'Either it's very good news or it's very bad'

This is a big f***ing deal.

Joe Biden now has his own big-ticket new law to match the 2010 health care law, which once drew his notorious "BFD" whisper into the ear of Barack Obama. The $1.9 trillion Covid-19 rescue plan that just passed Congress is more than a stimulus bill. It’s also a deliberate attempt to lift millions of Americans out of poverty. And while many of its child tax credits, health care subsidies and nutrition payments expire in months or years, Biden sees the bill as a stepping-stone to making such benefits permanent.

Just 50 days into his presidency, Biden has put a substantial down payment on his vow to tip the balance of the economy from the rich toward lower- and middle-income Americans. The notion that it’s the most sweeping piece of social engineering in a generation was reinforced by one of the most outspoken progressives in the House Democratic caucus, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, who hailed the legislation as “monumental.” Despite total opposition by Republican lawmakers, the bill is broadly popular. Some 61% of Americans back it in a new CNN poll -- significant in a landscape currently so polarized that even “apple pie doesn’t poll that well,” as Colorado Democratic Rep. Jason Crow puts it.

Presidents need to use their power at its apex, early in their terms. Big wins beget new political capital. Add the currently accelerating rollout of vaccines, and Biden has had a good start in the Oval Office. In the same poll, 60% of Americans also approve of the way he is handling the pandemic. Turns out that taking the pandemic seriously, basing decisions on science, showing empathy for the victims and avoiding Twitter feuds is good politics.

Once the virus — hopefully — is behind us, normal politics is likely to resume. When Biden wades into controversial issues in foreign policy and climate change, he’ll get more dinged up. On the political fault line of immigration, Biden has only 43% approval as a crisis builds on the southern border amid an influx of undocumented children. To secure big changes on voting rights and climate, Biden may have to invoke the nuclear option of blowing up Senate rules. And at some point, the moderate President may collide with his party's more liberal wing.

But in his first prime-time televised address, on Thursday night, the new President will speak from a position of strength.

The world and America

Brazil’s leftist former President Lula spoke for the first time since his corruption convictions were vacated.

France is hurrying to declassify secret Algerian War files.

And Russia's crackdown on Twitter ended up taking down government websites.

Meanwhile in America, unaccompanied migrant children are being kept in Border Patrol custody for more than four days on average.

Republicans want a hearing on Britney Spears’ conservatorship.

And the NFL's new salary cap is down to just $182.5 million.

'Either it's very good news or it's very bad'

It was like the “night before the dropping of the (bomb) in Hiroshima." Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla on Wednesday described learning the early trial results of his firm’s Covid-19 vaccine, a development that could shortly change the fate of humanity. One of his first calls that Sunday night in November was to Anthony Fauci, the top US government infectious diseases expert, who was being torched by then-President Donald Trump and his supporters for Fauci's support of measures like mask wearing. “The first thing I told him, I remember, was ‘Tony, are you sitting?’ ” Bourla said at the Yale CEO forum on Wednesday. “He realized either it’s very good news or very bad,” said Bourla.

When Bourla unveiled the results -- “Ninety-four cases. 90 for the placebo, four for the vaccine, that’s 95.6%” -- he believed he could feel the impact on the other end of the line. "I felt the joy," he said. “You know, Tony’s a very measured individual, as we can all see,” Bourla also said. “This was the first time that I saw him show emotion."

First to the plane

There’s something odd about these pictures. They look just like the rite of passage first trip by a US secretary of state to meet trans-Atlantic allies. Except the secretary of state in question -- John Kerry -- doesn’t have the job anymore. And the man who does -- Antony Blinken -- has yet to launch his shuttle diplomacy. The unusual scenario did raise eyebrows inside the State Department, though CNN’s Nicole Gaouette, Kylie Atwood and Jennifer Hansler report that Blinken signed off on the mission for Biden's climate envoy -- which highlights one of the new administration’s top foreign policy priorities.

"The administration official familiar with the planning for Kerry's trip said it was weeks in the making and required the normal White House and State Department approval. But some State officials felt the trip came together at the 'last minute' and others were not aware that Kerry's travel was officially approved until (EU Commission President Ursula) von der Leyen put out a statement on Friday about a call she had with Biden and mentioned Kerry was coming, one department official said.

"Another official noted that faced with Kerry's drive to travel, it is hard to say no to a former secretary of state. A third State Department official said that staff think that 'as Blinken starts to travel more it will be fine,' but like others, acknowledged that this first trip caused some stress. That's partly because in diplomacy there are always the important considerations of protocol and rank as meetings are arranged, particularly at the beginning of a new administration.

"One official said Kerry's former standing, expertise and well-known love of chewing over policy questions could mean he gets called on to answer questions about issues that are no longer his purview, but Blinken's. 'Who knows what he'll say when he's out there if someone asks him about non-climate issues: Iran, or the GOP, or insurrection or whatever,' this official speculated.

"The State Department spokesperson, perhaps anticipating these concerns, made clear that Kerry would be sticking to the climate issue. 'Special Presidential Envoy Kerry is focused squarely on the climate change, and he makes that clear in every conversation he has,' they said."

Read the story here.

'It reminds me of my last visit to Kabul'

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell spared no drama on Wednesday in complaining about security at the US Capitol. "With all this razor wire around the complex, it reminds me of my last visit to Kabul," he told CNN. More than two months after the January 6 insurrection, National Guard troops continue to patrol the Capitol grounds amid an elevated threat level. "This is the capital of the United States of America. Do we need some changes? We probably do. But I think we are continuing to overreact based on current threat levels, to what is needed here at the Capitol. It looks terrible to have the beacon of our democracy surrounded by razor wire and National Guard troops," McConnell said.

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