First coronavirus death on US soil confirmed, Trump calls for calm

The first fatality from the novel coronavirus has been confirmed on US soil, as President Donald Trump on Saturday urged Americans not to panic. Health officials said the man who died in Washington state was one of a handful with no known links to global hot zones to have contracted the virus -- indicating that the pathogen was now likely spreading in communities. The death occurred in King County, the most populous in the state and home to Seattle, a city of more than 700,000 people, officials told AFP.

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'I guess I wasn't arrested': Joe Biden reverses on claim of an arrest in South Africa

Joe Biden has previously told of being arrested in South Africa while traveling with black lawmakers. He reversed himself Friday in a CNN interview.

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U.S. Navy Coronavirus Quarantine Could Get Ugly

The U.S. Navy’s new plan to preemptively self-quarantine ships in the Pacific region, where they will remain at sea for 14 days over fears about the 2019 novel coronavirus, sparked concerns of disastrous consequences mirroring the explosion of cases on a cruise ship off Japan.It was almost fitting that, hours after the plan went public, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Friday it had confirmed two more cases of the deadly disease in Americans who were rescued from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.As of Friday, there were 62 confirmed cases of the virus in the U.S. One of those cases—a severely ill person in northern California who had not traveled abroad—marked the first infection of unknown origin on American soil, while 14 patients came through the American health system after traveling to China or having close contact with someone who had. The rest, aside from the 44 cases from the cruise ship, were repatriated individuals who fled the vicinity of the virus’s origin in China on State Department-chartered planes.In the case of the Diamond Princess, a man boarded the ship carrying the virus, then disembarked in Hong Kong, and—after a controversial quarantine that one expert called “the stupidest idea ever”—ultimately helped transmit it to hundreds of people.The Coronavirus Stock Market Rollercoaster Isn’t Stopping Anytime Soon“It’s a cold virus, and colds are readily transmissible from person-to-person,” explained Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, an adjunct professor of epidemiology at the University of California Los Angeles who previously worked for the CDC and who described the cruise quarantine as “a disaster.”After the quarantine, the Diamond Princess was the largest single outbreak outside China until this week’s developments in South Korea and Italy. The cruise company has said it was following recommendations from Japanese health authorities.The saga made it all the more remarkable when, on Thursday evening, the U.S. Navy signaled it would self-quarantine ships and monitor sailors who’ve traveled to higher-risk areas in the Pacific Fleet for symptoms of the virus “out of an abundance of caution.” Navy spokesman Lt. James Adams told CNN that there were “no indications that any U.S Navy personnel have contracted Coronavirus Disease 2019.” (One U.S. military member in South Korea has previously been reported to have the virus.)“The health and welfare of our sailors, civilians and their families is paramount and our efforts are directed at detection and, if required, prevention of the spread of this illness,” Adams said.Adams did not immediately respond to requests for further comment on details about or the wisdom of a seaborne quarantine from The Daily Beast. But experts’ takes on the plan ranged from cautious optimism to profound skepticism.“If your goal is to spread the virus, that’s probably a very good thing to do,” deadpanned Dr. Timothy Brewer, a professor of epidemiology and medicine at UCLA who has served as an adviser for the World Health Organization, CDC, and National Institutes of Health. “I mean, seriously.”“There are two possibilities, right? Either someone is infected on some of those ships, or not. If nobody is infected, they’re going to spend 14 days sitting out on the open ocean and nothing happens,” said Brewer. “On the other hand, if somebody is infected and contagious, you have a bunch of people in a confined space who can’t get away from each other. That’s actually how you maximize transmission.”“The Diamond Princess is a perfect example of that,” said Brewer. “It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. If I had to guess, it’s because they feel like they have to do something and they don’t know what to do.”Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University, had a more tempered response, suggesting the plan “isn’t unreasonable” if officials are careful to screen people with fever or upper respiratory symptoms. “I don’t think it’s a terrible idea, but they have to do it right,” he said.Klausner, meanwhile, pointed out that, “for the Diamond Princess, there was chaos that I would not expect on a U.S. Navy vessel.”“With the Navy, there’s normally an onboard medical facility, and they can have on board testing and devices,” said Klausner. “I would expect it would be a lot more organized.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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Bernie Sanders has a convenient change of heart on delegate rules. Will Democrats buy it?

