The chief adviser to the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed said Sunday that it is “unfortunate” that the COVID-19 vaccine “has been politicized.”

Moncef Slaoui during an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union” attributed polls showing a decreased public willingness to be inoculated against COVID-19 to the process being “politicized.” 

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Click Here: essendon bombers guernsey 2019“I really think it’s very unfortunate that the whole process has been politicized and therefore the context has created conditions whereby people’s perception have been exacerbated, and we are where we are today,” he said. 

Slaoui told CNN’s Jake TapperJacob (Jake) Paul TapperSanders mum on spot in Biden Cabinet Fauci: Don’t abandon masks, social distancing after getting vaccine Ohio GOP governor says Trump should begin transition process amid legal battles MORE that he thinks the American public has “misunderstood” the level of efficacy the Food and Drug Administration requires for a vaccine to be approved. 

His comments come after Pfizer and its German partner company, BioNtech, applied for emergency authorization for their vaccine last week, which it expects to be 95 percent effective. Pfizer’s rival, Moderna, also is moving forward with a vaccine that preliminary analysis showed to be almost 95 percent effective. 

Slaoui on Sunday said that the levels of efficacy of the vaccine candidates are “almost a full insurance against this pandemic.”

“I think and I hope that’s gonna change people’s perception,” he said.

Slaoui  also said he expects enough Americans – 70 percent – will receive the vaccine to reach the necessary herd immunity in May. 

“I really hope and look forward to seeing that the level of negative perception of the vaccine decreases, and people’s acceptance increases,” he said. “That’s going to be critical to help us. Most people need to be immunized before we can go back to a normal life.”

The National Rifle Association (NRA) has agreed to halt insurance business in New York for five years and will pay a $2.5 million fine over charges related to that work.

New York’s Department of Financial Services announced the settlement Wednesday with the NRA, the nation’s top gun rights advocacy group after state Attorney General Letitia James (D) sued to break up the group over corruption claims this summer. 

The fine will settle charges that the group allegedly offered insurance to its members despite not having a license to do so and often withheld information on how it kept some premiums for its own benefit.

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The agreement resolved charges related to the NRA’s relationship with insurance broker Lockton Cos, which sold over 28,000 NRA-endorsed policies. Among the plans offered was the “Carry Guard” program, which state officials said illegally offered people coverage to assist with criminal defense expenses and the “intentional” use of firearms should they shoot their weapons.

Through its insurance offers, the NRA allegedly received over $1.8 million in associated royalties and fees and ultimately kept between 13.67 percent and 21.92 percent of premiums paid. 

“The NRA operated as an unlicensed insurance producer and broke the New York Insurance Law by soliciting insurance products and receiving compensation,” said Superintendent of Financial Services Linda Lacewell.

“Even worse, the NRA violated the New York Insurance Law by soliciting dangerous and impermissible insurance products, including those within its Carry Guard program that purported to insure intentional acts and criminal defense costs,” she added.

The initial civil suits filed by James in August said the NRA violated state law governing nonprofit organizations, specifically that the group and its top officials diverted millions of dollars away from its charitable mission and oversaw “a culture of self-dealing, mismanagement and negligent oversight.”

A wide-ranging group of national organizations is urging congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle to embrace and prioritize recommendations to overhaul big tech companies as laid out in a House Judiciary Committee report last month. 

Fifty groups signed onto a letter sent to top House and Senate leaders on Tuesday calling for them to “quickly act to enshrine the recommendations included in the report into law,” according to a copy shared with The Hill. 

“This report should serve as a wake-up call to other industries that Congress can and will hold them, and agencies responsible for overseeing them, accountable. Congress must act on its duty to protect small business, workers, our democracy, and our economy from a few giant companies rigging the rules for themselves,” the groups wrote. 

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“We encourage you to place the recommendations in this report on your respective legislative agendas early in the next session. Your support of these needed changes will protect consumers, workers, and our democracy from Big Tech monopolies, which are not above the law and must no longer be permitted to act as if they are,” they added. 

