Joe Biden was asked by an attendee at a virtual fundraiser tonight whether he had any updates on Bernie Sanders' campaign and if he's going to drop out.
What they're saying: "Now’s not the time for me or anyone to call for him to drop out," Biden said. "I know firsthand what a personal decision that is."
Why it matters: If Biden becomes the nominee, he'll need Sanders to do everything he can to help him win — and that'll be a lot easier if he's hands-off about whether and how Sanders exits the race.
Joe Biden said during a virtual fundraiser on Thursday night that his staff is working with President Trump and his team to set up a call about the coronavirus and how he can help.
The state of play: "Yesterday, the Trump administration suggested I should call the president to offer my help," Biden said, chuckling. "Well, I’m happy to hear he’ll take my call; my team's working with him to set it up."
President Trump decried "extreme partisan investigations" into the administration's handling of the coronavirus crisis at Thursday's White House task force briefing.
Why it matters: Delays in mass deployment of testing kits to detect COVID-19 and shortages of personal protective gear in the U.S. have exacerbated the public health crisis that has killed more than 5,800 Americans as of Thursday.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that oil companies are eligible for aid from new lending programs the Federal Reserve is setting up, but not direct loans from his department.
Why it matters: U.S. producers are facing financial distress from the price collapse that stems from COVID-19 causing an unprecedented drop in oil demand, and the Saudi-Russia price war.
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.
Coronavirus stimulus payments will begin to be distributed in mid-April, but Americans without direct deposit accounts set up with the IRS may not receive checks until August, according to a House Ways and Means Committee memo first reported by CNN and confirmed by Axios.
Why it matters: The IRS estimates that only about 70 million of the roughly 150 million Americans eligible for the payments have direct deposit information on file, according to CNN.
The Trump campaign sent a letter to former Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday demanding that he stop touting his support of the president during his run for his old Senate seat in Alabama, the New York Times reports.
Why it matters: Trump has had a rift with Sessions dating back to the former attorney general's recusal from the Russia investigation — a decision the president relentlessly attacked him for publicly. Trump has endorsed Sessions' opponent, former college football coach Tommy Tuberville, in the GOP primary runoff election.
Joe Biden's campaign is calling on President Trump's re-election campaign to pull a "wildly irresponsible" video from Twitter that splices in sound to falsely depict Biden calling the coronavirus a hoax — and they're asking Twitter to remove the ad if the president's campaign won't.
Driving the news: Trump campaign officials are using the video posted today to try to force Twitter to act, or to paint the company as biased, after it declined to pull down a different video from a pro-Biden group that the president's team says deliberately used his own words out of context.
Oil prices surged Thursday after President Trump tweeted that Saudi Arabia and Russia were preparing to jointly cut oil production, but then gave back much of the gain as neither country offered confirmation of his claims.
But, but, but: Saudi Arabia said in a statement it's calling for an "urgent meeting" of the OPEC+ and a group of other countries, including Russia.
The Democratic National Committee announced on Thursday that its July convention will be postponed until August because of the coronavirus.
Why it matters: The global pandemic is changing the fundamentals of the 2020 presidential election, and any snags in the process have the potential to help President Trump's re-election efforts.
Private equity and venture capital investors now have high-powered bipartisan support in their efforts to expand the types of small businesses eligible for $350 billion in federal loans via the CARES Act.
The intrigue: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who rarely agree on anything except for the grandeur of California, both want the so-called "affiliation rules" waived.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Thursday the creation of a new House committee addressing the coronavirus crisis, led by House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.).
The big picture: Pelosi said that the new committee would oversee "all aspects" of the federal response to the pandemic, including the $2 trillion stimulus bill. She specifically cited the Truman Committee, formed in 1941 to address inefficiencies and profiteering during World War II, as a guide.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp stated Wednesday that he learned within the last day that asymptomatic individuals can transfer the coronavirus.
What Kemp is saying: "Now those individuals could have been infecting people before they ever felt bad, but we didn't know that until the last 24 hours." During the press conference, Kemp said this "new" information pushed him to order a shelter-in-place order, calling it a "game-changer," AP writes.
Oil prices climbed Thursday morning as traders are responding to President Trump's comments yesterday evening that Russia and Saudi Arabia could soon mend fences on oil supply policy, per the Financial Times.
Driving the news: Trump told reporters that he believes, based on his recent calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Saudi crown prince, that "they will work it out over the next few days."
Something surprising is unfolding amid the finger-pointing and war-gaming about the coronavirus threat to America: A general consensus is forming about the next 60 days of wait and pain.
Why it matters: America has a chance to return to some semblance of normal in late May or June, gradually and perhaps geographically, but anything extending beyond that would still be too catastrophic to consider.
Florida's slow response to the coronavirus may have set the stage for a disastrous outcome in one of the country's most vulnerable states.
Driving the news: Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a statewide stay-at-home order yesterday, but there's bipartisan concern that he held off too long, letting the virus spread too far, before finally taking steps that many other governors embraced weeks ago.
Social Security recipients who typically don't file tax returns will automatically receive their coronavirus stimulus payment, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday, reversing its original statement.
Why it matters: The Internal Revenue Service issued guidance Monday that Americans "who typically do not file a tax return will need to file a simple tax return" to access the funds, prompting criticism from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers.
The White House Correspondents Association on Wednesday voted to remove One America News Network from the press briefing rotation after one of the outlet's reporters broke social-distancing guidelines amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.
The big picture: The WHCA imposed a seating policy for President Trump's press briefings to prevent reporters from crowding and abide by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's social-distancing recommendations. But OANN reporter Chanel Rion twice attended the briefings without an assigned seat.
