Welcome! I am off radio today but still want to make sure you have all of the headlines.
NEW: Transportation Secretary Buttigieg is traveling to East Palestine exactly 20 days after the train derailment.
LOL: CNN This Morning’ ratings rose 5 percent during Don Lemon’s absence
DATA: The bird flu has killed 48 million chickens. - WSJ (paywall)
HEADLINE: Possible targets in Fulton County investigation of Trump, allies may try to quash charges - CBS
Clip of the day:
Tweet of the day:
Buttigieg and East Palestine
Pete Buttigieg is heading to East Palestine almost three weeks after a train derailed causing toxic chemicals to be released. Relatedly, Politico just published a story that raises the question all of us are wondering. Is Pete Buttigieg in over his head? Go read this:
Publicly and privately, signs are growing that the Transportation secretary’s usual Eagle Scout patience is giving way to frustration.
He has gotten into Twitter spats with U.S. senators. His curt brush-off of a Daily Caller reporter who ambushed him during a walk turned into a viral video that has drawn more than 3 million views since Tuesday night. And on Wednesday, Buttigieg’s allies were complaining that he’s taking an unfair pounding over the disaster — all because of his perceived ambitions as a one-time and future presidential hopeful.
Even MSNBC criticized him:
Russia and China
After a top diplomat from China visited Moscow yesterday, Putin claimed that “Russia and China are reaching new levels of cooperation” as they move to “stabilize the international situation.” Scary words from two world superpowers. Here’s the bit that matters from Politico:
Wang told Putin that the relationship between China and Russia would “not succumb to pressure from third parties,” and pledged to deepen strategic cooperation with Moscow.
To make matters worse, China is allegedly weighing the option of providing Russia with military weapons (paywall) after refusing to do so for the first year of the way. The move would set the Russian invasion of Ukraine as the ultimate proxy battle between the United States and China.
Response: The United States announced a few hours ago that 200 more U.S. troops will be stationed in Taiwan.
The Bipartisan Divide
A new poll from Axios succinctly explains the bipartisan divide: Republicans say