Kate McKinnon reprised her role as Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States' top infectious disease expert, in the latest Saturday Night Live cold open. McKinnon's Fauci attempted to answer people's questions about the specifics underlying the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's updated guidelines, which now say that people vaccinated against COVID-19 can mostly toss aside their masks, outdoors and indoors. "A lot of people had questions," McKinnon's Fauci said. "Such as: What does that mean? What the hell are you talking about? Is this a trap?"
So, the fictional Fauci asked a group of doctors from the CDC "who minored in theater" to demonstrate a few different scenarios in which mask-wearing protocols may be unclear, such as picking up kids from school, large outdoor gatherings, or air travel. Things didn't go to according to plan, however, and McKinnon's Fauci grew increasingly confused by the message the so-called "CDC Players" were trying to convey in their often-inappropriate, off-the-rails skits. Watch the full sketch below. Tim O'Donnell
The Biden administration still firmly believes the United States is not headed toward a "sustained pick-up" in inflation. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is closely monitoring the situation and hasn't found any surprising data that's cause for panic. But, with prices likely to continue to rise in the near future, it might become more difficult for the White House to convince Americans that that's the case, Bloomberg reports.
"We still have a weird six months ahead," Josh Bivens, the director of research at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, told Bloomberg. "It will be a real challenge for the administration and the [Federal Reserve} to stay firm on their stance."
Indeed, there's reportedly some concern within the administration about political fallout, even if inflation is ultimately temporary, as Biden's economics team believes. One of the most consequential risks is how a potential "inflationary psychology" — in other words, anxious consumers — will affect support for Biden's major spending proposals, which could total around $4 trillion, an unnamed "ally" of the president told Bloomberg. Read more about how the Biden administration is responding to inflation fears at Bloomberg. Tim O'Donnell
There was already a bipartisan effort in Congress to craft legislation that would require certain companies, particularly those that operate critical infrastructure, to report cyberattacks, and the recent ransomware strike against the Colonial Pipeline has increased the urgency to get things done, Politico reports.
"You couldn't have a better reason" for adding a mandate than the attacks on Colonial and SolarWinds, which took place last year, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) told Politico. He's working alongside Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who said requiring companies like Colonial to alert the government of an attack is just "the tip of the iceberg of what we need to do."
Private companies have bristled at the idea of voluntarily sharing their data with the government for fear of leaks, Politico notes, but as the risk of cyberattacks increases, a mandate could become harder and harder to avoid. Until something is in place, the U.S. government will remain "completely blind to what is happening," Brandon Wales, the acting director of the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told reporters earlier this week, per Politico. "That just weakens our overall cyber posture across our entire country."
Warner said the legislation would provide a "public-private forum, with appropriate immunity and confidentiality." Read more at Politico. Tim O'Donnell