@mehdirhasan Myth 1: “The border has been taken down just months into Biden’s presidency.” — Andrew Sullivan, conservative writer
MH: Pres. Biden has continued fmr. Pres. Trump’s Title 42 policy, allowing CBP to expel migrants before they make an asylum claim in the name of public health.
@mehdirhasan Myth 2: “They’re now finding people from Yemen, Iran, Turkey. People on the terrorist watchlist, they are catching, and they're rushing in all at once.” — Rep. McCarthy.
MH: The fact that migrants have names that “match those on the terror watch list” is meaningless.
“We might have to work with a combination of reducing the weight by removing containers, oil and water from the ship, tug boats and dredging of sand,” says Peter Berdowski, CEO of Dutch company Boskalis, one of the maritime service providers currently trying to free the ship.
"We can't exclude it might take weeks, depending on the situation," Berdowski added.
NEW: In early Dec., Biden transition officials began sounding alarm on need to increase shelter space for migrant children, but Trump admin. didn't take action until days before inauguration, according to two Biden transition officials and a US official. on.msnbc.com/3ciyHgH
"They were sitting on their hands," one of the transition officials tells @NBCNews, who does not currently work for the Biden admin. and spoke on the condition of anonymity. "It was incredibly frustrating."
@NBCNews It was not until Jan. 15 that former HHS Sec. Azar issued the Request for Assistance, which started the multi-week process of surveying and choosing new sites.
President Biden and VP Harris give remarks after meeting with Asian American leaders in Atlanta, Georgia. msnbc.com/live
"Racism is real in America and it has always been. Xenophobia is real in America and always has been. Sexism too," VP Harris says during a speech in Atlanta, condemning recent violence and attacks against women and Asian Americans.
"There are simply some core values and beliefs that should bring us together as Americans — one of them is standing together against hate, against racism. The ugly poison that is long haunted and plagued our nation," Pres. Biden says.
NEW: US intel report finds that Russia and Iran tried to influence the 2020 US presidential election.
The report also determined that China considered, but did not deploy influence efforts intended to change the outcome of the election. on.msnbc.com/2OXgJqU
Assessment found Russian operatives did not hack into 2020 election infrastructure, but found President Putin authorized "influence operations aimed at denigrating President Biden's candidacy and the Democratic Party, supporting former President Trump.” nbcnews.com/politics/natio…
"China sought stability in its relationship with the United States, did not view either election outcome as being advantageous enough for China to risk getting caught meddling," the assessment says.