New York's vaccine czar called county officials to gauge their loyalty to Cuomo amid sexual harassment investigation  —  New York's “vaccine czar” — a longtime adviser to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo — phoned county officials in the past two weeks in attempts to gauge their loyalty …

Trump was supposed to be a political Godzilla in exile.  Instead, he's adrift.  —  He backed away from creating a third party and has soured on the costly prospect of launching his own TV empire or social media startup.  —  His vow to target disloyal Republicans with personally-recruited primary challengers …

House Democrats draw the line: No bipartisan cooperation with Republicans who questioned the election  —  WASHINGTON - Freshman Rep. Jake Auchincloss, a Democrat, has begun turning to an unusual source when trying to decide whether he wants to work with a Republican he thinks makes a good point during committee hearings: Google.

Massive Facebook study on users' doubt in vaccines finds a small group appears to play a big role in pushing the skepticism  —  Internal study finds a QAnon connection and that content that doesn't break the rules may be causing ‘substantial’ harm  —  Facebook is conducting a vast behind …

Backlog of migrant children in Border Patrol custody soars to 4,200, with 3,000 held past legal limit  —  As of Sunday morning, U.S. Border Patrol was holding more than 4,200 unaccompanied migrant children in short-term holding facilities, including jail-like stations unfit to house minors …

Kobach teamed up with Wichita businessman to sell COVID-killing device.  An investigation found no validity to their claims.  —  NEW YORK CITY — In early October, Kris Kobach, Kansas' former Secretary of State, and Daniel Drake, a Wichita-based venture capitalist-turned-CEO, made a sales pitch to Kansas legislators.

How Trump's team amassed a $1 trillion war chest for Biden to deploy  —  Republicans are bashing the new $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package for further ballooning the federal debt, but it's the Trump administration that greased the path for a smooth federal spending spree.

Police Shrugged Off the Proud Boys, Until They Attacked the Capitol  —  Two Proud Boys accused of leading a mob to Congress followed a bloody path to get there.  Law enforcement did little to stop them.  —  A protester was burning an American flag outside the 2016 Republican convention in Cleveland when Joseph Biggs rushed to attack.

Pentagon may reverse gender-neutral physical fitness test for US army soldiers  —  A new test has been scoring men and women on the same basis - but more than half of women are failing  —  The US Army is considering a reversal of its new gender-neutral physical test to instead include different evaluation categories for men and women.

Piers Morgan Can't Wait to Bring the Worst of America Home  —  British TV executives see opportunity — and money to be made — in bringing American cable-style clashes to their screens.  —  When Piers Morgan stormed off the set of “Good Morning Britain” last week as a Black colleague chided him for …

Online harassment of female journalists is real, and it's increasingly hard to endure  —  Julia Carrie Wong remembers a time, years ago, when she felt that being a part of digital culture was fun.  —  “I used to really enjoy online spaces, having a personality and a voice,” …

Vaccine brawl riles House  —  Uncertainty about why only 75% of the House is confirmed as vaccinated against the coronavirus is fueling a debate about when the chamber can return to its normal rules of operation.  —  Between the lines: The other 25% of members have either refused to get the vaccine …

Georgia voting rights activists pressure big corporations to oppose GOP-backed ballot restrictions  — Civil rights and activist groups are turning up the pressure on large Georgia companies like Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines to oppose sweeping voting restrictions proposed by Republican state legislators.

POLITICO Playbook: Biden stiffs the Sunday shows  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  President JOE BIDEN just signed the first BFD of his administration — a massive Covid relief bill to boost the fortunes of everyday Americans.  But you barely heard a peep about it from his own administration on the Sunday shows.

As Gov. Cuomo Faces Calls to Resign, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul Treads Lightly  —  New York's lieutenant governor has focused on representing the administration at public events around the state  —  As New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo fights for his political life, the woman in line to succeed …

Opportunity Beckons in the Mideast  —  The Biden administration called Iran's bluff early.  It should continue to play the strong hand it was dealt.  —  The geopolitical earthquake that began with the Abraham Accords hasn't ended.  More than 130,000 Israelis have visited Dubai since President Trump hosted …

Officials located December recording of Trump call in a trash folder on Georgia investigator's device  —  (CNN)Officials in the Georgia Secretary of State's Office located a recently released recording of former President Donald Trump's call to a state investigator in a trash folder on her device …

What used cars tell us about the risk of too much inflation hitting the economy  —  Nationwide, used car prices soared 17 percent nationally in seven months last year — the most of any product.  —  When the coronavirus pandemic upended automobile supply chains last year …

Capitol rioter boasted he could access powerful weapons to ‘take back’ country, prosecutors say  —  A Texas man who joined a mob at the Capitol on Jan. 6 told two rioters he had set up a security company as a front to access law enforcement-grade weaponry that could be used to “take back our country …

Gov. Abbott Suggests Election Reform Bill Could Allow Use of ‘Cocaine to Buy Votes’  —  ‘ABSOLUTELY EXTRAORDINARY!’  —  Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott suggested on Sunday that H.R. 1, the sweeping election-reform bill recently passed by the House of Representatives, could eventually result in Democrats “using cocaine to buy votes.”

Stripe valuation soars to $95bn after latest fundraising  —  Payments provider becomes Silicon Valley's most valuable private company  —  Stripe has become the most valuable private company Silicon Valley has produced, after investors struck a deal valuing the online payments processor at $95bn.

Americans see better days ahead in pandemic and economy — CBS News poll  —  Though “exhausted” from a year-long pandemic, confidence about containing the coronavirus is hitting new highs as more vaccines roll out, and Americans say they're also “grateful” and widely optimistic about the coming months.