-year-old Milwaukee man, dead of what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. […]

Trump Taps Pence To Lead Coronavirus Response As CDC Warns Of Looming Spread

President Donald Trump tapped Vice President Mike Pence to lead the country’s response to the coronavirus and told Americans that the risk of infection remained low, despite warnings from public health officials that it is only a matter of time before the disease spreads in the United States.  “The number one priority from our standpoint […]

Stephcast 2-26-20

Coronavirus fears spook markets as outbreak spreads; France, Iran report new deaths

European financial markets fell Wednesday, and U.S. futures tilted lower, as the economic costs of the coronavirus spooked investors, a day after the Dow Jones industrial average slumped to its largest two-day percentage decline in two years. London’s FTSE 100 index fell 0.7 percent, while the benchmark Stoxx 600 shed 1.2 percent and U.S. crude-oil […]

Federal judge rebukes Trump over Roger Stone jury comments

A federal judge swung back at President Donald Trump on Tuesday over his heated criticism of the Roger Stone case, warning that the president’s commentary about his longtime associate’s conviction had helped fuel threats to the jury. U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson cited Trump’s public comments and Twitter posts, as well as an […]

5 Takeaways From That Messy South Carolina Democratic Debate

Most of the Democratic field stepped into the debate hall here Tuesday night needing a clear win to upend a messy 2020 presidential primary race. None of them got it.   In less than a week, South Carolina voters will cast their ballots in the fourth election day of the 2020 presidential cycle — the first […]

Bob Cesca: Can Bernie win? Absolutely — and I don’t even support him

I’m definitely going to catch hell in buckets on social media, but here it is: Bernie Sanders can absolutely defeat Donald Trump in November. I might be the only non-Bernie supporter saying it, but there it is.  There’s no doubt Bernie is now the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, and poll averages are showing additional […]

Stephcast 2-25-20

Trump says Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor should recuse themselves from cases involving him

President Trump says Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor should recuse themselves from any Supreme Court cases involving him or his administration. Mr. Trump said at a press conference Tuesday in India that he thinks both judges have said terrible things about him. The president first made the suggestion on Twitter, citing […]

How to watch tonight’s Democratic debate in South Carolina

Seven Democratic candidates for president have qualified for Tuesday’s debate in Charleston, South Carolina, to be hosted by CBS News. It’s the last opportunity candidates will have to make their pitch on a national stage before Saturday’s critical South Carolina primary — and the last one before voters in 16 states and territories go to the polls on […]

Charlie Pierce: Bill Kristol Isn’t Afraid of Bernie Sanders or His Rhetoric. He’s Afraid His Ideas Are Popular.

Quietly, now. Keep completely silent here in the duck blind across the river from the headquarters of The Bulwark, a small place with which American political sanity has no extradition treaty, alas. Anyway, if you stay absolutely still, you may hear the plaintive cry of the Solitary Nevertrumper. Wait. Listen. There it is now. The Republican party […]

Dow plunge tops 1,000 points on fears coronavirus will tank global economic growth

Wall Street plunged Monday after a spike in the number of reported cases of coronavirus fueled fears that the epidemic would have a serious impact on global economic growth. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted by 1,003 points in midday trading Monday, after a volatile session that saw the blue-chip index lose 979 points at the opening […]

Harvey Weinstein found guilty of rape in sexual assault trial

Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of rape and a felony sex crime Monday, marking a climactic end to a high-profile case that in some ways serves as vindication of the #MeToo movement. Those two counts were connected to individual allegations made by Mimi Haley, a former Weinstein Co. production assistant, and Jessica Mann, a once-aspiring […]

Stephcast 2-24-20

Clyburn poised to endorse Biden in big boost before S.C. primary

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, who wields enormous influence in his home state of South Carolina, is planning to endorse Joe Biden on Wednesday, multiple sources with knowledge of the Democrat’s plans told POLITICO. The planned endorsement is expected three days ahead of the state’s Saturday primary, giving Biden an important boost in a state […]

Trump touts $3 billion U.S.-India defense deal at massive rally in New Delhi

President Trump said Monday that the United States and India are poised to sign a new agreement to sell $3 billion worth of U.S. military helicopters to the Indian armed forces as he touted a “critical partnership” between the two countries. Last fall, the United States and India held the first-ever joint military exercises on […]

Bernie Sanders Scores Decisive Win At 2020 Nevada Democratic Caucuses

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is the projected winner of Nevada’s Democratic caucuses, holding a dominant lead over his closest rivals and cementing his front-runner status in the Democratic primary. Sanders’ latest win, and the fractured field of candidates, puts him in position to open up a potentially decisive lead in 10 days, when 14 states vote […]

Eric Boehlert: Wait, the press actually thinks Barr’s going to stand up to Trump?

