Why Biden “actually desires to make a non-partisan deal”

CNBC official Ben White said President Joe Biden “is very much eager to get a bipartisan deal” when it comes to his administration’s $ 1.9 trillion stimulus plan to get America out of its economic crisis.

“He doesn’t want to blow up the filibuster in the Senate,” said White, who is also Politico’s top business correspondent. “He’d like to get a deal on a big package, maybe not over $ 2 trillion, but something close by that includes unemployment insurance, that has $ 1,400 checks and the rest, that’s their main goal, so they’re going to do it. ” try to do that. “

Biden pledged to act quickly and repair the US economy on his second full day in office. Calling his plan a “moral obligation” to provide financial relief to millions of Americans, he signed two executive orders on Friday. One focused on raising the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour while the other expanded the federal benefits on grocery stamps.

“We cannot, will not starve people,” proclaimed Biden. “We cannot allow people to be displaced because they have not done anything themselves. They cannot watch people lose their jobs. And we have to act. We have to act now.”

Friday’s executive orders build on Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion stimulus plan. He said his proposal was supported by a “majority of American mayors and governors” from two parties. However, the Biden administration needs to get Congress to pass the plan. Senator Lindsey Graham, RS.C., said the plan was dead on arrival but noted, “there are components of it that I like.”

The White House says it will be in touch this Sunday and there will be a call with 16 senators to discuss the president’s relief plan. White told CNBC’s The News with Shepard Smith that the Biden administration will have two options if negotiations fail.

“First, blow up the filibuster, go by 51 votes and beat it that way,” White said in an interview on Friday night. “Biden doesn’t want that, he’s an institutionalist. The other, more difficult part is to try to make the checks and send money to the people and break it down into smaller pieces.”

In keeping with Pfizer, the Covid vaccine research is absolutely enrolled for youngsters ages 12-15

Walgreens pharmacist Jessica Sahni will hold the vaccine against Pfizer BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the New Jewish Home in New York on December 21, 2020.

Yuki Iwamura | Reuters

Pfizer said it had fully enrolled its Covid-19 vaccine study in children ages 12-15, an important step before the vaccine could be used in that age group.

The study, an extension of the study used to support the company’s emergency approval for the vaccine in people aged 16 and over, enrolled 2,259 children between the ages of 12 and 15, Pfizer told CNBC on Friday. The entry on a government clinical trial website has been updated to determine that subjects are no longer being recruited.

The vaccine developed with German partner BioNTech was approved in December for people aged 16 and over. Studies in younger age groups are needed to ensure the correct dose as well as safety and effectiveness in these different groups, said Dr. Evan Anderson, a pediatrician at Emory University School of Medicine.

“I am very uncomfortable sending my children back to school where, despite the school’s best efforts, there is a real risk of getting Covid-19,” Anderson told CNBC in October.

While children are less affected by Covid-19 than adults, they still catch the virus and get sick. Some even died. According to a report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association, more than 2.5 million cases of Covid-19 in children were reported as of Jan. 14, about 13% of all cases.

“Children can still get sick and die from Covid-19,” said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center and an infectious disease doctor at Philadelphia Children’s Hospital. “In the past year, as many children died of Covid-19 as of influenza. And we recommend an influenza vaccine for children.”

Offit also pointed out that children can suffer from a disease related to Covid-19 called multisystem inflammatory syndrome, “which can be debilitating”.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of Jan. 8, there were 1,659 cases of the syndrome in children named MIS-C and 26 related deaths. There were a total of 78 deaths from Covid-19 in children under 4 years old and 178 in children between 5 and 17 years old, according to CDC data, although those numbers do not explain all deaths from the United States

Children compete for class at PS 361 on the first day of returning to class during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, United States, on December 7, 2020.

Carlo Allegri | Reuters

Pfizer declined to say when it expected results from the study, which would depend on the observed infection rate, to compare the rates in the placebo group with those who received the vaccine. With infection rates higher in the US since the fall – the 7-day average of daily cases now stands at 187,500, according to a CNBC analysis of the Johns Hopkins University data – vaccine effectiveness studies have shown their ads are getting faster.

However, enrollment for adolescent studies has been slower than hoped, at least for Moderna’s study in children ages 12-17, Moncef Slaoui, chief advisor to Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s vaccine effort, said at their last meeting on Dec. January.

