Saturday Morning Forecast 2.6.21

Saturday Morning Forecast 2.6.21

Recommended Stories

  • 'Dinner table' politics: Why Joe Biden ditched bipartisan dealmaking to pass his COVID-19 relief bill

    Biden's decision to go it alone on his COVID-19 relief plan could sink any specter of bipartisanship as he moves on to the next big-ticket item in his first 100 days.

  • A snorkeler discovered 25 bricks of cocaine worth more than $1.5 million in water off the Florida Keys

    The Monroe County Sheriff's Office said the floating bale weighed nearly 70 pounds. The unexpected find was also reported to US Border Patrol.

  • Trump said he would travel the 5,000 miles from Mar-a-Lago to Alaska to bury the political career of GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski in revenge for her impeachment vote

    Trump promised to back any 2022 challenger to the senator. Murkowski called on him to resign after the January 6 Capitol riot.

  • McManus: McConnell wants to use the filibuster to block Biden's agenda. Here's how Biden can outfox him

    As the Senate has become increasingly polarized, the filibuster has become a weapon enabling the minority party to obstruct rather than compromise. But a couple of reforms could fix that.

  • Two More Women Accuse Cuomo of Sexual Misconduct: Reports

    Two additional women accused New York governor Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment on Saturday, including a former press aide who detailed an uncomfortable embrace in a dimly lit hotel room and an assistant who said he made her feel like “just a skirt.” Former press aide Karen Hinton told the Washington Post that Cuomo, then head of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, forced her into a “very long, too long, too tight, too intimate” embrace in a dimly lit Los Angeles hotel room in December 2000. The married press aide retreated but said “he pulls me back for another intimate embrace.” “I thought at that moment it could lead to a kiss, it could lead to other things, so I just pull away again, and I leave,” said Hinton, who is married to lobbyist Howard Glaser, a longtime Cuomo ally who worked as his director of state operations and senior policy advisor until 2014. A representative for the governor denied the allegation, telling the Washington Post the incident “did not happen.” “Karen Hinton is a known antagonist of the Governor’s who is attempting to take advantage of this moment to score cheap points with made up allegations from 21 years ago,” Peter Ajemian said. “All women have the right to come forward and tell their story,” he said, though he called Hinton’s accusation “reckless.” Meanwhile, Ana Liss, a policy and operations aide who worked for Cuomo from 2013 to 2015, told the Wall Street Journal the governor acted inappropriately with her as well, calling her “sweetheart” and asking if she had a boyfriend. She detailed a May 2014 encounter with the governor in Albany’s executive mansion where she said the governor called her sweetheart, hugged her, kissed both of her cheeks, put his arm around her lower back and grabbed her waist as they turned to have their photo taken by a photographer. “It’s not appropriate, really, in any setting,” she said. A spokesman for Cuomo, Rich Azzopardi, defended the behavior as par for the course at public receptions. “Reporters and photographers have covered the governor for 14 years watching him kiss men and women and posing for pictures,” Azzopardi said. “At the public open house mansion‎ reception there are hundreds of people and he poses for hundreds of pictures. That’s what people in politics do.” Liss and Hinton are two of five women to accuse the governor of sexual harassment. Lindsey Boylan, the former deputy secretary for economic development and special adviser to Cuomo, on Wednesday published an essay detailing alleged sexual harassment she endured while working for the governor, including unwanted kissing and touching. She wrote in the essay that Cuomo, with the help of top female aides, “created a culture within his administration where sexual harassment and bullying is so pervasive that it is not only condoned but expected.” She also detailed an increasingly uncomfortable relationship she developed with the governor, in which he sought her out and set up one-on-one meetings with her. Boylan recounted a flight she shared with the governor from an event in October 2017 in which Cuomo allegedly said, “Let’s play strip poker.” On another occasion, Boylan says the pair met one-on-one for a briefing when Cuomo allegedly kissed her. Days later, former health-policy adviser Charlotte Bennett alleged that the governor harassed her in spring 2020, according to the New York Times. Bennett, 25, said Cuomo asked intrusive questions about her sex life, including an incident on June 5 during which the governor asked whether she was monogamous and if she had sex with older men. Cuomo said that he “never made advances toward Ms. Bennett, nor did I ever intend to act in any way that was inappropriate.” However, the governor did not deny making the statements in question. He has also denied Boylan’s claims. Anna Ruch, a former Biden campaign worker who has not worked for Cuomo, accused the governor of giving her an unwanted kiss on the cheek at a wedding in 2019. She said the action left her “confused and shocked and embarrassed.” New York attorney general Letitia James announced on Monday, after Boylan and Bennett came forward, that her office has received a referral from the Cuomo administration, allowing for an independent investigation of their harassment claims.

  • Senate COVID relief bill paves way for student debt forgiveness through executive action

    The Senate version of the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, which cleared the chamber Saturday, was amended to remove taxes on forgiven student loan debt through 2025, the Wall Street Journal reports. Why it matters: The provision, which was included by Democrats this week, paves the way for President Biden to forgive student debt through executive action — one of his campaign promises — without burdening thousands of Americans with a new tax. Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for freeFederal law usually treats forgiven debt as taxable income. Biden's pledge to forgive up to $10,000 in debt per individual would have increased "the tax bills of many households by a larger amount than the monthly payments they would have paid on the debt for that year," former Obama administration official Adam Looney tells the Journal.Where it stands: The House is now expected to pass the bill for President Biden to sign it into law.The government will lose some $44 million in revenue because of the provision, WSJ writes, citing the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation.Details: All federal student loans are eligible, including state education loans, institutional loans, private student loans and private parent loans.More from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free

  • Police arrested a Maryland officer on a child porn charge while he was working at a mass vaccination site

    The sheriff's office said the officer is believed to have "images and videos of nude pre-pubescent females engaged in sexually explicit conduct."

  • Ted Cruz's claims about undocumented people getting $1,400 stimulus checks were shot down by Dick Durbin as 'just plain false'

    Senators Dick Durbin and Ted Cruz scuffled on Saturday, after Cruz said the $1.9 trillion stimulus package included payments to "illegal aliens."

  • 'Lesson fully received': An 18-year-old charged in the Capitol riot says he was 'wrong' and begged a judge to release him

    A Georgia teenager who boasted on Instagram about storming the Capitol in January begged a federal judge to release him ahead of his trial.

  • Who truly was the most dishonest president?

    Past US presidents have left a legacy of untruths ranging from the bizarre to the horrifying.

  • UNC’s historic blowout of Duke puts a strange bow on a strange season

    North Carolina’s 91-73 win was its biggest over Duke at the Smith Center since 1998.

  • Born out of love: How the baby they gave up 50 years ago reunited high school sweethearts

    For decades, two lovestruck teenagers made good on a promise to their parents to never talk again. But one day, 51 years later, everything changed.

  • Biden says $1,400 stimulus payments can start going out this month

    President Biden said Saturday that the Senate passage of his $1.9 trillion COVID relief package means the $1,400 direct payments for most Americans can begin going out later this month. Driving the news: The Senate voted 50-49 Saturday to approve the sweeping legislation. The House is expected to pass the Senate's version of the bill next week before it heads to Biden's desk for his signature.Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for freeThe big picture: As part of the legislation, individuals who make less than $75,000 or heads of households who make up to $112,500 will qualify for the $1,400 payments. Couples who make less than $150,000 will get $2,800.Individuals who make between $75,000 and $80,000 and couples who earn between $150,000 and $160,000 will receive a reduced payment.Parents who qualify will get an additional $1,400 for every child claimed on their most recent tax returns.What he's saying: "Everything that is in this package is designed to relieve the suffering and meet the most urgent needs of the nation and put us in a better position to prevail," Biden said following the Saturday passage of the bill. "This plan will get checks out the door, starting this month to the American people who so desperately need the help," he added. "The resources in this plan will be used to expand and speed up manufacturing and distribution of vaccines so we can get every single American vaccinated sooner rather than later.""I promised the American people that help is on the way. Today, I can say we've taken one more giant step forward in delivering on that promise." The bottom line: "This plan puts us on a path to beating the virus. This plan gives those families who are struggling the most the help and breathing room to get through this moment. This plan gives small businesses in this country a fighting chance to survive," Biden said. More from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free

  • Biden says Americans will start receiving their $1,400 stimulus checks 'this month'

    "This plan will get checks out the door, starting this month, to the American people who so desperately need the help," Biden said Saturday.

  • A Missouri pastor is reportedly seeking 'professional counseling' after he told women to lose weight and strive to be like Melania Trump for their husbands

    Pastor Stewart-Allen Clark of Missouri's Malden First General Baptist Church gushed over an "epic trophy wife" and warned, "don't let yourself go."

  • Meghan, Duchess of Sussex 'called all the PR shots', say royal sources despite Oprah interview claims she was gagged

    The Duchess of Sussex “called all the shots” when it came to managing her own media, royal sources have said, casting doubt on her claim she could not be interviewed by Oprah Winfrey three years ago. Multiple royal sources have told The Telegraph the 39-year-old former actress “had full control” over her media interviews and had personally forged relationships not only with Ms Winfrey, but other powerful industry figures including Vogue editor Edward Enninful. In a teaser clip released from the Sussexes’s interview with the US chat show host, due to be aired in the US on Sunday, the Duchess said it felt “liberating” to be able to speak and accused the Royal family of effectively gagging her and taking away that choice. “It’s really liberating to be able to have the right and the privilege in some ways to be able to say yes, I’m ready to talk, to be able to make a choice on your own and be able to speak for yourself,” the Duchess said. In the clip, the Duchess and Ms Winfrey reference the fact that a royal aide was listening in to their first phone call in February 2018, although it is understood the pair had spoken privately before then. What time is Meghan and Harry's interview with Oprah, and how can I watch it in the UK?

  • Nicolas Cage just got married to Riko Shibata after spending most of the pandemic apart. Here's a timeline of the relationship.

    They wed at the Wynn Las Vegas on February 16, a date chosen to honor Cage's late father, August Coppola's birthday.

  • Prince Harry and Meghan's Oprah interview: Five thorny issues that could make for uncomfortable viewing

    The Royal family will assume the brace position as it awaits a stream of damaging revelations by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in their Oprah Winfrey interview. The slickly produced, dramatic teasers quashed any lingering hopes that the couple might stick to more mundane and diplomatic subject matters. Instead, they will tell “their truth”, lifting the lid on life behind palace walls in a manner no member of the family has done for decades. The couple intend the interview to draw a line under their grievances and mark the end of that chapter of their lives, allowing them to finally look to the future. But in reality, the issues that they raise, the allegations they make, are expected to be explosive, with potentially serious and long-term implications for the monarchy.

  • FEMA vaccine site abandoned state rules, gave vaccine to any resident 18 and older

    A FEMA site suddenly deviating from state rules may have allowed possibly hundreds of Floridians to get the COVID-19 vaccine without needing to be part of one of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ eligible groups.

  • With No Votes to Spare, Biden Gets a Win Obama and Clinton Would Have Envied

    Even with all the compromises—and the agita on the left—the Covid relief bill may be just what the Democrats needed to deliver.