Stressing that a “standoff” between Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr had “intensified” in recent days, the Beltway press spent this week whipping itself into a mini-frenzy, suggesting some sort of dramatic showdown was looming on the horizon. This is the kind of purposefully naïve news coverage that helps normalize Trump’s dangerous behavior. It also […]

The Rude Pundit: Warren Finally Puts Back on Her Ass-Kicking Boots

Last night, at the Democratic debate in Las Vegas, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren finally put on the combat boots that are still speckled with the blood of banking lobbyists and got back to the business of stomping ultra-rich asses. Warren had been trying to be above the fray at the debates, largely, until she was put on a stage […]

6 things to watch in tonight’s Nevada caucuses

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is looking for a breakaway win in Saturday’s Nevada caucuses. Everybody else in the Democratic presidential race is trying to keep it close. Just a week from the South Carolina primary and 10 days from Super Tuesday, when 14 states will vote, candidates are running out of time and opportunities to break out of the pack […]

Bernie Sanders briefed by U.S. officials that Russia is trying to help his presidential campaign

U.S. officials have told Sen. Bernie Sanders that Russia is attempting to help his presidential campaign as part of an effort to interfere with the Democratic contest, according to people familiar with the matter. President Trump and lawmakers on Capitol Hill also have been informed about the Russian assistance to the Vermont senator, those people […]

SM Happy Hour Videocast 2-21-20 Steve Pierson & Mariah Craven from the Swing Left: How We Win Podcast

Stephcast 2-21-20

Senior intelligence official told lawmakers that Russia wants to see Trump reelected, angering Trump

A senior U.S. intelligence official told lawmakers last week that Russia wants to see President Trump reelected, viewing his administration as more favorable to the Kremlin’s interests, according to people who were briefed on the comments. After learning of that analysis, which was provided to House lawmakers in a classified hearing, Trump grew angry at […]

John Bolton Rips House Impeachment as ‘Grossly Partisan,’ Claims Testimony ‘Would Have Made No Difference’ in Acquittal

Former Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton threw cold water on the impact of his own potential testimony in the Senate trial of President Donald Trump, telling an audience that it “would have made no difference to the ultimate outcome.” Bolton, who was infamously not called to testify before the Senate, has come under increasing fire of late after continuing […]

Roger Stone sentenced to three years and four months in prison

A federal judge on Thursday sentenced Roger Stone, President Trump’s longtime friend, to serve three years and four months in prison for impeding a congressional investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The penalty from U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson comes after weeks of infighting over the politically charged case that […]

Stephcast 2-20-20

2 cruise ship passengers in Japan die from novel coronavirus

Two passengers from a cruise ship quarantined in Japanese waters have died from the novel coronavirus, officials said. It’s the first deaths to occur out of the hundreds of confirmed cases from the Diamond Princess cruise ship. The deceased patients — a man and a woman — were in their 80s and were residents of Japan. Both […]

Trump names staunch loyalist and current US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell as acting intelligence chief

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he has named Richard Grenell, a staunch loyalist, as acting spy chief. “I am pleased to announce that our highly respected Ambassador to Germany, @RichardGrenell, will become the Acting Director of National Intelligence. Rick has represented our Country exceedingly well and I look forward to working with him,” Trump tweeted.   […]

Warren Led an Onslaught of Attacks, Zeroing In on Bloomberg in Last Night’s Democratic Debate in Nevada

The Democratic presidential candidates turned on one another in scorching and personal terms in a debate on Wednesday night, with two of the leading candidates, Senator Bernie Sanders and Michael R. Bloomberg, forced onto the defensive repeatedly throughout the evening. In his first appearance in a presidential debate, Mr. Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, […]

Stephcast 2-19-20

Tonight’s MSNBC Democratic Debate From Nevada: Bloomberg’s Stage Debut

This will be the ninth Democratic debate but the first featuring former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, and he is bound to face an avalanche of attacks from his rivals. Mr. Bloomberg’s rise in recent polls has coincided with the decline of Joseph R. Biden Jr., who needs a big debate performance to recover from stinging losses in Iowa and New Hampshire. Senator Bernie Sanders, who appears […]

Roger Stone will be sentenced Thursday despite his ongoing bid to overturn conviction

Republican strategist Roger Stone, a close friend of President Trump, will be sentenced Thursday despite his ongoing efforts to overturn the guilty verdicts against him, a federal judge in Washington federal court ruled. “There’s been a lot of work that’s gone into the sentencing,” U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said Tuesday. “It makes sense […]

Trump to commute sentence of former Illinois governor Blagojevich, pardon former NYPD commissioner Kerik

President Trump granted clemency to a slew of high-profile individuals Tuesday, including Rod R. Blagojevich, the former Illinois governor who was convicted on corruption charges in 2011 related to trying to sell then-President Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat, and Bernie Kerik, the former New York police commissioner jailed on eight felony charges, including tax fraud. […]

Stephcast 2-18-20

U.S. Judges Call Emergency Meeting Over Fears About William Barr And Trump: Report

An association of federal judges is holding an emergency meeting Tuesday to address concerns about the interventions in politically sensitive cases by Attorney General William Barr and President Donald Trump, USA Today reported. The Federal Judges Association, which has about 1,100 members, called for the meeting last week after Trump attacked federal prosecutors’ sentencing recommendation for […]

Boy Scouts of America files for bankruptcy amid hundreds of sexual abuse lawsuits

The Boy Scouts of America has filed for bankruptcy, according to a court document filed in Delaware bankruptcy court early Tuesday. The youth organization, which celebrated its 110th anniversary February 8, listed liabilities of between $100 million and $500 million, but $50,000 or less in assets.   Read the rest of the story at CNN

Bloomberg qualifies for next Democratic debate on February 19

Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg on Tuesday qualified for his first appearance in a Democratic presidential primary debate. The billionaire media mogul received 19 percent of support from an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll, allowing him to join the stage at the Feb. 19 debate in Las Vegas. Candidates need four national polls showing 10 percent or […]

Charlie Pierce: So Trump Basically Confessed to the Ukraine Charges

Not for nothing, America, but basically, he copped to it. From CNN: The reversal came Thursday in a podcast interview Trump did with journalist Geraldo Rivera, who asked, “Was it strange to send Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine, your personal lawyer? Are you sorry you did that?” Trump responded, “No, not at all,” and praised Giuliani’s role as a […]

Stephcast 2-17-20

Massive Turnout, Long Lines Show Democratic Enthusiasm at Nevada Caucus Early Voting Sites

Nevada Democrats are cheering the high turnout in the first two days of early voting of their state’s Democratic presidential caucuses, hoping that the strong participation will translate to enthusiasm for beating President Donald Trump in November. The Nevada Democratic Party reported that over 11,800 voted on Saturday, the first of four days of early voting, leading […]

NIH official confirms 40 Americans on cruise ship have coronavirus

A top National Institutes of Health official said Sunday that at least 40 Americans on a quarantined cruise ship in Japan have been infected with the deadly coronavirus. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in an interview with host Margaret Brennan on CBS’ “Face the […]

Trump’s reelection campaign goes pedal to the metal at Daytona 500

It wasn’t a campaign event, but this year’s Daytona 500 race had many of the trappings of a MAGA rally with spectators in red hats, waving American flags, and holding Trump signs inside and outside the Daytona International Speedway. President Donald Trump’s reelection machine took full advantage of the millions of NASCAR eyeballs watching on […]

More than 1,100 former prosecutors and other DOJ officials call on Attorney General Bill Barr to resign

More than 1,110 former Justice Department officials who served in Republican as well as Democratic administrations posted a statement Sunday calling on Attorney General Bill Barr to resign. “Mr. Barr’s actions in doing the President’s personal bidding unfortunately speak louder than his words. Those actions, and the damage they have done to the Department of Justice’s reputation […]

Eric Boehlert: Trump unleashed — does the press know how to handle his authoritarian ways?

America’s facing a rule-of-law crisis as Trump moves forcefully to complete his mission of turning the Department of Justice into his personal legal backstop, designed to protect him at his allies at all costs. But you might not know a crisis was raging based on the week’s news coverage.   Make no mistake, when an […]

The Rude Pundit: Rush Limbaugh Is Dying For His Own Sins

Rush Limbaugh, the still-alive host of Creepy the Aging Clown’s Masturbatorium of Hate and Homophobia,  believes that Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg has made headway in the 2020 race because of him. See, about a year ago, Limbaugh said, “Keep a sharp eye out for Mayor Pete. Keep an eye on this guy. He is gonna […]

