“January has become the deadliest month of the coronavirus pandemic for the United States after the toll, at over 79,000 Tuesday according to Johns Hopkins University, exceeded December's total by over 1,000. Coronavirus deaths and cases per day in the U.S. dropped markedly over the past couple of weeks but remain alarmingly high with just under 3,100 deaths a day on average. That's down from more than 3,350 less than two weeks ago. In all, new cases are averaging about 170,000 a day in the U.S. after peaking at almost 250,000 on Jan. 11. The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients has fallen to about 110,000 from a high of 132,000 on Jan. 7. Globally, there are more than 100,000,000 reported cases from COVID-19.” Read more at USA Today
“More than 100 million people have been infected with coronavirus worldwide, and more than 2 million have died. Experts say those reported figures are probably much higher in reality. The UK just crossed the threshold of 100,000 deaths and leads the world in the number of deaths proportionate to population. In the US, January has already been the deadliest coronavirus month yet, with more than 79,000 reported deaths. Several major US school districts have shelved plans to return to in-person classes amid teacher pushback and rising case numbers. However, virtual learning has been a challenge for families, teachers and students, and one of the largest districts in the US is trying to speed up a return to in-person learning after a rise in student suicides.” Read more at CNN
Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, returning to his office after a speech on the Senate floor. Erin Schaff/The New York Times
“All but five Republican senators backed former president Donald Trump on Tuesday in a key test vote ahead of his impeachment trial, signaling that the proceedings are likely to end with Trump’s acquittal on the charge that he incited the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
The vote also demonstrated the continued sway Trump holds over GOP officeholders, even after his exit from the White House under a historic cloud caused by his refusal to concede the November election and his unprecedented efforts to challenge the result.
Trump’s trial is not scheduled to begin until Feb. 9, but senators were sworn in for the proceedings Tuesday, and they immediately voted on an objection raised by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) questioning the constitutional basis for the impeachment and removal of a former president.
‘Impeachment is for removal from office, and the accused here has already left office,’ he argued, adding that the trial would ‘drag our great country down into the gutter of rancor and vitriol, the likes of which has never been seen in our nation’s history.’
But Democrats argue that Trump must be held accountable for the riot, which saw the Capitol overrun and claimed the lives of one police officer and four rioters. Paul’s argument, they said, suggests that presidents can act with impunity late in their terms.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday that the Republican argument is ‘flat-out wrong by every frame of analysis — constitutional context, historical practice, precedent and basic common sense.’
The final vote was 55 to 45 to kill Paul’s objection, with GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Mitt Romney (Utah), Ben Sasse (Neb.) and Patrick J. Toomey (Pa.) joining all 50 Democrats.
The largely partisan vote indicated that, nearly three weeks after the Capitol attack, much of the GOP anger over Trump’s actions immediately before and during the siege has faded. Notably, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — who previously said Trump had ‘provoked’ the Capitol mob — voted to back Paul and Trump, who has reached out to senators directly and through intermediaries to marshal support for his defense.
Convicting Trump would require support from 67 members of the 100-member body. The Democratic-led House has already impeached Trump a historic second time. If convicted in the Senate, the former president could be barred from holding future office with a subsequent majority vote.” Read more at Washington Post
“President Biden laid out a bill of complaint against Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, airing allegations of human rights abuses, cyberspying and more while making a hard pivot away from the deference that former president Donald Trump often displayed toward Russia.
The phone call less than a week into Biden’s term was his first known contact with an adversarial foreign leader. It came as the United States has joined European nations and others in condemning the detention of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and after a crackdown on street protests.
