TOP STORIES
Monday, March 16
CDC URGES NO LARGE GATHERINGS FOR 8 WEEKS Officials across the country curtailed many elements of American life to fight the coronavirus outbreak, with health officials recommending that groups of 50 or more don’t get together and a government expert saying a 14-day national shutdown may be needed. Governors were closing restaurants, bars, and schools as the nation sank deeper into chaos over the crisis. [AP]
TAKEAWAYS FROM THE BIDEN-SANDERS DEBATE Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) stood behind lecterns six feet apart in CNN’s Washington studio. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, which loomed large throughout, Biden and Sanders participated in a somewhat surreal 11th presidential primary debate. Biden promised a woman vice president, and Americans got a glimpse of presidential crisis management. [HuffPost]
U.S. 'TRIED TO GET ACCESS' TO GERMAN VACCINE RESEARCH The Trump administration attempted to persuade a German firm developing a possible vaccine for the coronavirus to move its research work to the United States, raising fears in Berlin that President Donald Trump was trying to assure that any inoculation would be available first, and perhaps exclusively, in the United States. [New York Times]
FEDERAL RESERVE CUTS RATES TO NEAR ZERO In a bold, emergency action to support the economy during the coronavirus pandemic, the Federal Reserve on Sunday announced it would cut its target interest rate near zero. The swifter-than-expected rate cut is designed to prevent the kind of credit crunch and financial market disruptions that occurred the last time the Fed had to cut rates all the way to the bottom, during the global financial crisis just over a decade ago. [CNN]
TOP U.S. EXPERT: 'HUNKER DOWN SIGNIFICANTLY MORE' Anthony Fauci, a top U.S. health official leading the country’s response to the coronavirus, urged Americans to “hunker down significantly more” as the virus continues to spread. The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, while making the rounds on Sunday morning political shows, called on a “dramatic diminution” in personal interactions at restaurants and bars. [HuffPost]
PENCE: HOUSE DEAL GUARANTEES FREE TESTS FOR ALL During a scheduled press conference on Sunday, Vice President Mike Pence announced that all coronavirus testing will be free for every American. “Because of the good, bipartisan work done in the House of Representatives, now all coronavirus testing is free, and it’s free for every American ― including the uninsured,” Pence said. [HuffPost]
FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS ARE INTACT The aisles and aisles of empty store shelves give the appearance that the United States, improbably and alarmingly, is running out of food. But the nation’s biggest retailers, dairy farmers and meat producers say that isn’t so. The food supply chain, they say, remains intact and has been ramping up to meet the unprecedented stockpiling brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. [New York Times] | 
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