SM Happy Hour Videocast 2-14-20 Harry Litman

Stephcast 2-14-20

Senate passes Iran War Powers resolution despite Trump’s opposition

The Senate passed an Iran War Powers resolution on Thursday, a rare measure that was approved with bipartisan support despite the fact that it has been opposed by President Donald Trump and aims to rein in his ability to use military action against Iran without congressional approval. The vote was 55-45. Eight Republicans voted in […]

Pelosi: A.G. Barr ‘has deeply damaged the rule of law’

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., rebuked Attorney General William Barr on Thursday for his role in reducing the proposed sentence of Trump associate Roger Stone earlier this week. “A.G. Barr has deeply damaged the rule of law by withdrawing the DOJ’s sentencing recommendation, the act of interference in Trump’s retribution against [the] lead attorney in […]

Barr blasts Trump’s tweets on Stone case: ‘Impossible for me to do my job’

In an exclusive interview, Attorney General Bill Barr told ABC News on Thursday that President Donald Trump “has never asked me to do anything in a criminal case” but should stop tweeting about the Justice Department because his tweets “make it impossible for me to do my job.” Barr’s comments are a rare break with a president […]

Stephcast 2-13-20

Former Chief of Staff John Kelly: Trump’s Ukraine Call Was an ‘Illegal Order’ that Col Vindman Was Taught to Report

Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly seemingly unleashed on a number of news topics related to President Donald Trump during a 75 minutes speech at Drew University Wednesday night, but his description of his former boss’s call to Ukraine President Voldymor Zelinsky and defense of now-fired Col. Alexander Vindman are certain to get the most attention. Read the rest of the […]

Harry Litman: This is one of the most odious achievements of Trump’s presidency

The withdrawal of all four career prosecutors handling the case against Roger Stone, in the wake of the Justice Department’s sentencing shift, underscores that Attorney General William P. Barr’s department has effectively gone rogue. Prosecutors Aaron Zelinsky, Adam Jed and Michael Marando all sought permission Tuesday to leave the case. A fourth, Jonathan Kravis, has […]

Stephcast 2-12-20

Andrew Yang drops out of the Democratic primary race

Andrew Yang’s improbable rise in the Democratic primary came to an end Tuesday night when the entrepreneur and political newcomer announced he was leaving the race after a disappointing finish in New Hampshire. “There was a part of me that thought that we might be able to win this race and get this done this […]

All four Roger Stone prosecutors resign from case after DOJ backpedals on sentencing recommendation

The entire team prosecuting Roger Stone abruptly resigned from the criminal case on Tuesday after the Justice Department said it planned to reduce the recommended sentence for Stone, a longtime Trump associate. The Justice Department on Tuesday said it was pulling back on its request to sentence Stone to seven to nine years in prison […]

Bernie Sanders pulls out narrow win over Buttigieg in the New Hampshire Democratic primary

Sen. Bernie Sanders narrowly won the New Hampshire Democratic primary by about 4,000 votes, or less than 2 percentage points, over Pete Buttigieg, according to an NBC News projection. Sanders, I-Vt., had been leading in the polls, so his victory wasn’t a surprise. But he and Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, were closely bunched with […]

Bob Cesca: How should Democrats fight back against Trump’s billion-dollar “Death Star”?

They’re calling it the “Death Star.” While supporters of the various Democratic candidates for president pummel each other online, Grand Moff Brad Parscale, Donald Trump’s campaign manager, is deploying this appropriately nicknamed $1 billion disinformation machine with the real potential to obliterate even the most perfect Democratic ticket this fall. For starters.  Among other things, this raises an extraordinarily important […]

Stephcast 2-11-20

Kellyanne Conway says more officials may be ousted after Trump’s Senate acquittal

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Monday hinted that additional officials could be forced out of their roles following the ousters last week of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and Ambassador Gordon Sondland — both high-profile witnesses in the impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump. Asked during an interview on “Fox & Friends” whether there will […]

7 things to watch in today’s New Hampshire primary

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is hoping to declare the sort of decisive victory that could turn the entire Democratic presidential primary in his favor Tuesday in New Hampshire. Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg aims to stop him and force another close tally after their near-tie in the Iowa caucuses eight days ago.   Former Vice President Joe Biden is just looking to […]

Over 100 U.S. Troops Now Diagnosed With Traumatic Brain Injuries From Iran Attack

The U.S. military is preparing to report a more than 50% jump in cases of traumatic brain injury stemming from Iran’s missile attack on a base in Iraq last month, U.S. officials told Reuters on Monday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of an announcement, said there were over 100 cases of TBI, up from […]

