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Dr. Howard Zucker denied that a March 25 directive to re-admit residents upon discharge from hospitals contributed to more COVID deaths at nursing homes.

DAVID NOVARRO: I'm David Novarro, Channel 7 Eyewitness News, with a look at this afternoon's coronavirus headlines. And there's growing concern this afternoon about new variants that have been discovered in New York City. But local health officials say there's still a lot that we do not know.

- When you read this news, you need to be a little skeptical of everything you read. Not all variants are of public health concern. Some variants are just that, they're variants. They're just a little bit different. Some variants are variants of interest. They have changes in their structure that might change the virus's properties. And some variants are variants of what we call public health concern. They have these mutations, and we have enough data to show that they change whether the virus is more infectious, whether it's more lethal, whether it can change immunity, something else.

So right now, at least for the report that we hear, we have from Columbia, we need to just consider this a variant of interest, something that's interesting that we need to follow and track.

BILL DE BLASIO: Until there's evidence that tells us that a variant is not handled well by vaccine, for example, or a variant has different impacts, we shouldn't assume the worst. We should say we need the full truth. We need the facts.

DAVID NOVARRO: Meanwhile, New York City middle school students returned to the classroom for the first time since November. Eyewitness News reporter Lauren Glassberg has the details.

STEVEN BUCCELLATO: The echoing sentiment throughout the building was that they were so happy to get our students back in front of us, to be able to teach them, to see them in person. And that's not possible without a special thank you to our custodial staff, who's been doing all the great work in our administration, who's been on top of everything, making sure that the building is ready for us to come back.

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NINA KULKARNI: I am both a New York City math teacher and a parent of three New York City public school students, one of whom attends McKinley. Today marks an important step towards reclaiming our lives.

LAUREN GLASSBERG: Two teachers from the William McKinley Intermediate School in Bay Ridge speaking about their excitement at being back at school today. The mayor welcomed students at the Leaders of Tomorrow Middle School in the Williamsbridge section of the Bronx, beaming that so many kids are in school during this pandemic.

BILL DE BLASIO: 1,203 schools are open today. Open and serving our kids and moving this city forward. 1,203 schools open right this moment.

LAUREN GLASSBERG: The mayor has said high schools aren't far behind in reopening, but the president of the teachers' union says he doesn't see that happening until more testing is available.

MICHAEL MULGREW: For the middle schools, we added an additional 55 testing teams. We have not seen the city-- or they have shown us any that they have the capacity to do the high schools yet.

DAVID NOVARRO: And that was Lauren Glassberg reporting. Also today, Reverend Al Sharpton and other members of the Black clergy from across the New York area received their first coronavirus vaccines at Harlem Hospital. It's part of a push by faith leaders in the Black community to raise confidence in the vaccine. Research has shown a racial disparity in who is getting the shots. To encourage more minorities to get vaccinated, clergy are rolling up their sleeves to lead by example.

AL SHARPTON: Let's quit playing with this, and let's deal with it. If we're going to be leaders, let's lead. Our people are dying disproportionately. We cannot afford not to do everything in our power to make sure that we set the example to keep our people alive.

DAVID NOVARRO: Reverend Sharpton says that he is feeling well, and has not experienced any after-effects from the vaccine. We invite you to stay with ABC 7 NY for the latest developments in the pandemic and the race to vaccinate people across the tri-state area. I'm David Novarro. Have a great afternoon.

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Nursing home directive didn't lead to deaths, health chief testifies - Yahoo News

Spotify/Renegades: Born in the USA

Barack Obama revealed when he was a kid, he once responded to racism with violence ... by popping his own friend in the nose.

The former President was speaking with Bruce Springsteen on their new Spotify podcast, "Renegades: Born in the USA," and amid a wide-ranging conversation about their lives, politics, music and race ... Obama recalled the incident with a classmate.

He says the kid was a friend he played basketball with, and one time they got into a fight and his friend called him a racial slur ... different from the n-word.

Obama says he doesn't even think his schoolmate knew what the word meant -- just that it was meant to be hurtful -- so he "popped him in the face and broke his nose" while they were in the locker room.

Obama says his friend asked him why he did that, and he told him ... "Don't ever call me something like that."

According to Spotify ... Barack and Bruce have been friends since they met on the campaign trail in 2008. The Prez awarded the famous singer the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.

Their podcast series is a 6-parter ... with the third episode coming soon.

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Barack Obama Broke Schoolmate's Nose for Calling Him ...

The president and the rock star met on the 2008 campaign trail, and over the years they have cultivated a warm friendship. In January 2017, as Obama was preparing to leave office, Springsteen gave an intimate, career-spanning performance at the White House, which he then developed into his solo show on Broadway. In Renegades, Obama, 59, and Springsteen, 71, laugh heartily as they recount some of the meals, chats and impromptu singalongs they have shared.

Dan Fierman, the head of Higher Ground Audio, said that Michelle Obamas experience making her show last year spurred the former president to create his own podcast, and he selected Springsteen as his interlocutor. Their first recording session took place on July 30, just hours after Obama delivered the eulogy for John Lewis, the civil rights hero and congressman from Georgia.

Their conversation mingles the personal and the mythic. Obama discusses growing up in Hawaii with the confusion and discomfort of being of mixed race I wasnt easily identifiable; I felt like an outsider, he says and they each share lessons of masculinity they drew from the failings of their own fathers.

They are a mutual admiration society. Springsteen, who now and then picks up a guitar, tells the story of his 1984 song My Hometown, with its echoes of racial conflict in the 1960s. He marvels at the universality and patriotism that comes through when concert crowds roar out its line, This is your hometown.

I always get a sense that they know the town theyre talking about isnt Freehold, Springsteen says, referring to where he grew up in New Jersey. Its not Washington. Its not Seattle. Its the whole thing its all of America. Brief pause. Its a good song.

