Monday, January 18 top news briefs

It is Monday, January 18. It is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which is a federal holiday to honor his birthday and his legacy of fighting against discrimination and for civil rights. Here are today’s top news briefs.

Today Kamala Harris officially resigned from the U.S. Senate as a part of her transition to become the Vice-President of the U.S. on Wednesday. She wrote a letter of resignation addressed to California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

[Resignation letter]

Harris wrote in an op-ed that this is “not goodbye because as she resigns from the Senate, she is preparing to take an oath that would have her preside over it.”

Harris will be a powerful person in D.C. because she is the tiebreaker for the Senate, which is split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats.

Rudy Giuliani told ABC News that he will not be a part of President Donald Trump’s impeachment defense team because he was a part of the January 6 Trump rally near the White House. This was a few hours before the U.S. Capitol building was stormed by a pro-Trump mob. Giuliani said he is a “witness and therefore unable to participate in court or in the Senate chamber.”

Here is a clip of what Giuliani said in that speech.

[Video clip: Rudy Giuliani: “But if we’re right, a lot of them will go to jail.” (Crowd Cheering) “So let’s have trial by combat.”]

“Trial by combat” is a reference to how some conflicts were resolved in the Middle Ages — by a battle to the death.

This concept was made popular by the “Game of Thrones” series, which had a scene with a trial by combat in which one party didn’t survive.

Giuliani told a reporter with “The Hill” that his speech did not incite a violent response from the crowd. He said he was trying to make a GOT reference and that his words are now being taken out of context.

ABC News reported that President Trump has not made a determination as to which lawyer or law firm will represent him.

Trump plans to have a farewell ceremony on Wednesday at 8 a.m. at Joint Base Andrews outside of D.C. He will use Air Force One to head down to his Mar-a-Lago resort in southern Florida while President-elect Joe Biden swears in at the U.S. Capitol. Trump is the first living president in over 100 years to choose to not attend the inauguration of his successor.

WPTV News in West Palm Beach flew a chopper above Mar-a-Lago and spotted several large moving trucks. It seems likely that Trump will make this his main home.

Axios reported that Trump plans to issue at least 100 pardons and commutations on his final day on Tuesday. CNN reported that Trump also wants to declassify information related to the Russia investigation.

[Sponsored Video from Sorenson: www.sorenson.com]

A news report said a man lived inside of the O’Hare Airport in Chicago for 3 months because he was afraid to fly during the coronavirus pandemic. CWB Chicago News identified the man as Aditya Singh. He posed as an airport worker and had a stolen airport ID. He said he survived on food given to him by passengers. He lived at the airport from October 19, 2020 to January 16, 2021. He was arrested on Saturday morning and charged with felony criminal trespass to a restricted area of an airport.

Hmm… I’m not sure which makes it more likely to get the coronavirus, to fly on a single plane ride home, or to stay at an airport full of travelers for three months.

The Los Angeles Times reported that there is a new strain of the coronavirus found in L.A. County. This would be different from the current one that is infecting millions in the U.S. and the new variant that has spread rapidly in the U.K., which is called B117. This third variant has caused experts to be concerned because it has three mutations in its spike protein, which could cause the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to be less effective since the vaccine targets the spike protein. It’s something to look out for in the future.

As for the second variant, the B117, on Saturday an Oregon man was found to be infected with it and is in isolation in Oregon after spending some time in Los Angeles County. A Massachusetts woman was found infected with the B117 virus. She had recent travel in the U.K. At least 15 U.S. states have reported a case with the B117 variant.

The B117 variant is 50% to 70% more contagious than the original Covid-19 virus, but it doesn’t seem to cause more severe illness or death.

The C.D.C. said they are concerned that the B117 variant will become the dominant strain in the U.S. by March.

There have been 24 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the U.S. during the pandemic with almost 400,000 deaths.

That’s all the top news briefs for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/18/politics/kamala-harris-resignation-san-francisco-chronicle/index.html

https://deadline.com/2021/01/rudy-giuliani-game-of-thrones-trial-by-combat-capitol-violence-1234673891/

https://news.yahoo.com/lets-trial-combat-over-election-164935300.html

https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-nw-trump-leaving-white-house-early-20210118-axqwpl73gjdjdmrmguj6vy6wjm-story.html

https://www.wptv.com/news/region-c-palm-beach-county/palm-beach/moving-trucks-arrive-at-president-donald-trumps-mar-a-lago-club-on-palm-beach

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/capitol-rioter-plotted-sell-stolen-pelosi-laptop-russian-intelligence-n1254583

https://www.axios.com/trump-100-pardons-commutations-before-leaving-3528b70e-98af-485c-83b9-6c80b4c2048e.html

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/17/politics/trump-pardons-expected/index.html

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-01-17/covid-19-coronavirus-vaccine-update-pandemic

https://cwbchicago.com/2021/01/california-man-lived-inside-ohare-airport-security-zone-for-3-months-because-he-was-afraid-to-fly-during-covid-prosecutors-say.html

https://www.foxnews.com/health/uk-coronavirus-variant-massachusetts-first-case-officials