There’s one big issue that Bernie Sanders has reversed himself on — and it could complicate his path to the nomination. The issue is the role of so-called superdelegates at the Democratic convention. These are the elected officials and party leaders who are automatically seated but whose votes only come into play after the first ballot.

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Iran reports new surge in coronavirus cases

Iran on Saturday reported a surge in new coronavirus cases as the number of deaths jumped to 43, but it dismissed as "rumours" a report the real toll was much higher. Since it announced its first deaths from COVID-19, Iran has scrambled to bring the outbreak under control, shutting schools, suspending cultural and sporting events and halting meetings of the cabinet and parliament. The health ministry on Saturday reported nine new deaths and a 53 percent jump in infections over the previous 24 hours, taking the overall totals to 43 deaths among 593 cases.

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South Carolina exit polls: Black and moderate voters fuel Biden to victory

The former vice president won 60 percent of the black vote and received solid backing from moderate and religious voters Saturday.

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Americans of all parties agree: Joe Biden is old, Michael Bloomberg is rich

Pollsters at The Associated Press and NORC gave the public a chance to describe presidential candidates in one word or short phrase. The results were... telling.Democrats described former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg as nearly equal parts "smart," "young," and "gay." Independents and Republicans were far more likely to describe him as "gay," as well as "inexperienced," and "centrist." Philanthropist Tom Steyer was more overwhelmingly described as "rich" by Democrats, while independents and Republicans opted for "inexperienced."While former Vice President Joe Biden scored some mentions of "good person" among Democrats, he mostly got "old." Independents and Republicans also mostly called him "old," followed by "corrupt" and "creepy."Democrats and independents similarly described Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) as "old" at the highest rate, though Republicans went straight for "socialist," followed by "old," and "communist."> How poll respondents described 2020 candidates in one (or a few more) words. https://t.co/I53LZ1dSR1 pic.twitter.com/GbcahfoHCl> > — Philip Bump (@pbump) February 28, 2020Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is older than Biden and just months younger than Sanders, is universally regarded as "rich" (a fair assessment), and Republicans said he's "buying the election."Democrats were split in describing Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) as "smart" and "strong," though independents and Republicans view her primarily as a "liar," as well as "crazy" and a "woman," which is hardly up for debate.While the Democratic candidates were generally regarded more positively by members of their own party, surveyed Republicans didn't come up with great words for President Trump. Most Republicans simply said "president," followed by "bumbling" and "jerk."The AP-NORC poll was conducted Feb. 12-16 via phone interviews with 1,074 adults. The margin of error is ±4.2 percentage points. View the full results at AP-NORC.More stories from theweek.com Stock markets are headed for a 40 percent plunge, says economist who predicted financial crisis Trump mocks Bloomberg's height, Biden's age in wild CPAC speech The growing viral threat

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At CPAC, Trump Takes Aim at Rivals

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Biden Wins in South Carolina, Adding New Life to His Candidacy

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Joe Biden wins South Carolina primary with overwhelming support.

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After 12 hours, the polls in South Carolina have closed.

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A crowd waits for Warren in Houston: ‘I just love her energy.’

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Looking to Super Tuesday, Buttigieg campaigns in Nashville.

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F.D.A. Expands Coronavirus Testing in the United States

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South Koreans told to stay home as coronavirus infections surpass 3,100

South Korea urged citizens on Saturday to stay indoors as it warned of a "critical moment" in its battle on the coronavirus after recording the biggest daily jump in infections, as 813 new cases took the tally to 3,150. South Korea is grappling with the largest outbreak of the virus outside China, as a new death took the toll to 17, amid a record daily increase in infections since the country confirmed its first patient on Jan. 20. It was a "critical moment" in reining in the spread of the virus, he said, adding, "Please stay at home and refrain from going outside and minimize contact with other people."

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Trump Team Testing ‘Off-the-Shelf’ Drugs to Cure Coronavirus

(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration is testing existing “off-the-shelf” drugs to combat the coronavirus, a cabinet official said Saturday.A national lab in Tennessee recently made “an important discovery” involving existing drugs, Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland.“The scientists at our Oak Ridge National Laboratory were able to look at the protein strains and determine -- perhaps, it’s still early -- that we can find some off-the-shelf drugs that can help us not only cure the disease but stop the spread of the infection,” Brouillette said.Brouillette was responding to a question about what his agency is doing to help combat the virus, which has caused markets to plunge and killed nearly 3,000 people across the globe. In the U.S., where 22 cases have been reported, the virus has killed one person -- a woman from Washington state -- and more cases are likely, President Donald Trump said Saturday.In addition to the laboratory tests, Brouillette said he’s harnessing the power of his agency’s “super computers” as well as artificial intelligence capabilities to assist organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and the World Heath Organization to conduct modeling on the virus.“We want to know how far is this going to spread and at what point might it peak,” he said.To contact the reporter on this story: Ari Natter in Washington at anatter5@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Jon Morgan at jmorgan97@bloomberg.net, Matthew G. Miller, Virginia Van NattaFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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After chemical attack and kidnapping, migrant mom tries again to enter U.S.

“They’re putting us at risk,” the asylum-seeker said. “After all we’ve been through.”

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South Korea virus cases surge as WHO sounds maximum alert

South Korea reported its biggest surge in new coronavirus cases on Saturday as concerns grew of a possible epidemic in the United States and the World Health Organization raised its risk alert to its highest level. The virus has rapidly spread across the world in the past week, causing stock markets to sink to their lowest levels since the 2008 global financial crisis over fears that the disease could wreak havoc on the world economy. The vast majority of infections have been in China but more daily cases are now logged outside the country, with South Korea, Italy and Iran emerging as major hotspots.

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Billionaire Tom Steyer shakes up primary with slavery reparations plan

For centuries, South Carolina’s Charleston was the largest port of entry for the transatlantic slave trade. Now, billionaire presidential candidate Tom Steyer is shaking up the state’s Democratic primary by advocating slavery reparations for African-Americans.

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Greece pushes back migrants after Turkish border 'onslaught'

Greek police fired teargas to push back hundreds of stone-throwing migrants trying to cross the border from Turkey on Saturday, as a crisis over Syria shifted onto the European Union's doorstep. Greece, which has tense relations with Turkey, accused Ankara of sending the migrants to the border post in an organized "onslaught" and said it would keep them out. Turkey said on Thursday it would stop keeping hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers in its territory after an air strike on Idlib in neighboring Syria killed 33 Turkish soldiers.

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The FDA just announced the first drug shortage caused by the coronavirus, but wouldn't identify the drug

China is a critical player in the global supply chain for drugs, as many ingredients in the medicines we take are manufactured there.

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Rejected by Jamaica, Caymans over virus fears, cruise ship docks in Mexico

A cruise ship turned away from Jamaica and the Cayman Islands after a crew member tested positive for flu has docked in Mexico and passengers will be allowed to disembark as long as "health standards" are met, the country's president said Thursday. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told reporters that the Meraviglia, which has been anchored off Cozumel island in the Caribbean since Wednesday, "is being allowed to dock" and those aboard may be allowed off. The operator, MSC Cruises, lashed out at authorities for refusing to allow it to dock at its previous destinations for "acting out of fears" over the new coronavirus.

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Fox News Breaking News Alert

Fox News Breaking News Alert

Biden wins South Carolina Democratic primary, Fox News projects, in crucial boost to campaign after early losses

02/29/20 4:01 PM

Congo military intelligence chief dies of heart attack, wife says

Congo's military intelligence chief died on Friday after suffering a heart attack, his wife said, following media reports that an investigation had been opened into allegations that he tried to destabilize the country.

