Mar 23, 2017

The takeaways from Spicer's Thursday briefing

Alayna Treene

Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP

It's voting day for the GOP's Obamacare repeal and replace plan, and the Republicans don't currently have the votes, but Spicer insists that the AHCA bill "will pass." He also reiterated yesterday's claims that Trump is a "closer" and that there is no plan B on the healthcare bill — only plan A.

  • Will Trump take responsibility if the plan fails? "At the end of the day we can't force somebody to vote."
  • Can the White House guarantee no Trump associates colluded with Russia? "No I cannot unequivocally say that," he said, while slamming CNN's reporting on the topic: "You don't have anything concrete."
  • Nunes briefing Trump: "I believe that the information he brought to the president was new," said Spicer, later adding that "the substance should be troubling to everybody."

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Marisa Fernandez

Maryland becomes latest state to issue coronavirus stay-at-home order

Gov. Larry Hogan. Photo: Jim Spellman/Getty Images

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced Monday he is ordering residents to stay at home effective 8 p.m. due to the coronavirus, except for those engaged in essential services, including health care and government functions.

The big picture: Maryland is the latest state to announce policies to enforce social distancing, which have affected almost 250 million Americans. More than 1.5 billion people worldwide had been asked to stay home as of last week.

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Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 12 p.m. ET: 741,030 — Total deaths: 35,305 — Total recoveries: 156,838.
  2. U.S.: Leads the world in cases. Total confirmed cases as of 12 p.m. ET: 143,532 — Total deaths: 2,572 — Total recoveries: 4,865.
  3. Federal government latest: The White House will extend its social distancing guidelines until April 30 — Hospital ship the USNS Comfort arrives in Manhattan
  4. Public health updates: — White House COVID-19 response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said the 100,000 to 200,000 U.S. coronavirus death toll estimate is based on the presumption that citizens follow social-distancing guidelines "almost perfectly."
  5. Business latest: Macy's will furlough the majority of it's workers this week, as the chain's stores remain closed.
  6. 🎧 Podcast: Living with the coronavirus
  7. What should I do? Answers about the virus from Axios experts — What to know about social distancing — Q&A: Minimizing your coronavirus risk
  8. Other resources: CDC on how to avoid the virus, what to do if you get it.

Subscribe to Mike Allen's Axios AM to follow our coronavirus coverage each morning from your inbox.

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Axios

Podcast: Living with the coronavirus

Over 143,000 people in the U.S. have now tested positive for the coronavirus. Among them is Axios co-founder and president Roy Schwartz, who joins Dan to discuss his unusual symptoms, his hospital experience and the complications of quarantining with a family.

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