Meat supply threatened as workers continue to get sick . . . Tyson Foods, the largest meat processor in the United States, has transformed its facilities across the country since legions of its workers started getting sick from the novel coronavirus. It has set up on-site medical clinics, screened employees for fevers at the beginning of their shifts, required the use of face coverings, installed plastic dividers between stations and taken a host of other steps to slow the spread. Despite those efforts, the number of Tyson employees with the coronavirus has exploded from less than 1,600 a month ago to more than 7,000 today. Washington Post

 

China's "Bat Woman" warns that the coronvirus is just the beginning . . . China’s “bat woman” researcher warns that the deadly coronavirus surfacing now is “just the tip of the iceberg” in terms of what humans may soon face without a global effort to prevent similar infectious outbreaks. “If we want to prevent human beings from suffering from the next infectious-disease outbreak, we must go in advance to learn of these unknown viruses carried by wild animals in nature and give early warnings,” Shi Zhengli, said a top Chinese scientist specializing in viral transmissions from bats. “If we don’t study [the viruses], there will possibly be another outbreak,” warned Shi, whose was dubbed “bat woman” by the press because of her research involving the mammals. Fox News

 

 

Trump bans travel from Brazil . . . President Donald Trump issued a proclamation Sunday banning people who have been in Brazil within 14 days  from trying to enter the USA in the latest travel restrictions aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus. The order will take effect Tuesday at 11:59 p.m. EDT. Brazil is among the hardest hit countries in the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 363,000 cases and more than 23,500 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The country is second only to the USA in terms of total positive cases. Brazil surpassed Russia, which has more than 353,000 cases of the coronavirus. USA Today

 

Ilhan Omar believes Tara Reade . . . Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said she believes Tara Reade’s sexual-assault claim against Joe Biden, and that if it were up to her, Biden wouldn’t be the Democrats’ nominee for president. “I do believe Reade,” Omar told the British Sunday Times. “Justice can be delayed but should never be denied.”

The freshman progressive “Squad” member had endorsed and campaigned for Biden’s rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Tara Reade, a former Biden staffer, accused the former vice president of cornering her in a Senate office and sexually assaulting her in 1993. Fox News

 

Trump campaign immediately capitalizes on Biden "You ain't black" remark . . . The Trump campaign is not going to let Joe Biden or voters forget his remark Friday that if you vote for Trump over him, “You ain’t black.” The comment perfectly encapsulates white liberal presumptuousness and condescension toward blacks. Biden will pay for this self-revealing comment. And if he wants, he can also pay for a T-shirt off the Trump website. White House Dossier

 

A "deplorables" and "they cling to guns" moment.

 

Trump threatens to move convention from North Carolina . . . 

President Trump warned Monday that the Republican Party could seek to move its 2020 convention if North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) cannot guarantee that coronavirus restrictions will be lifted, allowing the full use of Charlotte's Spectrum Center this summer.

"I love the Great State of North Carolina, so much so that I insisted on having the Republican National Convention in Charlotte at the end of August. Unfortunately, Democrat Governor, @RoyCooperNC is still in Shutdown mood & unable to guarantee that by August we will be allowed full attendance in the Arena," Trump said in a series of tweets. The Hill

 

Today's Trump schedule

 

Trump stops taking hydroxychloroquine . . . President Trump is no longer taking hydroxychloroquine. The president revealed in an interview with Sinclair Broadcasting that he had “just finished” a two-week regimen combining the antimalarial drug with zinc. “Finished, just finished,” he said in an interview that aired Sunday. “And by the way, I’m still here.” Washington Times

 

Well. He didn't get the virus.