The letter was sent to Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiBickering Democrats return with divisions This week: Clock ticks on coronavirus, government funding deals Princeton history professor says Biden won with unstable Democratic coalition MORE (D-Calif.), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthyKevin Owen McCarthyThis week: Clock ticks on coronavirus, government funding deals Lincoln Project resurfaces Kellyanne Conway tweet calling 306 electoral votes ‘historic’ The Hill’s Morning Report – Biden wins Arizona, confers with Dem leaders; Trump tweets MORE (R-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellSenators clash on the floor over wearing masks: ‘I don’t need your instruction’ On The Money: Biden urges Congress to pass Democrats’ COVID-19 relief package | Fears of double-dip recession rise | SEC’s Clayton to resign at end of 2020 Overnight Defense: Pentagon prepping for Trump order to draw down in Afghanistan, Iraq | Questions swirl after DOD purge | 10th service member killed by COVID-19 MORE (R-Ky.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck SchumerChuck SchumerBiden could lose Georgia Senate races all by himself Puerto Rico’s statehood piques Congress’s interest post-election Feds charge Staten Island man over threat to Schumer, FBI MORE (D-N.Y.). 

It comes roughly a month after the House Judiciary panel on antitrust released a report on competition in digital marketplaces that included a series of recommendations targeting tech companies. 

The investigation that launched last June was a bipartisan effort, but Republican committee members pushed back on the majority’s report. Instead, shortly after it was released, Rep. Ken BuckKenneth (Ken) Robert BuckOrganizations push congressional leaders to prioritize tech antitrust report The rhetoric of techlash: A source of clarity or confusion? Hillicon Valley: Congressional antitrust report rips tech firms | Facebook tightens ban on QAnon content | Social media groups urged to weed out disinformation targeting minority voters MORE (R-Colo.) released his own version backed by other Republicans.

Buck’s “third way” report largely agrees with the majority staff’s views on the effects of big tech’s market dominance, but it pushes for comparatively smaller reforms. 

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Stacy Mitchell, co-director of the Institute for Local Self Reliance, a nonprofit advocacy group that signed onto the letter, said that while there are differences between the two reports, the similarities in their view on big tech’s market dominance suggests there’s a chance for the reform to be a “breakthrough issue” amid the deeply divided partisan politics. 

Mitchell underscored the need for lawmakers to prioritize the reform given the increased economic issues facing small businesses and workers due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

“We’re seeing working people and small businesses absolutely decimated and if we want to actually have real recovery that’s robust, recovery that’s equitable, then we need to tackle … monopoly power more broadly,” Mitchell said. 

The letter is signed by a wide range of business groups, as well as economic justice and worker rights organizations, Mitchell noted. Groups that signed the letter include the Athena Coalition, Center for Popular Democracy, Demand Progress and the Warehouse Worker Resource Center.

“That’s an interesting coalition,” Mitchell said. “And I think it really speaks to the fact that monopoly power is something that is robbing a lot of Americans of their ability to earn a living — whether they work for a living or run a business.”

–Updated at 8:55 a.m.

The White House has suggested to House Democrats that President TrumpDonald John TrumpRomney on Trump election tactics: ‘Difficult to imagine a worse, more undemocratic action’ by president New York expands Trump tax fraud investigations to include writeoffs: report Biden promises federal government will pay for National Guard coronavirus work: ‘That should be paid for’ MORE could drop his objection to renaming Confederate-named military bases if they agree to repeal a legal shield for internet companies, a Democratic House aide confirmed to The Hill. 

The offer, made by White House chief of staff Mark MeadowsMark Randall MeadowsOvernight Defense: White House suggests stripping Confederate base names in exchange for repealing tech liability shield | Biden faces mounting hurdles to rejoining Iran deal | Military coronavirus cases up On The Money: Push for student loan forgiveness puts Biden in tight spot | Trump is wild card as shutdown fears grow | Mnuchin asks Fed to return 5 billion in unspent COVID emergency funds Hillicon Valley: Facebook content moderators demand more workplace protections | Ousted cyber official blasts Giuliani press conference | Tech firms fall short on misinformation targeting Latino vote MORE to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam SmithDavid (Adam) Adam SmithOvernight Defense: White House suggests stripping Confederate base names in exchange for repealing tech liability shield | Biden faces mounting hurdles to rejoining Iran deal | Military coronavirus cases up Hillicon Valley: Facebook content moderators demand more workplace protections | Ousted cyber official blasts Giuliani press conference | Tech firms fall short on misinformation targeting Latino vote White House suggests deal to strip Confederate base names in exchange for repealing tech liability shield MORE (D-Wash.) as part of negotiations on the annual defense policy bill, was first reported by The New York Times.

