Biden's Briefing: Recent Episodes
Joe Biden
What Joe wants you to know. Every day, Vice President Joe Biden looks to the news across the nation that's sparking conversation, sharing the articles and opinions that he's reading and might be of interest to you. Entertaining. Informative. Thought-provoking. He doesn't always agree with them, but they've got something to say.
“November is coming,” Ana Maria Archila said after Brett Kavanaugh was voted onto the nation’s highest court.
Political campaigns and parties say they’re sending many more texts this year than in past elections as part of a search for alternatives to social media.
This November, Democrats are going to have to overcome an inherent disadvantage in many states due to gerrymandering.
French leader Emmanuel Macron is preparing broad changes within his government to jump start his presidency.
This week, Kansas City mayoral candidate and veteran Jason Kander announced he was quitting the race to face his PTSD.
Social media and the rhetoric of President Donald Trump have upended the old world order in dangerous ways.
Dr. Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad have won the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to end sexual violence.
The algorithms that govern how we find information online are once again in the news - but you have to squint to find them.
Forty-four House Republicans are heading for the exits, and almost half of their seats have become top Democratic targets.
Sweden has long been one of the world’s most tolerant countries. In Sunday’s election, it demonstrated that no country is immune from the anti-immigrant, far-right backlash.
A new study of newspapers’ coverage of school shootings finds that images of suspects outnumber images of victims 16 to 1.
Obama urged supporters here to not only back Cordray but to also rally voters to back the nominee regardless of party.
Barack Obama delivered a widely covered speech about our current president and suggested that Donald Trump didn’t necessarily deserve much credit for the healthy economy.
For many young Hispanics, navigating their parents' culture in the U.S. has shaped their views on what it means to be American.
More than 1,000 Google employees, six U.S. senators and at least 14 human rights groups have written to the company expressing concern about its China ambitions.
People in Puerto Rico struggled to find drinkable water for months after Hurricane Maria devastated the island. Meanwhile, millions of water bottles sat unused on a runway.
Every American who gets private health insurance is at risk of getting a surprise medical bill.
The share of Americans without health coverage had been falling for years, but the newest annual shows that it stalled out in 2017.
Another active shooter has struck Florida, this time at a mall in Jacksonville. Here are the essential facts about a deadly phenomenon.
The former Russian ambassador received a salary payment twice as large as past years, and bankers blocked a $150,000 withdrawal.
One of Trump’s top federal prosecutors in North Carolina is going after noncitizen voters, and it could have dire consequences.
The United States, home to 4 percent of the world’s population, accounted for more than a third of its gun suicides in 2016.
Parents whose children died after hazing incidents are making an emotional appeal directly to fraternity members.
Want to know why he’s still in power? Look at his response to unpopular changes to Russia’s pension system.
After years of attacks, the Affordable Care Act is more popular than the Republican Party, Republican tax breaks, and the Republican president.
The Environmental Protection Agency is about to set in motion a review of one of the most significant — and expensive — air-pollution regulations the agency has ever issued.
Is the economy in good shape? Your answer is influenced by partisanship and has real-world consequences.
Air pollution is shaving months, and in some cases more than a year, off your life expectancy, depending on where you live.
American Violence puts up-to-date data at the fingertips of researchers, journalists, and policymakers.
QR codes are front and center in the anti-gun violence movement from March for Our Lives, launched by students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Florida.
The former president honored the former United Nations leader following Annan’s death on Saturday.
“This decision recognizes a moral imperative that must be addressed," the dean of medicine said of the move to offer free tuition to all students.
The insider sales feed the narrative that corporate tax cuts enrich executives in the short term while yielding less clear long-term benefits for workers.
The “incredible health care plans” he’s so excited about won’t even be available to buy until September.
2.4 million Floridians have some college credit but no diploma. What would happen if they completed their degrees?
Nearly three times as many American parents fear for their child’s safety at school today than during the immediate aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
A change to the way administrative law judges are hired could threaten their independence.
Thousands in Poland took to the streets in mass demonstrations Thursday, after the president signed into law a new measure tightening the nationalist ruling party’s grip on the Supreme Court.
Amid a plummeting supply of teachers nationwide, Pennsylvania is spending $2 million to recruit and retain more educators.
Since 2014, the gun rights group has paid more than $60 million to a little known contractor for ads in must-win political races. Did it break campaign finance laws in the process?
I spent a night on the bridge connecting the US and Mexico talking to desperate people who hoped their asylum pleas would be heard.
Months into new equal-pay law, companies in the island nation are already fixing the gap.
Congressional Republicans think President Trump's tariffs are going to hurt the economy.
