On Monday, Georgia allowed restaurants and movie theaters to begin reopening to the public. That move, which follows the reopening of several other types of businesses on Friday, has been widely criticized.
Even President Trump, who had been tweeting at different states to 'LIBERATE' themselves, said that he disagreed strongly with Georgia's Governor Brian Kemp on his timing on easing restrictions.
But renowned neurosurgeon and Trump's Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Ben Carson said that the rest of the country will gain a lot of insight from Georgia's experiment if it leads to success or added hardship.
"I think we'll soon know the answer to that. Either way, we're going to get some beneficial information," Carson told Cheddar over the phone Monday. "If what they did results in a thick spike and a horrible situation, then that tells everybody else, 'hold on.'"
Georgia also has one of the highest African-American populations in the country. Carson discussed the higher mortality rate observed particularly among black and Hispanic populations is actually a problem known about for a long time, yet little has been done to address it.
"Minority communities have a much higher mortality rate because of the underlying diseases," Carson said, listing hypertension and heart disease as examples. "We haven't done what we need to do to change the environments… If we don't go to the very foundation of the problem, then it's just patchwork."
Carson's Twitter feed itself is filled with positive stories of 'Neighbors Helping Neighbors,' a campaign his office is promoting amid the pandemic. The former brain surgeon also said there have been positive developments taking place regarding the virus.
"There are a number of [treatments] that are on the horizon that actually look extremely promising," he said.
Carson credited another government agency, the FDA, for being aggressive in allowing more treatments to be studied faster.
"Some of the double-blind studies are being done now on things that are controversial," Carson admitted. "In another month or two, we'll have the information on whether certain things are helpful or not helpful."
Researchers call the opposite of a double-blind study, open-label, where health care providers and patients are all aware of the experiment taking place. Georgia's experiment certainly will be visible to an entire country watching.
"We're gonna learn either way," Carson said.
Many U.S. consumers say they’ve noticed higher than usual prices for holiday gifts in recent months, according to a a December poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. A contributing factor is the unusually high import taxes the Trump administration put on foreign goods. While the worst-case consumer impact that many economists foresaw from the administration’s trade policies hasn’t materialized, some popular gift items have been affected more than others. Most toys and electronics sold in the U.S. come from China. So do most holiday decorations. Jewelry prices have risen due to the cost of gold.
Serbia’s prosecutor for organized crime has charged a government minister and three others with abuse of position and falsifying of documents related to a luxury real estate project linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The charges came on Monday. The investigation centers on a controversy over a a bombed-out military complex in central Belgrade that was a protected cultural heritage zone but that is facing redevelopment as a luxury compound by a company linked to Kushner. The $500 million proposal to build a high-rise hotel, offices and shops at the site has met fierce opposition from experts at home and abroad. Selakovic and others allegedly illegally lifted the protection status for the site by falsifying documentation.
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to block states from regulating artificial intelligence. He argues that heavy regulations could stifle the industry, especially given competition from China. Trump says the U.S. needs a unified approach to AI regulation to avoid complications from state-by-state rules. The order directs the administration to draw up a list of problematic regulations for the Attorney General to challenge. States with laws could lose access to broadband funding, according to the text of the order. Some states have already passed AI laws focusing on transparency and limiting data collection.
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
House Republicans in key battleground districts are working to contain the political fallout expected when thousands of their constituents face higher bills for health insurance coverage obtained through the Affordable Care Act. For a critical sliver of the GOP majority, the impending expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits after Dec. 31 could be a major political liability as they potentially face midterm headwinds in a 2026 election critical to President Donald Trump’s agenda. For Democrats, the party’s strategy for capturing the House majority revolves around pinning higher bills for groceries, health insurance and utilities on Republicans.
