President Trump declared a national emergency on Friday over the coronavirus outbreak.
The state of play: This will allow the federal government to quickly free up billions in federal aid for local municipalities and states to use to combat the illness. Trump is facing mounting pressure from mayors and governors — as well as congressional Democrats — to respond quickly as the virus spreads.
On the next episode of "Axios on HBO," House Majority Whip James Clyburn, the Democratic "kingmaker" largely credited for Joe Biden’s surge, tells Axios co-founder Jim VandeHei that he thinks President Trump is a racist and warns the U.S. "could very well go the way of Germany in the 1930s". Catch the full interview on Sunday, March 15 at 6 p.m. ET/PT on all HBO platforms.Â
A recent push by lawmakers and activists to test sexual assault kits, or rape kits, for DNA matches led to the introduction of 105 state bills and the enactment of 28 new laws in 2019 to provide funding and resources to test the kits, according to the nonprofit End the Backlog.
Why it matters: The rape kits are often the only physical evidence in a court case, and processing them has led to the arrest of hundreds of sexual assault offenders across the country.
The U.S. targeted five Kataib Hezbollah (KH) weapon storage facilities in Iraq on Thursday, following Wednesday's lethal attack on U.S. service members, the Department of Defense said.
Driving the news: Two U.S. service members and one member of the anti-ISIS coalition were killed in a rocket attack in Iraq on Wednesday. Similar rocket attacks in the past have been attributed to KH.
A new Russian disinformation campaign targeting Americans on social media operated through satellite outfits in Ghana and Nigeria, according to new reports from CNN and Graphika, in collaboration with Facebook and professors at Clemson University.
Why it matters: Russian efforts to meddle in this year's U.S. elections are evolving in an attempt to avoid detection. In 2016, most state-backed misinformation campaigns went through St. Petersburg. Now, the Kremlin is changing course.
A U.S. district judge on Thursday ordered U.S. Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning to be released from the Alexandria Detention Center, one day after she was hospitalized for attempting to take her own life.
The big picture: Manning had been jailed since May 2019 on civil contempt charges for refusing to cooperate with a grand jury subpoena seeking information on Wikileaks. The judge wrote in the court order that since her testimony is no longer needed, Manning's detention "no longer serves any coercive purpose."
Both former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke on Thursday to address Americans and weigh in on the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The big picture, via Axios' Margaret Talev: Biden and Sanders are looking to establish their own credentials for crisis management as they compete for the nomination to challenge President Trump in November. But they're also part of a broader pushback against the administration'scoronavirus response, which has been criticized for being too slow, not aggressive enough in terms of testing and containment, and undercut by Trump's own rhetoric.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's press secretary tested positive for coronavirus days after taking part in meetings with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Brazilian newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo reports and multipleAmericanoutlets have confirmed.
The latest: Bolsonaro is currently being monitored, according to Brazilian media. Fabio Wajngarten, the aide, was photographed with Trump on Saturday.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified at a House hearing Thursday that the current system of making coronavirus testing available in the U.S. is not set up in a way that we need it to be.
Why it matters: Fauci's testimony directly contradicted comments made by President Trump, who told reporters in the Oval Office Thursday that "testing has been going very smooth."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Thursday that the Senate will cancel its planned recess and remain in session next week as Congress attempts to pass legislation to mitigate the coronavirus outbreak.
Why it matters: McConnell previously called House Democrats' coronavirus proposal an "ideological wishlist," per The Hill. That package aimed to provide guaranteed paid sick leave for all workers, free coronavirus testing and a $1 billion infusion for unemployment insurance.
Sunday's Democratic debate between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders will be moved from Phoenix, Arizona, to CNN's studio in Washington, D.C., and feature no live audience due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.
Why it matters: The primary season, in which the two main candidates are in their late 70s, must find ways to adapt in the face of a global pandemic.
The Capitol — as well as House and Senate office buildings — will close to the public until April 1 as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, AP reports.
The state of play: The House and Senate sergeants-at-arms said the move, set to begin at 5pm on Thursday, was made "out of concern for the health and safety of congressional employees as well as the public." The Capitol complex will remain open to lawmakers, their staff members, journalists and other official visitors during the closure.
The apparent end of theDemocratic primary's truly competitive phase will bring closer scrutiny of Joe Biden's climate and energy plans — and new efforts to change them.
The state of play: Bernie Sanders yesterday suggested that his mission in remaining in the race is pushing Biden left, and he name-checked climate change among the policy areas.
Major television networks are abandoning audiences for their live shows in an effort to prevent further spread of the novel coronavirus, networks confirmed on Wednesday.
The big picture: 2020 candidates are canceling political rallies out of concern for COVID-19, as sports leagues and teams take similar precautions by barring fans from some of the most highly anticipated sporting events of the year.
In an interview with "Axios on HBO," Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez flatly denied that he was even entertaining the idea of canceling July's Democratic convention in Milwaukee and replacing it with an online convention due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Driving the news: In the interview, which was taped Monday in Florida and will air Sunday night at 6pm ET/PT, I asked Perez whether he would cancel the Democratic convention given that major companies are canceling events across the country because of the virus. "No," Perez replied.
President Trump announced in an Oval Office address Wednesday that European travel to the U.S. will be restricted for 30 days, with exemptions for Americans who undergo screening upon their return.
The big picture: The U.S. now has more than 1,000 cases of coronavirus, with the likelihood that there are far more unknown cases due to major delays in testing.
U.S. Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning is recovering in a Virginia hospital after attempting to take her own life, her lawyers said in a statement Wednesday.
Details: Manning is still due to appear on Friday for a scheduled hearing, her lawyers said. "Judge Anthony Trenga will rule on a motion to terminate the civil contempt sanctions stemming from her May 2019 refusal to give testimony before a grand jury investigating the publication of her 2010 disclosures," the statement added.