The Democratic aide told The Hill that based on conversations with colleagues, “it’s highly unlikely this offer will gain any traction.”

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“On its face, there’s issues of jurisdiction, lack of clarity on what the White House actually means when it says repeal Sec. 230, and also it’s unclear if congressional Republicans support this,” the aide said.

Still, the aide said the offer appears to be “a sign that the White House wants to pass the NDAA this year.”

The White House declined to comment. A spokesperson for the House Armed Services Committee did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.

Speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations on Thursday evening, Smith denied Meadows made an explicit offer, but said Meadows “did float the idea.”

The fate of this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) has been an open question amid a standoff between Congress and Trump on a provision that would require the Pentagon to strip Confederate names from military bases and other property.

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Both the House and Senate versions of the bill include the requirement. The House requires the change in one year, while the Senate would mandate it in three years.

The language was added to the bills with bipartisan support amid nationwide protests over racial injustice that reinvigorated an examination of America’s legacy of slavery. Most prominently in the military, the Army has 10 bases named after Confederate military officers.

Trump has threatened to veto the NDAA over the requirement.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.) has vowed to remove the requirement. But it is highly unusual for something that’s in both bills to be removed from the final version, and Inhofe has not explained how he expects to overcome bipartisan support for changing the names.

Democrats have also indicated they will not budge.

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“It is imperative that the conference report include provisions that secure this essential priority,” Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiWe need a new COVID-19 stimulus package now McConnell, Pelosi hunt for funding deal as shutdown deadline looms Biden to meet with Schumer and Pelosi in Delaware on Friday MORE (D-Calif.) said in a statement Wednesday as formal negotiations started. “Our bases should reflect our highest ideals as Americans.”

Meanwhile, Trump and his Republican allies in Congress have been pushing for major reforms to what’s known as Section 230, a 1996 law that protects tech companies from liability for third-party content posted on their platforms and allows them to make “good faith” efforts to moderate content.

Republicans have argued the law allows social media companies to discriminate against conservative content, despite the fact that conservative content is often amplified instead. Trump targeted the law in an executive order in May, and the Justice Department proposed reforms in September.

In his Council on Foreign Relations remarks, Smith threw cold water on the idea of addressing Section 230 in the NDAA, as well as insisted on the language requiring Confederate bases be renamed.

“The idea that we’re going to completely repeal Section 230 in the defense bill? The committees of jurisdiction will have stuff to say about this,” Smith said. “I don’t think that’s the way out of this.”

“But look, it’s really simple. There’s no reason not to change these base names,” he added. “There’s a commission set up in the Senate language. It’s not required to be done immediately. There’s consultations, there’s all kinds of good ways to get there. It’s what we ought to agree to.”

Updated at 6:18 p.m.

President-elect Joe BidenJoe BidenRomney on Trump election tactics: ‘Difficult to imagine a worse, more undemocratic action’ by president Biden promises federal government will pay for National Guard coronavirus work: ‘That should be paid for’ House committee chairs demand briefing from GSA head on presidential transition MORE said Thursday that he has selected his nominee for Treasury secretary and will soon announce his pick, likely within the next week.

Biden told reporters during a Thursday press conference that his chosen candidate will appeal to progressive and moderate Democrats alike, and that he will name his choice either shortly before or right after Thanksgiving.

The former vice president has not yet announced any of his Cabinet nominations, and progressives have been closely watching his choice for Treasury as a litmus test for his financial and economic agenda.

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While the Biden transition team has kept personnel picks close to the vest, several potential candidates with the backing of progressives and moderates have circulated among lobbyists and policymakers.

Federal Reserve board member Lael Brainard, the sole Democrat on the Fed board, is considered to be the front-runner for Treasury secretary. She served as Treasury undersecretary in the Obama administration and before that as economic adviser to former President Clinton.

Brainard has deep ties to the Democratic establishment and a track-record of fighting Fed regulatory rollbacks from within the central bank.

