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TODAY'S HEADLINES:

Donald Trump’s legal taskforce is crumbling in front of our eyes. After last weeks’ ridiculous court proceedings ended in scandal, his top man Rudy Giuliani came down with the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell appear to be a bit closer on another stimulus bill that could get through by the end of the year, but it certainly looks like crumbs compared to what the American people actually need.

And lastly, public transit systems could be another brutal casualty of the coronavirus, as services in major cities across the U.S. are facing massive cuts.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Well, here we are. Rudy Giuliani has coronavirus, which we know because Trump himself announced it on Twitter. You couldn’t have written the sequence of events better if you tried.

On Wednesday, a mask-free Giuliani showed up in court for an absolutely deranged hearing in Michigan. At one point in the proceedings, he audibly farted on camera.

His star witness in the bizarre conspiracy he was pushing also turned out to be in the middle of a criminal sex scandal involving her sending graphic videos to her boyfriend’s ex-wife.

Then, later in the week, Giuliani traveled to Atlanta to testify before a Georgia State Senate Subcomittee, where he was seen hugging, handshaking, and back-slapping supporters all over the place. CNN reported he could have exposed hundreds to the virus.

Giuliani is now at Georgetown University Medical Center in D.C., according to the New York Times. It’s not clear if he’s symptomatic or not, though his presence in the hospital could suggest he’s not doing so hot.

Meanwhile, the Times also reports that Georgia Republicans are worried that Giuliani and Trump’s insane legal fights could actually hurt their chances in the run-off elections on January 5.

Trump has been blasting Georgia state officials, most of whom are Republicans, over the fact that he lost the state in the general election, which the GOP fears will depress his supporters

that they need to win the runoffs. Voter suppression in Georgia usually doesn’t swing that way, so it must be really hard for the GOP there. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of people.

Congress Nearing Compromise on Bill Nobody's Seen

Democratic and Republican leaders are reportedly getting closer to a new COVID relief bill, which could get passed before the end of the year. Nancy Pelosi says that she’s redoubled efforts to find a compromise with Mitch McConnell that could get worked into a year-end spending package, but the obvious worry is that any such bill will be woefully insufficient to actually bail out the people who need it.

Right now, it’s pretty unclear what any bill would actually look like, as nobody’s written it yet, only that the general number is around $908 billion.

NBC reported that the bipartisan group is unlikely to meet their self-imposed deadline to release the text of the bill today, instead shooting to have a more thorough outline and the full text tomorrow. So we’ll know a bit more as the day goes on.

But the compromise isn’t looking all that positive. The effort is reportedly being spearheaded by Joe Manchin, a Democrat who is basically a Republican, alongside Mitt Romney and Susan Collins. That’s not exactly the dream team when it comes to providing economic relief to struggling Americans.

The big things to look out for are whether or not the bill includes another immediate round of $1200 stimulus checks. Bernie Sanders has said he won’t vote for any bill that doesn’t have them, and it’s unlikely he’ll be the only one who tries to push for something better. We should have more for you on this tomorrow once we know more.

Public Transit on the Chopping Block

One of the under-the-radar stories of this whole pandemic could be the effects it has on public transit. Because general ridership of cities’ buses and trains is way down right now, we maybe aren’t feeling what a gutted system would look like, but new reports show that the systems that move people around their cities are on the chopping block all over.

The Times reports that 19 metro stations are closing in Washington DC, as is weekend and late-night service. 70 of Atlanta’s 110 bus routes are already suspended, and there are fears that will become permanent. And New York City isn’t spared either subway service could get slashed by 40 percent, while commuter rail service gets cut in half, if some transit officials have their way.

Put together, these cuts and others in cities like San Francisco, LA, and all over the country could decimate the infrastructure that allows people to get to work, which would be a brutal blow to the economies of all these places.

The lifeline here is a plan to get $15 billion for public transit agencies in the spending package Congress is going over. That’s about half of the $32 billion transit leaders think they’ll need, and Joe Biden supports getting it to them. But right now it’s still in the hands of Congress.

And even if aid comes, some authorities say they’ll still need to slash service. So even if most other things get back to normal sometime next year, our cities may never run quite the same.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

Joe Biden nominated California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to be his next head of the Department of Health and Human Services. Becerra is one of Biden’s most promising appointees thus far, as he’s previously backed Medicare for All and urged the Obama administration to crack down on pharmaceutical companies, but we’ll see if those ideals stay strong once he’s in the middle of the centrist, big pharma-friendly Biden administration.

Investigators at ICE issued a shocking demand to BuzzFeed News this week, issuing a subpoena to force the media outlet to reveal its sources in for several key stories critical of the Trump administration. The outlet’s leadership is vehemently pushing back, of course, but it’s still a pretty troubling precedent.

On Friday, President Trump ordered all U.S. ground troops out of Somalia, a major step of U.S. force drawdowns that he had promised for weeks. The question now becomes, how long will it take for Erik Prince’s newest mercenary company to fill in behind them?

And finally, the strange, pitiful protests over election results are getting slightly more scary. On Saturday night, dozens of armed individuals showed up outside Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s home to shout “Stop the Steal” and other pro-Trump conspiracy slogans at her.

DEC 7, 2020 - AM QUICKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Jack Crosbie

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn