1A

Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., is President Joe Biden's choice to lead the U.S. Department of the Interior. If confirmed, she'd make history as the first Native American to lead the department responsible for maintaining and conserving federal lands.

We talked about what Haaland's nomination means for the Department of the Interior.

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The latest COVID-19 relief package is now headed over to the House.

With the expiration for unemployment benefits looming, Democrats hope to get it to Biden's desk soon. The plan's met changes along the way.

We get into the details of those changes and more.

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Johnson & Johnson's single-shot COVID-19 vaccine was authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration and is now the third vaccine available to the American public. And the latest COVID-19 relief package heads to the Senate.

Meanwhile, the Pope heads to Iraq, and São Paulo implements new measures to try and curb the spread of COVID-19.

We discuss these headlines and more.

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The House of Representatives is set to vote on a sweeping set of voting rights measures known as H.R. 1 or the "For the People Act." The bill is an attempt to expand access to voting — something at least one GOP attorney is on record as saying would be bad for the Republican Party.

What does HR-1 mean for the future of voting in the U.S.?

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Teaching orchestra, choir or band virtually in a pandemic presents some unique challenges. Even with schools reopening, it's difficult to hold in-person band practice in a way that's safe and socially distant.

How has music education changed during the pandemic? And what does its future in U.S. education look like?

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The latest COVID-19 relief plan recently passed the House and is on its way to the Senate. But the provision regarding an increase to the minimum wage and child allowance could prove a hurdle to the bill passing.

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Johnson & Johnson's one-shot vaccine was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control over the weekend.

We answer questions regarding its efficacy and talk to Dr. Anthony Fauci about the impact of the new vaccine as Americans begin thinking about returning to normal.

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Over 500,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the United States. The Biden administration conducted its first known military operation, against Iranian-backed militias in Syria.

Meanwhile, the Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo was killed in an attack on a United Nations convoy earlier this week. And the push to distribute vaccines for COVID-19 continues around the world.

We got to those stories and more on the News Roundup.

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"We need to talk about increasing diversity in police forces," says Vida Johnson, law professor at Georgetown University.

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"For me, queer nightlife spaces have always been these places of possibility, of world-making, of learning to style yourself," says Madison Moore, professor of queer studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. What are queer bars and clubs doing to survive, and what happens to communities if they don't?

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