Tom Barrack, a billionaire financier who GOP operative Roger Stone once called President Trump's "best friend", defended Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman on Tuesday while speaking in Dubai on Tuesday.

When CNN's Becky Anderson asked Barrack about the effect the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has had on Saudi Arabia's global reputation, Barrack first cracked a joke before stressing that "whatever happened in Saudi Arabia, the atrocities in America are equal, or worse," per Gulf News.

Barrack said that western countries have always fundamentally misunderstood Saudi Arabia and the Middle East and, therefore, the United States should not attempt to "dictate" a moral code in the region. "The problem with the Khashoggi incident is the same problem with the West misunderstanding the East that has existed since Sykes-Picot," he said, referring to the 1916 agreement between France and the United Kingdom, in which the two powers arbitrarily defined spheres of influence in the Middle East. "The corrupt hand of the West has been the primary instigator in the kingdom," he continued.

In a report last June, The New York Times described Barrack, who has done extensive business in the gulf region, as one of the key players in forging Trump's warm relationship with the courts of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, despite the president's lengthy history of anti-Islam rhetoric. Barrack also served as chairman of Trump's inaugural committee, which is now under federal investigation. Tim O'Donnell

Update 4 p.m. EST: Barrack apologized for his comments, reports Bloomberg, saying Khashoggi's murder "was atrocious and is inexcusable ... I apologize for not making it clear at the time that I consider the killing reprehensible." He said that "the bad acts of a few should not be interpreted as the failure of an entire sovereign kingdom" and said the U.S. does constant "work to lead by example."

Mira Furlan, the actress known best for her performances on Babylon 5 and Lost, has died at 65.

A statement posted to Furlan's Twitter account announced her death on Thursday night, according to Variety. Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski confirmed the news in a statement, in which he said "we've known for some time now that Mira's health was failing." He did not disclose a cause of death.

Furlan starred as Minbari ambassador Delenn on Babylon 5, and on Lost, she had a recurring role as Danielle Rousseau, the "French woman" who was already stranded on the island when the series began.

Straczynski in his tribute noted that Furlan, who was from the former Yugoslavia, had previously been "part of a touring theater group that continued to cross borders of the disintegrating country despite receiving death threats from both sides in the civil war," and he reflected on this "fiery, fearless side" of her that "fought ceaselessly for her art."

"Mira was a good and kind woman, a stunningly talented performer, and a friend to everyone in the cast and crew of Babylon 5, and we are all devastated by the news," Straczynski wrote, going on to add, "As much as this is a time to grieve, it is also a time to celebrate her life and her courage." Brendan Morrow

Comedian Dave Chappelle has gone into quarantine and canceled his upcoming shows after testing positive for COVID-19.

A representative for the comedian confirmed to TMZ and Deadline he received a positive test result and is now quarantining. Chappelle on Wednesday performed the first of five shows planned through Sunday in Austin, Texas, the rest of which have been canceled, TMZ reports.

Last June, Chappelle released a surprise stand-up special about the killing of George Floyd, for which he had a socially-distanced, outdoor audience, and he has recently been performing in Texas.

"Chappelle has safely conducted socially-distanced shows in Ohio since June 2020 and he moved those shows to Austin during the winter," his representative said in a statement, per Deadline. "Chappelle implemented COVID-19 protocols which included rapid testing for the audience and daily testing for himself and his team. His diligent testing enabled him to immediately respond by quarantining, thus mitigating the spread of the virus."

The comedian's representative added he does not have symptoms. As TMZ points out, Chappelle was seen in an Instagram photo earlier this week standing alongside Joe Rogan, Elon Musk, and Grimes. Brendan Morrow

"C'mon, give me a break, man," President Biden told a reporter Thursday, when asked if his goal of getting 100 million Americans vaccinated in his first 100 days is too modest. "It's a good start, 100 million." Biden was right that when he "first made this pledge, it was an ambitious goal," Politico's Renuka Rayasam writes. "But now it's only a modest bump from the pace of vaccinations that he inherited," and experts agree it won't cut it anymore.

"At a pace of 1 million doses a day, the virus wouldn't be contained until sometime in 2022," Politico reports. Peter Hotez, a vaccine expert at the Baylor College of Medicine, said the U.S. needs to vaccinate 2-3 million people a day to quash the pandemic by September, and the sooner the better, given the rise of new, more contagious variants. "We've blown every other opportunity," Hotez said. "This is all we have left."

"I love that he set a goal, but a million doses a day?" Dr. Paul Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, told The New York Times. "I think we can do better," and actually "we are going to have to if we really want to get on top of this virus by, say, summer."

