1/ Senate Republican and Democratic negotiators, as well as senior Trump administration officials kicked off talks on a $1 trillion economic stabilization plan – the third stimulus package Congress has considered this month to confront the coronavirus – with the goal of having a deal by the end of the day. Mitch McConnell has promised to pass the new stimulus though the chamber by Monday despite multiple disagreements over the structure of the bill, which was released Thursday. The initial plan would have given many Americans $1,200 in a one-time payment, but those without federal tax liability – i.e. the poorest Americans – would get as little as $600. Trump has also promised that the initial payment would be substantially higher than $1,000. (Politico / Washington Post / New York Times)

💻 Live Blogs: (New York Times / Washington Post / NBC News / CNN / The Guardian)

😷 COVID-ables:

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered all nonessential workers across the state to stay home. The executive order takes effect Sunday evening. (CNN / NBC News)

California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered the state’s nearly 40 million residents to stay home. The order takes effect immediately and remains in place “until further notice.� (Politico)

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a “stay at home� order for the entire state starting Saturday at 5 p.m. through April 7. (Chicago Tribune)

The U.S. and Mexico agreed to temporarily close the border to nonessential travel. Trump said the move was intended to “reduce the incentive for a mass global migration that would badly deplete� health care resources. (The Hill / Politico / CNN)

The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said Americans will likely have to continue practicing social distancing for “at least several weeks.� (NBC News)

Studen...

1/ The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee warned constituents three weeks ago to prepare for dire economic and societal effects from the coronavirus. “There’s one thing that I can tell you about this: It is much more aggressive in its transmission than anything that we have seen in recent history,� Sen. Richard Burr said on Feb. 27, according to a secret recording of the remarks. “It is probably more akin to the 1918 pandemic.� On that same day, Trump suggested that the virus is “going to disappear. One day, it’s like a miracle. It will disappear,� before adding, “it could get worse before it gets better. It could maybe go away. We’ll see what happens.� On Feb 13., Burr sold off between $582,029 and $1.56 million of his holdings despite reassuring the public at the time that the government had the coronavirus outbreak under control. A week later, the stock market began a sharp decline and has lost about 30% since. (NPR / Politico / ProPublica)

🚨 The Trump administration simulated a series of pandemic outbreaks from China in 2019 and found the U.S. government response was “underfunded, underprepared, and uncoordinated.� The series of exercises resulted in some 110 million sick Americans, leading to 7.7 million hospitalizations, and 586,000 deaths. The draft report, marked “not to be disclosed,� detailed repeated cases of “confusion� during the exercises. (New York Times)

🚨 Trump claimed that “Nobody knew there would be a pandemic or epidemic of this proportion� at the daily Coronavirus Task Force briefing today. “Nobody has ever seen anything like this before.� (Washington Post)

Trump agreed with a reporter from a right-wing outlet who accused “major left wing news media� of “siding with state propaganda� from China for criticizing his use of the term “Chinese virus.� Trump went on to call the Washington Post, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal of being “very dishonest� and siding with Chinese propaganda days after calling news media coverage of the coronavirus pandemic “very fair.� Trump added that he wanted to remove 75% to 80% of the journalists in the briefing room in the name of social distancing. (Politico)

2/ Trump promised that a therapeutic drug would be available “almost immediately� only to be contradicted minutes later by the commissioner of the FDA. The drug, chloroquine, hasn’t yet been approved for treatment of COVID-19, but Trump – for some reason – asserted that it was, and that he wanted to “remove every barrier� to test more drugs and “allow many more Americans to access drugs that have shown really good promise.� FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, however, cautioned that use of the drug – used to combat malaria – would first need to be part of a controlled trial to find out whether or not it works, and if so, what dose would be safe and effective. Trump, meanwhile, claimed that “it’s not going to kill anybody.� (Bloomberg /

1/ The Senate approved a coronavirus relief package to provide sick leave, unemployment benefits, free testing, and food and medical aid to people impacted by the pandemic. The bill now goes to Trump, who is expected to sign it. The Senate’s approval of the House-passed coronavirus bill, known as “phase two,� comes as senators are expected to begin negotiations on a $1.3 trillion “phase three� stimulus package. (USA Today / Politico / Washington Post / CNBC / Bloomberg)