By then, around 800 children had been included in the study for over a month, of which around 3,000 were needed. Moderna’s vaccine was approved for people aged 18 and over in December, weeks after its teenage study began. Pfizer lowered the age of his trial to 12 years in October.

“While enrollment was lower during the holiday season, we expect an increase in the new year as planned,” said Moderna spokeswoman Colleen Hussey on Friday. “We are on track to provide updated data by mid-2021.”

AstraZeneca, whose vaccine developed by Oxford University is in late-stage trials in the US and approved in the UK, told CNBC Friday that it plans to continue UK trials in a new protocol for children ages 5-18 from the coming months. “”

Johnson & Johnson, whose results are expected in the third phase in adults, said it was in talks with regulators about including pediatric populations in its development plan. The same technology used for the Covid-19 vaccine was found to have been used in vaccines given to more than 200,000 people, including people over 65, infants, children, HIV-positive adults, and pregnant women .

Typically, vaccine trials are conducted in younger age groups after they have been shown to be safe and effective in older groups. The manufacturers of Covid-19 vaccines have indicated that they will follow this plan here as well.

Moderna’s chief executive Stephane Bancel said earlier this month the company is unlikely to have data on children ages 11 and younger who would include a lower dose before next year. He said he expected data for children 12 years and older could be available before September.

U.S. public health officials such as White House Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anthony Fauci, said they hope that by fall 75% to 80% of the US population could be vaccinated so life can return to some form of normal.

About 78% of the US population, or 255 million people, are over 18 years old, according to a CNBC analysis of the census data. Another 25 million people are between 12 and 17 years old.

Fauci did not immediately respond to a query about the need to include children in vaccinations in order to meet his goal of 75% to 80% coverage.

“It is important that all children are vaccinated, and manufacturers cannot conduct these trials fast enough,” Angela Rasmussen, virologist and subsidiary at the Georgetown Center for Global Health Science and Safety, told CNBC on Friday. “The more people of all ages are vaccinated, the better.”

DJ Spinderella speaks out in favor of being excluded from the upcoming Salt-N-Pepa Lifetime Biopic

Salt-N-Pepa are the latest hip-hop legends whose story was told in a biopic. With her Lifetime movie premiere on Saturday, DJ Spinderella let it be known that she is not here to be excluded from the movie. She let fans know that she didn’t like being excluded from the development and production process for the film.

On Friday, Spinderella released a statement saying, “Sorry, but I need to talk about this Lifetime Special. Too often black women who have made significant contributions in their industry are excluded from historical narratives. When Salt n ‘Pepa built our legacy of empowering women, I couldn’t have dreamed that the same group would one day disempower me. “

She continued, “Words cannot fully express my disappointment when I learned that a decision had been made to proceed with a biopic for life that incorrectly excluded me from all aspects of development and production. While using my image throughout, I played an important role in the group’s history and success. “

Even so, she congratulated the women who portrayed her, Salt, and Pepa in the film, and concluded that she is almost done with her memoir.

As previously reported, Spinderella fell out with her former group members a while ago, and in 2019 she actually sued them after alleging owed her money on various occasions. TMZ reports that a few months after filing the lawsuit, Spinderella’s attorney announced that the lawsuit had been dismissed with prejudice after reaching a confidential settlement.

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‘A Quiet Place II’ is delayed once more and has its sights set on September launch

Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe star in “A Quiet Place Part II”.

Paramount Pictures

“A Quiet Place Part II” is the latest Hollywood movie to advance to box office release worldwide as the coronavirus pandemic rages on in the US. This is the third time the movie has been postponed due to the outbreak.

Paramount’s post-apocalyptic thriller will now premiere on September 17th. The film should last in theaters on April 23.

The film is the highly anticipated sequel to John Krasinski’s directorial debut, “A Quiet Place,” which introduced moviegoers to a world where deadly but blind creatures hunt based on sound only. The film starred actress Emily Blunt alongside teenage deaf actress Millicent Simmonds and a young English actor named Noah Jupe. All three are returning for the sequel.

The first A Quiet Place, on a budget of just $ 17 million, grossed more than $ 340 million at the global box office as moviegoers flocked to theaters to watch the exciting film on the big screen and in large groups experience.

This is a likely reason why Paramount, which has been actively selling a number of theatrical titles to streaming services over the past year, decided to postpone the release of the sequel.

