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THE BIG STORY

Mike and Karen Pence will get the COVID vaccine before cameras on Friday

Officials said Vice President Mike Pence is set to get the COVID-19 vaccine at the White House on Friday, making him the highest-ranking person in government to receive a dosage.

The vice president and Second Lady Karen Pence will get the vaccine in front of the media, as part of a plan "to promote the safety and efficacy of the vaccine and build confidence among the American people," according to his office.

The White House didn't say when President Donald Trump, who was infected with COVID-19 in October, would take the vaccine.

Multiple news outlets, including CNN, Reuters, and the Associated Press, reported that President-elect Joe Biden was also set to receive the first of two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine early next week.

Biden has said that when he takes the vaccine, he would also do so publicly.

Kevin Lamarque-Pool / Getty Images

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

Secret emails show the moment a top ICE lawyer tried — and failed — to get deported children flown back to the US

On Nov. 18, a plane landed in Guatemala City with 32 children, all expelled from the US back to their home country. They were sent to Guatemala because of a controversial Trump administration policy to deport children who cross over the US border without a parent.

But as the plane touched down, a lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorney sent an email with an urgent plea: Don't let them get off the plane. Fly them back.

That's because as the plane touched down, ICE was given a fresh federal court order no longer allowing such deportations, according to a source who described the contents of the email to BuzzFeed News.

The children weren't flown back. They were handed off to officials in Guatemala.

SNAPSHOTS

Most healthcare workers are excited to get the COVID-19 vaccine, but some have questions. Convincing medical staffers to get vaccinated will be a crucial first step in convincing everyone else. Though healthcare workers are at the front of line, not all of them are happy to be there.

TikTok is banning MLMs and other "content that aims to deceive people for financial gain." The company said it hopes to protect users who are vulnerable to financial abuse with the update to its community guidelines.

People on TikTok are challenging this teenager to guess their height, and he's pretty impressive. Kenyon Lee is going viral for showing off his brilliant talent. It's a rare talent, to be sure: Lee is able to guess a person's height with just a few markers and his impressive handle on math.

This photographer captured what it's like for activists to literally live in tree tops to block logging companies. Photographer Cristian Caceres Granda spent over a year documenting the long-running standoff between activists living in the trees and the multimillion-dollar company that wants to chop them down.

Cristian Caceres Granda

PARLER GAMES

Fake GOP leaders are selling CBD oil on Parler

Roughly 50 Parler accounts masqueraded as prominent Republicans, including Vice President Mike Pence, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Donald Trump Jr., and former Trump attorney Sidney Powell to shill sketchy products to Parler's pro-Trump user base.

In addition to masquerading as popular right-wing figures, there were fake accounts of conservative news sources and average Trump fans.

Parler has grown a lot in a short period of time. But as Craig Silverman reports, the ability of these fake accounts to quickly attract followers and hundreds of thousands of views shows how Parler's current growth spurt and freewheeling, anti-censorship ethos has created opportunities for manipulation and financial schemes.

A TIME FOR JOY

A school superintendent sent out a snow day announcement that's making everyone emotional

With remote learning now an established practice in many school districts across the country, snow days may become more rare as Zoom school is always an option.

But one superintendent in West Virginia decided to give students the day off anyway, saying there are good reasons to call a snow day besides the roads being too icy.

"For generations, families have greeted the first snow day of the year with joy," Jefferson County Schools Superintendent Bondy Shay Gibson wrote in a letter.

"It is a time of renewed wonder at all the beautiful things that each season holds. A reminder of how fleeting a childhood can be. An opportunity to make some memories with your family that you hold on to for life."

Gibson's letter made a lot of people incredibly happy.

Pause to recognize how resourceful and creative you've had to be this year,

Elamin

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