2/ Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin warned lawmakers that unemployment could reach as high as 20% if they fail to act on a $1.3 trillion White House stimulus package. The “phase three� stimulus would send two $1,000 checks to Americans and allocate $300 billion to help small businesses avoid layoffs. Unemployment currently stands at 3.5%. In Connecticut, about 30,000 claims for unemployment benefits have been filed since Friday – 10 times the average weekly total. In Ohio more than 48,000 applications over two days have been filed, compared to just under 2,000 for the same period the week before. In New Jersey, 15,000 applications arrived on Monday, causing the state’s website to crash. Pennsylvania experienced more than 50,000 applications on Monday and more than that on Tuesday. The leading labor union for hospitality workers said it expects 80% to 90% of its 300,000 members to be out of work due to the coronavirus outbreak. The U.S. Travel Association projects 4.6 million jobs lost this year in the travel industry, which would push the unemployment rate up to 6.3%. It’s estimated that unemployment hit 25% during the Great Depression and 10% during the Great Recession. An official from the Treasury Department later clarified that the 20% figure was not meant to be a forecast, but simply an illustration of what could happen if lawmakers failed to act. (CNBC / NBC News / Washington Post / Politico / HuffPost / New York Times / Bloomberg)

The IRS clo...

1/ Trump called on Congress “to go big� and approve a $1 trillion stimulus package to address the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, which includes distributing roughly $250 billion in cash payments to Americans by the end of April. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin added that the plan would also include roughly $50 billion for the airline industry, because “this is worse than 9/11 for the airline industry.� Congress already passed, and Trump signed into law, an $8.3 billion bill that funds vaccine development and provides money to state and local governments. Last week, the House passed a $100 billion bill to expand unemployment insurance, offer paid sick days, and mandate that testing for the virus be free. Trump is expected to sign the package once the Senate passes the bill. Senate Democrats have also proposed a $750 billion plan that includes more emergency aid for hospitals, expanded unemployment insurance, more funds for small business, help with child care, and food assistance for seniors. In 2008, Congress passed a $700 billion package to try and rescue the financial system. Trump, meanwhile, promised that “if we do this right […] we’re going to win� the “war� against the coronavirus. (Washington Post / New York Times / Politico / Wall Street Journal / ABC News / CNBC / NBC News)

The federal government postponed the April 15 tax payment deadline for 90 days. The delay is available to people who owe $1 million or less and corporations that owe $10 million or less. (Wall Street Journal)

Researchers concluded that “the only viable strategy at the current time� is to keep social distancing measures in place for at least three months. A report by the COVID-19 Response Team at the Imperial College of London argues that suppression – i.e. “social distancing of the entire population� – would prevent U.S. hospitals from becoming extremely overburdened until a vaccine becomes available in about 18 months. Researchers also outlined mitigation policies, which focus on “slowing but not necessarily stopping epidemic spread� by isolating people suspected of having the virus at home and quarantining their contacts. Mitigation could reduce the demand on the health care system by two-thirds and cut the number of deaths in half if applied for three months. The would still result in hundreds of thousands of deaths and in health systems “overwhelmed many times over.� The group shared their projections with the White House task force about a week ago. [Editor’s note: It’s worth reading both of these articles to fully understand the scenarios and expected outcomes. This is extremely sobering research.] (New York Times / Vox)

2/ Trump claimed he “always viewed� coronavirus as a “pandemic l...

1/ Trump recommended all Americans avoid groups of 10 or more people, stop discretionary travel, avoid bars, restaurants, gyms, and other public places for the next 15 days, saying the coronavirus pandemic “is a bad one, this is a very bad one, this is bad in the sense that it’s so contagious, it’s just so contagious, sort of record-setting type contagion.” Trump also recommended that schools close nationwide and for parents to homeschool their children when possible. Trump, however, said he was not considering a national curfew to mitigate the spread of coronavirus, but that Americans should expect cases to extend into at least July. Trump then proceeded to give his administration’s response to the epidemic a 10 out of 10, saying “I think we’ve done a great job.” There have been more than 4,000 confirmed cases in the U.S. and 71 deaths. (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico / CNN / NPR / Bloomberg / The Guardian / Bloomberg / NBC News / CNBC)

The CDC recommended canceling all gatherings of 50 or more people for the next eight weeks. (CNN)

San Francisco ordered 7 million residents to “shelter in place” until April 7 to help contain the coronavirus outbreak. Mayor London Breed said the city “will require people to stay home except for essential needs,” adding that places like grocery stores, gas stations, convenience stores, and banks will remain open. The order affects residents of six Bay Area Counties, including San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Marin, Contra Costa, and Alameda counties. (KRON 4 / CNBC / Bloomberg)

Governors in 26 states and the District of Columbia announced statewide school closures, impacting nearly 30 million children across the U.S. — more than half of the nation’s school enrollment. (Wall Street Journal / NBC News)

