TOP STORIES

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Tuesday, May 5

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WHITE HOUSE BLOCKS CORONAVIRUS TEAM FROM TESTIFYING 

The White House has reportedly blocked members of its coronavirus task force from appearing before congressional lawmakers without the express approval of President Donald Trump’s top deputy. The Trump administration sent a memo to congressional committees saying task force officials were under an “extraordinary” demand as the nation reels from the ongoing pandemic and said it was “reasonable” that they not appear at any hearings. Only White House chief of staff Mark Meadows may give them special dispensation to do so. [HuffPost]

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3,000 DEATHS A DAY BY JUNE A startling new projection presented by the Federal Emergency Management Agency shows a possible COVID-19 toll surge to 200,000 cases and 3,000 deaths daily by June 1. The predicted death toll increase -- a 70% jump from the current daily average of 1,750 -- comes as dozens of states begin to drop strict social distancing requirements and open businesses to workers and customers at Trump’s urging. [HuffPost]

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CHINA FACES RISING GLOBAL BACKLASH An internal Chinese report warns that Beijing faces a rising wave of hostility in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak that could tip relations with the United States into confrontation. The report, presented early last month by the Ministry of State Security to top Beijing leaders including President Xi Jinping, concluded that global anti-China sentiment is at its highest since the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. As a result, China apparently needs to be prepared in a worst-case scenario for armed confrontation between the two global powers. [Reuters]

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FAUCI SCOFFS AT TRUMP'S VIRUS LAB ESCAPE MYTH Dr. Anthony Fauci told National Geographic there's no solid evidence of a conspiracy theory promoted by Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that the coronavirus originated in a Chinese lab and escaped. The infectious disease expert said leading biologists say all the evidence shows the virus evolved in animals and jumped from bats to humans in the wild -- findings supported by the World Health Organization and U.S.-allied intelligence agencies. [HuffPost]

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• How coronavirus has changed what it's like to give birth in America.
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• Tweets about quarantine life that introverts will relate to.
• Amazon VP quits over firings of protesting workers.
• 17 tweets that sum up Mother's Day in the age of social distancing. 

Get the latest coronavirus updates on our dedicated page

CHRIS CHRISTIE: PEOPLE WILL HAVE TO ACCEPT MORE DEATHS TO REOPEN ECONOMY Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie joined conservatives saying it’s crucial to restart the U.S. economy, even if that means losing thousands of more lives to COVID-19. In an interview on “The Daily DC” podcast, CNN’s Dana Bash asked about new internal government projections that nearly 3,000 people will be dying daily by June 1. He answered that people “are going to have to” swallow the idea of losing thousands of more lives. [HuffPost]

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MCCONNELL BRINGS SENATE BACK TO RAM THROUGH MORE TRUMP JUDGES Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell put the Senate back to work in Washington, but the agenda included no immediate work on the coronavirus crisis. Instead, the GOP leader's top priority was confirming Trump judicial nominees. [AP]

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IDA B. WELLS AWARDED POSTHUMOUS PULITZER The 2020 Pulitzer Prizes, announced on Monday, included one very important posthumous winner: Ida B. Wells, a Black woman born into slavery in Mississippi during the Civil War, who became one of the most prominent and intrepid investigative journalists in American history. Wells (1862-1931) was honored with the 2020 prize in the Special Citations and Awards category “for her outstanding and courageous reporting on the horrific and vicious violence against African Americans during the era of lynching,” the Pulitzer Prize Board said. [HuffPost]

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AMMON BUNDY BLAMES JEWS FOR HOLOCAUST AT RALLY Anti-government extremist Ammon Bundy compared government measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus to the Nazis’ genocide of Jews during World War II. Bundy, a notorious militia leader who once organized an armed takeover of an Oregon wildlife refuge, made the absurd comparison while speaking at an “Idaho Is Open For Business” rally ― one of several anti-lockdown demonstrations held across the country demanding that governors allow businesses to reopen despite the urgent warnings of public health experts. [HuffPost]

