Mar 14, 2017

Spicer's snowy Tuesday briefing

Alayna Treene

Andrew Harnik / AP

Spicer and the White House press corps braved the snow for today's briefing. The GOP's proposed healthcare plan and the Congressional Budget Office's estimate that 24 million people will lose coverage under Trumpcare dominated the presser. Takeaways:

  • CBO coverage estimates: Spicer emphasized (again) that the CBO has been "consistently wrong" when estimating the number of people who would be covered under Obamacare, so we can't fully rely on the score this time either. He added that the CBO says phase 1 of AHCA will bring down costs by 10%, and that's before phase 2 and phase 3 even take effect.
  • Why not draft a new healthcare bill that's more favorable? "This is it," said Spicer. "If we don't get this through, the goal of repealing Obamacare is... going to be unbelievably difficult."
  • Trump's unsubstantiated claims that Obama wiretapped him: "I think [Trump] is extremely confident" that the DOJ will come up with evidence to support Trump's wiretapping claims, said Spicer.
  • Sanctuary cities: "I think the last poll I saw on this said about 80% of Americans don't support sanctuary cities." From a federal point of view, Trump has made it "very clear" he won't use federal funds to support them.

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Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 3:30 a.m. ET: 1,203,923 — Total deaths: 64,795 — Total recoveries: 247,273 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 3:30 a.m. ET: 312,237 — Total deaths: 8,502 — Total recoveries: 14,997 — Map.
  3. Public health latest: CDC launches national trackers and recommends face coverings in public. Federal government will cover costs of COVID-19 treatment for uninsured. The virus is hitting poor, minority communities harder and upending childbirth.
  4. 2020 latest: "We have no contingency plan," Trump said on the 2020 Republican National Convention. "We're having the convention at the end of August."
  5. Business updates: Restaurants step up for health care workers. Employees are pressuring companies to provide protections during coronavirus.
  6. Oil latest: Monday meeting among oil-producing countries to discuss supply curbs is reportedly being delayed amid tensions between Saudi Arabia and Russia.
  7. Education update: Many college-age students won't get coronavirus relief checks.
  8. 1 🏀 thing: The WNBA postpones start of training camps and season.
  9. What should I do? Pets, moving and personal health. Answers about the virus from Axios experts — What to know about social distancing — Q&A: Minimizing your coronavirus risk.
  10. Other resources: CDC on how to avoid the virus, what to do if you get it.

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Recorded deaths from the novel coronavirus surpassed 8,500 in the U.S. early Sunday, per Johns Hopkins data. The death toll in the U.S. has risen over 1,000 every day for the past four days, since April 1.

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