Ohio postponed the state’s primaries until June. Ohio is one of four states with primaries scheduled on Tuesday, along with Arizona, Florida and Illinois. (

1/ Trump declared a national emergency – which he described as “two very big words� – to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Trump then shook hands with members of his team. The declaration will “open up access� to $50 billion in emergency funding, lift restrictions on doctors and hospitals to “do as they want,� and waive student loan interest. Trump also announced plans for a large-scale drive-thru protocol for testing for the virus, but said “We don’t want everybody taking this test. It’s totally unnecessary.� Trump then blamed existing rules set by prior administrations for limiting options, saying “I don’t take responsibility at all� for the lack of available testing. The administration expects 1.4 million additional tests to be available next week and five million within a month. When asked about the closure of the White House’s pandemic response team in 2018, Trump called it a “nasty question� and denied firing the team. Trump also announced that the government would buy large quantities of crude oil for the nation’s strategic reserve while oil prices are low. (Politico / NBC News / New York Times / Washington Post / Bloomberg / CNN / Wall Street Journal / The Guardian)

Trump criticized the CDC for its response to COVID-19 and blamed the Obama administration for the situation. In a pair of tweets, Trump — without evidence — claimed that the CDC knew its testing system for large-scale pandemics was “inadequate� and “did nothing about it.� Trump also called the Obama administration’s response to the Swine flu pandemic a “full scale disaster� and said Obama “made changes that only complicated things further.� (NBC News / New York Times)

The CDC’s worst-case scenario projects that as many as 200,000 to 1.7 million Americans could die from coronavirus. Between 160 million and 214 million people in the U.S. could be infected during the pandemic, which could last months to over a year. And, 2.4 million to 21 million people in the U.S. could require hospitalization. The U.S. has about 925,000 staffed hospital beds. (New York Times / USA Today)

[QUOTABLE] “The federal response has been a fiasco.� – Dr. Ashish Jha of the Harvard Global Health Institute (PBS)

[QUOTABLE] “The system is not really geared to what we need right now. That is a failing. Let’s admit it.� – Dr. Anthony Fau...

1/ Trump banned foreign visitors from most of Europe for 30-days in an effort to curb the growing COVID-19 pandemic. Trump blamed European and Chinese travelers for bringing the “foreign virus� to the U.S., while accusing the European Union of “[failing] to take the same precautions� the U.S. had implemented to contain the coronavirus outbreak. The ban, which begins Friday at midnight, does not apply to the United Kingdom or to U.S. citizens, and there are waivers under multiple circumstances. Reading from a prepared script, Trump incorrectly described his own policy, saying that the travel restrictions would impact a “tremendous amount� of trade and cargo. The White House later clarified that the ban would not include cargo. Trump urged Americans to heed the CDC’s guidelines for Americans to protect themselves and others from the spread of the virus – instructions he has repeatedly contradicted, ignored, or downplayed over the last few weeks – and claimed the government was moving “very quickly� to fix a chronic shortage of coronavirus test kits. Trump, however, provided no specifics about how many Americans would be able to be tested, and when and where those tests could occur. (Washington Post / New York Times / Politico / CNN / ABC News / The Intercept)

The U.S. did not coordinate or notify the European Union before Trump announced the travel restrictions. The European Union also condemned Trump’s decision to ban travelers from most of Europe visiting the U.S., saying “The coronavirus is a global crisis, not limited to any continent and it requires cooperation rather than unilateral action.� (NBC News / Politico / Reuters / Al Jazeera)

Trump’s European travel restrictions exempt nations where his three golf courses are located. Trump has two properties in the United Kingdom – Trump Turnberry and Trump International Golf Links in Scotland – plus another resort in Doonbeg, Ireland. (Politico / Business Insider)

Trump suggested that it’s a “possibility� he could impose travel restrictions within the U.S. if certain areas get “too hot.� Trump also defended his restrictions on travel from Europe, saying that he didn’t consult with E.U. leaders because he had to “move quickly.� (NBC News / Politico)

...

