Britney Spears has reportedly hired celebrity attorney Mathew Rosengart to represent her

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Britney Spears has reportedly found a new attorney to represent her in today’s conservatorship hearing.

Following a report from TMZ that the “Toxic” singer was in discussions to retain celebrity attorney Mathew Rosengart — who previously represented famous celebrities such as Sean PennCasey and Ben AffleckSteven Spielberg and rocker Eddie Vedder — the gossip website now reports that Rosengart has agreed to represent her and will appear in court.

Britney reportedly signed a legal document stating her desire to hire the mega law firm of Greenberg Traurig, LLP to represent her in her ongoing effort to remove her father Jamie Spears from the conservatorship.  It would be Britney’s first step in attempting to end her longtime conservatorship, which has been in place for more than 13 years.

However, there is a hitch — Britney cannot sign contracts of any substance without her father’s approval.

Insiders tell TMZ that Rosengart will argue that Britney has a Constitutional right to the lawyer of her choice.  However, while defendants in criminal cases have a Constitutional right to an attorney, a conservatorship is another story.

Rosengart will likely argue that Britney is entitled to due process, which includes the right to a competent lawyer, something of which Rosengart’s resume certainly attests.

Rosengart could further argue against Jamie having the power to disapprove Britney’s choice, because his daughter is actively hiring legal representation with hopes of removing him from the conservatorship.

In addition, Judge Brenda Penny, who is overseeing this case, needs to approve of Rosengart’s appointment.  Should she decline, Spears will then be assigned another court-appointed attorney to represent her going forward – an option the singer previously said she does not want.

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Pool deck, garage ceilings of collapsed Surfside building were problematic as early as 1996, documents show

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(SURFSIDE, Fla.) — A series of construction permit records, letters and other documents from more than two decades ago show that Champlain Towers South was in need of waterproofing and structural repairs in the parking garage just 15 years after the original construction of the building.

The documents released by the Town of Surfside, Florida, on Tuesday show that the pool deck of the Surfside condo building that collapsed last month and the ceiling of the underground parking garage beneath it had needed repairs as early as 1996.

“The scope of work will be concrete structural repair in the parking garage,” wrote Rob Sommer, sales manager for Western Waterproofing Company of America to the Surfside Building Department in March 1996. “This type of repair entails removing loose concrete overhead, treating steel rebar with rust inhibitive coating and patching back with repair mortar. Also included in the garage will be urethane foam injection in ceiling cracks.”

Tong Le, the project engineer contracted for the repair work, estimated the project to cost roughly $156,600.

Later in November 1997, Le wrote to Surfside’s Building Department that the deck was waterproofed and that approximately 20 square-foot of spalls in the ceiling of the garage had been repaired. Le wrote that the “repair of the spallings has been done in compliance with the approved” regulations.

Le did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

ABC News previously reported that a 2018 Structural Field Survey report released by the city of Surfside found “major structural damage” to concrete structural slabs on the pool deck and failed waterproofing in parts of the tower.

In his report, engineer Frank Morabito said previous repair work in the garage had been “ineffective.”

Allyn Kilsheimer, an engineer hired by the Town of Surfside to investigate the collapse of the building, cautioned against directly linking the repair work from 1996 and the deficiencies cited in Morabito’s report, telling ABC News that it’s not yet known if they were referring to the same specific areas.

Engineering experts offered differing views on how concerning the repair work from 1996 was and how it could have contributed to the building collapse.

“It is not normal,” said Joel Figueroa-Vallines, an Orlando-based forensic structural engineer and president of SEP Engineers, of the documents. “Generally, the life of a structure is much longer than that. Life cycles of concrete structures can be over 50 years, so this is very concerning.”

Figueroa-Vallines told ABC News that cracking can reveal structural issues and added that whenever there is cracking on concrete, “there is stress where it shouldn’t be.”

“..The fact that there were a lot of cracks on a structural slab, that tells me that something was going on in that pool area,” said Figueroa-Vallines. “On top of the fact that the pool area is the highest loaded area of the whole building.”

Meanwhile, Kilsheimer said the damages and repairs described in the 1996 permit documents are “normal” and “expected,” especially in Surfside’s environment, where buildings are prone to heavier corrosion from the adjacent seawater.

