Day 16: "America is back." - a podcast by Matt Kiser

from 2021-02-04T15:43

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1/ U.S. Covid-19 hospitalizations are at the lowest point since Thanksgiving as the rate of coronavirus vaccinations has accelerated. Hospitalizations declined by nearly 30% in the last three weeks to 91,000 patients – the lowest number since Nov. 28. More than 27 million Americans have received their first shot – higher than the total number of reported U.S. infections – and more than 6 million are fully inoculated. (ABC News / Washington Post)




  • Biden’s Covid-19 Response Team is considering sending masks directly to Americans. The Trump administration scrapped a similar plan last year, opting instead to send cloth masks to nonprofit organizations and state agencies. (NBC News)




  • Mitt Romney proposed sending at least $3,000 per child to millions of American families as a means of combating child poverty. Romney’s proposal would provide $4,200 a year for every child up to the age of 6 and $3,000 per year for every child 6 to 17. Democrats have drafted similar legislation that would provide $3,600 a year for children ages 0-5 and $3,000 a year for children aged 6-17. (Washington Post / CNBC / Axios / HuffPost)




2/ Weekly unemployment claims fell to 779,000 – the lowest level since the end of November. While claims remained well above the pre-pandemic peak of 695,000, it was the third consecutive decrease in initial claims. (Bloomberg / NBC News / Wall Street Journal)


3/ House impeachment managers requested that Trump testify under oath during his own Senate impeachment trial next week about his involvement in the events that led to the Capitol riot Jan. 6. “In light of your disputing these factual allegations, I write to invite you to provide testimony under oath,” Rep. Jamie Raskin wrote in a letter to Trump. The letter comes two days after Trump’s legal team “denied many factual allegations set forth in the article of impeachment.” House impeachment managers invited Trump to testify either before or during his actual impeachment trial. The Senate could also seek to compel Trump’s testimony by subpoena. Trump’s defense team, meanwhile, rejected the invitation, accusing Democrats of waging a “public relations stunt.” (NBC News / Politico / New York Times / WTF Just Happened Today

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