Other names that have circulated as potential picks include former Fed Chair Janet YellenJanet Louise YellenThe Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by the UAE Embassy in Washington, DC – Pence, Biden wage tug of war over pandemic plans Biden says he will announce Treasury secretary pick close to Thanksgiving Roger Ferguson, potential Biden Treasury pick, to retire in 2021 MORE, Sen. Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth WarrenOn The Money: Push for student loan forgiveness puts Biden in tight spot | Trump is wild card as shutdown fears grow | Mnuchin asks Fed to return 5 billion in unspent COVID emergency funds Mnuchin asks Fed to return 5 billion in unspent COVID-19 emergency funds Biden says he will announce Treasury secretary pick close to Thanksgiving MORE (D-Mass.), former Fed Vice Chairman Roger Ferguson, former deputy Treasury secretary and Fed board member Sarah Bloom Raskin, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic and Ariel Investments co-CEO Mellody Hobson.

Progressives were hopeful before Election Day that a blue wave could give Biden a sturdy Democratic majority in the Senate to ease the path to confirmation for Warren or another liberal firebrand. But Biden is likely to find himself contending with a narrow Republican majority, forcing him to choose a nominee who could unify Democrats.

South Korean officials this weekend announced new, tighter lockdown rules for the greater Seoul area as daily coronavirus cases spike in the country.

The surge in cases, which include five days of more than 300 new infections, is “extremely grave and serious,” Health Minister Park Neung-hoo said Sunday, according to The Associated Press. Park added that officials have identified at least 62 virus clusters in recent weeks.

Park said the new rules, which take effect Tuesday and will be in place for the two weeks, will include the closure of nightclubs and the prohibition of late-night dine-in restaurant service. Athletic events will only be open at 10 percent of venue capacity, and drinking or eating will also be banned inside of cafes and gyms.

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South Korea, which kept its infection rates among the lowest of any country in the spring, has seen a pronounced increase since it rolled back most of its restrictions in October to reopen nightclubs and bars. The country reported 330 new cases on Sunday for a national total of 30,733. More than 500 people in the country have died from the virus.

The announcement comes a day after officials were reported to be considering new measures. The Korean Society of Infectious Diseases warned Friday that without them, the country could surpass 1,000 cases daily.

“COVID-19 transmissions are occurring in large numbers simultaneously across the country, and in some regions, the pace of infections has already overwhelmed local capacities for contact tracing,” the medical group said in a statement.

In addition to the Seoul area, officials have reported outbreaks in several other high-population urban centers like Asan, Daejeon, Gwangju and Busan.

“Our anti-coronavirus efforts are facing a crisis, and the situation is particularly serious in the Seoul metropolitan area,” Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said last week. “The heightened curbs would cause greater inconvenience in our daily lives … but we all know from our experiences that there would be an even bigger crisis if we don’t act now,” he said.

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India on Friday surpassed 9 million COVID-19 infections, trailing only the United States in cases globally. 

The pace of new documented cases has slowed throughout the country from earlier this year, The Associated Press reported. However, cases are on the rise in New Delhi, with the country’s capital adding an average of 6,700 new cases every day in recent weeks.

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Experts have warned that infections could spike in the coming weeks following celebrations and widespread gatherings for the Diwali holiday.

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The capital city’s health care system is also under stress as cases continue to rise, according to the AP. An estimated 90 percent of its critical care beds with ventilators designated for COVID-19 patients were full as of Thursday. An estimated 86 percent of critical care beds without ventilators were also full.

State Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said New Delhi is hoping to add another 1,400 additional critical care beds and that private hospitals have been asked to reserve 80 percent of critical care beds and 60 percent of other beds for COVID-19 patients, according to the outlet.

Officials are considering increasing restrictions on businesses and markets throughout the country. In the city of Ahmedabad, which is located in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, officials announced a weekend curfew for residents in an effort to slow the spread of the virus.

India follows the U.S. and Brazil worldwide in documented COVID-19 fatalities. However, experts have warned that undercounting in cases and fatalities is possible throughout India.

