* “The steps China has taken to contain the (coronavirus) outbreak at its source appear to have bought the world time.”–Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization.
* “The only solution in Afghanistan is a political agreement. Progress has been made on this front and we’ll have more to report on that soon, I hope.”–Defense Secretary Mark Esper.
* “(The economic) sanctions have changed absolutely nothing in Russia–I am not proposing at all to lift them, I am just stating this.”–French President Emmanuel Macron.
* “Today, when we remember the history of the bombings in our country, we remember both the suffering of people in German cities and the suffering that Germany inflicted on others. We, as Germans, do not forget our guilt, and we remain true to our responsibility. Always.”–German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in officially marking the 75th anniversary of the Allied bombs that destroyed the city of Dresden.
* “You don’t see the world’s vulnerable people risking their lives to skip illegally en masse to countries like Iran or to Cuba.”–Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
* “These days, time frames are shorter. … A single disturbing video put up on social media is enough to spark a revolution, as in did in Tunisia in 2010.”–Jim Bitterman, CNN’s senior international correspondent.
* “The basic perception influencing the Kremlin is that Russia cannot afford to rely on the good will of its former Western competitors, who in Moscow’s view have taken advantage of the Soviet Union’s collapse by, for example, extending NATO membership up to Russia’s borders.”–Kent Brown, former U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Georgia.
* “Democrats should be scared to death watching the president play in thuggish type, re-enacting the chilling final payback scenes of “The Godfather,” when Michael Corleone took out all his enemies. It’s not business. It’s strictly personal.”–Maureen Dowd, New York Times.
* “These are difficult times. … Trump and his enablers have wrought a slow-burn crisis of democracy. … For Trump, this is a government of Trump, for Trump, and by Trump. And his GOP handmaids and tens of millions of Americans are just fine with it.”–David Corn, Mother Jones.
* “Nobody walks into the (Oval) Office on Day 1 with what they need to know, full stop. Do you have the experience to be self-reflective, to have the capacity to grow and to have judgment, and are you secure surrounding yourself with other smart people?”–Rahm Emanuel, former mayor of Chicago and former chief of staff to President Barack Obama.
* “I would like to see a new beginning. I’d like it to start over. There’s too much controversy about latecomers.”–Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in urging E.R.A. supporters to set aside their long-running campaign for ratification and start over.
* “Everywhere I travel, I hear from parents and educators about active shooter drills terrifying students, leaving them unable to concentrate in the classroom and unable to sleep at night. … If schools are going to do drills, they need to take steps to ensure the drills do more good than harm.”–Lily Eskelsen Garcia, president of the National Education Association.
* “Our field team is making sure that Latino communities understand that Democrats match their values on jobs, healthcare and climate change, and we are working to register tens of thousands of Hispanic voters before the start of the general election season in July 2020.”–Luisana Fernandez, the Florida Democratic Party’s Hispanic media director.
* “Nothing is off the table. We’re looking at single-family homes, small developments that have five to 10 units, all the way up to multi-story apartment and condominium complexes. And then even the tiny homes, the container homes. There is nothing we are not going to explore.”–Mayor Jane Castor on plans to meet Tampa’s need for affordable living.
* I think the Water Department is acting in a rogue fashion.”–Tampa City Council member Bill Carlson, on the city’s intentions about its Tampa Augmentation Project, which would convert highly-treated wastewater to drinking water.
* “I ran on the promise to make development pay its fair share of our infrastructure costs. For too long, our impact fees have been far too low.”–Hillsborough County Commissioner Mariella Smith, in urging support for higher school impact fees being proposed by outgoing superintendent Jeff Eakins.
* “This will be a landmark project that furthers Tampa’s emergence as a next-generation city.”–Mike Hammond, senior vice president of the Related Group of Miami, which has filed plans for two luxury condo towers on Bayshore Boulevard, south of W. Bay-to-Bay Boulevard.