Good morning. It's Wednesday, April 28, and we're covering a presidential address, updated mask guidance, and much more. Have feedback? Let us know at [email protected].

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NEED TO KNOW

Biden Addresses Congress

President Joe Biden makes his first joint address to Congress tonight, a speech expected to focus largely on policy priorities included in the second half of his administration's sweeping infrastructure proposal. The first half, which included more than $2T in funding for a wide range of physical and technological infrastructure, was released earlier this month (see details). Only 200 people will attend the address in person due to COVID-19 protocols, down from around 1,600. 

Biden has framed the second half of the package as an investment in human capital. Reports suggest Biden will propose, among other items, national paid leave for workers, universal preschool, and free community college. A proposal to raise the capital gains tax rate is also anticipated. Critics have panned the package for including a wide range of non-infrastructure-related items, and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has yet to embrace the proposal on the Democratic side. 

Biden approaches his 100th day in office with a 54% average approval (see historical data). While surveys show support for Biden's handling of the economy and his response to the pandemic, immigration and border security continue to be the administration's Achilles' heel. At least 55% of voters, including two-thirds of independents, say they disagree with the current approach to the border. 

You can livestream the speech here (9 pm ET). Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) is scheduled to provide the Republican rebuttal immediately following the address.

Ditch the Masks (Outdoors)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance around wearing masks to prevent coronavirus transmission yesterday, saying fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks while outdoors in uncrowded areas. Indoor mask wearing is still strongly suggested. 

The change is somewhat symbolic—the guidelines are only recommendations and 24 states have either lifted mask mandates in public or never issued a mandate (see list). The White House also said it would decrease the frequency of its pandemic-specific press briefings to twice weekly. 

As of this morning, roughly 54% of US adults have received at least one vaccine dose. The country has reported 573,381 total deaths, with 886 deaths reported yesterday. However, the average daily death toll is just under 700 and continues on a slight decline. 

Separately, India's coronavirus surge continues to worsen, with hospitals reportedly refusing patients and many areas depleted of critical medical supplies like supplemental oxygen. The average case rate has topped 330,000 new cases per day, the highest reported by any country at any point in the pandemic. Officials have resorted to mass funeral pyres to dispose of bodies—see photos here.

Amber Guyger Appeals

A Texas court of appeals heard arguments yesterday from attorneys seeking to overturn the sentence of Amber Guyger, a former Dallas police officer responsible for the 2018 off-duty killing of Botham Jean. 

The case made waves three years ago due to its somewhat unusual circumstances. Guyger was off duty, but in uniform, when she claimed to have mistakenly entered Jean's apartment, located directly above her own, fatally shooting Jean, who she believed was an intruder. Her defense argued that exhaustion from a 13-and-a-half-hour shift led to the deadly mistake, attempting to invoke the state's so-called "castle doctrine." A jury convicted Guyger of murder in October 2019, with a sentence of 10 years in prison. 

Guyger’s lawyers argued she should have been convicted of criminally negligent homicide at most, which carries a sentence of two years. A decision is expected in the coming weeks.    

Watch the emotional moment from the original trial when Jean's brother gave Guyger a hug. 

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TIMES ARE CHANGING

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IN THE KNOW

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

> Britney Spears to address court in June about her conservatorship; her father has been her conservator for 13 years (More) | Spotify launches a paid podcast service, just a week after Apple announces its plan for a podcast subscription model (More)

> Five-time world champion boxer Floyd Mayweather to square off against YouTube star Logan Paul in exhibition June 6 in Miami (More)

> The NHL and Turner Sports sign seven-year deal to broadcast regular season games and Stanley Cup playoffs on TNT and livestream on HBO Max (More)

Science & Technology

> The European Union to bring antitrust charges against Apple later this week; regulators say the company's App Store policies are anticompetitive (More)

> Ford to build a $185M battery research, development, and manufacturing facility in Detroit, in an effort to consolidate its electric vehicle supply chain (More)

> Paleontologists identify a second species of duck-billed dinosaur, or hadrosaur, via remains found in southern Japan; discovery suggests hadrosaurs migrated from Asia to North America, not vice versa (More)

Business & Markets

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> US stock markets mixed (S&P 500 -0.02%, Dow +0.01%, Nasdaq -0.3%) in anticipation of earnings releases (More)

> Earnings season: Alphabet (Google) sees quarterly advertising revenues surge 35% over last year, announces $50B stock buyback (More) | Starbucks posts 9% same-store sales growth in return to prepandemic sales levels (More) | Microsoft reports 19% increase in revenues on strong demand for cloud-based software and consumer technology business units (More)  

> US consumer confidence index increases to highest level in 14 months, its fourth consecutive monthly increase (More)

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Politics & World Affairs

> Biden administration raises the minimum wage for federal contractors from $10.95 to $15 per hour; workforce is estimated at around 700,000 people across the US (More) | Proposes $80B for the IRS over 10 years to recoup an estimated $700B in unpaid taxes (More)

> FBI launches a civil rights probe into the April 21 police shooting death of Andrew Brown Jr.; Brown's family has reportedly seen a 20-second clip of body camera footage (More) | Autopsy shows Brown was shot in the back of the head; body camera footage may be released as early as today (More)

> US Navy SEALs will shift from counterterrorism to global threats, make changes to platoon sizes and recruiting standards amid overhaul (More)

SCOOP, SERVE, ENJOY

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ETCETERA

TIME's most influential companies of 2021.

Browse the best art created during the pandemic.

Explaining SpaceX's Starship bellyflop.

US National Parks, data visualization style. 

"Citizen Kane" loses perfect score after 80-year-old review surfaces.

Another look at how to travel faster than the speed of light.

Get lost exploring old maps of the world. 

Archaeologists may have found the world's oldest home.

Clickbait: Are those 35 birds stuffed in your clothes, or are you just happy to see me?

Historybook: “To Kill a Mockingbird” author Harper Lee born (1926); Italian dictator Benito Mussolini executed (1945); HBD US Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan (1960); Charles de Gaulle resigns as president of France (1969).

"The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience."

- Atticus Finch, from Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird"

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