Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Wednesday, February 3, 2021:
COVID-19: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
The federal government will start shipping vaccine doses directly to retail pharmacies next week, the first step in a process that could drastically increase the availability of shots -- eventually. The initial shipment is for 1 million doses; CVS says it will get 250,000 and start vaccinations at 300 of its stores immediately. An independent peer-reviewed analysis of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine shows it is extremely effective; while no Americans are likely to ever get it, the shot is already going out to countries around the world. More than 100,000 people in the U.S. have died of COVID already this year. NBC NEWS
DEMS GO IT ALONE
The Senate voted 50-49 -- straight party line -- to begin the budget reconciliation process, the first step for Democrats to push through President Biden’s COVID relief package without the support of Republicans. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a pivotal swing vote, bowed to pressure and blessed the move to go it alone but said he did not approve of the $15 federal minimum wage hike that’s in the package and wants GOP input on the bill. CNN
IMPEACHMENT II
Former President Trump’s defense team will argue at his impeachment trial next week that he did not incite the riot at the Capitol -- and even if he did, it’s unconstitutional to impeach a former president. The legal team plans to employ a First Amendment defense as well, arguing that Trump had the constitutional right to claim he won the election in a “landslide” even if it was a demonstrably false statement. The Senate trial starts Tuesday, and is not expected to last as long as last year’s three-week trial. POLITICO
NAVALNY JAILED
Alexei Navalny was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in a penal colony for violating his probation as he recovered from a poisoning attempt in Germany. The verdict was denounced around the world as an attempt by the Kremlin to intimidate Russians who have been out in the streets in support of the opposition leader. A defiant Navalny and his allies called on his supporters to keep the pressure on Putin. REUTERS
BEZOS TO BOUNCE
Jeff Bezos is stepping down as CEO of Amazon later this year. He will be replaced by Andy Jassy, the chief of Amazon’s cloud unit, though Bezos will stay on as chairman of the board. The surprising announcement came in the company’s earnings report that showed it made $100 billion in quarterly sales for the first time ever during the holiday period. Amazon joins Apple, Walmart and ExxonMobil as the only American companies to hit that milestone (those days are but a memory for Exxon, which just reported its first annual loss in 40 years on plummeting demand for oil). SEATTLE TIMES
MEME STOCKS FALL TO EARTH
Shares of GameStop cratered another 60 percent, adding to Monday’s 30 percent decline and bringing the stock back down to where it was at the beginning of last week. AMC was down 41 percent and Express shed another 32 percent, while the broader market was up significantly. As posts on the Reddit forum /wallstreetbets told of big losses, one Wall St. trader put it this way: “It seems reasonably clear that as the cheerleading and rage against the machine dies down, the man on the street is left holding the bag again.” BLOOMBERG
THE STORY OF FLORIDA
We take for granted that Florida is known as the Sunshine State, but that wasn’t always the case. In the 1920s, an army of real estate boosters set out to redefine Florida from an economic backwater to a ritzy vacation destination, sparking a land boom – and bust – the likes of which America had never seen before. Here’s the story of how rogue speculators turned the state into what it is today: WATCH
SPOTTED...
..the first rendering of Amazon’s new HQ2 campus in northern Virginia. The centerpiece of the development is “The Helix,” a futuristic-looking swirl of a building with outdoor landscaped walking trails: SEE IT
...Punxsutawney Phil, emerging from his burrow at Gobbler’s Knob to predict six more weeks of winter: WATCH
ANTHROPOMORPHIZED ALEXA
Who would be the ideal human vessel for Alexa? That’s the premise of Amazon’s Super Bowl commercial, which features heartthrob Michael B. Jordan as the flesh-and-bones embodiment of the voice assistant: WATCH IT
LEFTOVERS: HERO'S JOURNEY
Captain Sir Tom Moore, the British WWII veteran who captured global attention for his fundraising walks during the height of the first wave of the pandemic, has died at 100 after he contracted COVID-19. Known in the British tabloids as Captain Tom, the Army vet raised $45 million for his country’s hospital system by walking laps in his garden last year as the outbreak raged. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, praised by Prince William and adored around the world as a symbol of determination and grit. BBC
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