Crooked Media - What A Day: CDC no evil

As the White House pushes the country to relax social-distancing guidelines in a haphazard fashion, which health officials say could spark disastrous coronavirus outbreaks, President Trump is laser focused on the only thing that matters to him: deceiving the public about his mounting, deadly failures. 
 

• Trump and some members of the coronavirus task force have pushed the CDC to change the way it works with states to count coronavirus-related deaths, in an effort to artificially suppress the official death toll. Trump has complained internally that he thinks the coronavirus death count is inflated (the opposite is true), and is now actively pressuring CDC to manipulate its methodology in a way that would result in far fewer reported deaths. Officials at the agency said they’ve pushed back on the request. 
   
• Why take action to solve a public-health crisis when you can simply paper over how bad it is? On the state level, Gov. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) announced that Nebraska health officials will no longer publicly share the number of coronavirus cases at each of the state’s meatpacking plants, which have been breeding grounds for severe outbreaks. The meat companies have also refused to make those numbers available, leaving workers and the broader public in the dark. After the Washington Post published its story, Tyson Foods announced the testing results from one of its plants, and said it would share the results from other plants with employees, government officials, and other stakeholders. Other companies have stayed silent.
   
• The White House also hid information that state officials could really use right now, when it shelved a set of guidelines from the CDC: A leaked 63-page document contains much more detailed and restrictive guidance on how to safely reopen businesses and institutions than the plan the White House released last month. The guidance warned that coronavirus cases are likely to return after states reopen, and called for a coordinated national response to provide local leaders with specific, step-by-step instructions for monitoring their communities, and shutting facilities down again when necessary. The CDC guide also took a more cautious view of travel, and advised that it be avoided until the final phase of reopening. The White House’s plan recommended “minimizing” travel in the first phase, and then throwing caution to the wind after 28 days.

Just in case shoving a bunch of data under the couch cushions doesn’t work, Trump has gone into full distraction mode.
 

• Between Sunday and Tuesday, Trump baselessly accused over 20 groups or individuals of criminal misconduct, in a coronavirus edition of his favorite misdirection tactic. The alleged felons include two television news hosts, at least five former officials from the FBI and DOJ, a comedian, the state of California, and former President Barack Obama. Also between Sunday and Tuesday, over 3,000 Americans died of COVID-19.
   
• Jared Kushner might also be trying to distract the public, or he might just be a big idiot. (Spoiler: biiiig idiot.) Kushner suggested on Tuesday that there’s some uncertainty about whether the presidential election will happen as scheduled on November 3, then issued a clarification that he’s unaware of any “discussions” to change the date. Neither Trump nor a haunted human pool noodle has any legal authority to move the election—only Congress can do that.
   

Whistleblower Dr. Rick Bright plans to testify to Congress tomorrow that the U.S. faces the “darkest winter in modern history” if we don’t develop a national coordinated response quickly. The first priority, Bright says, is to be truthful with the American people. Trump has made his first priority clear since March, when he said at the CDC that he’d rather keep coronavirus patients marooned on a cruise ship because “I like the numbers being where they are.” Over 83,000 deaths later, Trump’s priorities haven’t changed—only the scale of the consequences.

Since March, Crooked’s Coronavirus Relief Fund has raised over $2 million to support organizations at the front lines of this crisis—thank you so much for your support.

Now that it’s crossed the $2 million mark, we’ve selected some new groups to support in order to help underserved communities get the resources they need during this time, including World Central Kitchen, Masks for the People, One Fair Wage, and more. The fund spreads your donations equally to groups providing food, health care support, PPE, and relief to those hit hardest by this crisis. Make a donation at crooked.com/coronavirus → 

Republican Mike Garcia has won a special election for a California House seat that Democrats had flipped in the 2018 midterms. (Trump had falsely claimed that the election was “rigged” after a polling place was added to the district, at a Republican mayor’s request. Another smooth crime by the Democrats!) Garcia defeated Democrat Christy Smith to replace Katie Hill in California’s 25th congressional district, which is decidedly not great, but it’s also not over—Garcia and Smith will both be on the ballot once again in November, when turnout will be much higher. Republicans also won a House special election in Wisconsin on Tuesday, with Tom Tiffany defeating Tricia Zunker. The good news is Tiffany won by a roughly 14-percentage-point margin in a district Trump won by 20 points in 2016, suggesting Trump’s support in rural Wisconsin may be slipping.

• The judge in Michael Flynn’s case has delayed the Justice Department’s move to drop charges, saying he’ll set a date to hear outside arguments on the DOJ’s motion. In non-news news, acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell sent top Republican senators a list of former Obama officials who may have requested the “unmasking” of Flynn, a process which is...extremely routine.
   
• The horrible Wisconsin Supreme Court has struck down the state's stay-at-home order, siding with the state's GOP-controlled legislature over Gov. Tony Evers (D-WI). Cool cool cool cool cool.
   
• Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been released from prison (one that had no coronavirus cases) due to coronavirus concerns. He’ll serve the remainder of his sentence in home confinement. That stands in contrast to Michael Cohen, whose early release was reversed without explanation. It almost looks like the president is using a pandemic as cover to spring his loyal flunkies from jail and punish the snitches.
   
• Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned today that the U.S. economy could be in for a long, painful recession if Congress and the White House don’t approve more coronavirus relief funding. Your move, GOP.
   
• Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders have announced the members of their joint task forces meant to explore policy initiatives for the Democratic platform and shore up party unity. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) will co-chair the climate change task force, along with another up-and-coming Democratic sensation, John Kerry.
   
• Doctors Without Borders has dispatched a team to the Navajo Nation to help with the reservation’s dire coronavirus crisis. As Bleu Adams, a Navajo business owner, put it: "Our relationship with the federal government has never been great, so it's not a surprise to us that we have to look for outside help."
   
• The Afghan government announced it will resume offensive operations against the Taliban, following a string of deadly attacks. 
   
• A Virginia luxury restaurant will comply with social distancing guidelines by filling half of its tables with mannequins. Before you say this is spooky and you hate it, what if we told you the mannequins are dressed in 1940s clothes, and that one mannequin (in a boater hat) appears to be proposing to his girlfriend (also a mannequin)? 
   
• Aimee Stephens, who brought the first major trans rights case to the Supreme Court, died on Tuesday. The court heard her case in October, and hasn’t yet issued its opinion.

Consumers are increasingly moving away from using food delivery apps, which charge fees that eat into the profits of struggling restaurants. Apps like GrubHub and DoorDash frequently scoop up 10 to 30 percent of the orders they process in fees, which is not quite what people have in mind when they order delivery to support local restaurants. As people have become more aware of the fees during the pandemic, some local governments have taken action: San Francisco, CA, Seattle, WA, and Washington, DC, have all passed 15 percent caps on app delivery fees, and other cities are considering similar measures. Many apps have responded by temporarily cutting their fees, or deferring them. The best way to support local businesses, and make sure you aren't being hoodwinked by Chuck E. Cheese, is still to order from restaurants directly. (And remember to tip generously). 

Climate Power 2020, a newly launched group staffed by Democratic campaign vets, aims to lay the groundwork for Democrats to prioritize climate policy during (and after) the campaign, particularly in swing states. 

The World Health Organization said that a handful of coronavirus treatments in early studies seem to limit the length or severity of the illness.

Renewable energy is projected to provide more of the country's electricity than coal this year, for the first time in history.

Bill Murray and Guy Fieri will hold a live nacho competition to raise money for Fieri’s Restaurant Employee Relief Fund.