House Republican appropriators Wednesday rejected a proposal to designate millions of dollars for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for gun violence research.
The Center for American Progress has some ideas about how to increase voter turnout in the Sunshine State.
When you report an incident of sexual harassment, you’re apparently also supposed to know how it should be prosecuted.
Genetic test can help determine treatment for patients with smaller-sized tumors that have not spread to the lymph nodes
The Institute on Taxation and Economic and Policy published a new report on the Republicans’ tax plan, and the degree to which it will benefit the wealthiest of the wealthy.
This is what Michael Golebiewski at Bing calls a "data void," or search void: a situation where searching for answers about a keyword returns content produced by a niche group with a particular agenda.
The bureau is getting ready to tap National Data Exchange and its 400 million records to help screen gun buyers. Experts say it would have blocked the Charleston church shooter from obtaining his murder weapon.
The House Appropriations Committee approved the amendment Wednesday. Next, it goes to the full House.
“It means that there's light at the end of the tunnel,” said one addiction expert. Opioid deaths are still on the rise, however.
The "Meeting of the Minds" session raises questions on ensuring autonomous vehicles don't drive cities to financial ruin.
Reports show the total number of guns owned by private citizens in the United States has gone up, but so has the country’s share of the global total.
“The worst case scenario is they’re never reunited. You have children that grow up without their parents.”
President Donald Trump threatened a 20 percent tariff on cars imported from the European Union.
Steve Schmidt, longtime Republican strategist, announced this week that he is leaving the GOP.
After the nuptials, Pete Buttigieg and Chasten Glezman wore rainbow beads and posed for photos with block party revelers.
An array of state and national progressive groups are already laying the groundwork to attack Republicans for expected premium increases.
It's an uphill battle in Michigan for Democrat Elissa Slotkin, a former CIA analyst, against two-term GOP Rep. Mike Bishop in November — but the contest could be a roadmap for her party's drive to win the House.
The 5-4 ruling found that Ohio's practice of stripping voters from its rolls if they don't vote over a six-year period and don't respond to mailed warnings did not violate a pair of federal laws.
Our nation’s youth are rising to the challenges of our present moment and showing us a way forward.
"Detention is never in the best interests of the child and always constitutes a child rights violation," a spokesperson for the UN's human rights chief said on Tuesday.
Seitz began to veer from the speech script that Petaluma High School had approved to try to address her experience with sexual assault on campus but was shut down by the school.
More Americans were killed or wounded by active shooters in 2017 than in any year since the FBI began keeping track.
We’re past due for a #MeToo-style national reckoning around the open secret of anti-mom bias in the workplace.
Vaccines have arrived for a first round of immunization but a case in a city is a "game changer"
It’s “not only unprecedented in Pakistani history, but it’s one of the most progressive laws in the whole world.”
"I’m so excited I can’t even sleep," said Kingdon, who served on a repair ship in the Pacific during World War II.
Study finds a wide band of working U.S. households that live above the official poverty line, but below the cost of paying ordinary expenses.
Scientists will gather data to create a global map of hot spots resistant to antibiotics.
Former Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice's advice for President Donald Trump leading up to his planned summit with Kim Jong Un.
The administration is preparing to gut health care protections for transgender people, but civil rights advocates are ready.
Businesses aren't investing their benefits from Trump administration tax cuts into their workers, despite GOP promises.
Crispr, a gene-editing tool revolutionizes how scientists can modify the DNA of human cells.
As college tuition increases, higher education researchers are worried about a decrease in diversity.
Increase in sexual assault reports in the military are seen as a sign that people are gaining confidence in the system.
As NSYNC was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the singer opened up about his coming out experience.
The earn-and-learn model could spread, but the Trump administration has done too little to facilitate its growth.
Jenny Wadhwa was in sixth grade when a gunman attacked Sandy Hook Elementary and murdered 26 of her friends and neighbors.
Democrats are on the offense, while Republicans have largely given up on health care as a campaign issue.
Kyle Richard chased after a man who allegedly tried to sexually assault a woman at a Long Island house party.
As automation disrupts the labor market and good middle-class jobs disappear, schools are struggling to equip students with future-proof skills.
Health issues hit us in different ways at different ages. Here are some big ones science and tech are helping to solve.
The Environmental Protection Agency violated spending laws by installing a secure privacy booth in the office of Scott Pruitt.
The #NeverAgain movement is working to elect candidates committed to passing stronger gun laws.
“There isn’t a law that says you can’t own a business if you’re 10 years old!” a 10-year-old in the troop boldly declared.
