Plus: MacKenzie Scott's "transformative" gift | Thursday, February 03, 2022
| | | | | | | Presented By Circle | | | | Axios PM | | By Mike Allen ·Feb 03, 2022 | | Good afternoon: Today's PM — edited by Justin Green — is 490 words, a 1.5-minute read. - 🥌 The Winter Olympics opening ceremony is at 7 a.m. ET tomorrow. Go deeper.
| | | | | | 1 big thing: Terrorist takedown | | Photo: Defense Department via AP President Biden picked up a foreign policy triumph today, announcing the death of the leader of ISIS after a U.S. special forces raid on a compound in Syria. (Pictured above.) - Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi took over ISIS after Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in a 2019 U.S. raid.
- "We all remember the gut-wrenching stories," Biden said in brief remarks after the raid. "And thanks to the bravery of our troops, this horrible terrorist leader is no more."
About two dozen U.S. special forces carried out the raid, reports Axios' Zachary Basu and Oriana Gonzalez. - To protect civilians living on the first floor of the three-story house, U.S. forces asked everyone inside to evacuate, according to U.S. officials who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity.
- Eight children were removed from the site before al-Qurayshi detonated an explosive on the top floor, killing himself and his family.
An unnamed ISIS lieutenant and his wife barricaded themselves on the second floor of the building and were killed in a firefight with U.S. forces. - Officials would not say how many civilians were killed but insisted that all casualties were the result of actions by al-Qurayshi and his associates.
Photo: Rami Al Sayed/AFP via Getty Images Early in the operation, one of the U.S. helicopters experienced mechanical issues and was forced to land several kilometers from the site, where the decision was made to disable and destroy it. (Pictured above.) |     | | | | | | 2. Monster storm leaves thousands in the cold | | A vast expanse of clouds stretched from Mexico all the way to Maine and into Canada, where a nasty wintry mix of snow, freezing rain, sleet and snow is falling. Photo: NOAA A monster winter storm front from Mexico to Maine knocked out power for hundreds of thousands across the southern U.S., reports Axios' Andrew Freedman. The big picture: About 52,000 customers in Texas were without power at around 2:30 p.m. ET + 135,000 in Tennessee (mainly in Memphis) and 22,000 in Arkansas, according to PowerOutage.us. | | | | | | | | A message from Circle | | USD Coin is leading the way for dollar digital currencies | | |  | | | | USDC is growing rapidly, with over $50 billion in circulation and more than $1.6 trillion transacted globally. The benefits: USDC can reduce friction and costs while offering transparency and security — with fewer risks than Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). Learn more. | | | | | | 3. 🎒 MacKenzie Scott changes the world for one school group | Photo: Communities in Schools Communities in Schools, which works to surround at-risk kids with services inside and outside school, announced a "transformative" $133.5 million gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. - It's one of the largest gifts she's given. And, of course, it's the largest unrestricted donation ever to the group in Arlington, Virginia.
Rey Saldaña, president and CEO of Communities in Schools, told The Washington Post that as with other Scott gifts, the group got a call out of the blue. - The Post said: "She no longer discloses grant recipients, leaving it to the organizations to make information about the gifts public if they so choose."
CIS establishes one-on-one relationships with kids and coordinates with schools and local service providers to help families get food, housing, health care, counseling and access to remote technology. - With COVID creating so much disruption, the group's staff has been helping kids learn outside the traditional school setting.
| | | | | | | | 4. 📷 Parting shot | | Photo: Al Bello/Getty Images Junko Hoshino of Team Japan performs a trick today during the women's freestyle skiing moguls qualification. | | | | | | | | A message from Circle | | Why a centralized digital dollar poses risks | | |  | | | | A Fed CBDC could put the U.S. behind in the digital currency race while eroding privacy and putting taxpayers on the hook. On the other hand: Dollar digital currencies like USD Coin can help make the U.S. dollar the de facto standard for digital payments and trade. Learn more. | | |  | Bring the strength of Smart Brevity® to your team — more effective communications, powered by Axios HQ. | | | | | | Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here.
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