Biden’s agenda for the call included protest of ‘ongoing Russian aggression’ against Ukraine, and he confronted Putin over the ‘Solar Winds’ espionage case, alleged interference in U.S. elections and the alleged offer to pay bounties for the deaths of U.S. troops serving in Afghanistan, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday.” Read more at Washington Post
“Starting Wednesday, experts in President Joe Biden's administration will host briefings three times a week on the state of the coronavirus pandemic outbreak, efforts to control it and the race to deliver vaccines and therapeutics to end it. The new briefings are meant as an explicit rejection of President Donald Trump's approach to the outbreak. ‘We're bringing back the pros to talk about COVID in an unvarnished way,’ Biden said Tuesday. ‘Any questions you have, that's how we'll handle them because we're letting science speak again.’ The briefings also are part of Biden's attempt to rebuild public confidence in institutions, particularly the federal government. The president also announced Tuesday the U.S. has reached an agreement to purchase an additional 200 million coronavirus vaccine doses, a boost that means it will have enough supply to fully vaccinate 300 million Americans by the end of summer or beginning of fall.” Read more at USA Today
“Members of Congress were left stunned during a briefing from law enforcement about its level of preparation ahead of the insurrection at the US Capitol. Several lawmakers noted that the lack of planning came despite ample evidence, before the fact, that violence and security threats were a very real possibility. Former Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told the same House panel that the National Guard only planned to deal with traffic that day, with "no contingency" in place if tensions escalated. The security briefings unfolded as US Capitol Police officers are debating whether to hold a no-confidence vote targeting department leaders who were working on the day of insurrection. So far, at least 150 people have been charged by the Justice Department in connection with the January 6 events.” Read more at CNN
“The far-reaching investigation into the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol siege continues to grow, as more than 400 suspects have been identified by federal authorities who expect to bring sedition charges against some of those linked to the insurrection.
‘We are working on those (sedition) cases,’ said Michael Sherwin, the chief federal prosecutor overseeing the inquiry, adding that officials expected the investigations to ‘bear fruit very soon.’
The charges, which carry a maximum punishment of 20 years, would be among the most serious for those in the armed attack to disrupt Congress' counting of President Joe Biden's state-certified electoral victory.” Read more at USA Today
“Texas judge on Tuesday granted a restraining order that temporarily blocks President Joe Biden’s 100-day freeze on most deportations for 14 days.
The restraining order comes after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden Administration over the halt, saying it was ‘unconstitutional.’
Most deportations were halted for 100 days beginning on Friday, one of several steps the Biden Administration is taking to reevaluate immigration enforcement strategy and undo the hardline policies and rules set by the government of Donald Trump. Immigration advocates and lawyers say that for the millions of undocumented immigrants who live in the U.S., 100 days without deportations is a welcome respite after four years of a harsher Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) strategy, including arresting and deporting undocumented people who weren’t targets, but happened to be in the vicinity when ICE conducted a raid. ICE dubbed the people caught up in this policy ‘collaterals’ or ‘non-targets.’” Read more at Time
“After a blockbuster snowstorm blanketed large swaths of the central and northwestern U.S. with ‘historic’ amounts of snow, a new series of storms on Wednesday could lead to a wintry mess for even more of the nation . According to the U.S. Weather Service, the storm system will move east Wednesday before heading offshore. On its heels comes yet another system that's forecast to barrel into California as an ‘atmospheric river’ storm, bringing with it the threat of major downpours to drought-stricken land, destructive flows of debris, and a heavy dump of snow. Meanwhile, travel conditions across the country remain hazardous, and local officials are warning residents of power outages, road closures and facility closures. ‘Do not travel unless it's absolutely necessary,’ said Nebraska State Patrol Col. John Bolduc, whose agency responded to more than 200 weather-related incidents on Monday.” Read more at USA Today
“Linda Thomas-Greenfield may need some of her trademark ‘gumbo diplomacy’ on Wednesday as she faces lawmakers for her confirmation hearing as President Joe Biden's nominee to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Thomas-Greenfield, a Black woman who grew up in segregated Louisiana, served as the top U.S. diplomat overseeing African affairs in the Obama administration and is backed by a 35-year career in foreign service. During the hearing, lawmakers are likely to grill her on Biden's most contentious foreign policy priorities, including his push to revive the Iran nuclear agreement and his promise to confront China. And if confirmed, Thomas-Greenfield may face lingering skepticism and resentment on the job after the Trump administration's abrasive approach to the institution and its treatment of America's allies.” Read more at USA Today
“The Wisconsin pharmacist charged with trying to destroy COVID-19 vaccines pleaded guilty on Tuesday to federal tampering charges.
Each of the federal charges carries a possible maximum sentence of 10 years, or 20 years for both counts, one for each time authorities say Steven Brandenburg intentionally left more than 500 doses out of the refrigerator where they were stored at Aurora Medical Center in Grafton.
Federal authorities charged Brandenburg, 46, on Tuesday and filed his plea agreement at the same time. The charges are two counts of attempting to tamper with a consumer product. Brandenburg also faces state charges.
'An admitted conspiracy theorist': Pharmacist who tried to spoil 500 vaccine doses made 'full confession,' police say
Brandenburg, a licensed pharmacist since 1997, worked the third shift at thehospital. On Dec. 24 and Dec. 25, he left vials of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine out of the refrigerator. A pharmacy technician returned them to refrigeration and informed supervisors.