The letter from congressional Democrats comes after an interview with a former staffer to the EPA administrator.
“It’s still weird to say that I was blown up. It’s still weird to say I was in a terrorist attack.”
New studies indicate why some patients respond more to lymphoma treatments than others.
Two bills pass to counteract changes to the Affordable Care Act by the Trump administration.
A proposed ballot initiative in the Beaver State would require gun owners to lock up their weapons - and be liable if their unsecured firearms are stolen and used to harm others.
"Gov. Scott says he's not a scientist. Well, neither are most of the people that are forced to take action because the state is failing us."
The green train used for North Korea leader Kim Jong Un's surprise visit to China was once his father's luxurious official transport.
California and other states that could lose congressional representation and federal funding challenge the proposed 2020 census question.
A promising effort in directing would-be white nationalist and ISIS sympathizers away from radical content.
The first statewide election in the major battleground state could offer real insight into whether Democrats can really create a "blue wave," and how Republicans might be able to stop them.
Researchers are looking to leverage their understanding of what's working and what's not in patients receiving this class of drugs.
Machines are creating more wealth, but workers are not getting their usual cut of the pie, Autor told Axios.
Trump and other NRA-aligned Republicans’ response to the Parkland shooting has been pushing for more armed school employees.
Keith Kenard Asberry Jr., 33, of Antioch was charged Friday in the March 2015 killing in Albany of Randhir Kaur.
The secretary of state’s would-be replacement, Mike Pompeo, is an ardent hawk who says the agreement is ‘disastrous.’
Support for stricter gun laws has spiked in polls conducted after the fatal South Florida school shooting, hitting its highest level in at least a quarter-century.
Jan Kuciak was found shot in the chest for investigating corruption. His girlfriend was also killed.
In one of the hardest times to hire skilled workers in decades, Lowe's is running a pilot program offering $2,500 to its own employees if they will learn a master trade, such as electrician or plumber.
Two of the nation's largest gun sellers said they were taking the steps in response to the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
The students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High want you to know who was taken from their community. So let us start there.
Nowhere is the 'digital divide' more extreme than on tribal lands. Will Washington's solution fix the problem?
The Czech Republic’s pro-Russia president, Milos Zeman, appears to be the latest medium through which Moscow is attempting to thwart the extradition to the U.S. of Russian hacker Yevgeniy Nikulin.
All 13 Russians — along with the infamous troll farm they worked for and the companies that funded it — have been charged with defrauding the United States.
The Atomwaffen Division has emerged as one of the most disturbing and volatile hate groups in America.
Through a letter from his lawyers, Scarnati flatly declared that he “will not be turning over any data identified in the Court’s Orders.”
Russians met the much-anticipated “Kremlin Report” with relief, mockery, and confusion.
In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, Trump again called for restrictions on what he calls "chain migration." Such restrictions would hit Asians and Mexicans particularly hard.
The January 2018 Brexit analysis seen by BuzzFeed News shows the cost of falling EU migration would more than wipe out the economic boost of a US trade deal.
American workers have not seen their wages grow in tandem with the success of their employers.
It practically takes a medical degree to find the right clinical trial. But new tools powered by machine learning could make them more accessible.
For Jack and Julie, the foundation of their union isn’t their athletic prowess, but on-field success has been a constant since they met in the spring of 2012.
A national database of ballistic images that matches guns and shell casings recovered by police — is not new. But experts say it’s a tool that some departments are still using poorly.
A new paper from researchers at the University of Bristol has found that there are clear trends in how grumpy people are on Twitter at different times of the day, and it changes by season.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives posted a document that asks manufacturers and retailers how they would be affected if the devices were regulated as machine guns.
"The old-school approach of closing the door, locking it and turning out the lights just doesn’t always work anymore."
It has been three months since Hurricane Maria entered Puerto Rico like a battering ram through Humacao, sweeping through this southeastern coastal city and into the island’s history as its worst natural disaster.
What’s on tap for immuno-oncology in 2018? Here are some developments worth keeping an eye on in the new year.
China’s economy begins 2018 facing what its own leaders call three years of "critical battles."
A blood test five years after breast cancer treatment helped identify some women who were more likely to relapse, long before a lump or other signs appeared, a preliminary study found.
Reese Witherspoon and Shonda Rhimes are among more than 300 top entertainment executives who have come together to fight sexual harassment in workplaces.
"All these guys have to understand that this might be it. This opportunity might not come again for anybody. So, let’s step it up, have a great two weeks of practice, and get ready.”
An offer of dialogue from the North could be an effort to split the U.S.-South Korea alliance.
