What to Know
- President Trump appeared to be grudgingly leaning toward accepting an agreement that would head off a threatened second government shutdown
- People, including some teenagers, are getting their first vaccinations amid a measles outbreak in 10 states, NBC News reported
- Cardi B has deactivated her Instagram account following social media criticism of her winning a Grammy for best rap album
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Trump Not 'Thrilled' With Border Deal, But Leaning Toward It
Under mounting pressure from his own party, President Trump appeared to be grudgingly leaning toward accepting an agreement that would head off a threatened second government shutdown but provide just a fraction of the money he's been demanding for his Mexican border wall. Trump said he would need more time to study the plan, but he also declared he was not expecting another shutdown this weekend when funding for parts of the government would run out. He strongly signaled he planned to scrounge up additional dollars for the wall by raiding other federal coffers to deliver on the signature promise of his presidential campaign. "I can't say I'm happy. I can't say I'm thrilled," Trump said of the proposed deal. "But the wall is getting built, regardless. It doesn't matter because we're doing other things beyond what we're talking about here." Trump sounded more conciliatory in a tweet, thanking "all Republicans for the work you have done in dealing with the Radical Left on Border Security." Accepting the deal, worked out by congressional negotiators from both parties, would be a disappointment for a president who has repeatedly insisted he needs $5.7 billion for a barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border, saying the project is paramount for national security.
No Escape? 'El Chapo' Likely Off to 'Prison of All Prisons'
In the world of corrections, there are inmates who pose security risks, and then there's "El Chapo." Drug lord Joaquin Guzman has an unparalleled record of jailbreaks, having escaped two high-security Mexican prisons before his ultimate capture and extradition to the United States. So with Guzman convicted of drug trafficking and staring at an expected life sentence, where will the U.S. imprison a larger-than-life kingpin with a Houdini-like tendency to slip away? Experts say Guzman seems the ideal candidate for the federal government's "Supermax" prison in Florence, Colorado, also known as ADX for "administrative maximum," a facility so secure, so remote and so austere that it has been called the "Alcatraz of the Rockies." "El Chapo fits the bill perfectly," said Cameron Lindsay, a retired warden who ran three federal lockups, including the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. "I'd be absolutely shocked if he's not sent to the ADX."
Amid Measles Outbreak, People Are Getting Long-Delayed Vaccines
Local
People, including some teenagers, are getting their first vaccinations amid a measles outbreak in 10 states, NBC News reported. Eighteen-year-old Mayci from Augusta, Georgia, said her mother raised her to believe "vaccines are bad, this is something we don't do," but changed her mind after going on Reddit for advice when she heard about the outbreak. Georgia is one of 17 states that allows students to attend school with non-medical exemptions from vaccinations. Experts believe measles outbreaks are linked to the anti-vaccine movement, but the recent one has spurred people to get vaccinated. This January, health officials in Washington state saw a more than 400 percent increase in measles immunizations compared to last year.
Cardi B Deactivates Instagram Account After Grammy Criticism
Cardi B has deactivated her Instagram account following social media criticism of her winning a Grammy for best rap album. Some people said the 26-year-old rapper didn't deserve the Grammy over other nominees. The criticism was amplified by a now-deleted BET tweet that pitted Cardi B against her longtime rival Nicki Minaj. Cardi B shared an expletive-laden video prior to deleting her account saying it's not her style "for people to put other people down to uplift somebody else." She then pointed out how people said she was snubbed when she didn't win for her debut single "Bodak Yellow" last year despite two nominations. The rapper said she worked hard and throughout her pregnancy on her first album "Invasion of Privacy." Her Grammy win made her the first solo female artist to win the award for best rap album.
Rapper 21 Savage Released From Immigration Custody, Lawyers Say
Grammy-nominated rapper 21 Savage was released on bond after spending more than a week in federal immigration custody, his lawyers said. The rapper, whose given name is She'yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was arrested during a targeted immigration operation early on Feb. 3. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said at the time the British citizen had overstayed his visa and had a felony conviction. In a statement, lawyers Charles Kuck, Dina LaPolt and Alex Spiro said they've been speaking with ICE since his arrest to "clarify his actual legal standing, his eligibility for bond, and provide evidence of his extraordinary contributions to his community and society." They said they received notification in the previous 24 hours, "in the wake of the Grammy Awards at which he was scheduled to attend and perform," that he was granted an expedited hearing.
