A welcome breath of normal

Great news from Pfizer. The pharmaceutical company's CEO, Albert Bourla, announced yesterday that an oral drug to treat COVID-19 could be available by the end of the year, if clinical trials go well and the Food and Drug Administration approves it. Patients would take the medication outside of a hospital setting at the first sign of illness to keep the disease from progressing and prevent ER trips. Pfizer is also still testing its vaccine in 6-month to 11-year-old children. Vaccinating children is crucial to ending the pandemic, infectious disease experts say. —CNBC

• — "If you are vaccinated, things are much safer for you." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance yesterday to indicate that people who are fully vaccinated do not need to wear a mask when they're outdoors unless they're in a crowd. People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or two weeks after the single dose of the Johnson & Johnson shot. —NPR
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• — "A false sense of security." The common six-foot social distancing guidance on its own may not be enough to protect people from contracting the coronavirus indoors, according to researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Their study examined the virus' airborne transmission risk and found that transmissibility is impacted by room size, ventilation, air filtration, occupancy, and the nature of activity taking place. So get your shot and keep your guard up! —The Washington Post
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• — Another variant. A new COVID-19 variant first spotted in India has been detected in the U.S. and 18 other countries and territories, adding to a growing roster of variants that health authorities are keeping under close observation. It isn't clear whether the variant, known as B.1.617, is driving India's current wave of infection, which followed a loosening of restrictions and a large number of religious and political gatherings. —The Wall Street Journal

Graham: Tucker Carlson exposes his hypocrisy

"Even after new guidance, some people will decide to continue wearing masks outside. Perhaps they feel more comfortable that way. People exercising sometimes extreme caution about their health is neither new or a nuisance. Perhaps they are immunocompromised, or have immunocompromised family members or friends. Ultimately, it's none of my business or Tucker Carlson's business why they are doing it, as long as they aren't hurting anyone, which neither he nor anyone else has established they are. That's the sort of personal choice that conservatives have also traditionally defended." —David Graham in The Atlantic

David Graham is a staff writer at The Atlantic.

MORE: Tucker Carlson urges viewers to accost mask-wearing strangers, call 911 if they see kids in masks, prompting new calls for his firing —New York Daily News

Rudy raided

In an extraordinary move, federal authorities in Manhattan executed search warrants today at the apartment and office of Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump's personal lawyer, apparently stepping up their criminal investigation of his dealings in Ukraine. Investigators reportedly have seized his electronic devices. Prosecutors have focused on whether Giuliani illegally lobbied the Trump Administration in 2019 on behalf of Ukrainian officials and oligarchs, who simultaneously were helping him search for political dirt on then-presidential candidate Joe Biden. Stay tuned. —The New York Times

MORE: In sworn testimony in inauguration scandal case, Donald Trump Jr. made apparently false statements —Mother Jones

What did John Kerry say and when did he say it?

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with his Israeli counterpart yesterday amid tensions between the U.S. and Israel over how to deal with Iran. The discussion came as John Kerry, President Biden's international climate envoy, has come under fire over allegations that he inappropriately told a senior Iranian official that Israel had struck against Iranian interests in Syria at least 200 times. The claim was made in a leaked audiotape of Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, with whom Kerry dealt with as secretary of State during the Obama Administration. It is not clear when the conversation took place or if it did at all. Kerry denies it ever happened. —Politico

MORE: Arizona Republican calls on Biden to revoke John Kerry's security clearance —The Hill

Askew, Lowe, Monaus & Cooper: The military can learn from its own history to defeat extremism

"[E]xperts have warned that this new crop of extremists is just the most recent manifestation of the white nationalist and far-right extremist threat that has been facing the U.S. military for over 40 years. The history of Department of Defense responses to domestic extremism needs to inform future policies, strategies, and bureaucratic structures to counter extremism in the military." —Simone Askew, Jack Lowe, Nette Monaus & Kirsten Cooper on War on the Rocks

Simone Askew, Jack Lowe, and Nette Monaus are first lieutenants in the U.S. Army and research fellows with the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the U.S. Military Academy. Kirsten Cooper is an assistant professor of history at the U.S. Military Academy and leads the West Point Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies research team as part of the New War Research Consortium.

MORE: Homeland Security will assess how it identifies extremism in its ranks —The New York Times

Focus on immigration

Most Americans have a favorable view of immigrants, and a majority believes that improving opportunities for immigrants to come to the U.S legally is preferable to beefing up border security and cracking down on illegal immigrants. Those are two of the major findings from a new Cato Institute survey of Americans' views on immigration. Further, 55% of respondents said they favor providing a "pathway to citizenship" for undocumented immigrants, and 56% said that simplifying the legal immigration process is the best way to reduce illegal immigration. The question is, when will public policy begin to reflect those views? —Reason

• — No bill without the border. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said yesterday that though Republicans are sympathetic to "Dreamers"—immigrants brought into the country as children and protected by the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program—they are unlikely to support a stand-alone DACA bill without addressing "the obvious crisis at the border." —The Hill
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• — Some border action is already being taken. The Department of Homeland Security is launching a new operation to target transnational criminal organizations that smuggle immigrants across the border. Human smuggling has become particularly lucrative in the age of pandemic-related border restrictions. Through "Operation Sentinel," DHS will partner with the State Department, the FBI, and the Drug Enforcement Administration to disrupt smuggling organizations' access to profit. —NBC News
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• — No more courtroom arrests. DHS Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas also announced yesterday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will no longer be permitted to arrest people in or near courthouses for immigration violations. The move ends a policy, formalized in 2018, that authorized ICE to enter federal, state, and local courthouses to arrest people who were there for reasons unrelated to their immigration status. Mayorkas said such arrests interfered with the administration of justice and public safety. —NPR

Coffin: No going back to Jim Crow

"Look around America—the so-called 'fraud' at the heart of the Trump 'stolen election' narrative is at its core the African-American vote. ... The John Lewis Voting Rights Act must be enacted. Voting must be facilitated, not impeded. Gerrymandering must be prohibited, not allowed through specious pretexts, which disavow its true purpose and motive—racial discrimination." —Thomas Coffin in Eugene Weekly

Thomas Coffin is a former federal prosecutor and the U.S. magistrate for the District of Oregon until his retirement in 2017.

MORE: Why Michigan Republicans' attack on voting rights is 'particularly anti-democratic' —The Guardian

I've always thought the Electoral College was best at representing me. If Republicans can manipulate local and state election results in Texas, Arizona, and other states, those manipulations affect me also. Maybe changing to popular vote for president would take away some of their motivations. —Tom R., Montana

I have to disagree with Fred from Michigan. Having Joe Biden reach out to all of the individuals he lists does not create bipartisanship. Those individuals have to move and reach out as well—and they have shown that they are not willing to do so. What is the incentive for Mitch McConnell to work with Biden? If he does, he probably loses his position within the Republican caucus. Ditto Kevin McCarthy. 

Blaming Biden for not reaching out without also blaming those listed for not stepping up as well is ridiculous. This is what happened to Obama (remember when McConnell said his goal was to make Obama a one-term president and did everything he could to prevent any of Obama's programs from making it through Congress?), and Biden has shown that he has learned what happened when he was vice president.

No one complained about Donald Trump not reaching out. Why do we excuse the GOP from this behavior, but not Democrats? Why the big deal now? Until the Republicans can demonstrate that they are willing to compromise and collaborate for real through their actions, Biden has no alternative. —Harry G., Virginia

Watch how redistricting and voter suppression go in red states for 2022. Mind-boggling to say the least. Right in our faces! —Anthony W., Georgia

The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Stand Up Republic Foundation.