Shankar Nair, a Chicago-based engineering expert, told ABC News that the deficiencies and repair work cited in the 1996 permit documents are “not common” but also “not extremely rare.”

“This type of concrete deterioration does not usually lead to sudden catastrophic collapse, but there is a lot about this collapse that is unusual, if not unique.”

Crews are continuing their recovery efforts after the remaining parts of the partially collapsed building were demolished last week.

So far there are at least 95 confirmed deaths from the collapse. As of Tuesday morning, 85 of those 95 victims have been identified. There are still 14 people potentially unaccounted for, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Cava said at a press conference Tuesday.

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15-year-old boy shot and killed by man who said he was ‘tampering’ with his car: Police

High Point Police Department

(HIGH POINT, N.C.) — A teenage boy was shot and killed in North Carolina on Tuesday after the alleged shooter thought the victim was “tampering” with his car, police said.

The fatal shooting occurred at approximately 2:15 a.m. local time in High Point, about 17 miles southwest of Greensboro. Officers responded to a report of shots being fired in a residential neighborhood and canvassed the area for several minutes before they found a 15-year-old boy lying beside a home who was suffering from two gunshot wounds to the chest and one gunshot wound to the arm, according to a statement from the High Point Police Department.

Officers attempted to perform life-saving measures on the unnamed victim until medics arrived on scene and transported him to a local hospital, where he later died, police said.

Police said that detectives from the Violent Crimes Unit responded to the scene to investigate the homicide and that three other juveniles related to the incident were subsequently transported to the police department for questioning. However, investigators said they received “no cooperation or detailed account of the events that led to the homicide.”

Detectives ultimately identified a person of interest in the shooting and obtained a search warrant for a residence close to the scene of the crime. Several pieces of evidence were then seized from the location and, as a result of the search, 25-year-old Davonte T. Strickland of High Point, North Carolina, was arrested, according to police.

Detectives believe Strickland shot the boy in “reaction to individuals on his property tampering with a vehicle in the driveway,” police said. He faces charges of first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, according to police.

It was unclear if Strickland had obtained legal representation who could speak on his behalf.

The shooting remains under investigation and anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Crime Stoppers of High Point at 336-889-4000.

“High Point Police detectives are still conducting an active investigation into this incident,” the police department said in the statement Tuesday. “During this investigative process, detectives will continue to conduct interviews of potential witnesses and involved parties, conduct searches of any people, vehicles, or places that may contain evidence of the crime, and collect any other relevant materials that may aid in investigation or prosecution.”

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Delta variant now accounts for about 58% of COVID-19 cases in US, CDC says

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(NEW YORK) — A highly contagious variant of the novel coronavirus that was initially identified in India now accounts for about 58% of all COVID-19 cases in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Data updated by the CDC on Tuesday evening shows the so-called delta variant, also known as B.1.617.2, was estimated to be responsible for 57.6% of newly confirmed cases nationwide from June 20 through July 3. The proportion was estimated at just 31.1% for the two weeks prior.

In late May, the delta variant was estimated to account for approximately 3% of new cases in the U.S, according to CDC data.

After being initially identified in India in October, the delta variant has since been reported in at least 104 countries around the globe and is expected to soon be the dominant coronavirus variant circulating worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. The variant was first detected in the U.S. in March and is now present in all 50 states.

“The delta variant is ripping around the world at a scorching pace, driving a new spike in cases and death,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus said during a COVID-19 press briefing on Monday.

Last week marked the fourth consecutive week that the number of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases has increased globally. Deaths are also on the rise again after 10 weeks of decline, according to Tedros, who noted that the WHO has received reports from all regions of the world about hospitals reaching capacity.

“In places with high vaccination coverage, Delta is spreading quickly; especially infecting unprotected and vulnerable people and steadily putting pressure back on health systems,” he said. “In countries with low vaccine coverage, the situation is particularly bad.”

The WHO declared delta a “variant of concern” in May, and the CDC upgraded its classification of the strain in June from “variant of interest” to a “variant of concern.” Both the WHO and the CDC say that variants of concern have shown to be both more infectious and more virulent than other strains.

The delta variant has shown to be particularly dangerous to those who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated against COVID-19, and preliminary data indicates it may increase the risk of hospitalization.