Charlie Pierce: Senate Republicans Star in The Chickening Amid Trump’s Retribution Frenzy

You can get so tangled up in a campaign—or, as I’ve learned, in impeachment hearings, even ones with all the democratic unpredictability of North Korean elections—that really amazing stories can get by you without your noticing them. Like this one in The New York Times, a story I like to call, Chicken Run: The Chickening. The senators were […]

Stephcast 2-10-20

Justice Department vetting information on the Bidens from Giuliani, Graham says

The Justice Department has begun vetting information from Ukraine obtained by President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani regarding former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday. Appearing on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Graham said Attorney General William Barr told him earlier Sunday that the Justice Department has “created a process that Rudy […]

Trump to propose sweeping cuts to foreign aid, safety net programs in latest budget

President Donald Trump will propose on Monday a 21 percent cut in foreign aid and slashing social safety net programs in his $4.8 trillion budget proposal for fiscal 2021, according to senior administration officials. The budget will seek an increase in funds to counter developing economic threats from China and Russia, but will also raise […]

‘Parasite’ is triumphant, Brad Pitt slams GOP and ‘Cats’ stars get playful. Oscar’s top moments.

“Parasite,” Bong Joon-ho’s gleefully twisted tale of economic inequality, won top honors at the 92nd Academy Awards on Sunday, closing out a ceremony that ran for more than three hours and featured a mix of splashy musical numbers and nods to real-world politics. Click here for a look at six key moments and themes from the show from NBC […]

Eric Boehlert: Trump’s State of the Union confirmed dirty little media secret: He’s a TV ratings loser

Welcome to my new media newsletter. This is where my writing now appears exclusively, three times a week. If you’d like columns delivered straight to your inbox, please sign up below. If you’re already a subscriber, please support by sharing. Cheers. For someone who’s obsessed with television ratings and uses them to weigh his own […]

The Rude Pundit: Mitt Romney Is F***ed and So Are the Rest of Us

Look, there are a whole truckload of reasons to despise current Utah Senator, former Republican presidential nominee, and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Just pick. Maybe you think his refusal in 2012 to embrace the health care plan that he himself signed off on in Massachusetts was the sign of a weak, weak candidate. Maybe […]

SM Happy Hour Videocast 2-7-2020 Frangela, John Fugelsang, Hal Sparks

Stephcast 2-7-20

Trump lashes out at Democrats in cheering his acquittal as Pelosi declares him ‘impeached forever’

President Trump set off a new phase of political warfare Thursday, taking to the East Room of the White House to lambaste his opponents and praise his defenders during a bizarre and caustic performance celebrating his Senate acquittal that followed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s declaration that he was “impeached forever.” Veering between vitriolic and triumphant […]

7 candidates qualify for New Hampshire Democratic primary debate, podium order and format announced

Seven candidates will face off in the Democratic debate ahead of New Hampshire’s primary election, ABC News announced Friday. ABC News is hosting the eighth Democratic primary debate of the campaign cycle in partnership with Apple News and Hearst Television’s WMUR-TV, ABC’s affiliate station in New Hampshire. The debate, sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee, […]

DNC chair calls for Iowa to recanvass caucus vote, says ‘enough is enough’

Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez is calling on Iowa Democratic officials to immediately recanvass Monday’s caucus vote after days of uncertainty and growing concerns about “inconsistencies” found in the data. “Enough is enough,” Perez said in a tweet. “In light of the problems that have emerged in the implementation of the delegate selection plan and in […]

Stephcast 2-6-20

Trump attacks ‘failed presidential candidate’ Romney after impeachment vote

President Donald Trump lashed out early Tuesday morning at Sen. Mitt Romney over his vote to convict the president on two articles of impeachment, ridiculing the Utah lawmaker once again over his defeat in the 2012 presidential election. “Had failed presidential candidate @MittRomney devoted the same energy and anger to defeating a faltering Barack Obama […]

Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders are in tight race for first in Iowa, with 97% of precincts reporting

Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders are in a tight race for first place as Iowa continued reporting the last of its Democratic presidential caucus results early Thursday morning. With 97% of Iowa’s precincts reporting, the former mayor remained the leader of the race, with 26.2% of state delegates. […]

Senate acquits Trump on both impeachment charges; Romney only Republican to vote to convict

