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| LATEST WITH THE CORONAVIRUS | |
Remember when I told you 90%? Well, EVEN BETTER.: |
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© Getty Images Pfizer announced this morning that its final analysis of its COVID-19 vaccine shows that it is 95 percent effective. Why this is especially exciting: Pfizer initially announced last week that their COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90 percent effective. What about side effects?: Pfizer reported no major side effects. A few vaccine trial patients experienced headaches or fatigue, though. What happens next: Pfizer and BioNTech are planning to ask for emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration “within days.” Expected quantity of doses: “The companies expect to produce globally up to 50 million vaccine doses in 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses by the end of 2021.” Read the announcement from Pfizer: https://bit.ly/32YOdtg Everything we know about this new vaccine, via CNN’s Maggie Fox and Amanda Sealy: https://cnn.it/36KlyZX For perspective: Over the summer, Anthony Fauci said scientists were hoping for a vaccine that is 75 percent effective but would even take one that is 50 or 60 percent effective. Read the August article of what scientists had expected: https://cnb.cx/2IQkyvp |
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| THE CHALLENGE: |
| Via The New York Times’s Katie Thomas, “The Vaccines will probably work. Making them fast will be the hard part.” https://nyti.ms/3nNtxwn The gist: “Industry analysts and company executives are optimistic that hundreds of millions of doses will be made by next spring. But the companies — backed with billions of dollars in federal money — will have to overcome hurdles they’ve encountered in the early days of making vaccines.” |
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| INTERESTING REACTION TO THE NEWS — DRY ICE SALES ARE SURGING: |
| Why: Pfizer’s vaccine needs to be stored at a very, very cold temperature. That makes distribution challenging. https://bit.ly/38Xl31g |
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| THE NUMBERS: |
| Coronavirus cases in the U.S.: 11,369,504 U.S. death toll: 248,824 Breakdown of the numbers: https://cnn.it/2UAgW3y For context: Five months ago today, 2,164,497 Americans had tested positive for the coronavirus and 117,783 had died. https://bit.ly/38VBQSf |
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| It’s Wednesday. I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send comments, story ideas and events for our radar to cmartel@thehill.com — and follow along on Twitter @CateMartel and Facebook. Did someone forward this to you? Want your own copy? Sign up here to receive The Hill's 12:30 Report in your inbox daily: http://bit.ly/2kjMNnn |
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| SPONSORED CONTENT — CAPITAL ONE | |
Our commitment to growth in underserved communities |
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What to watch for by 5 p.m.: |
| Via The Associated Press’s Scott Bauer, “President Donald Trump’s campaign has paid $3 million for a recount of two heavily Democratic Wisconsin counties, saying Wednsday that they were the sight of the “worst irregularities” although no evidence of wrongdoing has been presented and state elections officials have said there was none. Trump paid for the recounts in Milwaukee and Dane counties overnight Tuesday and planned to submit the required paperwork to trigger the recount on Wednesday, the campaign said in a statement.” https://bit.ly/3nE1HCi |
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Trump’s top cybersecurity official was shown the exit: |
| Via The Hill’s Maggie Miller and Morgan Chalfant, “President Trump ousted Christopher Krebs, the top U.S. cybersecurity official, on Tuesday evening, disagreeing with Krebs’s statement affirming the security of the 2020 election.” What led to Krebs’s firing: The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) “put out a statement Thursday from stakeholders and officials that affirmed that the 2020 election was ‘the most secure in American history’ and dispelled assertions that voting systems were in some way compromised, representing an implicit rebuke of assertions by the president and some of his supporters.” Back story on that statement: https://bit.ly/35HQB9j |
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| ALSO YESTERDAY — PULL ‘EM: |
| “President Trump has ordered the Pentagon to pull 2,500 U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Iraq by mid-January, acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller announced [yesterday.]” https://bit.ly/35K0GTr |
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The devil you know, right Dems?: |
| Via The Hill’s Mike Lillis and Scott Wong, “House Democrats on Wednesday nominated Speaker Nancy Pelosi to remain atop the party for another two years, brushing aside some internal grousing about a disappointing election performance in a vote demonstrating an overwhelming confidence in their long-time leader.” https://bit.ly/3pImK8C Keep in mind: She ran unopposed for the speakership. How the vote happened: “The nomination was secured by voice vote during a process conducted remotely as a health precaution amid a surge in coronavirus cases.” Why this is worth noting: “That marks a stark contrast to the secret election of two years ago, when 32 Democrats had opposed Pelosi amid a rebellion from a group of restive moderates ready for a changing of the guard after nearly two decades under Pelosi’s reign.” |
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| MEANWHILE FOR SENATE DEMS WHO ARE UNHAPPY ABOUT NOV. 3 — SCHUMER IS YOUR GUY: |
| “Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is in listening mode as colleagues are venting their disappointment over falling short once again of winning back the Senate majority.” https://bit.ly/3lHedkc |
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Isn’t elbow-bumping the new fist-bump?: |
| Republican senators congratulated Vice President-elect Kamala Harris yesterday on the Senate floor. https://bit.ly/38Ucapa Who specifically: Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) Why this is worth noting: A number of Republicans have not yet publicly acknowledged President-elect Biden’s win. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) fist-bumped Harris:
© Twitter Watch: https://bit.ly/3pEoS1c Graham then told CNN’s Manu Raju about the fist-bump: “Just saying hello — I haven’t a seen in her in a while. If it works out and they make it, I told her I wish her well and try to work where we can. We will know here in a month or so or less.” https://bit.ly/32UYJ4t |
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| LATEST WITH THE ELECTIONS | |
Drama in Wayne County, Mich.: |
| Via Politico’s Kyle Cheney and Zach Montellaro, “Election officials in Michigan’s largest county abruptly reversed course on Tuesday night and certified the presidential election results, with Republican members of the board backtracking after initially blocking the decision.” https://politi.co/3lKzZDp What happened: “The two Republicans on the four-member Wayne County board of canvassers — charged with validating the vote count — initially opposed certification and raised questions about mismatches between the totals submitted by local precincts and the final canvass. Less than two hours later, the Republicans joined their Democratic colleagues to unanimously certify the tally from the county, which includes Detroit, and called for Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to audit the mismatched precincts.” In the midst of the counts, President Trump tweeted: “Wow! Michigan just refused to certify the election results! Having courage is a beautiful thing. The USA stands proud!” https://bit.ly/3kHlpLP Trump has been tweeting disputed claims all morning, but here is what he tweeted after the final certification: “Wrong! At first they voted against because there were far more VOTES than PEOPLE (Sad!). Then they were threatened, screamed at and viciously harassed, and were FORCED to change their vote, but then REFUSED, as American patriots, to sign the documents. 71% MESS. Don’t Harass!” https://bit.ly/2ILZbef |
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Enjoy it, buddy!: |
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© Twitter |
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| The House and Senate are in. President Trump and Vice President Pence are in Washington, D.C. Today: President Trump has no public events scheduled. Today: President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris meet with transition advisers. 11 a.m. EST: A roll call vote in the Senate. The Senate’s full agenda today: https://bit.ly/32WN2KO 2 p.m. EST: Vice President Pence attends a U.S. Space Command basing briefing in the Situation Room. 5 – 7 p.m. EST: First and last votes in the House. The House’s full agenda today: https://bit.ly/36HJey2 |
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| 12:30 p.m. EST: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) holds a briefing on the House leadership elections. Livestream: https://cs.pn/3nAiUNg 3 p.m. EST: A Senate subcommittee meets to discuss teleworking during the pandemic. Livestream: https://cs.pn/36PHjay |
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| NOW FOR THE FUN STUFF...: | |
| Today is National Vichyssoise Day. |
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Me! Me! I’m here! I’ll do it!: |
| Via Washingtonian’s Mimi Montgomery, “There’s a LinkedIn job posting for a White House food taster: We're not totally sure if it's real.” https://bit.ly/2UDlsh1 Keep in mind — it’s controversial whether this is a real position or not: “The whole idea of a presidential food taster is somewhat of an urban legend, with some sources saying it’s a thing and some saying it isn’t. For the record, Washingtonian ran a 2013 article debunking the myth after then-President Obama turned down a lobster salad at a lunch ... But a 2001 New York Times article from the days of George W. Bush mentions ‘the president’s tasters,’ and there’s a 1988 Cox News Service piece also mentioning Ronald Reagan’s food taster.” |
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| And because you made it this far, here are birds taking naps. Nice hat, lil’ guy!!: https://bit.ly/3pCbpai |
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