However, current evidence suggests that the full dosage of a COVID-19 vaccine is highly effective in preventing hospitalizations and serious illness. Instances where a fully vaccinated individual becomes infected with COVID-19, known as breakthrough cases, are exceedingly rare. And while early laboratory studies indicated the vaccines seem to produce far fewer virus-fighting antibodies against some of the newer variants, real-world experience tells a different story as researchers across the globe learn that the vaccines still mostly work — even when those antibodies fail to show up in great numbers — thanks to other crucial parts of the body’s immune system.

Still, there is very little known about the mutating virus and it remains unclear exactly how long immunity from the vaccines will last and whether booster shots will be needed to maintain protection.

As delta and other highly transmissible variants spur “catastrophic waves” of COVID-19 infections, the WHO director-general is urging vaccine manufacturers to prioritize supplying doses to poorer countries with low vaccination rates rather than giving booster shots to wealthier nations with relatively high coverage.

“The global gap in vaccine supply is hugely uneven and inequitable,” Tedros said Monday. “Some countries and regions are actually ordering millions of booster doses, before other countries have had supplies to vaccinate their health workers and most vulnerable.”

Since the start of the pandemic, the U.S. has reported more than 33.9 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and over 607,000 deaths from the disease, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. has recorded the highest death toll, while India has the highest total case count.

More than 184 million people in the U.S. have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, including over 159 million — 48.1% of the population — who are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.

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The Washington Monument is reopening Wednesday after being closed because of COVID

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(WASHINGTON) — After being closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Washington Monument reopens Wednesday with limited capacity.

“For the most part, it will look like normal operations,” Mike Litterst, the chief of communications for the National Mall and Memorial Parks, told ABC News. “But we are, for the time being, putting some capacity limits in place. And we are requiring masks of anyone age two and over that enters the monument.”

Litterst said the mask requirement would be enforced even if someone is fully vaccinated. While the monument is able to hold a capacity of 1,100 people per day, according to Litterst, the National Park Service is limiting the number by almost half, down to 580 per day to accommodate for social distancing protocols.

But tickets are selling fast. On Tuesday, it sold out in 90 seconds for Wednesday’s reopening.

“We knew it was going to be popular, but I don’t think we were even expecting that kind of popularity,” Litterst told ABC News.

Tickets to the monument need to be reserved in advance, and visitors can book them starting at 10 a.m. the day before they plan to visit.

“So, if you want to visit on Friday, tickets become available at 10 o’clock on Thursday,” he said.

In the last decade, the monument has been closed more than it has been open. After an earthquake in 2011, the monument closed down for nearly three years due to repairs. Then, it reopened for a year and a half before it was closed again so the NPS could modernize its elevator. After the $10 million+ restoration of the site was completed, it reopened in September 2019. It was only open for about six months before COVID swept across the country in March 2020, shutting down businesses and public spaces like the monument. It then reopened on Oct. 1, 2020 and closed down again on Jan. 11, 2021.

But Litterst is confident the monument will remain open for the foreseeable future, especially because he said no mechanical repairs need to be made soon.

“We are confident and optimistic and hopeful that we’re going to be open starting [today], and we’re going to be open for a good long run in the foreseeable future,” he told ABC News.

He expects the modernized elevator system to run for another 15-20 years before repairs need to be made again.

While his team is excited that the monument is open and accessible once more to the public, Litterst stressed that the top priority for the NPS has, and always will be, the public’s safety.

“Regardless of pandemic or no pandemic, safety has always been top priority for any of our sites,” Litterst said. “That’s why we waited to this point to open, to make sure that we were in a position where people could be kept safe. And that’s the reason that – at least initially – when we open, we’re limiting the capacity and we’re requiring the masks.”

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Norwegian Cruise Lines sues state of Florida over vaccine passport ban

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(NEW YORK) — Norwegian Cruise Lines is suing Florida after the state banned vaccine passports, saying it cannot safely resume sailings without ensuring its passengers and crew are vaccinated against COVID-19.

In a complaint filed Tuesday, the company called the move a “last resort.”

“The State of Florida has indicated that it is otherwise preventing (Norwegian) from safely and soundly resuming passenger cruise operations from Miami, Florida, … in the way that this cruise line has determined will be best for all concerned — with the benefit of documentation confirming that all of its passengers and crew have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19,” the complaint said.