Sen. Gary PetersGary PetersHillicon Valley: Peters criticizes deficient healthcare cybersecurity investment | Apple defends delay of data privacy feature | Children groups warn about Parler Peters criticizes Trump for not taking action after cyberattacks on hospitals, COVID-19 researchers Democratic senators urge Facebook to take action on anti-Muslim bigotry MORE (D-Mich.) on Friday slammed President TrumpDonald John TrumpBen Carson says he’s ‘out of the woods’ after being ‘extremely sick’ with COVID-19 Biden will receive @POTUS Twitter account on Jan. 20 even if Trump doesn’t concede, company says Trump to participate in virtual G-20 summit amid coronavirus surge MORE for not taking action to defend the health sector against increasing cyberattacks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Peters, who serves as ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, wrote a letter to Trump specifically highlighting concerns around cyber targeting of U.S. hospitals and of groups conducting COVID-19 vaccine research, which have spiked since March.

“I am angered by these government sponsored cyber-attacks and your lack of action to deter them over the past months,” Peters wrote on Tuesday.

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Peters specifically criticized the decision by Trump this week to fire Christopher Krebs, the director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), along with two other key CISA leaders. The agency has taken a leading role in responding to attacks on the health sector.

“While I have full confidence in the dedicated workforce at CISA to continue to execute their mission despite your actions, the removal of these individuals invites attacks from our adversaries based on a perception of instability, rather than prevent them,” Peters wrote.

This is the second letter that Peters has sent to Trump this year highlighting concerns around cyberattacks linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first was sent in May after CISA and the FBI put out a joint alert warning that Chinese government-backed hackers were targeting U.S. groups developing COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.

The warning was sent out weeks after CISA and the United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Centre put out a separate alert highlighting cyber threats to health care and essential services groups. The agencies noted that these groups were likely being targeted to steal intellectual property around COVID-19 research.

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Since the warnings were put out, threats to COVID-19 researchers and the health care sector have only increased, with hospitals becoming a major target for debilitating ransomware attacks.

CISA, the FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services put out a joint alert last month warning of an “increased and imminent cybercrime threat to U.S. hospitals and healthcare providers,” with hospitals in New York and Vermont successfully targeted by hackers.

The private sector has also taken notice, with Microsoft warning earlier this month that it had seen evidence of Russian and North Korean hacking groups targeting pharmaceutical companies and coronavirus vaccine researchers.

Peters urged Trump Friday to “send a strong message to any foreign government attempting to hack into our medical institutions that this behavior is unacceptable.”

He asked that Trump direct CISA and the Department of Defense’s U.S. Cyber Command to support the security of health-care institutions, increase federal cybersecurity funding for these groups, and make clear to other nations that attacks on U.S. medical systems would be treated as “a significant threat to our country.”

“The Administration should use the tools at its disposal, including the threat of sanctions, to deter future attacks against research institutions,” Peters wrote. “In the event that any foreign government directly threatens the lives of Americans through attacks on medical facilities, other Department of Defense capabilities should be considered to make it clear that there will be consequences for these actions.”

Peters is among a number of lawmakers from both parties to raise questions around the cybersecurity of the health sector and of vaccine researchers.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthyKevin Owen McCarthyPeters criticizes Trump for not taking action after cyberattacks on hospitals, COVID-19 researchers McConnell, Pelosi hunt for funding deal as shutdown deadline looms The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by the UAE Embassy in Washington, DC – Trump, Biden clash over transition holdup, pandemic plans MORE (R-Calif.) introduced legislation earlier this year to sanction foreign hackers involved in attempts to target and steal COVID-19 research, while Senate Republicans included $53 million to help CISA protect vaccine research efforts against hackers in a proposed stimulus bill in July.

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— Nine matches are now official for WWE’s upcoming Super Show-Down event to be held in Melbourne, Australia on October 6th. The updated card is now as follows:

WWE Championship Match
AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe
WWE Championship #1 Contender’s Match
Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz
WWE Smackdown Tag Team Title Match
The New Day vs. The Bar
WWE Cruiserweight Title Match
Cedric Alexander vs. Buddy Murphy
The Shield vs. Braun Strowman, Drew McIntyre & Dolph Ziggler
The Undertaker vs. Triple H
John Cena & Bobby Lashley vs. Kevin Owens & Elias
Ronda Rousey & The Bella Twins vs. The Riott Squad
Asuka & Naomi vs. The IIconics