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:
- Gaetz-gate heats up. Rep. Matt Gaetz's associate Joel Greenberg plans to plead guilty to six felony counts, including sex trafficking, wire fraud, and identity theft, Insider has learned - and that could be a sign of trouble for Gaetz. "What Gaetz would be concerned about is if there's a cooperation agreement in this matter that involves the defendant flipping on him," Sherine Ebadi, a former FBI agent, told Insider. "That gets scary for coconspirators because they know someone who's either aware of their crimes or someone they coconspired with is now working with the government."
- 2 Democratic opponents accused New York mayoral candidate and math fan Andrew Yang of cheating on a New York Times pop quiz about housing costs and homelessness. The Democratic candidates Shaun Donovan and Scott Stringer both say it's hard to believe Yang could hit the answers so squarely on the nose without help. Donovan was roundly ridiculed earlier this week after he guessed on the same quiz that the median price of a home in Brooklyn was $100,000. (It's actually $900,000, buddy.)
- Anthony Fauci says rich countries have a 'moral responsibility' to help other nations tackle COVID. "In the ongoing crisis, the rich countries have a moral responsibility to assist those countries that don't have the capability of doing that, particularly the low and middle-income countries," the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and President Joe Biden's chief medical advisor said.
- Cheney out, Stefanik in (probably): Liz Cheney's likely replacement, Elise Stefanik, isn't nearly as conservative, but she's been put forth to replace the Wyoming representative as House conference chair because she tells "MAGA tales about the election with gusto," one expert said. Despite Cheney voting along Trump lines 93% of the time, the former House conference chair's outspoken stance against election lies has put her in the doghouse with Trumpists.
- Nancy just says 'no' to going maskless. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she's keeping a mask mandate on the House floor despite revised CDC guidance and pushback from Republicans. Biden relaxed mask rules at the White House, but Pelosi said she's keeping a mandate in the House.
That's all for now. See you Monday.