Brandenburg later told investigators he believed the vaccine was unsafe.” Read more at USA Today
“Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigned yesterday in a move that is more tactical than it may appear. Conte survived two confidence votes last week but lost his governing majority in the Senate when another politician withdrew his party from the ruling coalition over frustrations with how the government is handling the pandemic. The shuffle has thrown the country for a loop, and now that Conte has resigned, President Sergio Mattarella must consult with leaders of his country's main political parties. Conte is now betting on his popularity. He doesn’t belong to a party, so if he gets enough support from party leaders, Mattarella could ask him to form a new coalition. The government could also call for early snap elections.” Read more at CNN
“Civilian Deaths: The U.K. has now suffered its worst civilian loss of life since World War II by a significant number. Some 70,000 non-combatants perished during the six years of war, including 40,000 in the 1940-41 Blitz alone. Three quarters of a century later, it's 100,000 taken by the pandemic, an enemy no less relentless and fearsome than Nazi Germany was then and one whose defeat is still some time away.” Read more at AP
“AP Exclusive: US DOJ rescinds ‘zero tolerance’ immigration rule
“The U.S. Justice Department has rescinded a Trump-era memo that established a ‘zero tolerance’ enforcement policy for migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, which resulted in thousands of family separations. A new memo was issued to federal prosecutors across the nation, saying the department would return to its longstanding previous policy and instructing prosecutors to act on the merits of the cases. The ‘zero tolerance’ policy meant any adult caught crossing the border illegally would be prosecuted for illegal entry. Because children cannot be jailed with their family members, families were separated and children were taken into custody. It was a massively unpopular policy responsible for the separation of more than 5,500 children from their parents at the U.S-Mexico border.” Read more at AP
“Secretary of State Antony Blinken got to work on the diplomatic puzzle with Russia and a pileup of other challenging international issues when he became the nation’s 71st secretary of State late on Tuesday. The Senate voted 78 to 22 to confirm Biden’s longtime adviser to lead Foggy Bottom, where he began his career, and he was sworn in immediately (The Associated Press). The Senate has also cleared Cabinet leaders at Treasury and the Pentagon and to coordinate national intelligence (The Hill).” [The Hill]
“Lawyers for Ghislaine Maxwell, the wealthy socialite whose longtime relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein led to her arrest on charges that she recruited and groomed his victims, are seeking the case's dismissal on grounds the grand jury chosen to indict her was too White — a move legal experts called valid even though Maxwell is not a minority.” Read more at Washington Post
“The city of Newark, New Jersey, has reached a settlement in a yearslong lawsuit over the city’s water crisis. Advocacy groups sued city and state officials in 2018 for ongoing violations of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act after the city’s drinking water was found to contain illegally high levels of lead. These unsafe levels persisted in the water for at least 18 months. This week’s settlement requires the city to replace all lead service lines free of charge to residents. So far, more than 17,000 of Newark's lead service lines have been replaced, with about 2,000 left to go. The problem recalls the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, and problems with aging water pipes nationwide.” Read more at CNN
“President Joe Biden’s White House communications staff have emphasized the importance of truth, transparency and trust in the opening days of his presidency as they resume regular press briefings and distance themselves from the combative style of the Trump Administration. So when Press Secretary Jen Psaki began her briefing on Monday by announcing that American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters would now be present at all White House news briefings, many deaf and hard of hearing Americans celebrated this historic first.
But it turns out the first ASL interpreter chosen was not such a change from the previous Administration after all. Heather Mewshaw, who Psaki introduced on Monday as ‘today’s interpreter, Heather,’ also manages a conservative group of ASL interpreters who provide sign language accompaniments to right-wing videos. Some of these videos have featured vaccine misinformation, conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol, and false claims about Michelle Obama being transgender, according to a review of social media posts by TIME.” Read more at Time
“Sean Spicer, now at Newsmax, won’t be joining the White House Correspondents’ Association, while another ex-Trump press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, could land at Fox News. Though Larry Kudlow just nabbed a weekday Fox Business show, Bess Levin writesthat the job prospects for some former Trump aides appear grim.” Read more at Vanity Fair.
