July 23, 2019

Article II of the United States Constitution bestows executive power on the office of the presidency. For example, the article establishes the president as the commander-in-chief of the military and grants the office the power of pardons. But it's also sandwiched between Articles I and III, which are the foundations for the powers of the legislative and judiciary branches. You know, the whole checks and balances thing. It's unclear, however, if President Trump understands this.

During a speech at Turning Point USA's Teen Action Summit, Trump played his usual hits. But while railing against the Democrats for their "witch hunt" into 2016 Russian election interference and alleged obstruction of justice, Trump mentioned that he has "an Article II," which would allow him to do whatever he pleases.

But rest assured, he said he doesn't "even talk about that."

Trump has, in fact, talked about it on more than one occasion, often in the context of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

It appears that Trump usually brings up Article II when he's arguing that he could have fired Mueller and didn't. As The Washington Post's Aaron Blake pointed out, Trump might not actually think he has wide-reaching, unchecked powers as president — just that he could have put an end to the investigation. Whatever he believes, he's managed to get everyone talking about it. Tim O'Donnell

11:39 p.m.

If anybody else had tweeted a doctored photo of President Trump playing the fiddle as the new coronavirus spreads throughout the U.S. and wreaks havoc on the U.S. and global economies, the White House would probably protest vociferously. When White House social media director Dan Scavino tweeted out such a photo, saying Trump's tune is "Nothing can stop what's coming," though, Trump retweeted it with the message: "Who knows what this means, but it sounds good to me!'"

Trump, of course, wasn't playing the violin over the weekend — he was playing golf at his private club in Florida. And since historical and cultural references to leaders fiddling are scarce, especially in times of disaster, lots of people on social media had no problem identifying what they believed the meme meant. Some were curious why Scavino tweeted it, however, or why Trump retweeted then it.

Scavino is a federal employee — not a member of Trump's campaign, despite his normal posts — so maybe he's trying to warn Americans about the mood in the White House. Whatever it means, it sounds good to Trump. Which is another way of saying: Wash your hands thoroughly for 20 seconds with soap, and try not to touch your face. Peter Weber

10:59 p.m.

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) is the latest elected official to announce they are under self-quarantine after interacting with an individual who tested positive for the coronavirus, COVID-19.

Gosar revealed on Sunday that while at the Conservative Political Action Conference in late February, he "came into contact with an individual who has since tested positive for, and is hospitalized for, COVID-19. I was with the individual for an extended period of time, and we shook hands several times."

Gosar said while he is not experiencing any symptoms at the moment, he will stay at his home in Arizona "until the conclusion of the 14-day period following my interaction with this individual." He is also closing his Washington, D.C., office for the week, and his team will work from home.

His announcement came shortly after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said that he came into contact with someone at CPAC who later tested positive for COVID-19, and out of "an abundance of caution," he decided to self-quarantine at his Texas home for the rest of the week. Catherine Garcia

10:39 p.m.

The State Department issued a warning on Sunday, telling Americans, especially those with underlying health issues, they should not travel by cruise ship amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Illnesses can spread quickly in close quarters, and 21 people on board the Grand Princess cruise ship, now being held off the coast of California, have tested positive for the coronavirus, COVID-19. The boat is set to dock at the Port of Oakland on Monday, and 3,500 passengers will be transferred to military facilities, where they will be tested for the virus and quarantined for 14 days. In February, nearly 700 people on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship tested positive for COVID-19, and eight died.

Two people familiar with the matter told The New York Times four members of the government's coronavirus task force — Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Dr. Robert Kadlec, assistant health secretary for preparedness and response; and Dr. Deborah Birx, coronavirus response coordinator — were vocal about the need to warn older travelers about the risks involved with taking cruises during the outbreak. Trump, however, pushed back, because he thought a warning would hurt the travel industry, the Times reports.

Before the State Department issued its travel advisory, Fauci appeared on Fox News Sunday and said elderly Americans with health conditions should "absolutely" not board a cruise ship at this time. As of Sunday night, there are more than 500 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States, with 22 deaths. Catherine Garcia

9:33 p.m.

Three unidentified projectiles were fired off the eastern coast of North Korea early Monday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

The South Korean military is monitoring the situation and waiting to see if North Korea conducts any more launches. The projectiles were fired from a town in the South Hamgyong province, and landed in the Sea of Japan. North Korean state media has said that over the last 10 days, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has supervised two rounds of live-fire artillery exercises, the first such tests since late November, The Associated Press reports.

South Korea and several European countries condemned North Korea firing two missiles last week, saying this undermined security and peace in the region; in response, North Korea's Foreign Ministry on Saturday threatened to conduct another "momentous" action. Catherine Garcia

8:42 p.m.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) will spend the next week self-quarantined at his home in Texas, following a "brief interaction" with a person at the Conservative Political Action Conference who has tested positive for the coronavirus, COVID-19.

On Sunday, Cruz said he shook hands and had a short conversation with the person 10 days ago, and he was notified of their diagnosis on Saturday night. The average incubation period is five to six days, and Cruz shared he is not experiencing any symptoms and was told by medical officials it is unlikely he contracted the virus.

"Nevertheless," he said, "out of an abundance of caution, and because of how frequently I interact with my constituents as a part of my job and to give everyone peace of mind, I have decided to remain at my home in Texas this week, until a full 14 days have passed since the CPAC interaction." Catherine Garcia

1:54 p.m.

Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb understands no U.S. city "wants to be the first to basically shut down their economy" as a result of the spread of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. But he says it'll have to happen to mitigate a "broader epidemic."

Gottlieb also called upon the federal government to incentivize cities and states to do so, considering he thinks this will all result in a major federal bailout package anyway. "We're better off doing it upfront and giving assistance to get them to do the right things then do it on the back end after we've had a very big epidemic," he told CBS' Margaret Brennan on Sunday's edition of Face the Nation.

Gottlieb has made this point repeatedly on Twitter in recent days, arguing that if the virus spreads too rapidly, it could overwhelm the health care system, which he said is part of the reason there was a sharper uptick in fatality rates at the epicenter in Wuhan, China, especially early on. Tim O'Donnell

1:12 p.m.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) — who declared a state of emergency in the Old Line state this week after three positive cases of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, were confirmed — told NBC's Chuck Todd on Sunday he's actually pretty pleased with the Trump administration's handling of the outbreak, even though he doesn't love how Trump himself has communicated.

During an appearance on Meet the Press, Hogan said the key was appointing Vice President Mike Pence, who is a former governor himself, to coordinate the response with the states and other agencies. He said Pence has done a good job of communicating with governors, so far, and thinks his messaging is the way things "ought to go."

He wasn't as keen on Trump's performance, though he remained quite diplomatic while speaking with Todd. "I would say he hasn't communicated the way I would, and the way I might like him to," Hogan said. "But I think the rest of the team is doing a pretty good job."

Then there's Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) who is overseeing the country's largest cluster of cases. The president Friday called Inslee a "snake" and said he instructed Pence not to treat him nicely or else Inslee would take advantage.

Inslee, though, mostly brushed the comments off, saying he really doesn't care what Trump thinks of him. "It's background noise," he said, adding that it's time for everyone to work together to handle the crisis. Like Hogan, he said Pence was "helpful" in that regard. Tim O'Donnell

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