President Biden visited a National Institutes of Health laboratory in Bethesda, Md., on Thursday. PHOTO: CARLOS BARRIA/REUTERS
“WASHINGTON—President Biden said the U.S. has struck deals to purchase 200 million more Covid-19 vaccine doses, following a pledge in January to boost the number of shots available for Americans.
Mr. Biden said in a speech at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., that the U.S. signed contracts with Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. that require each company to provide an additional 100 million vaccine doses.
‘We have to stay vigilant, we have to stay focused and for God’s sake, we have to remember who we are. We are the United States of America. We can do this,’ the president said.
The additional vaccines will bring the total number of doses ordered by the U.S. from the two companies to 600 million from 400 million. The administration said in January that it was working on the purchases, which would provide enough supply to vaccinate 300 million Americans in a two-dose regimen, covering all individuals in the U.S. currently eligible to receive the vaccine. The vaccine hasn’t been approved for people under 16 years old.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is set to release guidelines Friday on reopening schools — one of the components President Joe Biden needs to achieve his goal of having most public schools open within his first 100 days in office. Biden has repeatedly pointed to CDC guidelines – expected to cover a host of issues such as masks, social distancing, proper hygiene, building ventilation and whether teachers need vaccinations – to provide direction for schools. The president has also proposed $130 billion for school reopenings in his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, dubbed the American Rescue Plan, that he hopes to push through Congress within the next few weeks.” Read more at USA Today
“Ready to get vaccinated? Starting Friday, you might be able to do that at your local pharmacy . COVID-19 vaccines are poised to roll out at major pharmacies throughout the country, including the nation's two largest chains, CVS and Walgreens. While state-determined eligibility and availability will remain limited for the time being, experts say they're hopeful that the nation's established network of pharmacies will help speed up distribution. Other pharmacies chosen to deliver vaccines at certain locations include Walmart, Rite Aid, Kroger, Publix, Costco, Albertsons, Safeway and Meijer.” Read more at USA Today
President Donald J. Trump arriving at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in October after testing positive for the coronavirus. Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times
“WASHINGTON — President Donald J. Trump was sicker with Covid-19 in October than publicly acknowledged at the time, with extremely depressed blood oxygen levels at one point and a lung problem associated with pneumonia caused by the coronavirus, according to four people familiar with his condition.
His prognosis became so worrisome before he was taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center that officials believed he would need to be put on a ventilator, two of the people familiar with his condition said.
The people familiar with Mr. Trump’s health said he was found to have lung infiltrates, which occur when the lungs are inflamed and contain substances such as fluid or bacteria. Their presence, especially when a patient is exhibiting other symptoms, can be a sign of an acute case of the disease. They can be easily spotted on an X-ray or scan, when parts of the lungs appear opaque, or white.
Mr. Trump’s blood oxygen level alone was cause for extreme concern, dipping into the 80s, according to the people familiar with his evaluation. The disease is considered severe when the blood oxygen level falls to the low 90s.
It has been previously reported that Mr. Trump had trouble breathing and a fever on Oct. 2, the day he was taken to the hospital, and the types of treatment he received indicated that his condition was serious. But the new details about his condition and about the effort inside the White House to get him special access to an unapproved drug to fight the virus help to flesh out one of the most dire episodes of Mr. Trump’s presidency.
The new revelations about Mr. Trump’s struggle with the virus also underscore the limited and sometimes misleading nature of the information disclosed at the time about his condition.” Read more at New York Times
Vaccines are the new diplomacy: China, India, the United Arab Emirates and others are sending shots to countries where they seek sway. Read more at New York Times
The Australian Open in Melbourne will continue without spectators after a virus outbreak at a quarantine hotel. Read more at New York Times
“House impeachment managers today told how the Capitol siege terrorized the workers who take care of and protect members of Congress, Axios' Glen Johnson reports.
That included Black police officers repeatedly being called the n-word and janitors having to clean up blood and feces left by the rioters.
Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) recounted the injuries suffered by Capitol Police: one who died as a result of the attack, two who took their own lives as a result of it and others who have admitted to considering ‘self-harm.’
He also told of 20-something staffers, who recounted harrowing tales of hiding from insurrectionists pounding on office doors.
What's next: There is broad agreement among Republicans as well as Trump’s team to end the impeachment trial as early as possible, given the beating they’re taking from the media and the strength of the Democrats’ presentation, Axios' Alayna Treene tells me.
Many lawmakers have begun feeding the notion that the trial will wrap on Saturday to reporters ‘in an effort to speed things along,’ a senior congressional aide told Axios.