WHAT'S BREWING

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MNUCHIN URGES AMERICANS TO LIVE DANGEROUSLY, TRAVEL THE COUNTRY Despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is encouraging Americans to travel around the country this summer. “It’s a great time for people to explore America,” Mnuchin said on Fox Business News. “A lot of people haven’t seen many parts of America. I wish I could get back on the road soon.” One problem: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strongly recommends avoiding all nonessential travel to protect against contracting or spreading COVID-19. [HuffPost]

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TRUMP LASHED FOR SICKER, POORER U.S. IN GOP GROUP'S AD A lacerating new ad by a conservative Republicans who oppose Trump takes him to task for having “ignored” the onset of COVID-19 that has cost nearly 70,000 U.S. lives ― and counting ― and tanked the economy. The 60-second spot was produced by The Lincoln Project, whose “never-Trump” founders include lawyer George Conway, a fierce critic of the president even as he’s also the husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway. The ad’s bleak scenes evoke images of the Great Depression. [HuffPost]

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SECURITY GUARD FATALLY SHOT OVER MASK A security guard at a Family Dollar store in Michigan was fatally shot after refusing to allow a customer to enter the store because she wasn’t following the state’s guidance on wearing a face mask in public. Calvin Munerlyn, a 43-year-old father of nine, was shot once in the head while working at the store in Flint on Friday afternoon. He was following a statewide order on masks when he stopped Sharmel Teague, 45, because her daughter wasn’t covering her face. [HuffPost]

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BIRTH CONTROL BATTLE REACHES SUPREME COURT The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday will consider whether the Trump administration may allow almost any employer to deny workers access to free birth control by citing religious or moral objections. The case, Trump v. Pennsylvania, centers on the birth control mandate, a hotly disputed regulation under the Affordable Care Act that requires most private health insurance plans to cover Food and Drug Administration-approved forms of birth control without a copay. [HuffPost]

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THE CHOICE FOR SOME WORKERS: RETURN DURING A PANDEMIC OR LOSE YOUR JOB The online car retailer Carvana gave its employees a stark choice last week: return to work as COVID-19 deaths still mount, or walk away from your job. It's an example of the pressure many workers will confront as states ease stay-at-home restrictions, and employers call them back to work amid the pandemic. But for employees, that could mean returning to a worksite even as the COVID-19 death count nears 70,000 in the U.S, and many schools and child care facilities remain closed. [HuffPost]

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YOU CAN'T REOPEN THE ECONOMY WITHOUT CHILD CARE 

Catherine Carberry would love to go back to work. The staffing agency she works for in Easton, Pennsylvania, regularly offers her temporary gigs at nearby factories and warehouses. But Carberry, 40, can’t work. It’s not because she’s at high risk of contracting COVID-19 or flush with unemployment benefits. There’s no one to watch her 4-year-old son, Robbie. Robbie’s child care center is closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, and Carberry’s family lives far away. Carberry is a single mother with less than a dollar in the bank. [HuffPost]

• Intelligence shared among U.S. allies indicates the coronavirus outbreak more likely came from an animal market, not a Chinese lab.
• Canada's Yukon asks residents to stay one caribou – or four ravens – apart.
• Park Ranger telling a crowd to social distance pushed into lake mid-speech.
• 3 hospital workers gave out masks. Weeks later, they were all dead.
• Seattle braces for the next coronavirus fight.
• We are all living in the same moment.

Illustrated PSA

The world is trying to cope with the coronavirus, from the serious to the mundane. We’re dealing with jamming full lives into one apartment or house, and trying to stay calm about a world full of an invisible virus. We’re trying to learn how to homeschool our kids, or to make bread for ourselves. It’s a whole new world, and HuffPost is launching a new illustrated series about how to live in it.

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Each week, we’ll feature an artist offering their vision for how to handle the world as it is today. We hope they make you think, make you smile, or just offer something to do other than staring wistfully out the windows.

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Click on the image to see a full-size version. See previous entries in the series here.

Illustration by D'Ara Nazaryan

BEFORE YOU GO

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