Special Report: HHS chief Azar had aide, former dog breeder, steer pandemic task force  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - On January 21, the day the first U.S. case of coronavirus was reported, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services appeared on Fox News to report the latest on the disease as it ravaged China.

Exclusive: Poll signals strengthening support for Biden over Trump in three Midwest battleground states  —  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Republican President Donald Trump trails Democrat Joe Biden among registered voters in three Midwestern battleground states that he narrowly carried in 2016 …

U.S. jobless claims reach 26 million since coronavirus hit, wiping out all gains since 2008 recession  —  “The doors are still closed.  There is still no smoke coming out of the chimneys in corporate America.  It is not surprising that you continue to see significant layoffs,” said one economist.

Live Coronavirus Updates  —  Hosted by Michael Barbaro, produced by Jessica Cheung and Austin Mitchell, and edited by M.J. Davis Lin  —  From The New York Times, I'm Michael Barbaro.  This is “The Daily.”  [MUSIC]  —  Today, across the U.S. protests are erupting against orders to remain at home and to restrict people's movements.

Fox News hosts go mum on the covid-19 drug they spent weeks promoting  —  At the height of Fox News's coverage of a would-be treatment for the novel coronavirus, the network's medical correspondent, Marc Siegel, offered a remarkable testimonial during Tucker Carlson's show.

The Federalist Publisher's Tweet Was Illegal: Labor Board Judge  —  Listen  —  The publisher of conservative online magazine The Federalist broke federal labor laws when he tweeted last year that he'd send employees “back to the salt mine” if they tried to unionize, a National Labor Relations Board administrative judge decided.

They lived in a factory for 28 days to make millions of pounds of raw PPE materials to help fight coronavirus  —  At his factory just off the Delaware River, in the far southeastern corner of Pennsylvania, Joe Boyce clocked in on March 23 for the longest shift of his life.

California governor orders autopsies back to December to find out how long coronavirus has been in the state  —  California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) ordered medical examiners and coroners across the state to review autopsies dating back to December to “help guide a deeper understanding …

Banks Gave Richest Clients ‘Concierge Treatment’ for Pandemic Aid  —  Some businesses seeking coronavirus loans got to avoid flaky online portals or backed-up queues.  Many other small businesses couldn't get their loan requests submitted before the money dried up.

‘Sadness’ and Disbelief From a World Missing American Leadership  —  The coronavirus pandemic is shaking bedrock assumptions about U.S. exceptionalism.  This is perhaps the first global crisis in more than a century where no one is even looking for Washington to lead.

Usama bin Laden wanted to kill Obama so ‘totally unprepared’ Biden would be president, declassified docs show  —  Usama bin Laden wanted to assassinate then-President Barack Obama so that the “totally unprepared” Joe Biden would take over as president and plunge the United States “into a crisis …

Under Trump, coronavirus scientists can speak — as long as they mostly toe the line  —  Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, issued a candid warning Tuesday in a Washington Post interview: A simultaneous flu and coronavirus outbreak next fall and winter …

Cable news stars like Hannity make headlines.  But more people are watching David Muir's ABC newscast.  —  NEW YORK — I asked a media-savvy friend recently to guess what is the most-watched program on TV right now.  —  “Hannity's show?” she offered.  —  It's “World News Tonight” on ABC, I told her.

The Democrats' House Polling Lead: Remarkably Steady  —  KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE  — The Democratic lead in House generic ballot polling has been very consistent over the course of Donald Trump's presidency.  — Democrats also have a significant money edge in the lion's share of their most vulnerable districts.

Proclamation Suspending Entry of Immigrants Who Present Risk to the U.S. Labor Market During the Economic Recovery Following the COVID-19 Outbreak  —  The 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has significantly disrupted the livelihoods of Americans.  In Proclamation 9994 of March 13, 2020 …

Most people dying from Covid-19 are old.  Don't treat them just as statistics.  —  Werner Joseph Meyer, the author's grandfather, picking blueberries in New England in 2016.  Courtesy of Maryellen Stewart  —  My grandfather's time was not up.  His death should be treated as the tragedy it is.

Luxury Hotel Company Is Biggest Beneficiary of Small-Business Funds  —  Ashford Inc. and the real estate investment trusts it oversees have tapped $53 million in Paycheck Protection Program funds via Ritz Carltons and other hotel holdings  —  Hotels, luxury resorts and management companies …

There's a growing possibility of a W-shaped economic recovery — and it's scary  —  A resurgence of the virus or a spike in defaults and bankruptcies could lead to another painful economic downturn  —  There are growing concerns that any economic recovery later this year could prove short-lived …

Seven more big cats test positive for coronavirus at Bronx Zoo  —  Following a National Geographic inquiry, the zoo confirms that four more tigers and three lions have the virus.  This comes the same day as two pet cats in New York become the first in the U.S. to test positive.

Stop Looking on the Bright Side: We'll Be Screwed By the Pandemic for Years to Come  —  The headline certainly sounded grave and full of portent: “Coronavirus Will Change the World Permanently.  Here's How.”  —  Those words, emblazoned atop a POLITICO Magazine story last month in the opening days …

Snohomish County Residents and Business Owners,  —  I just watched the Governor's speech to Washingtonian's regarding our approach to getting Washington back in business and I am left to wonder if he even has a plan?  To be quite honest I wasn't even sure what he was trying to say half of the time.

Americans prioritize staying home and worry restrictions will lift too fast - CBS News poll  —  Health concerns still take precedence over economic concerns by a wide margin for Americans in their views on when to re-open the economy — both in what they want for the nation, and in what they'd do themselves.

States rushing to reopen are likely making a deadly error, coronavirus models and experts warn  —  By the end of the week, residents in Georgia will be able to get their hair permed and nails done.  By Monday, they will be cleared for action flicks at the cineplex and burgers at their favorite greasy spoon.

Orthodox Jews are donating plasma by the thousands to fight Covid-19  —  Well before the rest of the world was talking about blood plasma and its use in fighting coronavirus, Dr. Shmuel Shoham knew all about it — and where he could probably get a lot of it.

I need someone in the media to pick this story up.  I have done as much digging as I can do, but I am getting dead ends and literal roadblocks that someone with press credentials would not get.  If this is true, this story would be national news.  —  Virginia Governor Ralph Northam issued …

We're Never Going Back to ‘Normal’  —  We've reached the part of quarantine where—if you were privileged enough to perhaps have enjoyed a honeymoon period where working and being at home all the time still felt novel—things are starting to feel long.  I'm sick of my shows, I'm sick of new shows …

A mysterious blood-clotting complication is killing coronavirus patients  —  Once thought a relatively straightforward respiratory virus, covid-19 is proving to be much more frightening  —  Craig Coopersmith was up early that morning as usual and typed his daily inquiry into his phone.

‘Frustrated’ Trump eager to get out of White House, aides exploring ways to allow him to leave D.C.  —  A “frustrated” President Donald Trump is growing restless after a month of nationwide shutdowns, and top aides and campaign officials are exploring ways to allow him to leave D.C..

Observations on the Great Hunkering (11)  —  • Cast your mind back to the early weeks after 9/11.  Who was the person who dominated the scene as New York City coped with the aftermath?  Mayor Rudy Giuliani, of course, so much so that Time magazine made him its Person of the Year for 2001.

Trump Admin Gives Coronavirus Tracking Contract to Peter Thiel's Palantir: Report  —  Palantir, the surveillance firm founded by conservative billionaire Peter Thiel, has landed a contract with the feds to build a database tracking the spread of the novel coronavirus around the country, according to the Daily Beast.