News Information and Media Site: Does the vaccine strategy need an "audible?" ... and Kinzinger says the GOP has "lost its moral authority"

From NBC's Ben Kamisar

If it's Sunday, are we sitting in the eye of the storm?

It's a striking thing to consider — while daily coronavirus cases have declined and vaccinations are ramping up, daily deaths still are regularly eclipsing 3,600.

But with the holiday surge about behind us, Michael Osterholm, a top epidemiologist who advised President Joe Biden's transition on the coronavirus, delivered a dire warning on today's "Meet the Press.

He believes that thanks to these new and more contagious variants, things are going to get worse, yet again, before they get better.

"The surge that is likely to occur with this new variant from England is going to happen in the next six to 14 weeks. And if we see that happen, which my 45 years in the trenches tell us we will, we are going to see something that we have not seen yet in this country."

—Michael Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, on "Meet the Press."

It's for this reason that Osterholm issued a recommendation to the Biden administration on today's show: focus the nation's energy on giving as many people the first dose of the vaccine as possible ahead of the surge.

That's not to say a second dose isn't important. But Osterholm believes that prioritizing getting as many people a first dose of the vaccine right now will "reduce serious illness and death that is going to occur over the weeks ahead."

Click on the photo below to watch the full interview.

Kinzinger goes at it alone

Illinois GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger, one of the few Republicans who voted to impeach Trump and one of the few members of his party to criticize fringe lawmakers in his ranks, joined today's "Meet the Press" to offer his assessment of the Republican Party:

A party that started "waking up" to stand up to Trump before "falling asleep again."
A party that won't fully repudiate "an insurrection, a dead police officer and other dead Americans at the Capitol."
A party that "has lost its moral authority on a lot of areas."
A party where many believe conservative values means: "Build the wall and charge the Capitol and have an insurrection"

"It's hard to have seen an insurrection three weeks ago, to say that's no big deal and then to lecture Democrats on something. We've lost our moral authority and we need to regain it as a party."

—Illinois Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger on "Meet the Press."

So how does he think it can find footing again? Focusing less on what might win seats in the short-term and more on what values the party wants to espouse in the long-term.

Click on the photo below to watch the full interview with Kinzinger.

Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA

TWEETS OF THE DAY: Remember when...?

DATA DOWNLOAD: Covid's deep economic costs mount

Almost a year into the coronavirus pandemic, America's economy is sputtering along with some big indicators that the economic recovery will take quite some time.

The unemployment rate is down from the April high of 14.8 percent to December's 6.7 percent, a rate that is higher than we've seen since early 2014.

A significant percentage of Americans used withdrawals from their retirement accounts just to get by in 2020, labor force participation is down from the beginning of the pandemic, and unemployment rates are higher for minorities than for whites.

Click on the graphic below for a deeper dive into those trends.

ICYMI: Might need one of those

With former President Trump's impeachment trial about a week away, he does not appear to have a defined legal team.

Two South Carolina attorneys expected to join the president's defense team have parted ways with Trump, and a third isn't in the mix either.

Per NBC's Monica Alba: "Those close to the former president are unable to identify anyone on his legal team publicly with just over a week to go until the trial begins on Feb. 9."

Click on the photo below for more.