BROADCASTS.com

b"On today's 'BradCast':\\xa0 On the heels of Sen. Joe Manchin's (D-WV) stunning announcement that he was breaking with President Biden and his party on support for the Build Back Better Act, the United Mine Workers union urged Manchin to reconsider, citing BBB's provisions to increase a tax on coal companies help coal miners dying of black lung disease and protect coal miners' jobs. New reporting suggests Manchin's about-face was triggered by perceived mild criticism from Biden, but the fact that Manchin and his family make millions every year from a coal brokerage business may be the real reason. The remarkably transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus is spreading at unfathomable speed and is now the dominant variant in the U.S., meaning a whole bunch of people are going to get sick and many are likely to die in coming weeks. Hospitals are filling up with unvaccinated patients; many facilities are already overwhelmed. The best protection is to get vaccinated or boosted as soon as possible, just like former President Donald Trump, who secretly received a booster shot, despite suggesting that he wouldn't.\\xa0 President Biden addressed the nation, announcing the federal government's plans to combat the new Omicron surge, including issuing free at-home COVID test kits, expanding testing and vaccination sites, and deploying FEMA and National Guard troops to assist overcrowded hospitals with the coming surge in testing, infections, and hospitalizations. Biden explained how families can address Omicron's risk over the holidays, and reiterated the need for everyone to get fully vaccinated ASAP. Plus Desi Doyen has our latest 'Green News Report.'"