New drug approvals all but screeched to a halt in 2016, but the FDA wasted no time in 2017, signing off on 12 drugs in the first quarter alone.
Despite efforts to require lessons on civil rights, outdated textbooks in the Mississippi school system indicate little has changed.
After the Trump administration cut the Affordable Care Act federal insurance enrollment period in half, people are scrambling to get insurance but the cutbacks to the program could have a disproportionate effect on minority communities.
Politicians and law enforcement officials across the country are beginning to experiment with new approaches to reducing domestic violence and gun deaths by forcing abusers who aren’t allowed to own guns to actually surrender weapons still in their possession.
Climate change is apparently no longer a threat to U.S. national security. Or at least, it’s not one significant enough for mention in the White House’s National Security Strategy unveiled Monday.
Sonoma County has plunged into a period that trauma psychologists call disillusionment.
As Americans faith in higher education is declining, employers complain it is producing less students with the skills they need.
Not all bathrooms are clean, which poses a problem for travelers trying to stay away from germs.
"As an admiral I helped run the most powerful military on Earth, but I couldn't save my son from the scourge of opioid addiction."
Democrats created an agency insulated from political institutions they no longer trust—and Trump seems determined to validate their fears.
Maliz Beams quit after three months on the job, a spokesperson tells BuzzFeed News. The departure comes as Rex Tillerson's overhaul of the department faces stiff opposition in Congress.
Despite record market highs, low wage increases and rising debt have U.S. workers on edge, a new survey finds.
Residents of Santa Rosa's Coffey Park neighborhood, leveled by last month's wildfire, would like things to be just like they used to—skeptics be damned.
For the first time, scientists have directly documented a new species evolving in the wild.
Recent missile testing puts Washington D.C., New York City, and all of continental United States within North Korea's reach.
The net neutrality comment debacle illustrates a central challenge of managing open platforms in an age of automation.
Immunotherapies can be extremely effective in treating cancer, but only in certain patients.
Entomologist Omar Akbari is designing a technology speeds up evolution by quickly forcing genetic modifications - but is this technology safe?
In the span of a week following the mass shooting at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, seven other mass casualty incidents occurred across the country.
The Federal Communications Commission are making it harder for poor and rural Americans to access telecom services.
Twitter takes steps to deal with white supremacists and hate speech on the social platform.
Joe Biden speaks on the days that followed the violence and hateful events in Charlottesville, Virginia. We Are Living Through A Battle For The Soul Of This Nation, an op-ed originally published in The Atlantic.
A staff log obtained by BuzzFeed News gives a tense account of what happened after Hurricane Harvey drowned the Arkema chemical plant outside of Houston, Texas.
Teachers and staff at Rancho Tehama Elementary School implemented well rehearsed lockdown procedures that saved lives from a gunman who tried to shoot his way into the California elementary school.
The Food and Drug Administration announces long awaited regulations for stem cell research and treatments.
Schools like Southside Occupational Academy are helping young people with disabilities transition from high school to independent living.
Several federal officials attend an anergy conference hosted by the conservative Heartland Institute. The group of climate skeptics is celebrating Trump's environmental rollbacks and aiming for even bigger policy changes.
The nations most vibrant cities are the ones millennials choose to live in. But America's mayors are split on the best way to attract them - and keep them happy.
Artist, Kaitlin Pomerantz, displays salvaged city stoops and explores ways to preserve history and community stories.
A statistical guide to firearms, intimate partner abuse, and the children, parents, and police who become victims, too.
Trumps desire to tear up one of Obama's top national security achievements: the nuclear accord with Iran.
Our obligation to veterans and their families does not end when they take off the uniform.
Danica Roem defeated Bob Marshall, known anti-LGBTQ advocate, for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates.
More people are surviving cancer diagnosis today than in the 1970's, but the survival rates are still low for several kinds.
A look into what happened to the big data revolution and the future of data, analytics, and algorithms.
Algorithms can look at brain scans of people exhibiting memory loss and tell who will develop Alzheimer's disease and who won't.
The new discoveries could help predict whether or not women are at risk based on their genetics.
"Dear racists in America," began one Instagram meme shared by the now suspended account, @Native_Americans_United, which is believed to be connected to a Russian troll farm.
Inside the Trump administration's decision to include an important regional counter terrorism partner on the latest edition of the travel ban.
Reducing Americans’ access to health care as a political maneuver is a callous act by a president who once promised better coverage.
Behind the Biloxi school district’s decision to remove To Kill a Mockingbird from its junior-high reading list.
Some skeptics have raised concerns that nudging can be akin to manipulation. Research shows most people disagree – and welcome nudges that help them live better lives.