In the past, Studio Aaron Sorkins sold “The Trial of the Chicago 7” to Netflix and “Coming 2 America” ​​and “Without Remorse” to Amazon.

The commercial success of “A Quiet Place” and Krasinski’s desire to have the film play on the big screen could keep the film out of the streaming market for the time being.

This is what the 2021 calendar looks like after “A Quiet Place II” has been postponed.

The method will start in February, says Chuck Schumer

Schumer said the Senate will “continue to do other business,” such as confirming candidates for the executive branch and working on a coronavirus relief package, before the trial begins the week of February 8th. On the previous Friday, Biden announced that he would support a later hearing to allow his administration to “get operational”.

Schumer added: “We all want to leave this terrible chapter in our nation’s history behind us.”

“But healing and unity will only come when there is truth and accountability. And that is exactly what this process will provide,” said the New York Democrat.

The riot earlier this month disrupted the Congressional count of Biden’s election victory, leaving five dead, including a Capitol policeman. The House indicted Trump a week after the riot, when 10 Republicans along with all 222 Democrats voted to indict him. Trump became the first President to be indicted by the House twice.

It will take 67 votes for the Senate to convict him. If all 50 Democrats support a guilty verdict, it will take 17 Republicans to join them.

If the Senate condemns Trump, it can in future hold him back from office with a separate vote.

Earlier on Friday, Senate Minority Chairman Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Voiced concerns that Trump would not have enough time to build a defense. He asked the House to air the article on January 28th to ensure “a full and fair trial.”

In a statement Friday, House spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Said Trump had “the same amount of time to prepare for the trial” as House impeachment executives. You will represent the case in the House before the Senate.

Trump hired South Carolina attorney Butch Bowers to defend him during the trial. The nine impeachment managers are Democratic Representatives Jamie Raskin from Maryland, Diana DeGette from Colorado, David Cicilline from Rhode Island, Joaquin Castro from Texas, Eric Swalwell and Ted Lieu from California, Stacey Plaskett, US Virgin Islands delegate, Madeleine Dean from Pennsylvania and Joe Neguse of Colorado.

Pelosi claimed Thursday that managers would not have to prepare as much evidence for the second trial as they did for the first last year.

“This year the whole world witnessed the president’s instigation, call to action and violence,” the California Democrat told reporters.

The first trial against Trump last year for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress lasted about three weeks. The Republican-held Senate acquitted him.

Schumer downplayed GOP concerns that the Democrats would rush through the process after a quick trial in the House.

“It will be a full process. It will be a fair process,” he said earlier on Friday.

McConnell has not indicated whether he will vote to condemn Trump. On Tuesday he said the rioters were “provoked by the president and other powerful people.”

Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski from Alaska and Pat Toomey from Pennsylvania called on Trump to step down while he was still in office. Nobody said how they would vote on the conviction.

Murkowski said in a statement earlier this month that the House responded to the attack on the Capitol “swiftly and I believe appropriately with impeachment”.

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Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler meet once more, however it’s not what you suppose it’s

Very Cavallari fans are very confused.

Kristin Cavallari said divorced Jay Cutler was the “hardest decision” she has ever made. Therefore, her followers were at a loss when the two reunited on Instagram for a grinning selfie on Friday, January 22nd.

Kristin and Jay wrote identical and super cryptic subtitles and said, “The world is full of users. 10 years. Can’t break this.”

It’s true that the celebs dated 10 years after first dating in 2010, before getting married in 2013. But users? What?

Fans were optimistic that Exes (who have three children together) are happily back together. One wrote: “Nobody will break your bond, you are parents of beautiful children!” while another said, “Ugh, I love you both so much.”

Others were just confused. One user considered, “But wait. What. Do. That. Means.”

The reality star’s hairdresser, her friend Justin Anderson, stoked the fire by writing, “There is a calm in the air of Nashville tonight, dear ones” and “I love you”.

Former ambassador warns of the expiry of an important nuclear treaty with Russia, which might “put the USA in a worse place”

The Biden government has urged the renewal of the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) with Russia for five years, which expires on February 5. The nuclear deal regulates and limits how many nuclear weapons each country can have. Russian officials said Friday they welcomed the news.

Michael McFaul told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” that the expiry of New START with Russia would “put the US in a worse position”.