Its a great song, Obama quickly adds.

The show reflects a big-tent centrism that has long been part of both mens approach. Springsteen released a Jeep ad during the latest Super Bowl his first commercial ever that called for Americans to meet in the middle.

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Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen: The Latest Podcast Duo ...

O-T Fagbenle is set to play President Barack Obama opposite Viola Davis Michelle Obama in Showtimes anthology series The First Lady, headlined by Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Gillian Anderson. Davis executive produces, the series,directed and executive produced by Susanne Bier and produced by Lionsgate TV and Showtime.

TheFirst Lady, created by Aaron Cooley, is a revelatory reframing of American leadership, told through the lens of the women at the heart of the White House. Season 1 focuses on Eleanor Roosevelt (Anderson), Betty Ford (Pfeiffer) and Michelle Obama.

Barack Hussein Obama II served as the first African American and 44th president of the United States from 2009-17. A member of the Democratic Party, Barack married Michelle Robinson Obama in 1992 before he became an Illinois state senator in 2005. Barack and Michelle are the parents of Malia and Sasha Obama.

Fagbenle, who will be recurring, joins fellow co-stars Aaron Eckhart, Rhys Wakefield, Judy Greer, Jayme Lawson and Kristine Froseth.

2020-21 Showtime Pilots & Series Orders

Cooley and Bier executive produce the series along with Davis, Julius Tennon and Andrew Wang via JuVee Productions, Cathy Schulman via her Welle Entertainment, Jeff Gaspin via Gaspin Media, Brad Kaplan via Link Entertainment.

Fagbenle is known for his work in Hulus The Handmaids Tale. He next can be seen co-starring opposite Scarlett Johansson in Marvels Black Widow, which is slated for release in May. In April 2020, Fagbenle became the first person to create, write, direct, compose, executive produce and star in the pilot of a television series broadcast on a major network with his original TV show Maxxx (Channel 4, Hulu). The multi-hyphenate currently has drama, comedy and non-scripted content in development. He is repped by Buchwald and Curtis Brown Group in London as well as attorney Barry Littman at Hansen Jacobson Teller.

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The First Lady: O-T Fagbenle To Play Barack Obama In Showtime Anthology Series - Deadline

We won. After four long, traumatic, scary years, Donald Trump is out of the White House. Democrats are in charge of the U.S. House and the Senate too. This victory was hard fought, and it was delivered by a multiracial, multigenerational coalition. Young people, in particular, took a stand across the country, including making calls, registering voters, and turning out in record numbers. We all deserve a moment to celebrate.

The next step, of course, is to turn this hard-won power into real, lasting change. We cant let this opportunity go to waste. For those of us who were around during the last Democratic trifecta, some painful lessons have been learned.

In 2009, as in 2021, the country was in crisis. Wall Streets abuses had set off the Great Recession. Millions of Americans were losing their jobs, homes, and life savings. The damage was greatest for communities of color, according to a 2011 report from the Center for American Progress. The Democratic trifecta led at the time by President Obama was swept into office with a mandate to lead in a very different direction. At that moment, it seemed like tremendous changes were possible in the economy, health care, immigration, and the climate.

I went to Washington after graduating from college in 2008. I worked for Congressman Tom Perriello of VA-05, a freshman Democrat who had defeated a virulently anti-immigrant incumbent in a very red district. I was determined to do my part in bringing about change.

But the window of opportunity closed fast. Democrats passed an underwhelming economic recovery stimulus that wasnt remotely enough to pull us out of the crisis. They spent nearly a year haggling over the Affordable Care Act; the final product, passed in March 2010, was weakened by what appeared to be increasingly desperate compromises. Priorities like climate legislation and immigration reform died in Congress. Democrats were wiped out in the 2010 midterms, losing the House (including VA-05), and with it Obama's chance to pass his full legislative agenda. His final six years would be consumed by gridlock.

Democrats began Obamas administration with control of the House and Senate, and the White House. There should have been nothing standing in our way. How did they let that gridlock happen? How did we let that happen?

Our generation spent that time as the youngest cohort of staffers and organizers in the room but not always at the table and we had a unique front-row seat to this period of history. Weve had a long time to think about what wed want people to know when we next had that opportunity.

Here are the lessons we took away:

Former senate majority leader Mitch McConnells goal was to deny Obama any wins, and then blame Democrats for inaction. He ran that playbook perfectly. For two years Republicans held out the prospect that maybe, just maybe, they would be open to bipartisan legislation if it was smaller, if it was phased in years later, if Democrats took out all the popular stuff. Meanwhile, within months of Obama taking office, the Tea Party was protesting at our offices and swarming town halls. They successfully antagonized and undermined Democrats, further weakening their resolve.

Democrats have a narrow window to pass major legislation. The 2022 election season starts in earnest by the end of this year, and worried Democrats will be calling to weaken the partys agenda. This wont guarantee that Democrats keep their majority, but it will guarantee that we fail to adequately address the devastation people are facing. And that will have electoral consequences. We need to act fast and deliver meaningful legislation that actually makes a difference in peoples lives right now, including the COVID-19 relief package and voting rights legislation.

In 2009, Democrats did not prioritize the kind of structural reforms needed to unrig the rules, and we suffered terribly for it after 2010, when a wave of new Republican legislatures gerrymandered districts. Now a new wave of voter suppression and gerrymandering is on its way in the states. Republicans are attacking our democracy, and if we dont go big to protect it, right now, we wont get another shot. Thats why we need to pass the H.R. 1 For the People Act, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, and make DC a state and we need to do it ASAP.

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Lessons From the Obama Years, From a Cofounder of Indivisible - Teen Vogue