Jan 5, 2017

Answers to our questions before Senate's Russia hearing

1) We know John McCain and Lindsey Graham had lots to say. Did anyone challenge the intel community?

No, for the most part. With the exception of a pair of critiques from McCain and Tom Cotton, the majority opinion among the committee was that the new trend of questioning the credibility of the intel community is unfair.

2) News on the hacks: Did we see new evidence from the intel community today?

No. Clapper revealed that the intelligence community will release an unclassified report next week, saying "our assessment now is even more resolute" that the Russians carried out the attack on the election.

3) Did the words "Donald Trump" come into the discussion?

Yes. Claire McCaskill asked "who benefits from a president-elect trashing the intelligence community?" Clapper said he's received "many expressions of concern" from foreign counterparts about those attacks.

What's next: President Obama is being briefed today on the full, classified report. Trump will get an identical briefing on Friday.

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Mike Allen

Bernie's juggernaut

Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks in San Antonio last night with his wife, Jane. Photo: Eric Gay/AP

Sen. Bernie Sanders won so big in the Nevada caucuses that Democrats are hard-pressed to sketch a way he's not their nominee.

Driving the news: With 60% of precincts counted (slow, but better than Iowa!), Sanders is running away with 46% of delegates — crushing Joe Biden's 20%, Pete Buttigieg's 15%, Sen. Elizabeth Warren's 10% and Sen. Amy Klobuchar's 5%.

Go deeperUpdated 2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Jacob Knutson

Buttigieg campaign claims Nevada caucuses were "plagued with errors"

Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Pete Buttigieg's campaign wrote a letter on Sunday asking the Nevada State Democratic Party to release early vote and in-person vote totals by precinct and address certain caucus errors identified by campaigns, The Nevada Independent reports.

The big picture: The campaign alleges that the process of integrating early votes on caucus day was “plagued with errors and inconsistencies,” and says it received more than 200 incident reports from precincts around the state.

Go deeperUpdated 2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Axios

Coronavirus threat grows, threatening some drug supplies

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's Health Ministry. Note: China numbers are for the mainland only and U.S. numbers include repatriated citizens.

As the novel coronavirus continues spreading globally and China grapples with a limited production capability, there's a growing risk to about 150 prescription drugs in the U.S., sources tell Axios.

The big picture: The coronavirus has spread to more countries, with both South Korea and Italy stepping up emergency measures amid rising case numbers on Sunday. COVID-19 has killed at least 2,467 people and infected almost 79,000 others, mostly in mainland China.

Go deeperUpdated 3 hours ago - Health