“We would lose our ability to review, look inward and look at the Russian nuclear arsenal,” said McFaul, who served as US ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014. “Do you remember Ronald Reagan always saying,” Trust but check? “I say don’t trust, just check, and the new START contract allows us to do that. I think it’s the right decision by the new Biden team to renew it.”

Joel Rubin is a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs, where he has worked with members of Congress on various national security issues, including nuclear safety. He agreed with McFaul and told The News with Shepard Smith that the deal would stabilize relations between the two nuclear powers.

“The Trump administration has tried to leverage the delay in the renewal of the treaty but has received nothing in return, which puts the entire treaty at risk,” said Rubin, who was also the policy director for Plowshares Fund, the country’s leading nuclear security company Foundation, endowment. “We need stability between the US and Russia, which together own more than 90% of the world’s nuclear weapons. The renewal of New START will do that.”

Relations between Moscow and the US have been shaped by massive cyberattacks against federal authorities, interference in US elections and the recent arrest of Russian opposition leader Alexie Navalny. President Joe Biden will ask his Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines, to review Russia’s interference in the 2020 election, according to the Washington Post.

McFaul told host Shepard Smith that he believes the reaction against Russia will likely be sanctions, but that the Biden administration has a choice when it comes to penalties against Russia.

“The simple thing is to sanction a number of unnamed colonels, FSB, the successor group to the KGB, and tick the box,” McFaul said. “The bolder move would be to sanction some of those who make the Putin regime possible, including some economic oligarchs who support Putin.”

Rubin added that the US should also work closely with European and Asian allies to pressure Russia to change and address its internal repression and aggressive international behavior, “rather than pushing them away and easing diplomatic pressure on Russia, like the Trump administration did. “”

McFaul told Smith he wasn’t sure President Joe Biden would want to spend the political capital to toughen up on Russia as the U.S. faces domestic political issues, including Covid and an economic crisis. McFaul added, however, that he believes Biden could do both.

“I think you could run and chew gum at the same time. I think you should be able to do both at the same time, but we’ll have to wait and see what they do,” McFaul said.

Rubin told The News with Shepard Smith that the time had come for the US to be “persistent” on Russia and President Vladimir Putin.

“We should not be afraid of Moscow, nor should we go to Moscow, nor should we expect that we can improve relations between the US and Russia through the diplomacy of children’s gloves,” said Rubin.

New York conducts 1,000 genome assessments per week to search for Covid variants

Scientists work in a laboratory testing COVID-19 samples at the New York City Health Department during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in New York on April 23, 2020.

Brendan McDermid | Reuters

New York State runs about 1,000 genome tests every week to look for new, contagious variants of Covid, said state health commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker, at a news conference on Friday.

“The new varieties are terrifying: the British variety, the Brazilian variety, now the South African variety,” said Governor Andrew Cuomo at the briefing. “The British variety is here.”

Zucker said the state has done about 6,000 genome tests so far and only found the strain that came from the UK. New York officials have so far identified 25 of these cases, including two new cases in Westchester County and one new case in Kings County. Said Cuomo. According to Zucker, there were no deaths in these cases.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters on Friday that there was “some evidence” that the mutated strain could also be more deadly than the original, which hailed from Wuhan, China.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention previously said there was no evidence that any of the new variants were more deadly or causing more serious illness.

When asked about the potential for higher mortality associated with the British tribe, Zucker said he was in contact with the British science advisor and the evidence is still preliminary.

“The fact that it’s more communicable means there will be more cases. If there are more cases, there will be more hospitalizations, and obviously if there are more hospitalizations there is an obvious risk of more deaths,” Zucker said.

At the briefing, Cuomo said he hoped that President Joe Biden’s new administration would boost vaccine production and enable increased vaccine distribution. New York had given more than 975,000 people at least one dose of the vaccine as of Thursday, according to the state vaccine tracker.

“The British tribe is spreading. We still only have a vaccination rate of 60% to 70% of our hospital workers. This is a problem,” said Cuomo.

Joseph Mardall, Tesla’s technical director, goes to zipline

Low angle view of the facade of the Tesla Motors dealership with logo and sign in Pleasanton, California, July 23, 2018. (Photo by Smith Collection / Gado / Getty Images)

Smith Collection / Gado

Joe Mardall, an influential technical director at Tesla, has left his position with the automaker to become a technical director at Zipline, according to his own LinkedIn profile.

