The Note: Trump on offense tests Biden's campaign assumptions

The TAKE with Rick Klein

President Donald Trump is more than ready to move on from the COVID-19 crisis.

The big question is whether the country is ready to see that happen.

Moves by the president and his team will test a central assumption of former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign, with Trump and his campaign set to go on offense.

The Trump campaign is launching its biggest advertising buy to date, a $10 million blitz that seeks to change the coronavirus conversation by targeting Biden as soft on China.

The Republican National Committee and other Trump allies are feasting on the Tara Reade allegations, with Reade now having given her first on-camera response to Biden's denial.

As for the crisis at hand, the president is putting his focus on restarting the economy, even while acknowledging that lives could be lost by having the country resume something approaching normalcy.

It's not clear if voters are willing to follow Trump where he wants to take them.

New ABC News/Ipsos polling out Friday morning shows approval of Trump's handling of the pandemic stuck at 42-57 -- precisely where it was a week ago, and roughly where it's been for six weeks.

By a 30-point margin, Americans say opening the country up now is not worth it because it will likely cost lives, as opposed to those who say it is worth it to minimize economic damage.

Yet that question breaks sharply along party lines, with 65% of Republicans favoring reopening, but only 6% of Democrats saying the same.

The Biden campaign is calculating that Trump's moves are only appealing to a base that's already with him, particularly as people focus on their lives and leadership in newly relevant ways.

Still, the president and his team are indeed moving, in ways designed to outlast the focus on the pandemic. Democrats can mock Trump's campaign manager for embracing "Death Star" comparisons, but the Empire did blow things up.

The RUNDOWN with MaryAlice Parks

Step by step, Trump's administration is working to return to normalcy -- a normal where political allies get taken care of in the judicial system and historic standards of law and order are shaken.

The Justice Department moved Thursday to drop all criminal charges against Michael Flynn, the first national security adviser in the fledgling Trump White House.

Flynn twice pleaded guilty to charges of lying to federal investigators about his discussions with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak during the presidential transition in December 2016.

Though Flynn was one of the most notable prosecutions brought by former special counsel Robert Mueller, the FBI had been looking into him well before Mueller was appointed -- just weeks into the Trump administration when it was suspected Flynn had lied to Vice President Mike Pence.

"A crime cannot be established here ... they did not have a basis for a counterintelligence investigation against Flynn at [the stage of his FBI interview,]" Attorney General William Barr said Thursday in an interview with CBS.

His prosecutors wrote Thursday that "continued prosecution of this case would not serve the interests of justice."

That first spring, three years ago, Trump made clear what he wanted from law enforcement agents and now he has gotten it with Barr.

The TIP with Meg Cunningham

The special election to replace former Congresswoman Katie Hill in California's 25th House District is coming to a close early next week, and based on early ballot returns, the numbers point to higher rates of success for Republicans. Hill flipped the Los Angeles-area seat from red to blue in 2018, and after resigning from Congress amid scandal, Democrat Christy Smith and Republican Mike Garcia are running in a special election administered almost entirely by mail.

Early return numbers show only 26% of the ballots sent out have made it back into the hands of elections officials. Of those ballots returned, Republicans, who launched a tough fight to regain the seat, are outpacing Democrats.

Based on data provided by the Secretary of State's office, Republicans have returned 36% of the ballots sent out, versus Democrats at 23%. Those 65 years and older are also taking the lead on ballot returns, opposed to 18- to 34-year-olds who are returning less than 15%.

With a few days to go, Republicans seem to have at least scored a win when it comes to voting by mail in the special election.

ONE MORE THING

Americans, by a large 30-point margin, are resistant to reopening the country now, believing the risk to human life of opening the country now outweighs the economic toll of remaining under restrictive lockdowns -- a concern that starkly divides along partisan lines, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos released Friday.

BRINGING AMERICA BACK

Amazon has been profiting during the pandemic, with its stock reaching an all-time high last month and the online shopping giant in a hiring frenzy. But some warehouse workers have gotten sick or died of COVID-19. One former worker said the company is "putting profits above people." Read this story and more by checking out Bringing America Back, an ABC News feature that highlights the day's top stories in economic recovery and medical preparedness amid the coronavirus pandemic.

THE PLAYLIST

ABC News' "Start Here" Podcast. Friday morning’s episode features ABC News Chief Business and Economics correspondent Rebecca Jarvis and ABC News Chief National correspondent Matt Gutman, who discuss unemployment numbers and how that pain is trickling down to the dinner table. ABC News Chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl explains why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention won’t issue states guidance on how to reopen. And, we hear from ABC News Senior National correspondent Terry Moran on why the Department of Justice dropped all charges against Michael Flynn. http://apple.co/2HPocUL

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The Note is a daily ABC News feature that highlights the day's top stories in politics. Please check back Monday for the latest.