| Classified briefings
President Donald Trump reportedly received over a dozen classified briefings on the threat of the coronavirus pandemic by U.S. intelligence agencies in January and February. During this time the commander in chief played down the threat of the deadly contagion, “according to current and U.S. officials.”
A grim milestone
The United States has now surpassed one million confirmed cases of coronavirus.
Briefings and pressers
President Donald Trump held an Oval Office presser on Tuesday with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
The president snapped at Yahoo's Hunter Walker for his questions on how America’s coronavirus testing capabilities compare to South Korea’s. "Nobody knows who the hell you are," barked Trump.
The president also took questions during an afternoon event at the White House, during which CNN's Jim Acosta asked about the terrible new milestone of 1 million cases of Covid-19.
"How did we get from your prediction of zero to one million?” Acosta asked.
Pence-demic
Vice President Mike Pence was hammered by MSNBC's Morning Joe crew on Tuesday. At Monday's briefing, ABC’s Jon Karl asked Pence “what went wrong” a month ago when he promised to mobilize the private sector and have four million tests available by mid-March. The vice president said Karl had a “misunderstanding," and that he only meant the tests would exist, but not necessarily the ability to process them.
Mika Brzezinski called the explanation “pathetic” and Joe Scarborough said “history will record that Donald Trump failed miserably on testing.” And it went on.
Later in the day, Pence was under fire again, after everyone at the Mayo Clinic followed the clinic's policy of requiring masks on the premises, except for the Vice President.
Footage of the visit shows that he is the only one in the medical center who ignored the regulations.
Sean Hannity
Fox's Sean Hannity last night demanded an apology and retraction from the New York Times over recent pieces in the paper about his coronavirus coverage and commentary, which he said "all but accused [him] of murder."
Hannity sent the Times a 12-page letter through his attorney outlining his demands.
The Times, in less than a single page, responded: No.
Getting the Covid-19 test
Dr. Anthony Fauci said on CNN Tuesday that he has been told that everyone who needs a coroanvirus test will be able to get one by late May or early June.
A red flag for Biden
Former Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign is reportedly weighing the importance of a black running mate against that of a more progressive candidate, but according to one pollster, there’s a “red flag” in Biden’s support among black voters.
Dude. No. An ABC correspondent’s WFH attire made for an LOL moment Tuesday on GMA. During the second hour of the program, Will Reeve appeared on camera from home. At the end of his report, when tossing back to the studio, his apparel choice came into full view. Reeve wasn’t wearing pants.
Snake oil
Former Vice President Al Gore, appearing on All In with Chris Hayes, called out the president for his "disgraceful" response to the pandemic, and for engaging in "a kind of a magical thinking.
"He’s pushed dangerous and potentially deadly snake oil-type remedies,” Gore said.
Industry Leaders, Cuomo, CNN New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced this week his 100-member advisory board for re-opening the state.
But just last week, he convened a less formal panel in a conference call that went largely overlooked. But for this article from Page Six, which reports that the governor met with a wide swath of advisors on re-opening New York City, specifically.
Among them? CNN's Jeff Zucker, Page Six reports. No mention of any representative from Fox News or MSNBC...
Baier Ascendant The cable news ratings for the month are in and they show unprecedented viewership milestones for Fox News and CNN during the coronavirus pandemic. The data from the Nielsen Media Research reveals Fox News had its biggest prime time audience in network history, and CNN enjoyed its most-watched month in the demo since Hurricane Katrina 15 years ago.
For Fox anchor Bret Baier, the news is even better.
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