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TODAY'S HEADLINES:

Donald Trump’s coronavirus response has caused a historic market crash. The growing list of pandemic cancelations may soon include national elections.

Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders warns of casualties on the scale World War Two and calls for emergency measures. Joe Biden promises help for job creators, and Trump seeks extraordinary powers to curtail liberties.

And lastly, a resurgent global fascist movement exploits the crisis, and German intelligence says the country’s democracy is at risk. Maybe not just theirs.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the world and it may only be the start. The New York Times published satelitte photos showing what were purported to be new mass graves in Iran. A number of high and mid-level officials in the Islamic Republic were reportedly ill with COVID-19, although leaders pursued a policy of denalism and delay that has led to five hundred reported deaths with ten thousand reported cases. International experts said Iran had one of the worst government respones -- until yesterday.

The director of the Harvard Global Health Institute told reporters Iran’s theocratic government was handling the coronavirus much better than President Trump. Harvard’s Ashish Jha (AH- SHEESH JAW) said the US response was QUOTE an unmitigated disaster that the administration has brought upon the population, and I don’t say this lightly. ENDQUOTE

The corporate oligarchs and institutional funds whose investments comprise the financial markets believed that dire assessment over the Trump administration’s assurances. The New York Stock Exchange yesterday suffered the biggest drop since so-called Black Monday in 1987. Last night Trump sent an incoherent Tweet blaming Joe Biden for thousands of deaths during the swine flu epidemic more than ten years ago. So don’t expect a rebound today.

Across the US, people are flooding social media with pictures of the results of panic buying in local grocery stores. In Canada, a couple of self-described hustlers bragged to a newspaper

that they’d made more than $100,000 reselling Lysol wipes after clearing out Costco.

A Johns Hopkins University website tracking coronavirus cases across the US and the globe went down for hours yesterday without explanation. Many public officials and journalists had been relying on it for updates. As we said yesterday, the truth may be classified.

Per reports there is virtually no systematic testing going on in the US despite pleas from doctors. Official numbers will be far behind the true spread of the virus and the disease. Cancelations and closures continue, including at schools. Check your local news sources. National hockey, college basketball, and Major League Baseball joined the National Basketball Association in postponing their seasons. In the United Kingdom, the national electoral commission recommended postponing elections. Like I said, this is the beginning.

The Democratic presidential candidates released their plans for dealing with the pandemic. Each was characteristic of the candidate who proposed it. Joe Biden proposed some limited measures to expand testing and provide targeted relief to select groups. Bernie Sanders called for dramatic state action unseen for generations.

In a widely covered speech, Sanders said the US could face casualties exceeding the armed forces in World War Two. Critics called him alarmist, but those estimates were in line with indpendent and international public health estimates. According to the Department of Defense, more than four hundred thousand American service members died in that war.

The Vermont Senator laid out what he called an appropriate crisis response: full national mobilization. Price controls on necessary goods. Debt cancelation. A moratorium on evictions, foreclosures, and utility shut-offs. Food, shelter, and medicine for everyone who needs it. Financial assistance for workers -- including part-time and temporary workers, gig economy workers, and undoumented laborers – as well as for businesses. An immediate declaration of national emergency by the president, and Congressional action in the face of executive branch incompetence. Sanders said, QUOTE Now is the time for solidarity ENDQUOTE.

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s plan was more restrained, calling for free testing, more procurement of supplies, and emergency paid leave. Biden said we need to QUOTE keep credit flowing to our job creators ENDQUOTE.

Trump is doing worse than nothing. He said he would consider shutting down travel within and between states but gave no details. He appointed his son-in-law Jared Kushner to take charge of pandemic response, apparently over Vice President Mike Pence, Trump’s last scapegoat. Kushner reportedly believes the virus is a problem of QUOTE psychology ENDQUOTE. Yesterday Trump rammed through a $1.5 trillion bank bailout, like nothing seen since the 2008 crash – and enough to pay for Bernie Sanders’ entire student debt forgiveness plan. The market wasn’t buying it, and still falling after Trump’s announcement.

Finally, The Nation reported on the Trump’s administration’s reliance on a George W. Bush- era plan claiming extraordinary executive powers during a pandemic. The operating Customs and Border Patrol plan assumes viral pandemics QUOTE challenge the essential stability of governments and society ENDQUOTE and alludes to the construction of QUOTE tent cities ENDQUOTE. Civil liberties advocates are very worried.

The resurgent far right is using the escalating international crises to consolidate power and push its agenda wherever possible. The European Union announced a scheme to pay some $2,200 to refugees in camps on the Greek islands to turn around, cross the sea and return home. Of course, the refugees have no homes to go back to. The EU is calling it a program of QUOTE voluntary return ENDQUOTE.

In Germany, the federal domestic intelligence agency placed the far-parliamentary party, A.F.D., under surveillance. German intelligence reportedly considers the far-right party as a threat to the country’s democracy, which dates to 1990. Again: German intelligence fears the country may lose democracy to a rising fascist organization with seats in the parliament.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

Bernie Sanders won the California primary. The vote took place on Tuesday and results announced yesterday. Sanders won all but a handful of California counties and more than 1.6 million votes, compared to 1.3 million for Biden.

US proxy forces in Syria denied bombing Iranian-backed forces, despite the existence of independent video. Before the bombings that officially did not happen, a rocket attack in Iraq killed two American and one British solider. Iraqi journalists heard American troops screaming and saw them fighting fires. The Pentagon ceased press briefings months ago.

The Intercept revealed new details about the extent of US involvement in a scheme to prosecute former Brazilian president Lula de Silva, who was released from prison last year. The new documents show Brazilian laws and international treaties may have been violated in a scheme to coach witnesses in Lula’s ginned-up corruption trial. The outcome favored US over Brazilian interests. Would we have it any other way?

US military whistleblower Chelsea Manning was released from jail, a day after she was reported to have self-harmed while in what advocates called coercive detention. We wish her the best.

That’s all for the AM Quickie. Join us this afternoon on the Majority Report.

#AMQuickie: March 13, 2020

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Corey Pein

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn