A recently discovered cyberattack, believed to have been carried out by a hacking group linked to Russia's S.V.R intelligence agency, will be at the top of President-elect Joe Biden's agenda when he enters the Oval Office, and he'll have to find a response that is strong enough to impose "high economic, financial, or technological cost on the perpetrator" while also avoiding escalating conflict with Moscow, a person familiar with Biden's thoughts on the subject, told Reuters.
Biden's transition team didn't respond to Reuters' request for comment, but analysts suggested a few potential paths the new administration could take. "I would think, at the bare minimum, imposing sanctions against the S.V.R would be something that the U.S. government should consider," said Edward Fishman, an Atlantic Council fellow who worked on Russia Sanctions in the Obama administration's State Department.
Fishman and James Andrew Lewis, a cyber security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, also suggested sanctions against Russian state companies and the businesses run by Russian oligarchs with links to President Vladimir Putin could send a more hardline message. And Lewis theorized the strongest option could be cutting Russia off from the SWIFT international bank transfer and financial messaging system, which would prevent Russian companies from processing payments to and from foreign customers.
Whatever Biden chooses to do, Lewis argued, it shouldn't just be "symbolic," but instead should let the Russians know "we're pushing back." Read more at Reuters. Tim O'Donnell
Gen. Arnold Bunch, the commander of the Air Force Material Command, announced Wednesday that Maj. Gen. William Cooley of the AFMC is headed to court-martial on a sexual assault charge. The decision marks the first time an Air Force general has faced such a trial, Military.com reports.
Bunch said "this was not a decision made lightly," but he believes it was the right call after reviewing "all of the evidence from the investigation" and a preliminary hearing.
Cooley, the former head of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, has been accused of making "unwanted sexual advances by kissing and touching a female victim," who is not a service member or Defense Department employee, in August 2018, Military.com reports. A charge sheet from last November obtained by Military.com provided more specific details about the off-duty incident, including the accusation that Cooley kissed the woman on the mouth without her consent. Read more at Military.com. Tim O'Donnell
What is ... about time?
LeVar Burton has finally been tapped to guest host Jeopardy!, the game show announced Wednesday. The Star Trek: The Next Generation actor and former host of the beloved PBS children's series Reading Rainbow will step behind the lectern for one week beginning on July 26.
Jeopardy! has been making use of a series of rotating guest hosts following Alex Trebek's death, and for months, fans have been calling for Burton to be brought in. In fact, one petition urging the show to make him the new host drew over 245,000 signatures. It certainly made sense given he's known in part for an educational show, and in recent weeks, Burton has been making clear he was interested — not just in guest hosting, but in taking on the gig permanently.
"This is something that I really think is a good idea," Burton recently told USA Today. "I think it's a good fit of what the show is, what the show requires and what I feel like I bring to the table."
Burton's name was announced Wednesday as part of what Jeopardy! said would be the final group of guest hosts to finish its current season, the others being Good Morning America anchors Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos, CNBC host David Faber, and sportscaster Joe Buck. This schedule takes the show up to August 13, around which point a permanent successor to Trebek could potentially be revealed.
So who might it be? Burton is a strong contender, though former champion Ken Jennings' guest hosting stint was also well received by fans, as was Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers'. Like Burton, Rodgers has said he's interested in the permanent job. At the moment, CNN's Anderson Cooper is a few days into his two weeks as guest host, and emails leaked as part of the Sony hack suggested Cooper was interested in the job in 2014. We'll take "tough decisions" for $1,000. Brendan Morrow
Brazil says it will cut back on deforestation — for a price.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has sent a proposal to the Biden administration that involves reducing deforestation by 40 percent in exchange for $1 billion, The Wall Street Journal reports. Bolsonaro is often criticized as a "negligent steward" of the vulnerable Amazon rainforest, the Journal notes, but he and others, including residents of the Amazon region, have argued the only way to save the rainforest is by funding "nascent bio-industries" like fish farming "that would provide alternatives to poor farmers who slash and burn to raise crops and cattle."
Ricardo Salles, Brazil's environment minister, said $1 billion is a "reasonable" amount, especially since President Biden mentioned during his campaign last year that he would work to gather $20 billion from around the world to help Brazil fight forest destruction. Salles told the Journal that one-third of the money would finance "specialized battalions" to enforce environmental laws, while the rest would go to the aforementioned sustainable economic activities.