The Senate on Wednesday acquitted President Donald Trump almost entirely along party lines on charges of abusing his power and obstructing Congress, bringing an end to the third presidential impeachment trial in United States history. On the first of two articles of impeachment, Mitt Romney of Utah was the lone Republican to vote to convict Trump, along […]

Stephcast 2-5-20

Senate appears poised to acquit President Trump as historic impeachment trial nears end

The third Senate impeachment trial of a sitting President in US history will come to an end Wednesday with a vote that’s expected to acquit Donald Trump. The Senate will vote at 4 p.m. ET on the verdict for two articles of impeachment, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The outcome is a forgone conclusion: Senate Republicans […]

Fred Guttenberg, father of Parkland shooting victim, escorted out of gallery during State of the Union

Fred Guttenberg, who lost his 14-year-old daughter in the Parkland, Florida, school shooting, was escorted out of the gallery during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech on Tuesday. The dramatic moment unfolded as the president mentioned that he would protect gun rights. Guttenberg was heard shouting from the speaker’s box as the president spoke and […]

Nancy Pelosi Rips Up Trump’s State Of The Union Speech

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripped up her printed copy of President Donald Trump’s speech at the conclusion of his State of the Union address on Tuesday. The dramatic moment showed her tear and then toss the pages behind Trump’s back as he embraced a standing ovation at the conclusion of his address. “It was the courteous […]

Buttigieg, Sanders Lead Pack In First Results Of 2020 Iowa Democratic Caucuses

Limited results released Tuesday by the Iowa Democratic Party show former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) leading Iowa’s Democratic presidential caucuses, with former Vice President Joe Biden in a surprising fourth place. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts was in third place in the initial returns, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota was in fifth.    The results remained difficult to parse: Only 62% of […]

Bob Cesca: Trump will be acquitted, of course… What in God’s name will he do next?

Donald Trump’s Ukraine plot, for which he’s on the verge of being acquitted by the U.S. Senate, never would have happened at all were it not for Attorney General Bill Barr’s manipulation of the Robert Mueller investigation. Given the daily avalanche of news, it seems like decades ago when Barr deliberately flummoxed the end of […]

Stephcast 2-4-20

Charlie Pierce: Republicans Are Letting Their Freak Flags Fly Now That They Have the Votes on Impeachment

Closing arguments in the impeachment trial of the president* happened on Monday in the Senate. As background, over the past weekend, a number of the Republican senators who voted against hearing witnesses last Friday, thereby snuffing out even the most drug-induced hopes for convicting El Caudillo del Mar-a-Lago, admitted that they thought the president* indeed had shaken […]

What to Expect Ahead of Trump’s State of the Union Address

Surreal will be the word of the evening as President Trump marches into the same House chamber where he was impeached just seven weeks ago to address the nation even as he is on trial for high crimes and misdemeanors on the other side of the Capitol. The president’s annual address on Tuesday comes after two weeks […]

Schiff’s powerful closing speech: ‘Is there one among you who will say, Enough!’?

Saying Donald Trump has “betrayed our national security” and will do so again, Rep. Adam Schiff used his closing arguments in the president’s impeachment trial on Monday to urge the Senate to take a stand against “a man without character.” “We must say enough — enough! He has betrayed our national security, and he will […]

Results for Iowa caucuses delayed as state Democratic Party finds ‘inconsistencies’

The Iowa presidential caucuses were thrown into chaos late Monday after the state Democratic Party said it found “inconsistencies,” delaying results and causing widespread confusion across the state. The Iowa Democratic Party said early Tuesday that it would release the results of the Iowa caucuses later Tuesday after “manually verifying all precinct results.”   Party […]

Stephcast 2-3-20

Senate ushers final phase of Trump impeachment trial without witnesses

The Senate on Friday night ushered in the final phase of President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial hours after an effort to call witnesses failed largely on party lines, with an all-but-assured acquittal set for next week. Senators passed a resolution from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., laying out the rules for closing the roughly […]

6 things to look for in tonight’s Iowa caucuses

Voters here are set to settle what for months has been a tight four-person contest as Iowa becomes the first state to vote in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. In seven of the last nine competitive Democratic primaries, the candidate who placed first in the Iowa caucuses went on to become the party’s presidential nominee.   See the […]

Led by Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City pulls off epic Super Bowl comeback

Patrick Mahomes would not be denied a Super Bowl ring. The wait for the Kansas City Chiefs — and for their head coach — is finally over. A half century after winning their first Super Bowl, the Chiefs are champions once more, winning Super Bowl LIV in epic fashion at Hard Rock Stadium.   Kansas […]