1/ The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, saying “We are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction.� The declaration came as the number of known cases surpassed 120,000 worldwide with at least 4,369 deaths, and has spread to more than 100 countries. (Politico / NBC News / Washington Post / New York Times)

MORE:

Trump will address the nation at 9 p.m. ET. Trump said he would be making “both� health and economic related announcements from the Oval Office. (NBC News)

The Dow entered a bear market, closing down 20.3% from its record high and ending an 11-year bull market. All three indexes are in negative territory for the year and the S&P 500 is down 19% from its Feb. 19 peak. (Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / CNBC / MarketWatch / New York Times / NBC News / Washington Post)

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other senators plan to ask Trump to issue an emergency declaration for the coronavirus pandemic, which would allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency to use more than $40 billion from the Disaster Relief Fund to assist local state government in their response to the coronavirus. (CNN)

House Democrats plan to vote Thursday on a coronavirus relief package that will include expanded unemployment insurance, paid sick leave, and food security assistance in order to contain economic concerns. The Senate, however, is unlikely to act before next week’s scheduled congressional recess. (Politico / Washington Post)

The CDC Director said U.S. labs don’t have an adequate stock of the supplies needed for coronavirus testing. Robert Redfield said there’s a growing scarcity of “RNA extraction� kits, which are needed to prepare samples for testing. (Politico)

Two Trump allies received coronavirus testing despite showing no symptoms of respiratory illness. The CDC recommended that health care providers p...

1/ Trump – again – downplayed the severity of the coronavirus epidemic, saying “everything is working out� and that “it will go away, just stay calm.� There have been more than 800 cases of coronavirus in the U.S., including 27 deaths. And, despite markets showing continued volatility following Wall Street’s worst day since the 2008 financial crisis, Trump suggested that “The consumer has never been in a better position than they are right now.� (Washington Post / New York Times)

2/ Trump pitched Republican lawmakers on a 0% payroll tax rate that would last through the November election as the White House tries to put together an economic stimulus plan to counteract the impact from the coronavirus outbreak. Speaking to reporters afterwards, Trump called the meeting “great� and said there was “tremendous unity� despite the meeting ending without a plan for crafting an economic package. Republican and Democratic senators also expressed reluctance about a payroll tax cut to address the economic impact. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, meanwhile, is working on an economic stimulus package to ensure workers have access to free coronavirus tests and paid sick leave. Payroll taxes are paid by employers and employees to fund Social Security, Medicare, and other government programs. (CNBC / Bloomberg / Washington Post / Politico)

YESTERDAY: Trump promised “very substantial� economic measures to combat the fallout from the coronavirus, including aid for the airline and cruise industries, and expanding loans by the Small Business Administration.(Bloomberg / New York Times / Politico)

ALSO: The White House is considering federal assistance for oil and natural gas producers hit by plummeting oil prices amid the coronavirus outbreak and a price war that broke out between Saudi Arabia and Russia. (Washington Post)

3/ The Trump administration postponed an annual intelligence report – without explanation – that warns that the U.S. remains unprepared for a global pandemic. The office of the Director of National Intelligence was scheduled to deliver the Worldwide Threat Assessment to the House Intelligence Committee on Feb. 12. The hearing, however, has not been rescheduled. Two officials who have read the classified report, said that the warnings are similar to those published in the 2019 report, which states: “The United States will rema...

1/ Trump had contact with two Republican congressmen before they self-quarantined themselves after learning they had been exposed to someone diagnosed with coronavirus at CPAC. Rep. Matt Gaetz, who attended a party with Trump at Mar-a-Lago this weekend, learned shortly after Air Force One was airborne that he had been in contact with a person at CPAC who has since been diagnosed with coronavirus. Gaetz then sat in a section of the plane by himself. Rep. Doug Collins, who had also been in contact with a person at CPAC with coronavirus, shook hands with Trump during a CDC tour on Friday. Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Paul Gosar also announced they would self-quarantine after coming into contact with a person with coronavirus at the CPAC. Gaetz and Gosar both mocked the coronavirus spending package passed last week by the House. Gosar said the money was unnecessary with so few people sick in the U.S. while Gaetz wore a gas mask to the vote. Days later, Gaetz announced that a constituent had died of COVID-19. (New York Times / CNBC / CNN / Axios / CNN / NBC News / The Hill / Washington Post / Washington Post / Gizmodo)

2/ The White House overruled health officials who wanted to warn Americans to avoid commercial airlines because of the coronavirus. The CDC originally submitted a plan that recommended that elderly and medically vulnerable Americans avoid flying as a way of trying to control the outbreak, but the White House ordered the air travel language removed from from the plan. The Trump administration, however, has since issued guidance that certain people should not be traveling and the CDC quietly updated its website to tell older adults to “stay home as much as possible� and avoid crowds. Administration officials pushed back, calling it “complete fiction� and saying “it was never a recommendation to the Task Force.� (Associated Press)

Trump, wearing a “Keep America Great� hat, said he told Mike Pence not to compliment Washington Gov. Jay Inslee because “he is a snake.� Inslee had criticized the administration’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, saying he wanted Trump to stick to the science when discussing the virus. (Seattle Times / Politic...