Per the Journal, Brazil believes foreign aid would end deforestation by 2030, but not everyone is buying the talk. "The [Brazilian] government's credibility to collect funds from other governments is entirely damaged," Carlos Rittl, a senior fellow at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability in Germany, told the Journal. "This is a blackmail discourse."
Bolsonaro will be one of around 40 heads of state to participate in a virtual climate summit hosted by Biden on Thursday and Friday. Read more at The Wall Street Journal. Tim O'Donnell
President Biden is urging all employers to give workers time off to get vaccinated against COVID-19, and his administration is rolling out a tax credit for small businesses that do so.
Biden on Wednesday again urged Americans to get their COVID-19 vaccine now that adults are eligible to receive one in every U.S. state. But he also addressed concerns from some Americans who say they can't afford to take time off from work to get vaccinated or recover from the vaccine's possible side effects.
"I'm calling on every employer, large and small, in every state, to give employees the time off they need with pay to get vaccinated, and any time they need, with pay, to recover if they're feeling under the weather after the shot," Biden said. "No working American should lose a single dollar from their paycheck because they chose to fulfill their patriotic duty of getting vaccinated."
To ensure small and medium-sized businesses can do so, Biden said businesses with fewer than 500 employees will be able to get reimbursed for the cost of giving workers paid leave to get vaccinated. These businesses will be eligible for refundable tax credits under the American Rescue Plan, according to the IRS. This credit "ensures that no small businesses or non-profits will lose a single dollar by providing such paid leave to workers receiving a vaccination," the White House said.
Biden on Wednesday also celebrated the fact that the administration has met his goal of administering 200 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in his first 100 days in office. He said during his remarks that the U.S. is still "on track" for looking "much closer" to normal by the Fourth of July, but that "we still have more to do in the months of May and June." Brendan Morrow
Wait for it...
Hulu has ordered a How I Met Your Mother sequel series called How I Met Your Father, which is set to star Hilary Duff in the lead role, according to Variety. Similar to the premise of the original CBS sitcom, Duff will play Sophie, a woman who, in the future, tells her son the story of how she met his father beginning in the year 2021.
If the idea of a How I Met Your Mother spin-off sounds familiar, that's because CBS actually ordered a pilot for one all the way back in 2013. At that point, the spin-off was called How I Met Your Dad, and it was to star Greta Gerwig. This series never ended up happening, but now the idea is being brought back all these years later with a new star and streaming home.
For Duff, this also comes after a planned Disney+ revival of her hit show Lizzie McGuire didn't move forward, reportedly due to creative differences as Duff and creator Terri Minsky hoped to tackle more adult themes than Disney was looking for. This Is Us co-showrunners Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger will reportedly write and executive produce How I Met Your Father, and How I Met Your Mother creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas will also return as executive producers. Duff will serve as a producer, as well.
Of course, the original How I Met Your Mother series famously concluded its run in 2014 with one of the most controversial TV endings in recent history, so it remains to be seen whether this one can ultimately wrap in a way that's legendary in a good way. Brendan Morrow
Vanita Gupta was never really in danger of being blocked from serving as associate attorney general (the Justice Department's no. 3 position), so long as she had the backing of all 50 Senate Democrats. But the upper chamber's GOP still put up a fierce fight by trying to paint the Biden nominee as a "radical" who would weaken law enforcement, as Politico reported earlier this week.
In the end, though, Gupta's confirmation is set to move forward, and Vice President Kamala Harris won't be needed to cast a tie-breaking vote. Instead, Sen. Lisa Murkowksi (R-Alaska) will cross the aisle. On Wednesday, Murkowski joined Democrats in voting to advance Gupta's confirmation, and she said she'll stay the course when the final vote comes around.
Murkowski explained that after looking at Gupta's record and sitting down with her, she was convinced by the "passion that she carries with the work she performs" as well as her determination to serve in the post despite the contentious nomination process. "I am going to give the benefit of the doubt to a woman who I believe has demonstrated through her professional career to be deeply, deeply committed to matters of justice," Murkowski said on the Senate floor. Tim O'Donnell