Eric Boehlert: Media touts McConnell’s impeachment cover-up as being super savvy

Orchestrating a show trial unlike any other in American political history, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is scrambling to protect Donald Trump and the rest of the GOP from a damaging proceeding this week. Not only intent on shutting down meaningful debate by cutting off access to evidence and witnesses, the Republican Party has […]

The Rude Pundit: No, Republicans, You’re F***ing Lying About Biden and the Ukrainian Prosecutor

Yeah, a lot of people thought Viktor Shokin had to go. And not a goddamn one of them gave a happy monkey fuck about Hunter fuckin’ Biden. You know who else didn’t give damn about Hunter Biden or Burisma? The fuckin’ Congress. Yeah, in the Congressional Record for the 114th and 115th Congress (which covers […]

Poll: Support for Trump’s removal remains steady

As the Senate impeachment trial goes into its third week, support for removing President Donald Trump from office remains steady, with half of voters registering approval for his conviction despite his all-but-certain acquittal, according to the latest POLITICO/Morning Consult poll. The new poll conducted Jan. 29-30 and released Saturday shows minimal change in public opinion about […]

Republicans Block Impeachment Witnesses, Clearing Path for Trump Acquittal

The Senate brought President Trump to the brink of acquittal on Friday of charges that he abused his power and obstructed Congress, as Republicans voted to block consideration of new witnesses and documents in his impeachment trial and shut down a final push by Democrats to bolster their case for the president’s removal. In a […]

Trump Told Bolton to Help His Ukraine Pressure Campaign, Book Says

More than two months before he asked Ukraine’s president to investigate his political opponents, President Trump directed John R. Bolton, then his national security adviser, to help with his pressure campaign to extract damaging information on Democrats from Ukrainian officials, according to an unpublished manuscript by Mr. Bolton. Mr. Trump gave the instruction, Mr. Bolton […]

SM Happy Hour Videocast 1-31-20 Dr. Erroll Southers

Stephcast 1-31-20

Harry Litman: Dershowitz may have argued himself out of relevance

In his star turn in the Senate well Monday, Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz at first delivered an account of executive power that, while extreme and wrongheaded, seduced a cadre of Senate Republicans. Then Wednesday night he drove the car over the cliff, and arguably took himself out of relevance to the Senate’s decision-making. […]

Coronavirus outbreak worsened by slow response, Chinese official admits as global emergency declared

The State Department has now warned Americans to avoid all travel to China due to the “rapidly spreading” coronavirus outbreak. The decision came after the World Health Organization designated the outbreak a global public health emergency in an attempt to get more resources and increase international coordination to fight it. The U.S. now has six confirmed cases […]

GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander, a key impeachment swing vote, says he will vote against witnesses

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., a key impeachment swing vote, announced Thursday that he will not join Democrats in voting to call witnesses in President Donald Trump’s Senate impeachment trial, suggesting that there may not be enough GOP votes for the trial to advance to that next stage. “I worked with other senators to make sure […]

Stephcast 1-30-20

Republicans Move to Block Impeachment Witnesses, Driving Toward Acquittal

The White House and Senate Republicans worked aggressively on Wednesday to discount damaging revelations from John R. Bolton and line up the votes to block new witnesses from testifying in President Trump’s impeachment trial, in a push to bring the proceeding to a swift close. As the Senate opened a two-day, 16-hour period of questioning […]

Jared Kushner Boasts Middle East Plan Credentials: ‘I’ve Read 25 Books On It’

President Donald Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner defended his job leading the White House’s “Middle East peace plan” by boasting that he’s read “25 books” on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this week. During an interview with Sky News Arabic, Kushner claimed, “I’ve been studying this now for three years. I’ve read 25 books on it, I’ve spoken to every leader […]

Dershowitz Argues Trump Can’t Be Impeached — Because He Thought His Re-Election Was in the ‘National Interest’

Alan Dershowitz has maintained that nothing in John Bolton’s book would be impeachable, and when asked today by Ted Cruz if it would matter if President Donald Trump engaged in a quid pro quo, said not when you consider a president’s “mixed motives.” Dershowitz said: “The only thing that would make a quid pro quo unlawful is if the quo were in […]

Stephcast 1-29-20

Bob Cesca: Can John Bolton’s revelations convince Republicans, at long last, to call Trump’s bluff?

