Jan 4, 2017

Obama to Democrats: Don't save the Republicans on Obamacare

David Nather

AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

At a meeting with Democrats on Capitol Hill, President Obama said they shouldn't try to save the Republicans from the damage of repealing Obamacare by helping them pass a replacement, CNN reports.

What it means: Obama has been more conciliatory to President-elect Trump than most Democrats -- but this is one area where he's not willing to concede at all. He's sounding the same hard line as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schemer, who has already warned that Democrats won't give the Republicans an ounce of help on repealing Obamacare.

Yes, but: That doesn't mean all of the red-state Democrats will listen. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia made a point of not showing up for the meeting, tweeting: "In good conscience I can't attend the meeting w/ the President today. We must find bipartisan way 2 fix #ACA."

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  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 10:30 p.m. ET: 1,273,990 — Total deaths: 69,444 — Total recoveries: 260,247 — Map.
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Intelligence community watchdog suggests Trump fired him for doing his job

Michael Atkinson, Inspector General of the Intelligence Community,at the Capitol in October. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson suggested in a statement Sunday President Trump fired him for acting impartially in carrying out his duties following a whistleblower complaint.

Why it matters: Atkinson alerted Congress last September to the complaint on Trump's correspondence with Ukraine's president, triggering an inquiry that resulted in the Trump's impeachment.

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U.S. coronavirus updates: Death toll passes 9,500

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins; Map: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

Recorded deaths from the novel coronavirus surpassed 9,500 in the U.S. Sunday evening, per Johns Hopkins data. The death toll in the U.S. has risen over 1,000 every day since April 1.

Why it matters: U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said on Sunday this upcoming week will be "the hardest and saddest week of most Americans' lives" — calling it our "our Pearl Harbor, our 9/11 moment."

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