Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Wednesday, August 12, 2020:
BIDEN PICKS HARRIS
THE PICK: Joe Biden chose Kamala Harris to be his vice president, making the first-term California senator the first Black and first Asian-American woman to ever join a national presidential ticket. Biden said his decision was made, in part, due to his late son Beau’s admiration for Harris when they were both state attorneys general. WASH POST
HER STORY: Harris, 55, was born to a Jamaican father and Indian mother in Oakland, and has spent her adult life in law and politics. She did her undergrad at Howard (making her the first HBCU grad on a major ticket). She was San Francisco District Attorney, then California Attorney General before getting elected to the Senate in 2016. She was an early and strong supporter of President Obama, but has also been criticized from the left for her years spent as a prosecutor and her moderate views. Here’s a profile of Harris from last year: NEW YORKER
COLLEGE SPORTS: DOMINOES FALL: The Big Ten and Pac-12 became the first major conferences to punt on the college sports season, announcing they’d attempt to play football and other fall sports in the spring semester if the pandemic has eased by then. That means no USC, no Oregon, no Michigan, no Ohio State -- and it could lead to the rest of the Power 5 conferences following suit and throwing in the towel. The decision to postpone the season was unanimous within the Pac-12 member schools; it’s not known whether the 14 schools that make up the Big Ten were unanimous in support. NBC NEWS
PRIMARY RESULTS: The “Squad” is likely to remain intact for at least another two years. Rep. Ilhan Omar overcame a Democratic primary challenge and is on the path to reelection in November. Omar, Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have all won their primaries; Rep. Ayanna Pressley is running unopposed in hers next month. Meanwhile, Marjorie Taylor Greene, an open supporter of the QAnon conspiracy theory that the FBI says is a domestic terrorism threat, won her primary in a deep-red district in Georgia, all but ensuring she will be elected to Congress in November. REUTERS
MAURITIUS OIL SPILL: An environmental disaster has been slowly unfolding off the coast of the African island nation of Mauritius. Two weeks after an oil tanker ran aground in a coral reef, spilling 1,000 tons of fuel across the pristine coastline, the ship is now on the verge of splitting in two. If that happens, another 2,000 tons of oil will spill if a salvage team can’t pump it out in time. AL JAZEERA
RACE FOR A VACCINE: Public health officials around the world greeted Russia’s announcement that it has approved the world’s first coronavirus vaccine with deep skepticism. The drug was tested in monkeys and some humans, but did not go through comprehensive human trials. The Russian government plans to start inoculating teachers and medical workers this month with the vaccine, which they’re calling “Sputnik V” after the first satellite launched into orbit by the Soviet Union. ABC NEWS
WORLD'S NEWEST BILLIONAIRE: When Steve Jobs died in 2011, Apple’s market cap was about $350 billion. Now it’s approaching $2 trillion, and the man who has led the company since Jobs’ passing just became a billionaire. But unlike fellow tech billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook belongs to a tiny club of CEOs who became billionaires without having founded the companies they run. BLOOMBERG
PHOENIX SUNS: AMERICA'S COVID TEAM: The Phoenix Suns made it into the NBA bubble by a hair -- they came with the worst record among Western Conference teams -- but are now the only undefeated team in Orlando. The Suns are 7-0 in the bubble and on the cusp of qualifying for the postseason play-in tournament, led by phenom point guard Devin Booker. Ahead of Tuesday’s game, the team surprised players by having their family members announce the starting lineup from home: WATCH
APPLE SIGNS SCORSESE: Martin Scorsese has inked a first-look deal with Apple that will have the Goodfellas director helming TV and film products for Apple TV+. Apple is making big moves in Hollywood -- it just signed Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company to another first-look deal, and is getting serious about buying up big studio movies that would have otherwise gone to theaters. Scorsese and DiCaprio are already working together for Apple on Killers of the Flower Moon, set to start production next year. VARIETY
SPOTTED...
...Portia de Rossi on a hike with her mom in Santa Barbara, after confirming that wife Ellen DeGeneres will continue to host her talk show and is “doing great”: SEE PICS
LEFTOVERS: BLOCKBUSTER SLEEPOVER: There’s one Blockbuster video store left in the world, and it’s in the town of Bend, Oregon. The manager of the store is teaming up with Airbnb to list it as an overnight stay for up to four people over a period of three days in late September. The cost: $4 a night. The extremely limited bookings open up Aug. 17: SEE THE LISTING
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