memeorandum: More than 2,000 flights canceled on Christmas Eve (Pete Muntean/CNN)

5:15 PM ET, December 24, 2021

Top Items:

White House reporters ask for virtual press briefings during the latest covid surge — With a fierce new variant of the coronavirus on the loose, White House reporters are urging press secretary Jen Psaki to move her daily briefings online — but it's an idea Psaki has been cool to so far.

Discussion: Politico and Twitchy, more at Mediagazer »

David Shepardson / Reuters:

Exclusive: U.S. to lift travel curbs on eight African countries — The Biden administration will lift travel restrictions on eight southern African countries imposed last month over concerns about the fast-spreading COVID-19 Omicron variant, the White House said Friday.

Discussion: The National Interest, Politico, Fox News, New York Post, UPI, Metro.co.uk, Joe.My.God., Al Jazeera, TheBlaze, The Daily Caller, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Insider, CBS News, Forbes, Mediaite, KDFX-TV and The Hill

Dan Diamond / Washington Post:

Biden to lift travel restrictions on southern African countries — Public health experts had pushed the administration to lift the measures, which went into effect Nov. 29, citing omicron's broad spread internationally as well as inside the United States. — President Joe Biden …

Discussion: Fox News, New York Times, National Review, Breitbart and Political Wire

Ashraf Khalil / Associated Press: US to lift omicron-linked travel ban on southern Africa

Christopher Hutton / Washington Examiner:
US to lift travel restrictions on eight African countries

Discussion: One America News Network and Townhall

Ed Pilkington / The Guardian:

Report shows the extent of Republican efforts to sabotage democracy — Research identifies at least 262 bills were introduced in 41 states this year with the intent to hijack the election process — The Republican assault on free and fair elections instigated by Donald Trump is gathering pace …

Discussion: Raw Story and States United Democracy Center

MSNBC:

‘We took the Capitol’: Proud Boy pleads guilty to Jan. 6 conspiracy charges — On Wednesday, one of the members of the Proud Boys became the first to admit he was at the Capitol to stop the transfer of power, as part of a cooperation agreement with the government.

Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:

The Third, and Last, Covid Winter Begins — We'll be living for a long time with the virus's ramifications for health, the economy and politics. — In New York we feel back where we started. It's like 2020, with everyone in a mask and canceling gatherings and scrambling to find a test.

CNN:

New January 6 video shows three hours of violent and chaotic assault on police — Capitol Police officer: Trump supporters are being lied to — (CNN)The Justice Department this week released a three-hour video of a battle between rioters and the police at the US Capitol Building on January 6 …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story and Joe.My.God.

Donald Judd / CNN:

Biden calls NORAD and updates children on Santa's progress across the globe — Washington (CNN)President Joe Biden made a Christmas Eve call to North American Aerospace Defense Command on Friday at the White House, updating children on Santa's progress across the globe as part of what NORAD Commander …

Discussion: Townhall, The Hill and The Daily Caller

Steven Nelson / New York Post:

Biden says ‘I agree’ when dad drops 'Let's Go, Brandon' on NORAD Santa call — President Biden got a visit from a Christmas troll Friday when a father participating in the annual White House NORAD Santa-tracking call used the phrase “Let's Go Brandon,” the slangy stand-in for “F— Joe Biden.”

Discussion: RedState and Joe.My.God.

Cheryl Teh / Insider:

Fringe factions of MAGA world are imploding after Trump publicly advocated for the COVID-19 jab — The fringe factions of the right wing erupted in anger after Trump lauded the COVID-19 vaccines. — Figures from Alex Jones to Ali Alexander swiftly rebuked Trump for his pro-vaccine stance.

Discussion: Raw Story, The Daily Beast and Alternet.org

Tim Dickinson / Rolling Stone:
MAGA Diehards Melt Down Over Trump's Pro-Vax Push

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo, RedState, Joe.My.God., Political Flare and Mediaite

Jeff Stein / Washington Post:

Manchin told White House he would support version of tax on billionaires — His offer comes as fellow a Democrat, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, raises new concerns, illustrating that the party has work to do — Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) told the White House last week that he would support …

Discussion: New York Post, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Insider and IJR

Zachary Petrizzo / The Daily Beast:

Jason Miller's ‘Free Speech’ Site Gettr Site Bans Users From Posting Racist Term ‘Groyper’ — The free speech right-wing alternative battles fury from white nationalists. — The free speech-centered, MAGA-inspired Twitter alternative Gettr, led by former Trump advisor Jason Miller …

Discussion: Joe.My.God. and Raw Story

Sameer Yasir / New York Times:

As Hindu Extremists Call for Killing of Muslims, India's Leaders Keep Silent — Right-wing Hindu activists at a conference took an oath to harm Muslims if necessary to make “a Hindu-only nation,” the most blatant example of rising anti-Muslim sentiment across India.

Discussion: Al Jazeera

Jonathan Cohn / HuffPost:

Joe Manchin's ‘Scaled-Back’ Framework May Be Better Than It Sounds — Prioritizing certain initiatives over others is hard, but that could be what it takes to save Build Back Better. — It looks like negotiations over President Joe Biden's Build Back Better legislation are only mostly dead …

Discussion: Townhall, AMAC, The Lens, Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality, The Gillespie Report and Front and Center

Paula Reid / CNN:

Giuliani associate Bernard Kerik plans to publicly release some documents requested by January 6 committee — Reporter: Records would be key to see Trump's activity prior to Jan. 6 — Washington (CNN)Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik says he is planning to publicly release …

Discussion: Raw Story and Joe.My.God.

Greg Myre / NPR:

How the Soviet Union's collapse explains the current Russia-Ukraine tension — On Christmas Day 1991, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev sat down at a table deep inside the Kremlin and prepared to deliver a monumental speech. Associated Press reporter Alan Cooperman was among the few journalists allowed in.

Discussion: New York Times