Vox Sentences - "He's got to condemn this ASAP"

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Trump allies' texts on the Capitol riot are revealed; omicron appears less severe than earlier variants, but more resistant to vaccines.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Jariel Arvin.

Mark Meadows's texts on the Capitol riot, revealed

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

• Several Fox News personalities who have publicly downplayed the seriousness of the January 6 insurrection privately begged for President Donald Trump to intervene on the days of the attacks, according to text messages from Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff. [Reuters]
• Meadows submitted the messages alongside more than 9,000 documents to the House committee investigating January 6. Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) read the messages aloud Monday night. [Business Insider / Eliza Relman]
• In several messages to Meadows, Fox News hosts Sean Hannity, Brian Kilmeade, and Laura Ingraham urged the president to get his supporters to leave the Capitol. “This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy,” a text from Ingraham read. [Daily Beast / Jose Pagliery and Justin Baragona]
• The messages reveal the hypocrisy inherent in the hosts' continual denial of the seriousness of the January 6 attack; many have spent the year downplaying or placing blame elsewhere for the insurrection. [CNN / Chris Cillizza]
• Meadows is now a pivotal figure in the House investigation into January 6, but has refused to give the committee testimony. [The Hill / Scott Wong and Mike Lillis]
• The House is expected to vote Tuesday on recommending that the Justice Department hold Meadows in criminal contempt over his refusal to cooperate. [NBC / Dareh Gregorian and Haley Talbot]

Omicron appears less severe but more vaccine-resistant than previous variants

• Omicron appears less severe than earlier coronavirus variants, but more resistant to current vaccines, according to a study by Discover Health, a large South African health system, and the South African Medical Research Council. [Washington Post / Lesley Wroughton]
• The study found that two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine provided a 70 percent chance of avoiding hospitalization, but only 33 percent protection against overall infection when it comes to omicron. [NPR / Michaeleen Doucleff]
• There are some positive signs other than the likely lessened severity of omicron: A UK study released last week suggested a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine can raise protection against omicron infection. [New York Times / Benjamin Mueller]
• And Pfizer released preliminary trial data on Tuesday showing that a pill in development can greatly reduce the risk of Covid-19 hospitalization and death if taken soon after symptoms begin. The company says lab testing suggests the pill will be effective against omicron, too. [New York Times]
• But top health officials warned Tuesday that any lowered severity would not mean omicron isn’t dangerous. “Even if omicron does cause less severe disease, the sheer number of cases could once again overwhelm unprepared health systems,” World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. [Reuters / Stephanie Nebehay and Mrinalika Roy]
• Omicron was first discovered in South Africa, and it has quickly spread in many countries, including the United States. Though delta remains the dominant variant in the US, the CDC reports omicron already accounts for at least 3 percent of confirmed US Covid-19 cases. [CNBC / Spencer Kimball]

 We write for the people

Mike Evans, one of Donald Trump’s closest advisers in the evangelical community, has condemned the former president’s attacks on former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as politically dangerous. [Washington Post / Steve Hendrix and Miriam Berger]

• California is bringing back its mask mandate for all people indoors to combat rising cases of Covid-19, effective Wednesday. [AP / Adam Beam]
• A gas tanker exploded Tuesday in northern Haiti, killing dozens and wounding hundreds; rescue and recovery efforts are ongoing. [CNN / Etant Dupain and Caitlin Hu]
• Phillip Adams, a former NFL player who killed six people before turning his weapon on himself in 2017, had CTE, a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head trauma. [BBC]

“We need an Oval Office address. He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand.”

A message Donald Trump Jr. sent on January 6 to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows asking Trump to intervene

Sean Illing talks with psychologist Paul Bloom about his new book The Sweet Spot, and whether it's necessary to experience suffering in order to live a fulfilling, meaningful life. [Spotify]

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