Monday morning news - April 19, 2021

After outcry, Biden plans to lift refugee cap in May » President Biden plans to lift the cap on refugees allowed into the United States by next month, erasing President Trump’s historically low limit.

But that came after Biden initially seemed to leave his predecessor’s cap in place, upsetting many, even in the president’s own party.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday that many misunderstood the process.

SULLIVAN: The president wanted to go at this in two steps. The first step was to change the allocation so that people in Africa could literally get on planes this week, and the second would be to raise the cap as we were fixing the system and its processing. He took the first step this past week. He will take the second step in the weeks ahead.

The president signed an emergency declaration on Friday. It stated that President Trump’s cap of 15,000 refugees “remains justified by humanitarian concerns and is otherwise in the national interest.”

But it went on to say that if the cap is reached before the end of the current budget year, then the president may move to raise the ceiling.

That set off a flood of criticism from top allies.

But White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki later said the president is talking with advisers to determine how many refugees could realistically be admitted by Oct. 1st—the end of the fiscal year. But she said it’s “unlikely” Biden will be able to boost that number to nearly 63,000 as he proposed in his plan to Congress two months ago.

U.S. likely to resume Johnson & Johnson vaccine use this week » The United States will likely resume use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine no later than Friday. That according to the president’s chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci. But he said the CDC may place new restrictions on the J&J vaccine.

FAUCI: Not sure what that will be, whether that will be age or sex, or whether they’ll just come back with a warning of some sort. I don’t want to get ahead of them, but I believe we’ll be back with some sort of indication a little bit different than we were before the pause.

The CDC paused use of the vaccine after rare cases of blood clots were tied to the shots.

The reports are rare—six cases out of more than 7 million U.S. inoculations with the J&J vaccine. The clots were found in six women between the ages of 18 and 48. One person died.

Authorities stressed they have found no sign of clot problems with the most widely used U.S. vaccines— from Moderna and Pfizer.

U.S. hits vaccine milestone amid virus resurgence » Meantime, the United States hit a major vaccine milestone over the weekend. Half of all adults, roughly 130 million, have now received at least one vaccine shot.

Biden administration, Chinese government announce climate change cooperation » The Biden administration and the Chinese government have agreed to cooperate to curb climate change.

U.S. special envoy for climate John Kerry made the announcement in a joint statement with his Chinese counterpart on Sunday.

China is the world’s biggest carbon emitter, followed by the United States. Kerry said he’s urging China to curb its use of coal.

KERRY: We’ve had too much coals. Other countries have had too much coal, but China is the biggest coal user in the world.

President Biden has invited 40 world leaders, including Chinese leader Xi Jinping, to a two-day summit on climate change beginning Thursday. The United States and other countries are expected to announce more ambitious targets for cutting carbon emissions later this week.

Police: FedEx shooter legally bought guns used in attack » Police say the former FedEx employee who shot and killed eight people last week at a facility in Indianapolis legally purchased the guns he used in the attack. That despite red flag laws designed to prevent that.

The suspect, 19-year-old Brandon Scott Hole legally bought the two assault-style rifles in July and September of last year.

SOUND: VIGIL

Many gathered for a vigil over the weekend to honor the eight victims killed in the attack.

FedEx ground representative Ryan Henry told mourners,

HENRY: It’s hard to find the right words for moments like this. I’ve found that best we can do is give each other strength and support, and that’s what we’ll do in the days and the weeks ahead.

FBI special agent Paul Keenan said agents questioned Hole last year after his mother called police to say that her son might commit “suicide by cop.”

Officers reportedly seized a pump-action shotgun from Hole’s home after responding to the mother’s call. Keenan said the gun was never returned.

Indiana has a “red flag law” allowing police or courts to seize guns from people who show warning signs of violence.

The law is intended to prevent people from buying or possessing a firearm if they are found by a judge to present “an imminent risk” to themselves or others.

Authorities have two weeks after seizing someone’s weapon to argue in court that the person should not possess a gun. Officials have not said whether Hole’s case was brought before a judge.

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