https://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/1234867099744587776
Jake Tapper ✔@jaketapper

Tennessee Emergency Management Agency confirms to CNN that at least 19 people have died across the state after the overnight storms:

14 deaths in Putnam county
2 deaths in Wilson county
2 deaths in Davidson county
1 death in Benton county

10:43 AM - Mar 3, 2020

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/03/03/trumps-baffling-coronavirus-vaccine-event/

By Aaron Blake

March 3, 2020 at 10:17 a.m. EST

<snip>

At the event Monday, Trump peppered the drug companies with questions that were some variant of, “How fast can you get it done?" But despite this having been a focal point in recent weeks, he still didn’t seem to process the fact that producing a vaccine means conducting months and months of trials before they can be deployed. He even at one point asked if the flu vaccine could be used to combat coronavirus.

After the founder and CEO of Regneron, Leonard Schleifer, said his company aimed to have 200,000 doses ready by August, Trump asked him, “That means you’d be able to use the vaccine that early?” He added, “So that process would be faster than John’s?” referring to another CEO.

After another CEO took a turn, Trump asked him, “So you’re talking over the next few months, you think you could have a vaccine?"

The CEO clarified that it would only be ready for phase two of testing at that point. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, added, “Yeah. You won’t have a vaccine. You’ll have a vaccine to go into testing."

“And how long would that take?” Trump asked. The CEO said it would take a number of months and then head into phase three. “All right. So you’re talking within a year.”

</snip>

Acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli ✔@HomelandKen

(1/x) Late yesterday, DHS learned that an employee at the @USCIS Seattle Field Office started exhibiting flu-like symptoms four days after visiting the nursing home in Kirkland, Washington that has seen numerous COVID-19 cases.

(2/x) The employee had been coming to work in the intervening days between the possible exposure (Feb. 22) and becoming ill (Feb. 26). In an effort to contain the
threat of potential spread & out of an abundance of caution, the @USCIS Seattle Field Office was ordered closed...

(3/x) The office closure is effective immediately & employees are being directed to telework if they are able. There are also @ICEgov, @CBP & @FPS employees at the same facility, and all of them have received the same instructions.

(4/x) As I mentioned, this decision stems from our employee visiting the Life Care
Center nursing home before it was known that residents there had contracted the
virus. When the employee began feeling ill, the employee followed procedure and
stayed at home.

(5/x) Once it was determined that patients in the facility were diagnosed with coronavirus (my understanding is he learned this from the news), the employee’s family self-quarantined and alerted employers and other relevant officials. The employee left work ill last Wed., Feb. 26

(6/x) … , and has not reported back to the office since. DHS takes the safety & health of our employees & applicants seriously. We're following CDC’s guidelines & encourage all employees and applicants to stay home if they are feeling ill or exhibiting any flu-like symptoms.

10:19 AM - Mar 3, 2020

https://twitter.com/HomelandKen/status/1234859788841951236

https://twitter.com/HomelandKen/status/1234860201842552833

https://twitter.com/HomelandKen/status/1234860910566629377

03/03/2020 05:00 am ET Updated 1 hour ago

CNN Analyst Predicts The Exact Date Trump Will Dump Pence From The Ticket
Paul Begala says Trump has already set the stage for ditching his vice president.

By Ed Mazza

CNN political analyst Paul Begala this week “guaranteed” that President Donald Trump is going to dump Vice President Mike Pence.

“This is not a prediction, it’s a certainty,” Begala said at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in Washington.

He even named an exact date: Thursday, July 16.

“That’s the date the Democrat gives her or his acceptance address,” Begala said on Monday. “On that day, to interrupt that narrative, Donald Trump will call a press conference at Mar-a-Lago.”

And that’s when Pence will be toast.

“He’s going to dump Mike Pence and put Nikki Haley on the ticket to try to get those suburban moms,” Begala said. “You watch. Guaranteed.”

</snip>

Judd Legum ✔@JuddLegum

1. Facebook made THE DAILY CALLER an official fact-checking partner.

That gives The Daily Caller the ability to label anything posted on Facebook as "false information" and dramatically reduce its distribution.

It's now using that power to boost Trump.

https://popular.info/p/the-daily-caller-uses-status-as-facebook …
The Daily Caller uses status as Facebook fact-checker to boost Trump
In April 2019, Facebook announced it was adding The Daily Caller, the right-wing site founded by Fox News host Tucker Carlson, to its fact-checking program. The move was made in response to conserv...

2. On Friday, Politico published an article headlined "Trump rallies his base to treat coronavirus as a ‘hoax.’"

The Daily Caller declared this was "false information." If you try to post the article to Facebook, this is what you see.



3. The Daily Caller's fact check claims that Trump referred only to the Democrats' politicization of the coronavirus as a "hoax"

But that's not what Trump said

He said: "This is their new hoax"

The Daily Caller resolves that ambiguity in favor of Trump

4. The Daily Caller justifies its ruling by claiming: "Throughout the speech, Trump reiterates his administration is taking the threat of the coronavirus seriously"

Throughout the speech, Trump minimizes the threat of the coronavirus

Read it yourself



5. The bigger question is why Facebook allows The Daily Caller to make judgments about Politico's reporting.

The Daily Caller has a history of publishing false information.

