Nov 18, 2017

Jeff Flake caught on hot mic: GOP is "toast"

Haley Britzky

Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP

Sen. Jeff Flake didn't realize his mic was still on after speaking at a tax reform event, telling Mesa, Arizona, Mayor John Giles: "If [Republicans] become the party of Roy Moore and Donald Trump, we are toast," according to Arizona's ABC affiliate.

Why it matters: Flake has been an outspoken critic of the Trump administration, as well as the current attitude in the Republican Party, especially since announcing he won't seek re-election. And there's a split in the party over Roy Moore because while many Republicans have spoken out against him, the President has stayed silent.

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Dave Lawler

The Humanity First push for a coronavirus vaccine

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Policy responses to the global coronavirus crisis have been every-country-for-itself and — in the case of the U.S. and China — tinged with geopolitics.

The flipside: The scientific work underway to understand the virus and develop a vaccine has been globalized on an unprecedented scale.

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Orion Rummler

Trump attacks Schumer for impeachment in letter about coronavirus crisis

President Trump briefs reports on April 2. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

President Trump accused Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of being "missing in action" during the coronavirus crisis, writing in a scathing letter on Thursday that Schumer's focus on the "ridiculous impeachment hoax" resulted in New York being ill-prepared for the pandemic.

Why it matters: It's a blistering response to Schumer urging Trump to assign a senior military officer to enforce the Defense Production Act to produce more medical supplies.

Go deeperArrow20 mins ago - Politics & Policy
Axios

World coronavirus updates: Confirmed cases top 1 million

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC and China's Health Ministry. Note: China numbers are for the mainland only and U.S. numbers include repatriated citizens and confirmed plus presumptive cases from the CDC

Novel coronavirus infections have hit the 1 million mark after "near exponential growth" that's reached "almost every country," World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Thursday.

The big picture: The global death toll exceeded 50,000 on Thursday, per Johns Hopkins data. Italy has reported nearly 14,000 deaths. Governments around the world have introduced public health and economic measures to try and curb the impact of the virus.

Go deeperArrowUpdated 47 mins ago - Health