Several GOP senators have also rallied around the notion that the managers’ presentation is beginning to lose credibility, and that it’s becoming far more political. Read more at Axios
“Beginning their impeachment defense today, former President Trump's lawyers will rely on video, albeit far less graphic than the visceral case by House impeachment managers, Axios' Alayna Treene reports from the Capitol.
Trump's lawyers plan to show video of the certification process surrounding the 2016 election, when a handful of Democrats — including Rep. Jamie Raskin, the lead impeachment manager — objected to the Electoral College results making Trump president.
The defense will also show video of Trump telling his supporters at the Jan. 6 "Stop the Steal" rally to ‘peacefully and patriotically’ make their way to the Capitol — a point the lawyers plan to reiterate throughout their presentation.
Graphic: CNN
Trump's team will point to a series of facts showing the pre-riot rally had been planned, something House managers did for different reasons.
They'll point out that pipe bombs were placed before the speech.
This evidence, the defense will say, shows Trump's words at the rally didn't directly incite the attack.
The bottom line: Republicans lawmakers — as well as Trump’s defense team — agree that they want to get the trial over as quickly as possible, given the beating they’re taking from the media and the strength of the Democrats' presentation.” Read more at Axios
Graphic: CNN
“The Wall Street Journal editorial board: The Trump impeachment evidence: He might be acquitted, but he won’t live down his disgraceful conduct.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Federal deficits are projected to soar over the next decade, but not as much as officials forecast last summer, thanks to an improving economic outlook that is expected to bolster federal revenues, the Congressional Budget Office said Thursday.
Federal debt, which reached 100% of gross domestic product in the last fiscal year, is expected to rise to a record 107% of economic output by 2031.
The agency expects cumulative deficits over the next 10 years will total $12.6 trillion, 3% less than projected in September, the last time the agency released its estimates. The decline stems from stronger-than-expected economic activity, higher inflation and higher interest rates, which will boost federal tax revenue more than spending, the nonpartisan agency said.
Republicans in Congress who object to President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package have pointed to growing budget deficits and debt as a reason to keep spending in check. They also argue the economy is already poised for stronger growth this year. Democrats, who control the House and Senate with narrow majorities, are on track to approve the bill.
Financial markets have shown little concern about the deficit, as inflation stays low and investors around the world seek the safety of U.S. Treasury securities. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note settled at 1.133% on Wednesday following a report that consumer price increases remain limited.
For 2021, CBO projects the deficit will total $2.3 trillion, nearly $900 billion less than the budget gap for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, but 25% higher than CBO forecast in September. The increase, which was driven by another large economic relief package Congress enacted in December, is offset in part by the effects of a stronger economy this year, the agency said.
As a share of economic output, the deficit is projected to be 10.3% in fiscal 2021, the second-largest shortfall since the end of World War II, exceeded only by last year’s 14.9% gap. CBO expects annual deficits will average $1.2 trillion over the next decade and will be higher in each year than the 3.3% average over the past 50 years.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Citizenship path | More than 60 economists urged Biden to create a way for undocumented immigrants to obtain citizenship in his forthcoming economic and infrastructure plan. Jordan Fabian reports the group said in a letter that the move would raise wages, productivity and tax revenue.
A House committee advanced legislation to funnel hundreds of billions of dollars to households through direct payments and tax credits, a key plank of Biden’s Covid-19 relief package.
Biden is being pulled by the left to staff the federal bench with more civil rights lawyers and public defenders, and fewer corporate attorneys and prosecutors.” Read more at Bloomberg
“The Biden administration has also extended protections under the Fair Housing Act to cover LGBTQ Americans.” Read more at CNN
“Facebook is dialing back the volume of political content in users' news feeds — the latest lurch for the world's digital public square, Axios managing editor Scott Rosenberg writes from the Bay Area.
Facebook, having captured a vast chunk of the digital ad business and trained users to view its stream of posts as a one-stop shop for all their informational needs, now says it plans to limit its distribution of posts about politics and broaden its situational bans on political ads.
Facebook said Wednesday it'll ‘temporarily reduce the distribution of political content in News Feed for a small percentage of people in Canada, Brazil and Indonesia this week, and the U.S. in the coming weeks.’
"One of the top pieces of feedback we're hearing from our community ... is that people don't want politics and fighting to take over their experience on our services," Mark Zuckerberg said on an earnings call last week.
Facebook says political content amounts to only 6% of posts.” Read more at Axios
“Four companies that agreed to pay a combined $26 billion to settle legal claims around their roles in the opioid crisis plan to deduct some of those costs from their taxes and recoup around $1 billion apiece.
Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson and drug distributors McKesson, AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health all updated their financial projections to include large tax benefits stemming from the expected deal, a Washington Post analysis of regulatory filings found. Cardinal Health planned to claim its $974 million cash refund under a relief plan Congress approved to help companies struggling during the pandemic.” Read more at Washington Post
“There have been several recent developments in cases of police violence across the country. The family of Dijon Kizzee, the Black man shot and killed by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, filed a $35 million claim for damages. It alleges the sheriff's department failed to properly train the involved deputies and accuses them of using unreasonable deadly force. In Buffalo, New York, a grand jury has dismissed felony assault charges against two officers who pushed a 75-year-old man to the ground during protests this summer, fracturing his skull. The incident was caught on camera. In Aurora, Colorado, a police officer has been fired for using excessive force during an arrest in a supermarket in August. The officer punched a man repeatedly and used his Taser on him five times.” Read more at CNN
“Sanctions warning | EU ties with Russia are rapidly deteriorating after the bloc’s envoy was humiliated in Moscow last week. Tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats and the threat of further sanctions over Russia’s imprisonment of opposition leader Alexey Navalny have ratcheted up tensions. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is now warning that Moscow is ready to break with the EU altogether if more penalties are levied.” Read more at Bloomberg
“BBC World News has been banned from airing in China. The move is an apparent retaliation after Ofcom, the British media regulator, said it had withdrawn a license for China Global Television Network to broadcast in the UK. China's Foreign Ministry has criticized the BBC for its coverage of China’s response to the pandemic, dismissing reports as ‘fake news.’ Beijing has also repeatedly expressed frustration with BBC reporting on China's crackdown on Uyghur and other ethnic Muslim minorities in the western region of Xinjiang. While this new ban does spread to Hong Kong, the BBC has actually never been allowed to broadcast in mainland China or into Chinese homes. BBC World News has only ever been available in international hotels.” Read more at CNN
“Yoshiro Mori resigned Friday as the president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee following sexist comments implying women talk too much.
‘As of today I will resign from the president's position,’ he said to open an executive board and council meeting. The board was expected to pick his successor later on Friday.
Mori's departure comes after more than a week of non-stop criticism about his remarks earlier this month. He initially apologized but refused to step away, which was followed by relentless pressure from television pundits, sponsors, and an on-line petition that drew 150,000 signatures.
But it's not clear that his resignation will clear the air and return the focus to exactly how Tokyo can hold the Olympics in just over five months in the midst of a pandemic.” Read more at Boston Globe
“In a major legal victory for Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, in their bitter feud with the British tabloids, a High Court judge ruled Thursday that The Mail on Sunday had invaded Meghan’s privacy by publishing a private letter she had sent to her father.
The judge, Mark Warby, ruled that Meghan, who is also known as the Duchess of Sussex, had ‘a reasonable expectation that the contents of the letter would remain private.’ He added, “The Mail articles interfered with that reasonable expectation.”
At the heart of the case is an anguished, five-page letter that the duchess wrote to her father, Thomas Markle, a former Hollywood lighting designer, in August 2018, four months after he was a no-show at her wedding to Harry.” Read more at Boston Globe
“Google has threatened to leave Australia over proposed legislation that would force it to compensate news publishers for content displayed on its search engine. The bill is expected to be introduced into parliament next week.
Australia is heavily dependent on Google’s search capabilities, with 95 percent of searches going through the platform.
The uphill battle facing competitors in replacing the service was highlighted by some quick research by Bloomberg. Searching for ‘best beach Sydney,’ brought up a beach 600 miles away on one rival search engine; another brought up the Bondi Beach post office.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Instagram removed the account of prominent vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr., one of the highest-profile steps in parent company Facebook Inc.’s intensifying effort to combat false and misleading information about Covid-19.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Jeep’s parent company had tried for more than a decade to persuade Bruce Springsteen to star in one of its commercials. Then this year, it finally landed the rock legend for the highest-profile of appearances: a two-minute ad during the Super Bowl.
It backfired quickly.
Just days after the commercial aired, the company removed it from YouTube and other platforms following reports that Mr. Springsteen had been charged with driving while intoxicated last November.
Allen Adamson, co-founder of Metaforce, a branding firm, said he had never seen a setback of this magnitude involving a Super Bowl ad. ‘The combination of Springsteen and breakthrough Super Bowl visibility makes this a one-of-a-kind black eye,’ he said.
The commercial, in which Mr. Springsteen narrated a somber plea for people to come together in the U.S., generated significant buzz before and after it aired during the game, which was watched by 96.4 million people. The spot was featured in many news articles including The Wall Street Journal, and several TV programs aired portions of the ad, likely generating tens of millions of dollars in free publicity for Jeep.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Lives Lived: Chick Corea, an architect of the jazz-rock fusion boom in the 1970s, spent more than a half-century as a top jazz pianist. But he never abandoned his first love, the acoustic piano. Corea died at 79.” Read more at New York Times