 

WHO pauses trial of the drug due to safety concerns

 

Michigan Gov. Whitmer's husband wanted to break the rules she set . . . The owner of a Northern Michigan dock company says Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's husband wanted his boat placed in the water before the Memorial Day weekend as Whitmer urged residents not to rush to the region. No longer visible to the public, Facebook posts from NorthShore Dock LLC and its owner, Tad Dowker, focused on what Dowker said was a request last week by Whitmer's husband, Marc Mallory. The posts have drawn the attention of Republican state lawmakers, who said the Democratic governor's family may not be following her guidance for the rest of the state. Whitmer's spokeswoman, Tiffany Brown, didn't confirm or deny Monday the assertions by the marina company or its owner. Detroit News

 

Bill Clinton seen with Jeffery Epstein on his pedophile isle . . . Bill Clinton was seen sitting with Jeffrey Epstein on the convicted sex offenders' Caribbean island where young girls were allegedly taken and assaulted by the pedophile and his high-profile friends, a new Netflix documentary has claimed. Steve Scully, a 70-year-old former worker on Epstein's private Caribbean island of Little Saint James, said he saw the former president sitting with the pedophile in the porch of the island's villa. The explosive claims will be aired in the new series Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, which hears from witnesses and victims of Epstein's abuse. Daily Mail

 

China is sending two aircraft carriers to menace Taiwan . . . China is sending its two new aircraft carriers into war games near the Pratas Islands, playing into fears that a Taiwan invasion could be next as tensions with the US continue to worsen. The aircraft carriers Liaoning and Shandong are currently in Bohai Bay in the Yellow Sea on a combat readiness mission before the massive ships head into the war games. The move comes after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang expressed Beijing's desire to 'reunify' with self-ruled Taiwan, an apparent policy shift. The aircraft carrier deployment also follows a US decision to impose sanctions on 33 Chinese companies for helping Beijing spy on its minority Uighur population or because of ties to weapons of mass destruction and China's military. Daily Mail

 

Bon vivant Macau casino magnate Stanley Ho dies at 98 . . . Stanley Ho Hung-sun, the patriarch of Asia’s largest casino empire for half a century and a man whose very name is synonymous with Macau’s rise to overtake Las Vegas as the world’s gambling capital, has died, according to his family. He was 98. He is survived by 15 of the 17 children he had with four women. Ho referred to the mothers of his children as his wives, three of whom also survive him.

Hertz was already in terrible shape when the coronovirus finished it off . . . Years before it was forced into bankruptcy, Hertz decided to replace a fleet that was becoming a turnoff to customers.

Lawmakers call for VA to remove swastikas from tombstones in veterans' cemeteries . . . A bipartisan group of representatives called on the Department of Veterans Affairs to replace or alter three headstones at two cemeteries featuring swastikas or pro-Nazi messages. The headstones, found at two graves in Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio and a third at Salt Lake City’s Fort Douglas Post Cemetery, mark the remains of German prisoners of war. The Texas graves feature an iron cross and swastika, along with the epitaph “He died far from his home for the Führer, people and fatherland,” while the one in Utah includes a swastika and a Knight’s cross with oak leaves. The Hill

 

 

Mike Tyson could get $20 million to make a comeback . . . For some reason, there are people out there who think it’s a good idea to fight Mike Tyson. And at least one challenger is ready to put his money where the former champ’s fist might wind up. “I think I know what we need to do to make this thing happen,” Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship president David Feldman told Bleacher Report, which reported that the organization is set to offer Mike Tyson more than $20 million to come out of retirement. The 53-year-old Brooklyn native hasn’t fought in 15 years, but video or recent workouts showing Iron Mike training with the power and speed that once made him the most exciting fighter on Earth has renewed interest in what Tyson might be able to do now. New York Daily News
 

 

Mississippi governor pranked in shout-out to high school grads . . . Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves asked people to submit names of high school seniors so he could read them aloud on a webcast — a recognition for teenagers who are missing traditional graduation ceremonies because of the coronavirus pandemic. On a Facebook live session Saturday, Reeves started reading the names of graduates from Florence High School, his alma mater, when he came to one his staff now assumes someone submitted as a prank — “Harry Azcrac.” The 45-year-old Republican governor read it, paused briefly and kept going. Associated Press