One of the great mysteries of our time is why so many Republicans who are willing to bet their reputations on relentlessly defending Donald Trump, especially now.  It’d be one thing if he were in rarefied George W. Bush post-9/11 territory with an approval rating hovering in the upper 80s, or if he had delivered […]

Poll: 75% of voters want witnesses for Senate impeachment trial

Three-quarters of registered voters think witnesses should be allowed to testify in the Senate impeachment trial, which has reached a crucial inflection point, a new national poll from Quinnipiac University finds. This includes 49% of Republicans who think witnesses should be allowed to testify, 75% of independents and 95% of Democrats.   Read the rest of the […]

Trump accuses Democrats of ‘deranged partisan crusades’ as impeachment trial heats up

President Donald Trump doubled down his attacks against Democrats and his impeachment trial at a New Jersey campaign rally Tuesday night, accusing them of pursuing “deranged partisan crusades” and reminding supporters of the importance of winning back the House of Representatives in November. “The Congressional Democrats are obsessed with demented hoaxes, crazy witch hunts and deranged partisan […]

McConnell acknowledges GOP doesn’t yet have votes to block witnesses in Trump trial

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., acknowledged to Republican senators during a private meeting Tuesday that he did not currently have the votes to avoid calling witnesses in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, a GOP aide familiar with his comments told NBC News. Although the votes are not yet secured, Republicans appeared confident Tuesday evening […]

Trump’s Much-Hyped Middle East Peace Plan Deemed a Nonstarter: ‘Not a Peace Plan At All’

President Donald Trump stood beside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday as he announced his long waited Middle East peace proposal. Even before the announcement, the plan was earning massive skepticism. “My vision presents a win-win opportunity for both sides, a realistic two-state solution that resolves the risk of Palestinian statehood into security,” Trump said in an address […]

Trump’s impeachment defense wraps up

President Donald Trump’s legal team wrapped up its case in the Senate impeachment trial on Tuesday, including with a veiled appeal to senators to not consider John Bolton’s latest claims as they decide whether to call witnesses. The Trump lawyers’ two-hour appearance offered them the last uninterrupted chance to persuade senators to summarily reject the House’s […]

Stephcast 1-28-20

Dershowitz says ‘nothing’ impeachable about reported Bolton allegations

Alan Dershowitz, the famed former Harvard law professor who is serving on President Donald Trump’s impeachment defense team, argued Monday night that even if explosive allegations reported to have been made by former national security adviser John Bolton are true, they wouldn’t rise to the level of impeachment. The New York Times reported Sunday night that in an […]

Obsessions with The Bidens and Burisma as Bolton Looms Over The Impeachment Trial

President Donald Trump’s lawyers insisted at his Senate impeachment trial Monday that there was nothing improper about his dealings with Ukraine’s government — and they even offered an impassioned defense of his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani. The president’s defense largely avoided direct mention of a bombshell report involving John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser […]

Stephcast 1-27-20

Trump’s Senate impeachment trial: What happened on Day 5

President Donald Trump’s legal team began their defense of the president in Trump-ian fashion on Saturday, charging Democrats were the ones who are trying to interfere in the 2020 election and accusing lead House manager Adam Schiff of being dishonest. Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow also gave an astonishing explanation for why his client turned to outsiders for his dealings […]

Democrats demand Bolton testify after report his book says Trump tied Ukraine aid to Biden probe

Democrats stepped up their calls Sunday night for former national security adviser John Bolton to testify at President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial after an explosive report alleged that in his unpublished book, he said Trump personally tied aid for Ukraine to an investigation of the Bidens — an account that conflicts with the president’s. “John Bolton […]

Kobe Bryant, 13-year-old daughter killed in helicopter crash

Basketball lost one of its greatest competitors and most accomplished players Sunday when Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash in California. The five-time NBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist was 41. Read the rest of the story at NBC News.

The Rude Pundit: Republicans Believe the United States Is So Weak That It Couldn’t Handle Removing Trump from Office

There are so many arguments that Republicans make regarding the impeachment of Donald Trump that range from blatant bullshit to explosive diarrhea. The laughably hypocritical cries of “Democrats hate this president” are lost every time Trump himself calls Democrats “traitors” who “hate the United States” and are “radical left” “socialists.” And, yes, we all remember […]

Senate impeachment trial: Trump’s defense team aims to poke holes in Democratic case

The President’s legal team had their first opportunity to take control of the Senate floor to deliver their side of the story, detailing the defense of President Donald Trump against the two articles of impeachment, after three days of listening to arguments from the House impeachment managers. The defense counsel’s presentation Saturday sought to poke holes in […]