The newly appointed director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Sunday that the federal government remains in the dark about just how much vaccine is currently available and warned that states like New York won't be able to quickly replenish its limited supply. “One of the biggest problems right now is I can't tell you how much vaccine we have, and if I can't tell it to you then I can't tell it to the governors and I can't tell it to the state health officials," Dr. Rochelle Walensky told "Fox News Sunday." Walensky added the government does not "have as many doses as we would like now for states like New York [or] for other states that are claiming to have run out of vaccine."
The acrimonious split within Republican ranks widened over the weekend as Donald Trump made his foray back into politics, backing the re-election of a hard-line supporter as chair of the party in Arizona. His wholehearted support for Kelli Ward was seen by allies as the former president firing a warning shot across the bows of any Republican senators considering backing his impeachment. Underlining Mr Trump's grip on the Republican grassroots, the Arizona party also voted to censure John McCain's widow, Cindy, former senator Jeff Flake and governor Doug Ducey, who refused to back the former president's claims of election fraud.
A 34-year-old grizzly bear captured in southwestern Wyoming has been confirmed as the oldest on record in the Yellowstone region, Wyoming wildlife officials said. Grizzly bear 168 was captured last summer after it preyed on calves in the Upper Green River Basin area. The male had just a few teeth left and weighed 170 pounds (77 kilograms), just a fraction of the 450 pounds (204 kilograms) the bear weighed as a 5-year-old when he was captured in the Shoshone National Forest in August 1991.
A federal judge on Sunday blocked the release of a Tennessee man who authorities say carried flexible plastic handcuffs during the riot at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month. U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell for the District of Columbia set aside an order by a judge in Tennessee concerning the release of Eric Munchel of Nashville. After testimony at a detention hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Frensley for the Middle District of Tennessee determined Friday that Munchel wasn't a flight risk and didn't pose harm to the public.
In response to Biden re-entering the US into the Paris climate agreement, GOP Sen. Ted Cruz has launched a "Pittsburgh over Paris" campaign. Cruz says that Biden rejoining the Paris agreement will cost the citizens of Pittsburgh jobs, but the idea makes no sense and is just another bad faith attempt at scoring political points. This is the norm for Republicans, and a sign of what's to come.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), incoming chair of the Senate Budget Committee who caucuses with the Democrats, told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that Democrats plan to push a coronavirus relief package through the chamber with a simple majority vote. Why it matters: "Budget reconciliation" would allow Democrats to forgo the Senate's 60-vote requirement and could potentially speed-up the next relief package for millions of unemployed Americans. Democrats hold the the 50-50 split in the Senate with Vice President Kamala Harris serving as the tie-breaking vote.
A New York woman said she felt like she was being attacked by animals after a group of men accosted her in Harlem, biting her face and breaking the skin, according to NBC New York. The woman, 31, who has not been publicly identified, was also beaten, spit on and robbed during the attack, which happened near a liquor store in the Manhattan neighborhood, NBC New York reported. Video shared by the New York Police Department shows the men surrounding her outside the store, which is where she said they attacked her.
Former President Donald Trump, citing unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud, pushed the Justice Department to ask the Supreme Court to invalidate President Biden's electoral victory, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal. "He wanted us, the United States, to sue one or more states directly in the Supreme Court," a former administration official told the Journal. Ultimately, several Justice Department officials, including former Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and former Attorney General William Barr, reportedly refused to file a case with the high court because there was no legal basis to challenge the election outcome and the federal government "had no legal interest" in whether Trump or Biden won the presidency.
Six days after Daytona Beach area man Bobby Scott was last seen, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office arrested DeLand man Michael Harris Saturday night for Scott's murder. Harris, 20, remains in Volusia County jail without bond on a charge of second-degree murder with a deadly weapon. VCSO said they still haven't found the 63-year-old Scott's body.
"I saw the president presenting graphs that I never made...." Dr. Deborah Birx, the former coronavirus response coordinator under former President Donald Trump, revealed on Sunday that the White House used data and graphs she didn't prepare. "So, I know that someone out there or someone inside was creating a parallel set of data and graphics that were shown to the president.
A woman called Disney World pretending to buy tickets to the theme park on January 9. The Disney employee helping her realized she was being physically abused and alerted police. A 38-year-old man was later arrested and charged with terroristic threats, simple assault, and more.
China ramped up its pressure on democratic Taiwan over the weekend, with an unusually large number of fighter jets approaching the island in a "test" for the new administration of US President Joe Biden. On Sunday, 12 Chinese fighter jets entered Taiwan's air defence identification zone, along with a reconnaissance aircraft and two anti-submarine aircraft, Taiwan's defence ministry said. A day earlier, China sent eight bomber planes capable of carrying nuclear weapons and four fighter jets to the same area to the southwest of the island, as well as one reconnaissance aircraft.