And it published columns by a white nationalist.



6. The Daily Caller does fact check false claims about Democrats but many of these are framed as clickbait.

For example: FACT CHECK: DOES THIS PHOTO SHOW OBAMA’S COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY ID LISTING HIM AS A ‘FOREIGN STUDENT’?



7. The Daily Caller's fact check operation is funded by the Searle Freedom Trust, a major funder of organizations that push climate disinformation and other right-wing causes

8. The political narrative on Facebook is a BFD. That's why candidates spend millions on Facebook ads

That's why I spend so much time tracking how it deals w/political content

Stay informed. Check out my newsletter, Popular Information

Sign up ➡️ htttp://popular.info/subscribe

9:32 AM - Mar 3, 2020

https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/1234845759478095872

https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/1234846958864490496

https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/1234848009952907270

https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/1234849112014643200

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/03/new-york-city-high-school-reportedly-closes-after-suspected-coronavirus-case-in-its-community.html

PUBLISHED TUE, MAR 3 20208:43 AM EST UPDATED 9 MIN AGO

KEY POINTS
A New York City high school is closing Tuesday after a suspected case of the COVID-19 coronavirus in the community.

SAR Academy and SAR High School said in a statement that it was a precautionary measure, following guidelines from the New York City Department of Health.

At least two New York area high schools closed Tuesday after a suspected case of the COVID-19 coronavirus in the local community.

SAR Academy and SAR High School said in a statement that it was a precautionary measure, following guidelines from the New York City Department of Health. The school is located in the Bronx neighborhood of Riverdale, according to its website. It’s a modern orthodox Jewish High School, according to its Facebook page.

Another Jewish school outside New York City, Westchester Day School, also announced it would be closed Tuesday due to the potential case at SAR. Westchester Torah Academy was also reportedly closing.

The New York City Department of Health did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment. Representatives from Westchester Day School were not immediately available for comment. Reuters first reported the school closure.

</snip>

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/03/nyregion/coronavirus-new-york-state.html

The case in Westchester County indicates that community transmission is likely underway in the state.

By Jesse McKinley
March 3, 2020
Updated 9:07 a.m. ET

ALBANY, N.Y. — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Tuesday morning a second confirmed case of coronavirus in New York, a man in his 50s in Westchester County, just outside of New York City, suggesting that it was spreading in communities with no known connection to hot spots for the disease.

The patient, whose test was confirmed overnight by a state lab in Albany, had no direct connection with any known center of the contagion, which was first identified in China in late December.

On Sunday, officials announced the state’s first case, a 39-year-old woman in Manhattan, a health care worker who had been visiting Iran, one of the epicenters of the virus’s rapid worldwide spread.

Governor Cuomo said the news of the second New York patient should not be a cause for alarm, reiterating that health officials had expected that the disease would be found in multiple locations around the state and would be likely to spread.

</snip>

https://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20200302/coronavirus-florida-mother-and-son-at-sarasota-military-academy-under-quarantine

By Carlos R. Munoz By Timothy Fanning By Zac Anderson
Posted Mar 2, 2020 at 10:20 AM
Updated Mar 2, 2020 at 2:05 PM

SARASOTA — A mother and son from Sarasota Military Academy have been quarantined after coming into contact with a patient who tested positive for coronavirus at Doctors Hospital, the school reports.

The mother came into contact with the patient in her "professional roles," according to a post on the Sarasota Military Academy's official Facebook page. Coronavirus causes the disease COVID-19.

Col. Christina Bowman, executive director of schools at SMA, said the school has been following protocols related to flu season that included sanitizing classrooms, door knobs, door handles and light fixtures routinely.

<snip>

On Friday, SMA senior cadets shook hands and posed for photos with Vice President Mike Pence, who was visiting Sarasota for a fundraiser at U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan's house.

</snip>

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/02/us/politics/esper-trump-military-coronavirus.html

Mark T. Esper directed overseas officers not to run afoul of the White House’s messaging and asked them to clear decisions on protecting their troops.

By Eric Schmitt and Helene Cooper
March 2, 2020

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper has urged American military commanders overseas not to make any decisions related to the coronavirus that might surprise the White House or run afoul of President Trump’s messaging on the growing health challenge, American officials said.

Mr. Esper’s directive, delivered last week during a video teleconference call with combatant commanders around the world, is the latest iteration of Mr. Trump’s efforts to manage public fears over the disease, even as it continues to spread around the world.

Mr. Trump has said Democrats and the news media are stoking fear about the disease, even calling their concerns a “hoax” during one rally last week.

The president has since tempered his words.

Mr. Esper told commanders deployed overseas that they should check in before making decisions related to protecting their troops.

</snip>