According to a new, multi-city study by researchers at the University of California, Davis, ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft might not be taking cars off the road at all.
The president's latest move against the Affordable Care Act puts Republicans in a political bind.
Venture capitalists already have invested more into U.S. life sciences companies in 2017 than in any other prior year, according to data released today by PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association.
Looking back at the original theatrical release of “Blade Runner” – just as its sequel, “Blade Runner 2049” opens in theaters – the original’s ambivalence about technology and its chillingly prescient vision of corporate attempts to control human feelings is striking.
Heavily reliant on Medicaid dollars, small hospitals shut down maternity wards just to stay afloat.
As federal regulations for self-driving cars advance in congressional votes and the U.S. Department of Transportation issues guidelines, an important part of real progress will be how everyone involved approaches some inherent conflicts.
Supporters of the Affordable Care Act are ready to roll out a new campaign encouraging people to buy insurance — an effort they hope will make up for at least some of the cuts the Trump administration has made to enrollment outreach.
Smart diplomacy backed by the threat of force, not Twitter bluster, is the way to deal with Kim Jong Un.
Scientists say they've spotted how mutations in the BRCA1 gene can trigger breast cancer.
In a quest to end cookie-cutter health care, researchers are getting ready to recruit more than 1 million people for an unprecedented study to learn how our genes, environments and lifestyles interact — and to finally develop custom ways to prevent and treat disease.
As communities rebuild after hurricanes, study shows wetlands can significantly reduce property damage.
He twice lost his job for denying the supremacy of the Constitution. Is that a message the people of Alabama support?
How do you impose an EU frontier across a small island without the complex compromises that have ended a thirty-year conflict?
Economic prosperity is concentrated in America's elite zip codes, but economic stability outside of those communities is rapidly deteriorating.
If you want to change minds on, say, vaccines or politics, you have to be open to your opponent's viewpoint.
Graham-Cassidy isn't just a transfer of resources from Washington to the states. It's an assault on people who need help.
My parents didn't teach me Spanish. I have an Alabama accent, and I have no memories of Mexico. Still, the president thinks it's a good idea to deport me.
A once-touted plan to fact-check stories is being hindered by the company’s refusal to share information.
While he emphasizes benefits to regular taxpayers, much of the push is about cutting corporate rates.
Humans have been terrified of automatons for centuries. But where would we be without them? What the rise of machines could teach us about ourselves and about humanity.
Mother of Charlottesville victim Heather Heyer: "I'm proud of what she did." Susan Bro views her daughters death as a rallying cry for justice.
A health center for native Alaskans brought mental and physical care under one roof, with impressive results. Why isn’t it more popular?
Higher education is increasingly out of reach for many low-income, working-class and middle-class Americans.
How does infrastructure in the US compare to that of the rest of the world? It depends on who you ask.
Stephen Millers selective American history. Trumps break with tradition may be good or bad, but it's definitely different.
The report is the most comprehensive assessment of climate change released by the Trump administration.
Glioblastoma, a formidable foe, faces a worthy opponent in John McCain as research to cure the aggressive cancer continues.
Trump's nominee, Randal Quarles, could radically change how the central banking system operates.
The space agency's supersonic plane design could be quiet enough to lift the long-standing ban on overland travel, if it makes it to production.
Mexico City is getting rid of parking spaces and it could be a model for cities everywhere.
A future for treating cancerous tumors locally and an end to the painful experience of chemotherapy.
In the age of Trump, global players — from tech companies to governments — have to shout.
Fed officials are bringing up America's addiction crisis. Abuse is both an economic symptom and driver of labor problems.
A successful test for Hyperloop and one step closer to an entirely new means of transportation.
An Iranian, a woman, an immigrant, and a math genius whose example is helping redefine women's status in science and math.
Climate change denial as a threat multiplier, making it harder for the US military to conduct operations.
At the autonomous driving startup Starsky Robotics, the present and future of U.S. employment ride in the same cab.
Women are speaking out because they no longer fear retaliation, and bad behavior is having consequences.
Analyzing 37 years of data, a Stanford team finds no basis for a theory at the heart of the modern gun-rights movement.
The document we celebrate today wasn't just the work of Thomas Jefferson's individual genius. Everyone was doing it.
Beijing is getting more involved as the U.S. turns inward. That's not quite the same as world leadership.
Mayors of more than 1,400 cities passed resolutions this week supporting a transition to 100 percent renewable energy and other climate initiatives.
Medicaid and American children. How will the Senate health bill affect children on Medicaid?
Partisan redistricting efforts undermine the ideal of "fair and effective representation for all citizens."