Several Republican senators Sunday discouraged suggestions that the chamber could convict former President Donald Trump in his impeachment trial. "Well first of all, I think the trial is stupid," Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said on "Fox News Sunday." Rubio said that he believes Trump "bears responsibility for some of what happened" during the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol this month but that he does not believe impeachment is the right way to address the matter.
A Tennesse man was arrested by authorities after being accused of making a fake photo that shows two people desecrating a deceased officer's grave and posting it on social media, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a news release. The grave was of Dickson County Sheriff's Office's Sgt. Daniel Baker who died in 2018, the Tennessean reported. The suspect, Joshua Andrew Garton, was charged with a count of harassment, the bureau said.
The country of 128 million people has received just 766,350 doses of vaccine, all produced by Pfizer-BioNTech. That figure was supposed to hit 1.5 million by the end of the month, but Pfizer now says it can't meet that goal because it is remodeling one of its factories in Europe to eventually boost production. Mexican officials described the delay as a minor setback and said shipments from Pfizer are expected to resume Feb. 15.
This could be seen on Wednesday when President Joe Biden was sworn in at noon during the inaugural ceremonies, then just hours later signed 17 executive orders focusing on the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and undoing his predecessor's legacy on issues like immigration and foreign relations. As work quietly continued behind the scenes, Mr Biden spent the weekend meeting with advisers in the Oval Office, receiving briefings and mapping out his first 100 days. It was quite the difference from Donald Trump's first weekend in office: sworn in on a Friday afternoon, the former president spent his first days as commander-in-chief lying about his Inauguration Day crowd sizes, attacking members of the media as being “among the most dishonest human beings on Earth” and, of course, posting his stream of consciousness to social media in the form of endless tweets.
Hawaii's Republican Party drew criticism for posting a series of tweets about the QAnon Conspiracy. The tweets suggested that QAnon followers should not be mocked because their beliefs were driven by patriotism. Hawaii's Republican Party posted a series of tweets that appeared to defend followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory.
Rioters who stormed the Capitol Building may not face criminal charges if they did not act violently, a report says. Federal law enforcement officials are reportedly debating not pressing charges against some of the pro-Trump mob to prevent hundreds of cases swamping the court system. No final decision has made on the non-charging of individuals who took part in the 6 January pro-Trump violence, according to the Washington Post.
Dr. Deborah Birx, who served as the White House coronavirus response coordinator while former President Donald Trump was still in office, opened up about her time working with the Trump administration during an exclusive interview with CBS News' Margaret Brennan on Sunday. Birx was often criticized for not pushing back enough on Trump's comments about the pandemic, and while she suggested her reactions could be misinterpreted — like the time Trump asked her about whether COVID-19 could be treated with a bleach injection — she did anticipate the gig would likely be the end of her federal career. "You can't go into something that that's polarized and not believe you won't be tainted by that experience," she told Brennan, adding that she'll "need to retire" within the next few weeks.
A person who received a COVID-19 vaccine died hours after receiving the dose, according to the Placer County Sheriff's Office. Deputies say the person tested positive in December and received the vaccine Thursday. The county's public health department did not administer the vaccine.
Joe Biden is expected to sign additional executive orders every day this week. According to a memo obtained by The Hill, the President will first address American workers and racial equity. He'll then focus on climate change, health care, and immigration, as reported by the publication.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said he last year opened a letter that was filled with a "puff of powder." While the substance turned out to be benign, he said he feared it was either anthrax or ricin. In a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times, Fauci detailed his experience under Trump.
When their beloved cocker spaniel, Lupo, died last month, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were heartbroken. But their grief was tempered by the arrival of a new puppy, with whom the whole family is said to be “besotted. The new cocker spaniel, whose name has not yet been revealed, was given to the family by the Duchess's brother, James Middleton, before Lupo died.
The last time Marco Rubio looked this uncomfortable in the national spotlight, he was stuck on robotic repeat in a Republican debate, being pummelled by Chris Christie. “How seriously do you take Ivanka Trump as a potential opponent?” Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace asked, citing speculation over the former “first daughter's” personal political ambitions following her purchase of property in Miami with her husband, Jared Kushner. “Well, I, I, I don't really get into the parlour games of Washington,” Rubio replied, clearly wishing his potential challenger was called anything other than Trump.
A Florida man accused of participating in the riot at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month was arrested Wednesday at the inauguration of President Joe Biden, the Justice Department said. Samuel Camargo, 26, was taken into custody after law enforcement in Florida attempted to arrest him on Tuesday at his home in Broward County, Florida, but learned he was not there. Investigators found him the following day in Washington, D.C. He faces charges of civil disorder, knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, knowingly engages in disorderly or disruptive conduct in any restricted building or grounds, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Ca...
“By encouraging this act of terror on our capital, Trump’s legacy is destroyed.”
“Both backers and critics of Trump agreed that he remade the federal judiciary — a change that will impact America for decades.”
“He was largely responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans who did not need to die.”
“I do know what the future should hold for this country. That is to say, a policy of Trumpism without Trump.”
“It will be decades before the consequences of his tenure are fully known.”