Zipline is a drone manufacturer and air delivery service focused on the distribution of blood and other medical supplies.

Among his successes at Tesla for a decade, Mardall led the development of a Model Y heat pump system, lauded by CEO Elon Musk on Twitter, and led Tesla’s efforts to develop a ventilator for Covid patients that could be made using auto parts . (It never produced the fans.)

Before helping develop Tesla’s newest crossover SUV, the Model Y, Mardall also developed heating and HVAC technologies that became defining features in the company’s earlier X and 3 models. His name is on several Tesla patents.

According to Forge, a secondary market, Zipline is currently raising a Series E round of funding with shares valued at around $ 32.63, indicating a valuation north of $ 2 billion.

Mardall wrote in a public post on LinkedIn:

“After 10 wonderful years at Tesla, I am thrilled to begin my next chapter as Head of Engineering at Zipline and to work with a team of talented and dedicated engineers to provide instant access to vital medical care for everyone on earth. The next 5 years will change everything and I can’t wait! We’re hiring for all technical areas and I would love to hear from you – come and fly with me! “

Mardall did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC.

Nominations are open to the 2021 CNBC Disruptor 50, a list of private startups that are leveraging breakthrough technology to become the next generation of large public companies. Submit by Friday, February 12th at 3 p.m. EST.

Biden says nothing might change the course of the Covid pandemic within the subsequent few months

United States President Joe Biden speaks about his administration’s plans to respond to the economic crisis during a Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Response in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington on January 22, 2021.

Jonathan Ernst | Reuters

President Joe Biden painted a dire picture of the coronavirus outbreak in the nation in his early days in office, warning that it will be months before the course of the pandemic changes and that the death toll is expected to be over the next several weeks will increase dramatically.

“A lot of Americans hurt. The virus is on the rise. We have 400,000 deaths that are expected to reach well over 600,000,” Biden said Friday, before signing two executive orders that reduce hunger and amid workers’ rights the pandemic should strengthen.

The US exceeded 400,000 total Covid-19 deaths on Tuesday, a quarter of them in the past 36 days. This is based on data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. On Biden’s first full day as president on Thursday, he told reporters after meeting his Covid-19 advisors, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation is likely to top 500,000 Covid-19 deaths in February.

Biden warned Friday that the outbreak continues: “There is nothing we can do to change the course of the pandemic over the next few months.” The President has repeatedly warned that the situation is likely to get worse before it improves.

Although it wasn’t immediately made clear which projections Biden was referring to, a key projection by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates that the US could reach 600,000 Covid-19 deaths by March if states relaxed social distancing mandates. However, the model’s current projections show that Covid-19 deaths will be just over 560,000 Covid-19 deaths by the end of April.

A spokesman for the Biden administration was not immediately available to comment on the president’s projections.

The United States has reported a drop in Covid-19 cases in the past few days, a glimmer of hope after a surge since the fall and during the winter holiday season. According to a CNBC analysis of Johns Hopkins data, the US reports an average of around 187,593 new Covid-19 cases every day, a 22% decrease from the previous week.

However, the nation is still “in a very grave situation,” Fauci said during his first press briefing at the White House under the new administration on Thursday, noting the country’s high death toll and overstretched hospital capacity.

Fauci said the daily number of cases appears to be plateauing and is turning around based on the weekly average. It’s possible the decline is still due to reduced reporting after the holidays, he added.

“When we see that we think it’s real,” said Fauci.

Biden’s warnings come as the country races to get 100 million Covid-19 vaccine shots administered within the first 100 days of its administration. The introduction of the vaccine in the nation has been slow to start, despite health experts having said Biden’s goal of 100 million shots is feasible.

The rate of vaccinations has increased over the past week. The US administered 1.6 million Covid-19 vaccines between Thursday and Friday. This is based on recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that 100 million shots in 100 days would be a viable target if this daily count continued.

Biden has dismissed the idea that the target might be too low a threshold, claiming that he was told before he took office that the target might be too high. Biden’s spokesman did not respond to CNBC’s question regarding the president’s comments.

“I find it fascinating that yesterday the press asked, ‘Is 100 million enough?’ The week before they said, “Biden, are you crazy? You cannot make 100 million in 100 days, “said the president during the press conference on Friday.” God willing, we will not just do 100 million, we will do more than that. “

– CNBC’s Jacob Pramuk and Nate Rattner contributed to this report.