NEW ... PELOSI endorsed JOE BIDEN. The three-minute video GRIM ... FT: "Global coronavirus death toll could be 60% higher than reported," by John Burn-Murdoch, Valentina Romei and Chris Giles in London: "The death toll from coronavirus may be almost 60 percent higher than reported in official counts, according to an FT analysis of overall fatalities during the pandemic in 14 countries. "Mortality statistics show 122,000 deaths in excess of normal levels across these locations, considerably higher than the 77,000 official Covid-19 deaths reported for the same places and time periods. If the same level of under-reporting observed in these countries was happening worldwide, the global Covid-19 death toll would rise from the current official total of 201,000 to as high as 318,000." Good Monday morning. JOIN US: We'll be interviewing Michigan Gov. GRETCHEN WHITMER at 9:30 a.m. Watch CLICKER: Bruce Mehlman of Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas has a new cheat sheet out on the four areas of oversight to watch, including health care, China, the economy and government preparedness. The road map MARKETS TODAY ... WSJ: "Stocks Jump as Some Coronavirus Lockdowns Ease," by Xie Yu and Anna Isaac: "Global stocks rose Monday as investors anticipated new rounds of stimulus from central banks and more countries took steps to reopen their economies from coronavirus lockdowns. European markets climbed in early trading as national governments, including Italy and Spain, signaled that they could loosen restrictions in the coming weeks. The pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 climbed 1.8%. Futures contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7%." THE LATEST ON AZAR ... DAN DIAMOND: "Trump rejects reports of Azar firing, says health secretary 'doing an excellent job'": "President Donald Trump on Sunday dismissed news reports that White House officials are weighing a plan to replace Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, insisting that his health secretary is 'doing an excellent job.' 'Reports that H.H.S. Secretary @AlexAzar is going to be 'fired' by me are Fake News,' Trump tweeted. 'The Lamestream Media knows this, but they are desperate to create the perception of chaos & havoc in the minds of the public. They never even called to ask.' "The tweet -- which was swiftly retweeted by Azar himself -- came less than a day after POLITICO and the Wall Street Journal first reported on Saturday night that White House officials were weighing a plan to replace Azar. Other news outlets, including CNN and the Washington Post, confirmed the story. Trump also spent much of Sunday attacking news outlets, including the New York Times and Fox News, for their coverage of his presidency. "White House officials have been frustrated with Azar's management style after clashes with his deputies. Some have blamed him for months for fumbling the handling of the coronavirus crisis, including the rollout of coronavirus testing across February. But they have worried about replacing the HHS secretary in the middle of a global pandemic." POLITICO DEEP DIVE -- "Backlash grows as pandemic relief stumbles," by Kyle Cheney and Sarah Ferris: "Congress' mad dash to shovel nearly $3 trillion into the economy and rescue failing industries met little resistance as the coronavirus crisis overwhelmed communities across the country. But now the hangover has set in. "The sprawling CARES Act, and its similarly rushed companion bills, has fueled rising angst for lawmakers. They've been bombarded with complaints about breakdowns in the small business lending program, loopholes that have allowed large companies to snatch cash meant for smaller operations and administrative failures that have delayed stimulus checks to struggling American households. "Hospitals, lawmakers say, are competing with each other and the federal government for life-saving equipment for their employees, and coronavirus testing is still hard to access in many parts of the country, despite Congress' efforts. And it's all occurring without the oversight operations meant to confront these problems as they arise. ... "Here's look at the growing list of breakdowns in the rescue effort: Small businesses get sideswiped ... Hospitals 'utterly perplexed' ... Ivy League gets shredded ... IRS under pressure ... Farmers fear aid will run dry ... Telehealth troubles ... Airlines stunned as some grants turn into loans ... Oversight left in the dust." This article was reported in collaboration with Zach Warmbrodt, Susannah Luthi, John Hendel, Ryan McCrimmon, Michael Stratford, Brian Faler and Brianna Gurciullo. -- "Schumer to introduce legislation preventing Trump from signing stimulus checks," by Marianne LeVine WHERE YOUR TAX MONEY IS GOING ... NYT: "Large, Troubled Companies Got Bailout Money in Small-Business Loan Program," by Jessica Silver-Greenberg, David Enrich, Jesse Drucker and Stacy Cowley: "A company in Georgia paid $6.5 million to resolve a Justice Department investigation — and, two weeks later, received a $10 million federally backed loan to help it survive the coronavirus crisis. "Another company, AutoWeb, disclosed last week that it had paid its chief executive $1.7 million in 2019 -- a week after it received $1.4 million from the same loan program. And Intellinetics, a software company in Ohio, got $838,700 from the government program -- and then agreed, the following week, to spend at least $300,000 to purchase a rival firm." WSJ EDITORIAL BOARD: "Ruth's Chris Political Backlash": "Politicians shut down the economy, denying business customers and revenue, without a plan to finance the shutdown. Then they rushed to set up programs with vague rules that businesses used in good faith, and now the politicians punish the businesses for following the rules that politicians established. "Ruth's Chris and Shake Shack were the first targets, but Treasury is showing that anyone is vulnerable if the media singles you out. All of this bodes ill for the economic recovery, as politicians blame business for their own coronavirus mistakes." THE IRAN DEAL IS DEAD ... LONG LIVE THE IRAN DEAL! ... NYT'S DAVID SANGER: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is preparing a legal argument that the United States remains a participant in the Iran nuclear accord that President Trump has renounced, part of an intricate strategy to pressure the United Nations Security Council to extend an arms embargo on Tehran or see far more stringent sanctions reimposed on the country." ON THE GROUND -- "In Wisconsin, protesters attack stay-at-home orders as unnecessary — or a government cabal," by WaPo's Holly Bailey in Madison, Wis.: "Like other protests here and in other states in recent days, attendees defied the advice of health-care professionals, who have urged social distancing. They stood shoulder to shoulder, many without masks or face coverings that officials say could prevent the spread of the coronavirus. ... "The rally highlighted the growing political rift over how and when states should reopen businesses in the wake of the coronavirus and covid-19, the disease it causes, a contagion that has infected more than 950,000 Americans and killed over 54,000. Elected officials have imposed the restrictions to protect the population from a virus for which there is no vaccine." WaPo -- WAPO: "Covid-19 is ravaging one of the country's wealthiest black counties," by Rachel Chason, Ovetta Wiggins and John Harden: "The intensive care unit at Inova Alexandria Hospital has empty beds, and doctors are prepared for a rush of coronavirus patients that has yet to hit the largely white suburb. "A dozen miles away at Adventist HealthCare Fort Washington Hospital Center, the ICU is full, and employees treat coronavirus patients in medical tents in the parking lot. Paramedics across Prince George's County are summoned daily to help people struggling to breathe, and funeral home directors are searching for more places to store bodies. "Prince George's, one of the nation's wealthiest majority-black counties, has reported the most coronavirus infections and some of the highest death tolls in the Washington region. In the hardest-hit neighborhoods, African American and Latino residents make up more than 70 percent of households. The grim statistics mirror data showing black Americans are more likely than white Americans to be infected with the novel coronavirus and more likely to die of it. "Officials say the pandemic has hit the county of 900,000 especially hard because many residents are front-line workers exposed daily to the virus, and Prince Georgians disproportionately suffer from underlying health conditions that make the virus more deadly." WaPo | 
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