Florida’s law threatens to fine companies $5,000 each time they ask a customer to provide proof that they’ve been vaccinated. Gov. Ron DeSantis’ press secretary called the lawsuit “disappointing” saying Norwegian is “discriminating against children and other individuals who cannot be vaccinated or who have opted not to be vaccinated for reasons of health, religion, or conscience.”

“This Administration will not tolerate such widespread discrimination. Therefore, Norwegian faces a $5,000 fine from whom they demand a vaccination status,” Christina Pushaw, the governor’s press secretary, said in a statement to ABC News.

Company CEO Frank Del Rio previously threatened to move the company’s ships out of Florida if they were not allowed to mandate vaccines.

“At the end of the day, cruise ships have motors, propellers and rudders, and God forbid we can’t operate in the state of Florida for whatever reason, then there are other states that we do operate from, and we can operate from the Caribbean for a ship that otherwise would have gone to Florida,” Del Rio said during an earnings call in May.

Norwegian’s first cruise from Miami is scheduled to sail on Aug. 15, but the company said the ban on vaccine passports puts it in an “impossible dilemma.”

“NCLH will find itself either on the wrong side of health and safety and the operative federal legal framework, or else on the wrong side of Florida law,” the complaint said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has banned most cruising from U.S. waters since March 2020. Companies have been working with the CDC to resume sailings under its conditional sail order — a set of guidelines for cruise companies wishing to resume sailing in the U.S., including test cruises and vaccine requirements.

DeSantis recently won a lawsuit against the CDC, in which a judge ruled the agency overstepped in its authority regarding the conditional sail order.

Some companies have already resumed sailings from Florida, with the Celebrity Edge departing Port Everglades on June 26.

The Florida Department of Health did not immediately respond to request for comment.

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Reebok and “Peppa Pig” partner to launch kids-only collection

Reebok

(NEW YORK) — Peppa Pig super fans, brace yourselves.

Reebok and Hasbro have partnered to release an all-new kids-only collection.

Officially releasing on July 19, the collection will include five unique Peppa Pig-inspired sneakers featuring everything from the beloved Peppa character to special designs mirrored after her friends Suzy Sheep and Candy Cat.

Reebok’s latest collaboration with Hasbro was inspired by the success of both brands’ first capsule collections, which launched together in February.

Each sneaker has been designed to encourage children to explore and allow their imaginations to run wild.

One standout from the Reebok x Peppa Pig collection is the Club C sneaker, which is inspired by one of the athletic brand’s classic models. It features Peppa and her friends peeking out of the plant and flower illustrations on each side of the shoe. There are also hidden graphics on the outer soles and heel tabs.

Another great pick from the latest line was inspired by one of Peppa’s go-to summertime activities, which is to blow bubbles. The sneaker is bright pink and also includes fun whimsical glitter-filled graphics along each side as well as the heel of the shoe.

Except for the preschool Classic Leather and preschool Club C sneakers, parents and kids alike will be happy to see that most of the shoes have easy-to-access stretch lace or velcro straps.

In case you are planning ahead for back-to-school shopping, these might be a great addition to your shopping lists.

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Route 66 summer festival in Missouri canceled due to COVID-19 surge

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(SPRINGFIELD, Mo.) — The city of Springfield, Missouri, announced Monday that it was canceling a major summer festival as COVID-19 surges in the region.

The Birthplace of Route 66 Festival, which was scheduled for Aug. 13-14 and typically includes live music and a classic car parade, has been called off for the second year in a row due to COVID-19. In 2019, the last year the festival was held, it drew 65,000 attendees over two days, and it was expected to host 75,000 this year, according to the city.

“With our region’s low vaccination rate against COVID-19, the resulting surge of infections are overwhelming our hospitals and making our community sick,” Cora Scott, director of public information and civic engagement for the city, said in a statement. “We feel it is just not safe to bring tens of thousands of people from all over the world to this community for any reason.”

Missouri’s vaccination rate trails the national average. As of Monday, 46% of residents had received at least one dose, and 40% were fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, compared with 56% of all Americans who’ve gotten at least one shot and 48% who are fully vaccinated.

