In a previously unreported discussion, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders urged President Joe Biden to ensure Social Security is fully funded through the end of the century by increasing taxes on wealthier Americans, according to a report published Thursday.

During the hourlong meeting on January 25—which took place before Biden and Sanders (I-Vt.) shot a video together about student debt—the democratic socialist senator pushed the president to expand payroll taxes on high-income Americans, The Washington Postreports. Currently, only the first $160,000 in earnings is subject to payroll tax.

Sanders reportedly asked Biden to support his plan—which is highly unlikely to gain congressional approval—to expand Social Security benefits by $2,400 annually for each recipient. Biden was noncommittal, according to the senator.

Earlier this month, Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren(D-Mass.) unveiled legislation, with a similar bill introduced in the House, to increase Social Security benefits by at least $200 per month.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources estimate more than 43,000 animals have died in and around East Palestine roughly three weeks after the train derailment.

Agency Director Mary Mertz said Thursday that officers have been on site every day since the Feb. 3 derailment of a Norfolk Southern train carrying toxic chemicals and believe all the fish killed as a result of the incident died immediately.

Officials estimated 38,222 minnows and around 5,550 other species – such as other fish, crayfish and amphibians – were killed during the derailment. The deaths occurred in a five-mile span within the impact area. None of the species killed are threatened or endangered, Mertz said. "Because the chemicals were contained, we haven't seen any additional signs of aquatic life suffering," she said.

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There have been anecdotal reports of animals in and around East Palestine becoming sick or dying. Murray & Murray, a Sandusky-based law firm, filed a lawsuit against Norfolk Southern that claims animals and fish are dying as far as 20 miles away from the derailment site.

A so-called "national divorce" would work out poorly for red states, which a new analysis shows depend heavily on blue states.

MSNBC economic analyst Steve Rattner presented data on "Morning Joe" showing that states won by Donald Trump contribute far less to the federal budget than states won by President Biden, which Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and some other Republicans said should be separated from one another.

"The Trump states, virtually every single state except for Utah, don't ask me why Utah, got back more from Washington than it paid," Rattner said. "So it would not really work very well to their advantage to leave. In fact, the top states for getting a better deal from Washington are Kentucky, Mississippi and West Virginia."

Higher state-level poverty rates correlate with support for Republican candidates, Rattner said, while Democratic-leaning states tend to have higher income.

Several legal experts have been concerned about Fulton County special grand jury forewoman Emily Kohrs' media tour. And lawyers representing allies of former President Donald Trump are reportedly gearing up to use her interviews as grounds to dismiss any potential indictments that might come out of DA Fani Willis' investigation.

But according to legal commentator Jordan Rubin in an analysis for MSNBC Thursday, Kohrs' has not broken any laws.

Simply put, he wrote, "That’s the case even though she seems to be divulging quite a bit, because grand jurors in Georgia are barred from sharing their 'deliberations,' which doesn’t necessarily cover the information that Kohrs has been sharing on air and in print."

"Even Judge Robert McBurney, who oversaw the special grand jury, made clear in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution this week that grand jurors are barred from revealing, as he put it, 'the discussions they had amongst themselves when it was just the grand jurors in the room … when they were discussing what do we do with what we’ve learned,'" wrote Rubin. "The AJC said the judge also said grand jurors are not prohibited from discussing 'the fruit of their deliberations, which would be the final report.' (The special grand jury’s report is still mostly sealed.)"