“Microsoft's quarterly sales rose a record 17%. Remote working has been a boon for the software giant as demand for videogames, laptops and cloud-computing services accelerated during the pandemic.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Biden to begin targeting the oil industry. The president is expected to issue an executive order today that would suspend new oil and gas leasing on federal land, a first step toward fulfilling his campaign pledge to stop drilling on federal lands and offshore.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“The Washington Post,L.A. Times, Reuters, HuffPost and Wired are all looking for new editors. Soon, the N.Y. Times will be, too, Axios Media Trends expert Sara Fischer writes.
Why it matters: The new hires will reflect a new generation — one that's addicted to technology, demands accountability and expects diversity to be a priority.
WashPost executive editor Marty Baron announced yesterday that he'll retire at the end of the month, following a monumental nine-year run at The Post, and 45 years in journalism.
Sources tell Axios that The Post has eyed both internal and external candidates, including Steven Ginsberg (the Post's national editor during the Trump administration), former Post managing editor Kevin Merida (now at ESPN) and National Geographic editor in chief Susan Goldberg (who helped lead that newsroom's digital transformation).
The trend extends to TV newsrooms:
NBC News tapped Telemundo veteran Cesar Conde to lead MSNBC, CNBC and NBC News. MSNBC vet Rashida Jones will be the first woman of color to lead a major cable news company when she becomes president of MSNBC in February. Susan Zirinsky became the first female president of CBS News in 2019. Suzanne Scott was named Fox News' first female CEO in 2018.
What to watch: The next big TV newsroom shakeup is expected at CNN, where the network's boss Jeff Zucker is reportedly eyeing an exit.
N.Y. Times executive editor Dean Baquet is 64, and chatter about his successor is perennial at the paper.
The big picture: Trust in traditional media is at an all-time low in America.” Read at Axios
“Lives Lived: After a bicycle accident left her paralyzed in 2003, the feminist scholar Christina Crosby wrote a memoir, “A Body, Undone,” which explored pain and refused to draw tidy lessons about overcoming hardship. She died at 67.” Read more at New York Times
“The Baseball Hall of Fame voters pitched a shutout on Tuesday, rejecting all 25 candidates for enshrinement in Cooperstown, N.Y. But some of the players they passed over should not despair.
Candidates need to receive a minimum 75 percent of the vote to be elected, and many build support over time. The last time the writers elected nobody was in 2013, and seven of the top 10 finishers eventually earned plaques. The exceptions that year will sound familiar: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling.
That group has lingered on the ballot for nine years. Voters have 10 years to consider candidates, meaning that the next election, for the 2022 class in December, will be the writers’ final referendum on three of the most dominant and polarizing players in baseball history. Another, Alex Rodriguez, will appear on the ballot for the first time, as will David Ortiz.
Schilling, a postseason pitching titan whose incendiary rhetoric on social media has caused some voters to rethink their support, missed being elected by 16 votes. He collected 285 votes among the 401 ballots cast by 10-year members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, improving only to 71.1 percent, up from 70 percent last year.” Read more at New York Times
“Boeing reported its biggest-ever annual loss and took a huge financial hit on its new 777X jetliner, reflecting the pandemic’s worsening toll on the plane maker.
The write-down comes just as the 737 MAX re-enters service and Boeing tries to recover from a series of botched jetliner and military programs that more than halved its market value over the past two years.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Ugandan election aftermath. Opposition leader Bobi Wine accused President Yoweri Museveni of using the military and the police ‘to oppress his opponents and to suppress our rights’ after he was freed from 11 days of house arrest following disputed elections on Jan. 14. Museveni was declared to have won Uganda’s presidential election earlier this month, winning roughly 59 percent in an election judged by the United States as fundamentally flawed. Wine’s campaign team will decide whether to contest the results of the presidential election and have until a deadline of Feb. 2 to do so.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“The British government has thrown its weight behind a new method to control its exploding grey squirrel population: issuing the animals oral contraceptives. The invasive North American species has become a menace to the British countryside, authorities say, and their presence has dramatically dwindled the native red squirrel population.
The initiative is led by a group of organizations under the umbrella name the UK Squirrel Accord (UKSA) and has the backing of Prince Charles, a UKSA founder.
Simon Lloyd, the head of the Royal Forestry Society has endorsed the move, telling the Daily Telegraph that the grey squirrels threaten the life of new trees, and therefore carbon capture and biodiversity efforts.
The UKSA say they have spent the last three years testing methods for delivering the contraceptives to grey squirrels only. They finally settled on special feeding stations complete with hazelnut paste bait.” Read more at Foreign Policy
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