Good morning and welcome to your weekday morning roundup of the top stories you need to know.
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What's going on today:
- A blow for Mo. DOJ and House lawyers will not represent Rep. Mo Brooks in a Capitol riots lawsuit filed by Rep. Eric Swalwell. Swalwell said in his filing that Brooks helped "incite the violence at the Capitol" when he told rioters to "start taking down names and kicking ass."
- LA's battle against COVID continues. Mayor Garcetti announced that Los Angeles will require city employees to show proof of vaccination or test weekly. The announcement comes as COVID-19 cases have soared 20-fold in the city in the last month.
- Welcome to the petty party. Adam Kinzinger calls GOP demands for him to be punished are 'petty' and says he'll 'defend democracy' no matter what. Republican Reps. Kinzinger and Liz Cheney joined seven Democrats on the House select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
- No joke! Jordan Chiles thought the Team USA coach was joking when she was asked to replace Simone Biles in the team all-around. The 20-year-old American star stepped up for Team USA and replaced Simone Biles on the uneven bars and balance beam at the team all-around final.
- Ledecky strikes gold. Katie Ledecky won gold in the first women's 1500-meter at the Olympics but was more excited for her teammate who fought back for silver. Katie Ledecky was happy to take gold, but she might have been even more excited when she realized that her teammate Erica Sullivan had snagged silver.
- Well, this is ridiculously cute. Engaged softball players competed for Olympic medals on the same day, and gave each other pep talks before their games. Amanda Chidester of Team USA, and Anissa Urtez of Team Mexico, each competed in separate medal games of the Olympic softball tournament on Tuesday.
- That's all for now. See you tomorrow.