Currently, U.S. vaccination efforts are constrained by supply shortages and inefficient distribution of the two approved vaccines, from Modern and Pfizer/BioNTech. "States are expected to run out of doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine within days," Politico says. But both companies are ramping up production, and Johnson & Johnson's one-dose vaccine is expected to hit the shelves by the end of February, so there should be amply supply to significantly exceed Biden's current goal by April.

In the meantime, Biden's administration should focus "on fixing the hodgepodge of state and local vaccination centers that has proved incapable of managing even the current flow of vaccines," the Times reports, citing experts. Biden has requested $20 billion to vastly expand vaccination centers, and he wants to hire 100,000 health care workers to administer the vaccines. If he can do that, former FDA director Dr. Mark McClellan tells the Times, it should "push the number beyond a million doses a day and probably significantly beyond." Peter Weber

When President Biden moved into the White House on Wednesday, he probably left his Peloton exercise bike in Wilmington. With its cameras, microphones, and internet connection, "the last thing the CIA wants is the Russians and the Chinese peering or listening into the White House gymnasium," The New York Times notes. The exercise bikes also cost "upward of $2,500 apiece," the Times added, so it "does not exactly comport with Mr. Biden's 'regular guy from Scranton' political persona."

Stephen Colbert made fun of the Peloton security fears on Thursday's Late Show.

The Daily Show picked up on the widely mocked critique that Peloton is an elite symbol out of step with Biden's "Working Class Joe" image. The Peloton, in fact, was "scandal" No. 5 from the first day of Biden's presidency, according to The Daily Show's recap of Fox News' inauguration coverage.

Late night comedians have to make the mental transition from all of Donald Trump's presidential scandals — and also do something with their four years of Trump footage. At Jimmy Kimmel Live, Rufus Wainwright sang just about every saucy nickname for Trump that Kimmel has used on his show, with visual aids. It took more than 2 minutes, including a lightning round.

And The Daily Show raided its video vault so Desi Lydic could recap four years of former first lady Melania Trump, "the nation's stepmom, there for America every other weekend and on holidays," especially Christmas.

Lydic also reminded everyone about the mysterious case of "Jarvanka," Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, and you can watch that below. Peter Weber

When President Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden arrived at the White House on Wednesday afternoon, there was no chief usher to greet them. He had been fired at about 11:30 a.m., half an hour before Biden was sworn in as president, The New York Times reports. Former first lady Melania Trump had hired the chief usher, Timothy Harleth, from the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., in 2017, after the previous chief usher, Angella Reid, was dismissed a few months into Donald Trump's term.

The White House chief usher is in charge of the first family's residence, overseeing everything from personnel issues to budgets. It is typically an apolitical job, and ushers typically stay through several administrations. Reid, hired in 2011, was only the ninth chief usher since 1885, though she was the first woman hired for the job. The Bidens had communicated to the White House counsel that they intended to bring in their own chief usher, a person familiar with the process told the Times. A Biden White House official told CNN that Harleth "was let go before the Bidens arrived," though CNN reports it was the Bidens who gave him the ax.

Harleth was already in hot water with Trump's team, though. He "had found himself in an untenable position" since the election, "trying to begin preparations for a new resident in the White House, even as its occupant refused to concede that he would be leaving the premises," the Times reports. And Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, was "unhappy" with Harleth "for trying to send briefing books about the residence to the Biden transition team in November." Harleth "had worked with Jill Biden's staff for weeks to organize the move of household belongings," The Washington Post adds.

The absence of a chief usher was one manifestation of the chaotic transition period, but it doesn't entirely explain the curious breach in protocol where nobody opened the doors for the BIdens when they arrived at the White House, the Times notes. The doors, which awkwardly stood closed for about 10 long seconds as the Bidens watched, are typically opened by Marine guards.

Once the Bidens passed through the doors into the newly sanitized White House, things got better, the Post reports. "Awaiting Biden in a room adjacent to the Oval Office were two trays stacked with chocolate chip cookies, each one in plastic wrap with a gold presidential seal." Peter Weber

With the help of Slater, Screech, and Kelly Kapowski, the Lincoln Project has found a way to turn nine seconds of a Saved by the Bell episode into a roast of multiple Republican lawmakers.

Quick '90s TV history lesson: In the classic Saved by the Bell episode "There's No Hope with Dope," teen idol Johnny Dakota came to Bayside High to film an anti-drug PSA. The gang was so excited to film it with him, but once they found out Johnny was a secret stoner, they dropped him like a ton of Zack Morris' 10-pound brick phones. They ended up doing the PSA with NBC President Brandon Tartikoff, warning kids about the dangers of drugs.

Now, that PSA has been repurposed by the Lincoln Project for a mashup that might make Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) wish they could disappear like Tori did at the end of Season 4. Watch the video below. Catherine Garcia