Spiegel Stuff: The Hill's 12:30 Report - Presented by Goldman Sachs - Schumer moves forward with infrastructure vote | Vote likely to fail as bill text still not finalized | Key GOP Sen. calls for vote delay | Biden freewheels, makes more gaffes | Fauci tells Rand Paul ‘he doesn’t know what he’s talking about’ | Olympic events kick off two days before opening

Presented by Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices

HAPPENING TODAY

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is moving forward with a vote today to begin debate on the bipartisan infrastructure bill, even though the vote will likely fail.

But it’s the bipartisan bill — why would the vote to begin debate fail?: Democratic and Republican negotiators are still hashing out the details of the bill. I.e.: There is no full text yet. Republicans say they will not vote “yes” until they see the full text.

How long it might take to have the full text of the bill: Possibly Monday. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is calling for Schumer to delay the vote until Monday when the negotiations will be complete.

But Schumer doesn’t appear to be budging.

Why Schumer is on such a tight schedule: There is a time crunch with the upcoming August recess. Schumer has been emphasizing that this is simply a shell bill that can be amended later when the negotiations are complete.

The Hill’s Alexander Bolton has a helpful explainer on today’s vote: https://bit.ly/3BtJj6U

HOW SCHUMER IS GETTING PRESSURE FROM ALL SIDES ON HIS SPENDING STRATEGY:

Via The Hill’s Jordain Carney: https://bit.ly/3rnMUPz

Aha!:

The full photo of the wine selection: https://bit.ly/3xZDv31

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.

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NEWS THIS MORNING

Canada and Mexico travel restrictions are extended:

“The U.S. will extend travel restrictions at the borders with Canada and Mexico for another month. In two notices posted Wednesday, the Biden administration said it will limit entrance into the U.S. to those making ‘essential travel’ through August 21.” https://bit.ly/3rpJrzI

Timing: “The determinations come just two days after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada would begin allowing vaccinated Americans to enter the country so long as they can provide proof they've received a complete round of approved vaccinations.”

What we know: https://bit.ly/3rpJrzI

IN CONGRESS

A totally new meaning to a DIY project:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is telling Democrats to raise the debt ceiling on their own, warning that Republicans will not help them. https://bit.ly/3hUbJ2j

McConnell told Punchbowl News: “I can’t imagine there will be a single Republican voting to raise the debt ceiling after what we’ve been experiencing.”

McConnell elaborated: “I can’t imagine a single Republican in this environment that we’re in now -- this free-for-all for taxes and spending -- to vote to raise the debt limit. I think the answer is they need to put it in the reconciliation bill.”

More on McConnell’s perspective: https://bit.ly/3hUbJ2j

IN THE WHITE HOUSE

Joe Biden: Unscripted, unabridged and unfiltered:

Via The Hill’s Amie Parnes and Brett Samuels, “President Biden has been more freewheeling with his remarks in the last few weeks, leading to slip-ups the White House has had to clean up.” https://bit.ly/3rrnvnO

A recent example: “[Last Friday,] Biden accused Facebook of ‘killing people’ because of the misinformation spread on the social media network about coronavirus vaccines. It was a striking statement that triggered a furious response from Facebook. And on Monday, it became clear Biden had gone further and been more biting than he intended. Less than three days after his initial remarks, the president reversed course, saying Facebook ‘isn’t killing people.’”

Why it’s worth mentioning: “It’s caused some consternation among people close to the White House and raised memories of past Biden gaffes.”

Another example and why it matters: https://bit.ly/3rrnvnO

LATEST WITH THE CORONAVIRUS

No sugar coating here. Nope, none.:

Watch: https://bit.ly/3hQ5BIl

Back story: “During a Senate Health Committee hearing about the federal COVID-19 response, Paul said the NIH funded illegal gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which created a highly dangerous and transmissible virus able to infect humans. Gain-of-function is a controversial method where researchers make a pathogen more infectious, often to develop more effective treatments and vaccines. It’s an unsubstantiated accusation Paul has made before, and one Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has denied.” https://bit.ly/3xXqhnl

REPUBLICANS ARE DIVIDED ON HOW HARD TO PUSH VACCINES:

Via The Hill’s Scott Wong: https://bit.ly/3rnwYNc

TIDBIT — A BIRMINGHAM, ALA., DOCTOR POSTED AN EMOTIONAL PLEA ON WHAT UNVACCINATED PATIENTS ARE TELLING HER:

Dr. Brytney Cobia of Grandview Medical Center in Birmingham writes, “I'm admitting young healthy people to the hospital with very serious COVID infections. One of the last things they do before they're intubated is beg me for the vaccine. I hold their hand and tell them that I'm sorry, but it's too late.” Read her full post: https://bit.ly/2UCn2Dk

More on the post from AL.com: https://bit.ly/3Bt1VEn

CASE NUMBERS:

Coronavirus cases in the U.S.: 34,179,764

U.S. death toll: 609,563

Breakdown of the numbers: https://cnn.it/2UAgW3y

VACCINATION NUMBERS:

Total number of vaccinations administered in the U.S.: 338 million shots have been given.

Seven-day average of doses administered: An average of 508,931doses

For context: The U.S. population is roughly 331 million.

Breakdown of the numbers: https://bloom.bg/3iVTPLH

IN OTHER NEWS

This is a pretty interesting graphic:

Via The New York Times’s Nadja Popovich and Josh Katz, “Wildfire smoke from Canada and the Western United States stretched across the continent this week, covering skies in a thick haze and triggering health alerts from Toronto to Philadelphia. Air quality remained in the unhealthy range across much of the East Coast on Wednesday morning as the haze pushed southward.” https://nyti.ms/36PYXvl

“See how wildfire smoke spread across America” — the graphic: https://nyti.ms/36PYXvl

A spooky sunset last night:

NOTABLE TWEETS:

Lol:

This video makes me nauseated:

Watch: https://bit.ly/36XMrKd

BY THE WAY:

Via The Hill’s Reid Wilson and Jackson Walker, lawmakers are spending more on personal security in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol attacks. The full story: https://bit.ly/3rnzvHc

ON TAP:

The House and Senate are in. President Biden is in Kentucky this afternoon. Vice President Harris is in Washington, D.C.

10:30 a.m. EDT: President Biden received the President’s Daily Brief.

11:30 a.m. EDT: Two roll call votes in the Senate. The Senate’s full agenda today: https://bit.ly/3zmKweE

2 p.m. EDT: First and last votes in the House. The House’s full agenda today: https://bit.ly/3eIl1MN

2:25 p.m. EDT: President Biden leaves for Hebron, Ky.

2:30 p.m. EDT: Two votes in the Senate, including the infamous cloture vote on the bipartisan infrastructure deal.

2:45 p.m. EDT: Vice President Harris holds a meeting with poll workers.

8 p.m. EDT: President Biden participates in a CNN town hall.

11:35 p.m. EDT: President Biden returns to the White House.

WHAT TO WATCH:

3:15 p.m. EDT: White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks with reporters aboard Air Force One. Livestream: https://bit.ly/2W0Q1RH

5:40 p.m. EDT: President Biden discusses how his “Build Back Better” agenda will create union jobs. Livestream: https://bit.ly/2W52t30

IN LIGHTER NEWS:

Today is National Hot Dog Day!

Eeeeek — T-minus two days until the Olympics officially begin!:

The Tokyo Olympic Games are kicking off on Friday with the opening ceremony. https://reut.rs/3rwXgwr

Tidbit — don’t expect a flashy show: Via Reuters, “Forget the mass choreography, the huge props and the cornucopia of dancer, actors and lights associated with an Olympic Games opening ceremony … Instead it will be a scaled down affair, a ‘sobering’ performance…” What to expect: https://reut.rs/3rwXgwr

BY THE WAY, SOME OF THE EVENTS HAVE ALREADY STARTED:

Here’s a list of the baseball, softball and soccer events happening today: https://bit.ly/3zjnfds

And to brighten your Wednesday afternoon, here’s a jolly creature who just wants to say hello: https://bit.ly/3xYsUFv