WHAT'S BREWING
OANN BANNED FROM WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 BRIEFINGS The White House Correspondents Association removed the far-right One America News Network from its seating rotation for daily coronavirus briefings because its reporter has repeatedly violated social distancing guidelines. The association’s board cited a policy it created last month that restricts seating at the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room in order to comply with social distancing guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [HuffPost]
THE CORONAVIRUS WORKER REVOLT IS JUST BEGINNING Workers are pushing back against employers all over the country. Pittsburgh trash collectors, Amazon warehouse pickers, and Whole Foods workers have either walked off the job or held protests for higher pay and better protections during the coronavirus outbreak. Most of those workers do not have union protections. The pandemic didn’t cause this workplace revolt, but it has laid bare the gaping holes of the social safety net and how little security and agency most American workers have on the job. [HuffPost]
HANNITY FREAKS OUT DEFENDING FOX NEWS VIRUS COVERAGE Fox News personality Sean Hannity, a leader in the right-wing media's portrayal of the coronavirus threat as a Democratic plot to victimize Trump, flipped out defending the network against growing criticism. Hannity, a presidential pal, decried the "media mob" and claimed he "reported without fear from the very beginning." [HuffPost]
WARREN WANTS $15.5 BILLION FOR THE HOMELESS Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) introduced a bill that would dramatically expand funding to protect people experiencing homelessness as the coronavirus pandemic makes its way across the country. The legislation would provide $15.5 billion to “support direct engagement with individuals experiencing homelessness, shelter operation and services, rapid rehousing, and prevention services.” [HuffPost]
SEN. KELLY LOEFFLER UNDER NEW SCRUTINY The husband of Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler recently acquired as much as $415,000 in stock in DuPont de Nemours, a chemical company that manufactures protective equipment in exceedingly high demand because of the coronavirus pandemic. The transaction comes as senators in both parties have faced questions about the stock transactions they made in the weeks before the coronavirus upended the U.S. economy, wiping out jobs and personal wealth. [AP]
CALL GROWS TO LET GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD The Food and Drug Administration instituted a policy in 2015 that says gay men cannot give blood unless they've abstained from sex for a year, to limit the spread of HIV. It's a long-held grievance in the LGBTQ community and it's now under review as health care providers say they’ll need an ample supply on hand for just normal emergencies, on top of a potential need for COVID-19 patients if they require life support. [HuffPost]
CANADIAN TENANTS WANT A RENT FREEZE Almost half of Canadian working renters don’t have enough savings to pay their bills for more than a month if they lose their job. A recent Angus Reid poll also indicates one-third of Canadians are worried their household will miss a rent or mortgage payment. An online petition started by Torontonian Joseph Rutherford, which calls on the federal government to cancel rent and mortgage payments during the COVID-19 crisis, has gathered over 700,000 signatures. [HuffPost]
PAKISTAN COURT OVERTURNS CONVICTION IN DANNY PEARL MURDER A Pakistani court overturned the murder conviction of a British Pakistani man found guilty of the kidnapping and killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Instead, the court found Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh guilty of the lesser charge of kidnapping and sentenced him to seven years in prison. One of his lawyers, Khwaja Naveed, said he could go free unless the government chooses to challenge the court decision. [AP] | 
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