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03.11.21

 

 

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by Allison Hoffman and Zachary B. Wolf

Tonight, President Joe Biden delivers his first prime-time address, on the anniversary of the coronavirus being declared a global pandemic -- the start of the national shutdown. In the speech, he'll announce that he's directing states to open vaccine eligibility to all adults by May 1.

 

The 8 p.m. ET address will be broadcast on CNN, CNN en Español and CNN International, with access to the livestream on CNN.com's homepage and across mobile devices via CNN's apps.

 

The speech comes after Biden signed his sweeping $1.9 trillion Covid-19 economic relief package into law on Thursday afternoon, finalizing his first major legislative victory less than two months since taking office -- and 24 hours earlier than originally expected.

 

"This historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country and giving people in this nation, working people, middle-class folks, people who built the country, a fighting chance," Biden said in the Oval Office before signing. "That's what the essence of it is."

 

Easy does it. CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger wrote today about how Biden won: 

 

Even when negotiating with Sen. Joe Manchin -- a recalcitrant West Virginia Democrat who could have deep-sixed the entire bill -- Manchin says Biden told him to "always do what you think is right."

 

In the end, Biden didn't get the congressional bipartisanship he said he wanted. But he did get his bill.

 

After four years of Donald Trump's constant grievances -- and now, calls for vengeance -- against anyone who dared disagree or challenge him, the lack of vitriol emanating from the Oval Office is palpable. And it's not because Biden doesn't get angry (he does) or doesn't have a temper (he can) or isn't that involved (he is). It's because above all else, Biden still sees himself as a legislator -- who, according to a close ally, is "allergic to the ideological mission mindset, and that allows him to be more forgiving of people who just happen to disagree with him."

 

In that sense, he is the anti-Trump he told us he was. There will be no self-promoting Biden signature on stimulus checks. There is no enemies list. Biden practices the old diplomatic slogan: There are no permanent enemies ... only permanent interests.

 

If you've been in the Senate for 36 years, as Biden was, "you know tomorrow's another day, and today's adversary may be tomorrow's ally," Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin told me recently. "That's the nature of this business."

And Manchin feels the same way: "Joe's always looking for that. How do we get past this? Come on, we can work it out. Thank you for doing this, you know, just attaboy."

 

Read the whole thing here.

 

Money in bank accounts. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday that stimulus payments could hit bank accounts as soon as this weekend. See how much you could get using CNN's calculator.  

 

The fight over voting rights has moved to Arizona, where GOP lawmakers have filed about two dozen measures aimed at making it harder to vote.

 

CNN's Eric Bradner and Dianne Gallagher report: 

A handful of the bills -- including two that would impose new restrictions on Arizona's popular vote-by-mail system and one that would limit its narrow voting window -- have gained momentum and could pass.

 

They are part of a push by Republican-controlled legislatures in several states to advocate for strict new voting laws in response to Trump's false claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.

 

There are more than 250 bills in circulation nationwide, according to the most recent tally by the Brennan Center, an unprecedented nationwide effort to roll back voter access. The list of states includes Georgia and Texas, two other states with increasingly diverse electorates where Democrats have made recent gains, and Iowa, where Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a new law that makes it harder to vote early.

It's growing clear that the social adjustments necessitated by Covid will outlast the shutdowns of last year -- and that this generation of kids will be shaped by it, just as an earlier generation was shaped by the Depression, World War II and 1968. 

 

Call it Gen C. 

 

"Covid is such a big mega-event in human history," Haim Israel, head of thematic investing for BofA Global Research, who described Gen C in a widely cited report last year, told CNN's Catherine Shoichet. "It's going to be the most defining moment for this generation."

 

Read the whole story here. 

 

More: These 5 charts show the pandemic's brutal impact on American workers

More on Cuomo. CNN's KFile reports that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo downplayed questions about nursing home data last spring. And the speaker of the state Assembly authorized the judiciary committee to start an impeachment investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct.

 

Hat in the ring? Actor Matthew McConaughey says he's considering running for Texas governor next year. 

 

Infestation. Bedbugs on a US Navy submarine. 

 

We're trying to connect the dots at a time of political, cultural and economic upheaval.