Steve Bannon appears on Fox News with Maria Bartiromo to discuss the U.S. response to the coronavirus.   Bannon advocates for a military style shut-down of the U.S. to shut down everything now and get through the crisis as quickly as possible.

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Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin appears on Fox News to discuss the financial legislation (likely vote tomorrow) to support workers and businesses immediately impacted by President Trump’s proactive shut-down of the U.S. economy.

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The ‘good cop bad cop’ routine with deBlasio just seemed a little too scripted… Then the framework of a usefully constructed contrast narrative started to become clear… Then, as if on cue, all national broadcasts started being interrupted for maximum exposure; again a little odd.

A deep, very deep, connection to Bloomberg reappeared as a little flashing light in the corner of the picture… Then the Murdoch’s started to shape the landscape; curiosity piqued… Followed by positioning that seems a little too centrally located in the political sphere.. Then Hannity and Bannon started singing his praises.  Well, Bannon doesn’t exactly have a good track record of judgement… I digress.  But it really wasn’t until the CIA started publishing their endorsement that things possibly started making sense. WATCH:

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Are they positioning NY Governor Andrew Cuomo to exit the DNC convention as the consensus nominee; the chosen one?  It would take the construct, at least the optics of, a reluctantly drafted candidate to pull it off.  Then again, what is all this – if not that.

Think that’s crazy?…. Let’s keep watching.

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Earlier today President Trump, Vice-President Pence and members of the coronavirus task force held a briefing to update on the latest COVID-19 mitigation efforts.

[Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. A lot of things going on, and we’re going to be going over to the Hill, and we’re having a lot of meetings. And, from the financial — this is a medical situation, not a financial situation. The financial, though, is moving along very nicely.

I want to thank you for being here and update you on the progress we’ve made after a week of extraordinary mobilization in our war against the virus. Governors, mayors, the businesses, charities, and citizens are all working with urgency and speed toward one common goal, which is saving American lives.

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Comrade citizens, if you don’t believe there are local, state and federal contingency plans to activate the National Guard as a police authority you have not paid close attention over the past three decades.  However, nothing quite grabs attention like a convoy of Humvees and MWRAPS driving though Main Street…

In this small example of what is happening on a national scale, Illinois State Police and Chicago police prepare to enforce Governor  Pritzker’s “stay-at-home” order.  WATCH:

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Watch for the words: “opportunity”, “challenges” and “support” when used within a sentence that describes the deployment of the national guard.

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First, regardless of what the poll numbers reflect, based on a three-year track record of doing whatever it takes, it is safe to say President Trump would do whatever was the best approach while considering polling of those hard decisions irrelevant.

Second, even with the constant back-biting, snark and transparent attacks from the mainstream media, President Trump’s strength as a leader and manager of crisis is well identified by the majority of Americans. The media hate us, he’s just in their way.

(LINK TO POLL)

(Via ABC) As a deepening public health crisis rocks the nation, a new ABC News/Ipsos poll released Friday shows a far different portrait of a country than from only one week ago, as nearly three in four Americans now say their lives have been upended in some way by the novel coronavirus and President Donald Trump’s approval for his handling of the outbreak is on the rise.

In the new poll, 55% of Americans approve of the president’s management of the crisis, compared to 43% who disapprove. Trump’s approval on this issue is up from last week, when the numbers were nearly reversed. (read more)

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Earlier today President Trump announced the closing of the southern border (Mexico) and northern border (Canada) to non essential travel. Entry/Exit for trade and business travel will continue to operate with additional screening.

PROTECTING PUBLIC HEALTH: President Trump is taking action at our northern and southern borders to prevent further spread of the coronavirus in the United States.

♦ The United States has reached mutual agreements with Canada and Mexico to restrict non-essential travel across our northern and southern borders.

♦ The United States will expeditiously return aliens who cross between ports of entry or are otherwise not allowed to enter the country, as the facilities in which these aliens would normally be held cannot support quarantine for the time needed to assess potential cases.

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Former White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Kevin Hassett is returning to the administration as a senior economic advisor to President Trump during the COVID-19 response.

Kevin Hassett is very sharp and a happy warrior by disposition.  Hassett was excellent as CEA Chair and no doubt his rejoining the economic team with an advisory position to President Trump will bring a great voice back to the crew.

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We are entering into phase-3 of the supply-chain distribution shortages within the retail food sector.   Phase-1 was immediate impact.  Phase-2 was the spread to the warehouse and distribution.  Phase-3 impacts are further upstream, processing & suppliers.

The current shelf-stock shortages are not soon to reconcile; however, the shortages are still in the regional phase.  Meaning there is a big difference in the availability of products depending on the type of distribution network, and the specific retailers, in your area.

The ‘spider-spread effect’ happens when large metropolitan chains, serving large urban and megalopolis areas (1 million+ residents in 50 mile radius), reach a critical shortage in their supply network; and those residents then drive distances to locate their needs.  This is going on now across the country as regional supply chains try to keep up with demand.

Most consumers are not aware food consumption in the U.S. is now a 50/50 proposition. Approximately 50% of all food was consumed “outside the home” (or food away from home), and 50% of all food consumed was food “inside the home” (grocery shoppers).

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Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called-in to Maria Bartiromo earlier today to discuss the overall financial approach of the Trump administration to the COVID-19 impacts.

Mnuchin has been working closely with House and Senate political leadership to structure the financial flow needed for particular sectors and workers inside the Main St economy.  The target date for legislation directing the financial relief is early next week.

The underlying economy is strong. The treasury response is targeted to those who need short-term relief. Short-term economic indicators are no longer valid.

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