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Polanski wins best director at Cesar awards, several actresses leave in protest

Roman Polanski, who faces accusations of rape, won France's Cesar Award for best directing for his film "An Officer and a Spy" on Friday, prompting several actresses to walk out of the ceremony in protest.

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Photo: Bernie Sanders high fives tiny supporter.

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Why Bernie Scares Me

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Gerald Krone, a Negro Ensemble Company Founder, Dies at 86

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Who Will Care For Society’s Forgotten?

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Joe Biden Needs a Win in South Carolina. Will He Get It?

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We Don’t Really Know How Many People Have Coronavirus

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Tom Steyer showered South Carolina in political spending. Will it pay off?

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Celine: Fall 2020

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Johnny Antonelli, Star Pitcher for the Giants, Dies at 89

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How Bad Could It Get? Companies Gauge the Coronavirus Impact

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Photo: Bloomberg has a canine constituency.

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Map: Confirmed coronavirus cases, worldwide

More than 81,000 people have been sickened by a coronavirus, mostly in China. This map is updated daily.

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The Sinister Sanders Child-Care Plan

Bernie Sanders announced a “universal child care” proposal at the end of his wide-ranging 60 Minutes interview with Anderson Cooper. The plan would guarantee “every child in America free full-day, full-week, high-quality child care from infancy through age three,” and the campaign estimates that it would cost taxpayers 1.5 trillion dollars over ten years. But aside from being prohibitively expensive and distressingly vague, the plan looks an awful lot like social engineering.Start with the price tag. After failing to explain how he would pay for his expansive agenda — “I can't rattle off to you every nickel and every dime,” Sanders told Anderson Cooper in a disastrous moment of candor — the Sanders campaign released a partial list of pay-fors the day after the interview, laying out the cost of the senator’s major proposals alongside the tax hikes a Sanders administration would pursue to finance its domestic agenda. The campaign pegged the child-care proposal at a $150 billion annual price tag, more expensive than current federal outlays on unemployment insurance and the SNAP program combined.Add the child-care initiative to the bevy of programs Sanders has already promised to enact as president, and the fiscal feasibility of a child-care proposal grows more uncertain.The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget released their analysis of Sanders’s universal child-care plan yesterday, and raised concerns that the Sanders campaign was overestimating federal receipts from its proposed “tax on extreme wealth”:> Based on the work of economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, the Sanders campaign estimates this wealth tax would raise $4.35 trillion. This would be enough to finance Senator Sanders's $1.5 trillion universal child care and pre-K plan, his $2.5 trillion housing plan, and $350 billion of his Medicare for All plan (note that our analysis previously assumed he would dedicate $800 billion, not $350 billion, to Medicare for All).> > In our assessment, however, Senators Sanders’s wealth tax is likely to raise significantly less than advertised due to high levels of tax avoidance and the erosion of taxable wealth over time. We believe the wealth tax is likely to raise roughly $3.3 trillion. Assuming the proceeds are distributed evenly, that would leave the universal child care and pre-K plan nearly $400 billion short.As a point of reference, that $400 billion shortfall is larger than the sum total currently allotted to all federal welfare programs combined.While Sanders’s innumeracy was perhaps to be expected, the senator’s defense of the child-care plan on the merits was surprising. For a candidate with well-documented disdain for corporate America, it was strange to see how much of Sanders’s child-care proposal was concerned with the “career outcomes” of “mothers” who — heaven forfend — make “career sacrifices in order to care for their children.” The Sanders campaign presents female labor participation growth as one of the central selling points for its child-care scheme: “Mothers,” the campaign proclaims, “are 40 percent more likely than fathers to report a negative impact on their career outcomes due to child care considerations,” making the institution of a government-funded child-care scheme a “moral responsibility.” The campaign presents the welfare of the children whose stay-at-home parents enter the workforce as an ancillary concern.The Sanders campaign hardly seemed to consider — or, worse, seemed to have considered and proceeded to ignore — the possibility that those mothers making “career sacrifices” might want to raise their own children. As a 2015 Gallup poll found, 56 percent of mothers with children under the age of 18 said they would rather remain at home than enter the workforce, if given the choice. Instead, the socialist appears eager to incentivize more mothers to join the workforce, whereupon they will be presumably “exploited” by the “greedy” corporations the senator has spent a lifetime deriding.Most alarming is the power the senator’s plan vests in the federal government to insert itself into the child-rearing process. Sanders proposes a one-size-fits-all, government-funded child-care model, with no provision for those parents who wish to remain at home. If the Sanders campaign were simply concerned about the costs associated with raising children — both in the home and at a day-care center — it could have proposed a subsidy that also conferred benefits to stay-at-home parents or to relatives providing child care. But the social-engineering component of the plan is unmistakable, as Sanders would essentially create a scheme to augment the “career outcomes” of mothers who might otherwise raise their children at home, thereby boosting enrollment in government-funded child-care centers. Of course, all of those child-care centers will be subject to “quality standards” concocted in Washington.The implications of Sanders’s child-care agenda are clear enough. Right in the heart of the proposal, the Sanders campaign acknowledges that “ages 0 through 4 are the most important years of human life intellectually and emotionally.” Parents ought to be the ones to impart their values to their children in such a formative window, not a Sanders-administration functionary.

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California bracing for spread of coronavirus

California said Thursday it was monitoring some 8,400 people for the new coronavirus, after officials confirmed a woman had contracted the disease without traveling to outbreak-hit regions. Governor Gavin Newsom said travelers arriving from affected areas were being monitored and sought to reassure the public that the risk of contracting the virus remains low.

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Pence tries to project calm as virus response coordinator

Vice President Mike Pence sought to project calm Thursday in his new role as chief coordinator of the government's response to the coronavirus as the Trump administration rushed to contain mounting public concerns and some of the worst stock market declines in more than a decade. Pence convened his first meeting of President Donald Trump's coronavirus task force one day after the president made him the government's point-person for the epidemic.

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The 6 largest coronavirus outbreaks outside of China

More new coronavirus cases were reported outside of China than inside the country on Wednesday — the first time since global health officials began tracking the virus.

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Police identify victims, shooter in Milwaukee brewery shooting rampage

Police in Milwaukee on Thursday identified the five brewery employees shot and killed by a co-worker who later took his own life in the latest spasm of gun violence plaguing U.S. workplaces and schools. The motive for the carnage was unclear a day after the shooting at the landmark Molson Coors Beverage Co complex shook Wisconsin's largest city. "Reasons for this are still under investigation," Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales said.

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Turkey loses 33 soldiers in attack, Russia deploys warships to Syria coast

Turkish President Recep Erdogan is looking West for support, and at his country's request NATO will be holding a meeting on the situation.

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Ex-Phoenix area sheriff declares victory despite court loss

Former Phoenix-area Sheriff Joe Arpaio lost a bid to erase his criminal conviction for disobeying a 2011 court order, but claimed victory Thursday after an appeal's court said the verdict no longer has any legal consequence because of President Donald Trump's pardon. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals explained Arpaio was pardoned before he could be sentenced and that the final judgment in the case ended up dismissing the contempt charge. “They can’t use that conviction against me in a court of law,” Arpaio said.

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Billionaire Steyer shakes up primary with slavery reparations plan

For centuries, South Carolina's Charleston was the largest port of entry for the transatlantic slave trade. Now, a billionaire activist named Tom Steyer is shaking up the state's Democratic primary by advocating slavery reparations for African Americans. A California financier turned philanthropist and environmental campaigner, Steyer has poured tens of millions of dollars into the state ahead of Saturday's vote -- with a single-minded focus on the black voters who make up 60 percent of its Democratic electorate.

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