THE BIG STORY

The Senate passed Biden’s massive COVID aid package, but only after watering down checks and unemployment benefits

It was a particularly narrow margin in the end. President Joe Biden’s ambitious $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill passed in the Senate by a vote of 50-49 — and only passed after aid programs like checks for most Americans were pared down.

All 50 Democratic senators voted for it, and 49 Republicans voted against it (Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan was not present because he was attending a funeral).

Such a thin margin meant that moderate Democrats — particularly, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia — were able to get significant concessions. For instance, the original plan of sending out checks of up to $2,000 to most Americans was reduced to $1,400. The income cap was also lowered — people making under $75,000 will receive the full amount, but anyone making over $80,000 will get nothing at all.

Manchin threatened to support a Republican amendment to severely curtail unemployment benefits. Democrats agreed to water down their bill to keep Manchin from voting for even sharper cuts.

Senate Democrats argued that even with the compromises, the bill was still a historically large rescue package. It also includes:

👉 An expansion of the child tax credit to $3,600 per year per child under the age of 6, and $3,000 per child over 6.

👉 $130 billion for schools, including funding for protective equipment and ventilation in schools.

👉 $40 billion for public colleges, half of which must be passed on to students through financial aid.

Sen. Joe Manchin. Getty Images

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STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

Meghan Markle said she considered suicide while pregnant and that she “just didn’t want to be alive anymore”

In a highly-anticipated interview with Oprah, Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, said the constant attacks on her from the British media while pregnant left her feeling suicidal — and the Royal family told her that seeking mental health help would be bad for the monarchy.

Meghan said that when she asked a senior royal about seeking care, she was told that she could not do that, as it would be bad “for the institution.”

The duchess also revealed that there were “concerns and conversations” with the Royal family about her son’s skin color. Meghan declined to name the family member who raised the “concerns” about “how dark” her son’s skin color would be, saying that it would be “very damaging” for her in-laws.

According to Meghan, Kate Middleton made her cry during wedding planning — a significant revelation that counteracts a frenzy of coverage in the British tabloids that blamed Meghan for the episode.

Meanwhile, Prince Harry revealed he and Meghan have been cut off from the Royal family, and are relying on his inheritance from Princess Diana. “I've got what my mum left me and without that, we would not have been able to do this. I think she saw it coming,” he told Oprah.

Getty Images

SNAPSHOTS

Hundreds protested on the eve of Derek Chauvin’s trial for the killing of George Floyd. Jury selection for Derek Chauvin, who is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter, is expected to start Monday. Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Minneapolis calling for justice and police reform.

Police in Rochester tackled and pepper-sprayed a Black woman with her 3-year-old because they suspected her of shoplifting. Bodycam footage shows the child screaming in distress and police holding the child back. The incident occurred less than a month after Rochester police officers pepper-sprayed a 9-year-old girl and told her that she “did it to [her]self.”

“When the bus took off, we all cheered”: asylum-seekers that Trump forced to wait in Mexico are now arriving in the US. President Biden promised to end a policy unofficially known as the “Remain in Mexico” policy.” Now, hundreds of asylum-seekers who spent months holding onto a sliver of hope while being forced to wait in Mexico are entering the US.

California will allow stadiums and theme parks like Disneyland to reopen in April. The state says theme parks, stadiums, and live performances will be eligible to resume operations at reduced capacity related to what the COVID transmission rates are in their home counties.

SEEKING TREATMENT

We have vaccines for COVID-19. Why don’t we have good treatments?

Right now, more than 40,000 Americans are still hospitalized nationwide with COVID-19 — and only a handful of mediocre therapies can help treat them.

With the new variants threatening to thwart vaccines, finding drugs to fight COVID-19 is all the more urgent. But the efforts to treat the disease are languishing. While Operation Warp Speed devoted nearly $18.75 billion to develop vaccines, it only set aside $6.34 billion for drugs.

Instead, scientists tried to repurpose older drugs, including antivirals for other diseases, to see if they worked against COVID-19. Dr. Anthony Fauci told us, “Everyone was looking for a quick fix.” Some of those have had promising degrees of success.

But is it time to move past repurposing older drugs, and move full-speed ahead into developing new ones? Dan Vergano examines the issue.

SO WHAT IS THE TRUTH?

Influencers’ mirror pictures might not be mirror pictures at all

A viral TikTok has flung everything I know about influencers into doubt, and I am in chaos.

A TikTok user posted explaining that most mirror pictures have small imperfections and blemishes. The light glares in strange ways, there are smudges, and there’s dust.

But when some influencers hold up their phones in an image that appears to have been taken in a mirror, there’s often no glare, smudges, or dust.

Which brings us to the question at the heart of the chaos: Do influencers happen to have extraordinarily clean and perfectly placed mirrors? Or...is there another camera at work, while they hold up their own phones, only giving the appearance of a mirror picture without an actual mirror?

Mirror? or second camera? @ellaemhoff / Instagram /

Step back and consider how you've surprised yourself with your strength,

Elamin