THE BIG STORY

The COVID vaccine rollout and the Biden mask mandate

According to the CDC, right now, the US is averaging around 970,000 COVID-19 vaccine shots a day. At that rate, it’ll be nearly two more years before the country’s 330 million people get their second shot of the already authorized vaccines.

Ahead of announcing his own plan, President Joe Biden said “The vaccine rollout in the United States has been a dismal failure thus far. We’ll have to move heaven and earth to get more people vaccinated.”

The difference between his plan and former president Donald Trump’s is this: Trump punted the handling of the vaccine rollout to states; Biden has committed to a federalized vaccination campaign nationwide.

Biden again repeated a campaign promise to have 100 million shots administered in his first 100 days in office. But — with reports of no expanded vaccine supply to tap into and many states still grappling with a deadly third surge of COVID-19 cases — it’s unclear how quickly he’ll be able to make this happen.

Biden’s mask mandate

On Friday, the president signed a new executive order mandating mask-wearing on federal property, at airports, and on planes, buses, and trains.

Biden does not appear to have the legal authority to implement a nationwide mandate that would require all Americans to wear masks. It is up to state and local authorities to dictate mask requirements for residents.

Still, the order came as a relief to US airline officials and flight attendants who have had to contend with verbal abuse from unruly passengers, many of whom refused to wear masks on planes.

A couple receive the COVID-19 vaccine from healthcare workers at a recently opened drive-thru site in Florida. Nurphoto / Getty Images

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

Trump left a big legal mess for Biden

Every presidential transition involves unwinding policies that the new administration doesn’t support. Here’s where the Trump era is unique: so many actions taken by the last administration — not to mention Trump’s personal legal messes — are still being challenged in court, with the government’s lawyers in the mix.

It’s tempting to think government lawyers might just throw up their hands and say the department messed up under Trump. But as Zoe Tillman explains, that’s not quite how it works.

Yes, Biden and his incoming political appointees may disagree with Trump’s policies, but Justice Department lawyers will be wary of saying on the record that the former president and administration officials lacked legal authority to adopt them at all and that DOJ was wrong to defend Trump individually against legal exposure while he was in office.

SNAPSHOTS

A police car rammed through a crowd and drove over at least one person. The crowd originally gathered Saturday evening to watch cars performing stunts in a Tacoma, Washington intersection. At least two people were taken to the hospital after the incident.

A man who stormed the Capitol and tweeted “assassinate AOC” is now facing federal charges. Garret Miller from Dallas, Texas, faces five criminal charges, including alleged unlawful entry and “threat to injure” others.

Interview legend Larry King has died at 87 after contracting COVID-19. King conducted more than 30,000 interviews, which included every president from Donald Trump back to Gerald Ford. With his knack for getting his subjects to open up, he became known for landing big interviews.

Texas is suing to stop Biden’s 100-day pause on deportations. Texas claims the move violates the terms of an unusual agreement with the Trump administration that guaranteed the state a chance to weigh in on immigration policies.

HEEDING THE CALL

These photos and videos of pro-democracy protests in Russia are shockingly intense

In August of 2020, Alexei Navalny, Russia’s opposition leader, was poisoned. He was transferred to Germany for treatment, where doctors confirmed that the chemical agent Novichok was used in the poisoning.

During his recovery, Navalny helped investigate his own poisoning, tricking a government agent into confession. Last week, on Jan. 17, he returned to Russia, and was immediately arrested.

After his arrest, Navalny’s team published calls for a protest on Jan. 23 — a call that did not go unanswered. Russians braved -60 degree weather and police brutality to demand Navalny's release.

It’s not known how many people participated, but videos and images show what appears to be tens of thousands of people in the streets, across 200 cities.

Kirill Kudryavtsev / Getty Images

RISE AND SHINE

Kylie Jenner jumped on Instagram to remind everyone she’s rich after being dragged for her “pathetic” shower

Noted rich person Kylie Jenner took to Instagram to address internet concerns about her water pressure.

You see, a viral tweet made fun of Jenner’s pink marble shower and rather gentle water pressure. The tweet prompted others to chime in and say that, yes, they may live at home with their parents, but at least their water pressure isn’t terrible.

Jenner, who again is too rich to care about any of this, clarified that the shower in question was in the office, and is located in her “headquarters,” because rich people have pink marble showers at work.

She then gave a tour of her normal shower, ending it with “thank you, everyone, for your concern.” I am here to report that the water pressure in her regular shower appears to be just fine. I have one shower, so who am I to say.

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Elamin