President Joe Biden has painted a bleak picture of the nation’s coronavirus outbreak in his first few days in office, warning that it will take months to turn around the pandemic’s trajectory. CNBC’s senior health and science reporter Meg Tirrell reports the U.S. lags in identifying Covid-19 variants due to its decentralized system to push genetic sequencing. She also discusses The NYT’s report that says Pfizer will ship fewer vaccine vials. Ben White, chief economic correspondent at Politico, says President Biden wants to work senators on both sides to quickly pass his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. Michael McFaul, former ambassador to Russia, discusses the Biden administration’s desire to extend the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty for another five years. Plus, New Jersey collected over $303 million in gambling tax dollars last year due to increased online play. In Pennsylvania, it raised over $1 billion.