In Greene County, where Springfield is located, vaccination rates are even lower than the statewide average. Just 39% of Greene County residents have received one dose of the vaccine, and 34% are fully vaccinated, according to state health department data.

Missouri is among a growing list of states that have seen rising infections, with new cases increasing 64% over the last two weeks, from 796 to 1,304, with a total of 9,100 cases per week, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services. Missouri, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana and Nevada lead the nation with the highest weekly case rates per capita, which translates into more than 100 infections per 100,000 residents. New COVID-19 hospital admissions also rose 40% over the same two-week span.

In Springfield, which is in the southwest part of the state, the surge is straining hospitals and front-line workers say patients are becoming sicker more quickly.

Erin Baker, a nurse at Mercy Hospital in Springfield, told ABC News that the hospital has had seen an uptick in patients who needed to be intubated.

“A lot of healthier people, younger people in their 20s, 30s, 40s are getting this delta variant or COVID a lot quicker,” Baker said. “Their health deteriorates very quickly.”

Last month, the state health department warned that the delta variant, which is more transmissible than the original form of the virus and is especially dangerous to unvaccinated and partially vaccinated people, had “become prevalent in communities throughout Missouri.”

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Democrats land on $3.5 trillion budget agreement

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(WASHINGTON) — Senate Democrats said they have reached a $3.5 trillion budget agreement. This is the first step in unlocking a process that Democrats plan to use to pass many of President Joe Biden’s American Families Plan priorities with a simple majority of votes.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said this budget package, coupled with the bipartisan infrastructure bill currently being negotiated amongst members, comes “very, very close” to what Biden asked for when he laid out his families plan.

“Every major program that President Biden asked us for is funded in a robust way,” Schumer said. “In addition we are making some additions to that.”

On the heels of this announcement, Schumer said the president will join Senate Democrats for their caucus lunch Wednesday to discuss the plan with lawmakers.

Schumer announced the package alongside members of the Budget Committee, though it’s still not certain that all Democrats will support the measure. Unanimous support will be necessary to pass the bill.

The package will be, according to Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., fully paid for. He did not give details on how the reconciliation bill will be funded, but Democrats have favored a hike in corporate tax rates, not unlike the one Biden originally proposed.

“There are times for really big things, this is one of those times,” Warner said. “The plan we’ve put together, which is fully paid for, will make the investments in American families, will take on the existential threat of climate change in a way that will meet the needs, leading the world on this critical issue.”

The $3.5 trillion topline still falls short of the $6 trillion that Budget Chairman Bernie Sanders had been hoping for, but Schumer announced Tuesday night that the reconciliation instructions include a “robust expansion” of Medicare, something that has been a longstanding priority for Sanders.

“This is in our a view a pivotal moment in American history,” Sanders said. “For a very long time the American people have seen the very rich getting richer and government developing policies which allow them to pay in some cases not a nickel. What this legislation says among many many other things is that those days are gone. The wealthy and large corporations are going to start paying their fair share of taxes so we can protect the working families of this country.”

Senate Democrats have long said they intend to use a process called reconciliation, which allows them to sidestep the usual 60-vote threshold and pass legislation with a simple majority, to pass parts of Biden’s infrastructure agenda that are not addressed in the separate bipartisan infrastructure deal.

The bipartisan infrastructure plan is also at a critical juncture as that group of senators works to publish the text of their $1.2 trillion legislation — something negotiators do not expect will happen this week. But once that bill is made public, there’s a serious potential obstacle — whether the proposed revenue will actually cover the $600 billion in new spending.

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, raised a red flag Tuesday saying that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) — which provides lawmakers with a “score,” or price tag, for legislation based on proposed spending and revenue — cannot price out or “score” some of the ways negotiators propose to pay for the bill.

The first way that can’t be scored is the plan to raise money from beefed up IRS enforcement. The bipartisan group of 10 senators, of which Romney is a part, has estimated that for $40 billion of investment in going after those who do not pay taxes, that would net $100 billion in return.

Romney said the CBO has not traditionally issued an official “score” on such matters, which could spell danger for Republicans who are already wary of beefing up a federal agency which has proved politically controversial in the past.

“The CBO won’t score that because they say, ‘Well, the government’s entitled to all of its tax revenue, so you can’t get a score for actually getting more of it,'” Romney told reporters.

“Generally, the CBO’s assessment of tax gaps is that they do not rely on them for scoring purposes and I would presume that would be the case here. But we recognize that there were some things that we saw as a source of revenue that the CBO might not be able to score,” he said.

But Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, who is leading the bipartisan effort along with Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, told ABC News in an interview that the CBO is expected to give an estimate of revenue from the tax-gap proposal, though it would not be an official score.

“They will separately analyze it and they will give us, not the official score, but they’ll give us an analysis, which we’ve relied on in the past,” Portman said.

A group of 22 senators, including the 10 who crafted the original package and 12 other Democrats and Republicans who initially signed on to support it, huddled in the Capitol for two hours on Tuesday evening over dinner, wine and cannoli. Several lawmakers touted significant progress in negotiations toward the final bill text, but there remains disagreement among them on how to pay for the bipartisan package, especially with the CBO score hanging in the balance.

The senators have set a Thursday deadline to work out their remaining differences.

“I think that’s our next real goal is to try to get something done so we can show some positive results,” Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said of the Thursday deadline.

Still, several negotiators left Tuesday’s meeting conceding that the deadline is a “tall order.”

Republican Whip John Thune said that if the CBO returns a score that reflects a bill that is not fully paid for, it could spook some of his members.

“It makes it harder,” the senator from South Dakota said. “I think some of our members would be open to perhaps some amount of debt financing but the majority I think would have to be paid for in a critical way which is a challenge that we’ve had since the beginning of this.”

But for some Republicans, the CBO score is not a deciding factor.

“It’s less crucial for me. I’d like most of it to be paid for,” said Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., part of a separate larger group of 20 negotiators who are part of a consensus-minded group seeking compromises on a number of measures. “I’m willing to accept some things that won’t score, like how much can be done on the private investment side.”

“My test is — is it paid for in my own mind?” Romney said. “Will we be able to –to not add to the deficit? And I know there are some things that we’re relying on as pay for’s that will probably not receive a CBO score, but nonetheless are real. I think my colleagues will know that.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she agreed that the score should be considered, but is not a be-all-end-all.

“Are we all going to pass out if the score doesn’t come out exactly the way we want? No,” Murkowski said. “What we’ve been looking at is alright, is this something where we really missed or is this something where we can adjust?”

And though many Republicans support private investment in public works projects — so-called public-private partnerships — they could be concerned that the CBO is not expected to be able to put a revenue price tag on that either. It’s something the group has estimated should bring in more than $100 billion.

But for Portman, he sees Republicans understanding that — knowing that private investments provide leverage for public funding and often yield a profit down the road.

“You know there are differences between funding for social programs and funding for fixed assets into the future that are going to create more economic activity and help the economy, and that’s what this is. This is not immediate funding. This is long term funding for fixed assets,” Portman told ABC News.

Some Democrats in the bipartisan group have, throughout negotiations, said they want the infrastructure bill to be credibly paid for. Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent who caucuses with Democrats, said the CBO score presents additional challenges in striking a deal.

“It’s tough. This is — this is tough,” King said. “And part of the problem is that the CBO has some very conservative views about what they’ll score.”

Some dismissed concerns on Tuesday of a lower-than-planned estimate.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said he still has questions about how CBO will come to its final determination.

“I don’t know what kind of math they use but it isn’t the math that I learned in high school,” Tester said.

And though Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell repeatedly over the recent two-week recess said he would be looking to see that the $1.2 trillion bipartisan plan is “credibly paid for,” Portman, with whom McConnell is close, said he thinks the senator from Kentucky will understand the sparse nature of the eventual CBO analysis.

“He realizes this is infrastructure and is different than other things,” said Portman, who added that he thinks — despite the bumpy road to floor consideration — the group will get the 10 Republicans necessary for final passage of the legislation, if every Democrat supports it.

“Ten? Oh yeah, for sure,” Portman said.

The group of 22 is still projecting a positive outcome for the bipartisan bill.

“I mean, I’m optimistic that we’re going to find a path forward,” Rounds said. “People in there really are trying hard to listen to each other’s concerns and find (a deal).”

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Scoreboard roundup — 7/13/21

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(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Tuesday’s sports events:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

INTERLEAGUE
American League 5, National League 2

 

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