Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Friday, March 26, 2021:
POTUS MEETS THE PRESS
President Biden opened his first formal press conference by announcing that the new vaccine goal is 200 million doses in his first 100 days, up from 100 million. That was the extent of the discussion about the pandemic. The rest of the presser focused mostly on immigration, filibuster reform, voting rights and foreign policy. Biden called attempts by Republicans to limit voting rights “sick” and “un-American” -- just as Georgia passed sweeping new restrictions. He blamed the Trump administration for the overcrowding at border facilities and said the government was doing everything possible to treat migrant children humanely. He also said his “expectation” is to run for reelection in 2024. AP
COVID-19: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
COVID cases are back on the rise nationally, up about 10 percent week over week. Hospitalizations and deaths remain on the decline nationally, though a handful of states are seeing an uptick in deaths. Florida is opening up vaccine eligibility to all adults on April 5; California on April 15. More than 30 states now plan to drop all eligibility requirements by mid-April, ahead of President Biden’s May 1 goal. BLOOMBERG
N.Y. OK'S POT
Marijuana could be legally bought, sold and used in the Empire State as soon as next year. New York state lawmakers have agreed on a deal to legalize recreational cannabis for adults. Under the terms of the bill, which is expected to pass as soon as next week, Amsterdam-type smoking lounges would be permitted. The deal is billed as a restorative justice initiative, with its plan to reserve licenses for minority business owners and direct some of the tax revenue back to communities that have been especially hard hit by the war on drugs. Gov. Cuomo is expected to quickly sign it into law. NY TIMES
BOULDER LATEST
The man charged with killing 10 people at a grocery store in Boulder, Colo. made his first court appearance, where a judge ordered him held without bail. The suspected gunman’s defense lawyers are seeking a mental health assessment, as his family described him as paranoid and antisocial. The owner of the store that sold him a gun says he passed a state background check. DENVER POST
TROUBLE IN THE SUEZ
It could take weeks to get the Ever Given container ship unstuck from the Suez Canal, officials said. The 200,000-ton vessel remains wedged perpendicularly across the canal, completely blocking one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. Now the big guns are coming in. SMIT Salvage, a legendary Dutch firm that is responsible for some of the most daring naval salvages ever, has been hired to lead the removal efforts. BLOOMBERG
TECH GRILLING
The CEOs of Facebook, Twitter and Google faced another grilling from lawmakers, without much in the way of progress on how to regulate social media. The hearing was centered on misinformation, but the focus at one point turned to children. Several Republicans raised concerns about the effects social media is having on kids, including Google’s YouTube Kids product, Facebook’s plans to create a version of Instagram for children under 13 and research that links social media to depression in teens. Mark Zuckerberg dismissed that concern, saying it was not “conclusive.” CHEDDAR
RECORD SETTLEMENT
USC reached a settlement with hundreds of women who accused a former campus gynecologist, Dr. George Tyndall, of preying on them. The university will pay more than $850 million to clear the suits. Combined with a separate $215 million federal class-action settlement from a couple years ago, the total cost to the university is $1.1 billion, the largest sex-abuse payout in college history. LA TIMES
IN MEMORIAM: JESSICA WALTER
Jessica Walter, best known for playing Lucille Bluth in Arrested Development, has died. Walter was a working actor for over five decades, starring in films and TV shows alongside Clint Eastwood and William Shatner, but it was her role as the sarcastic and manipulative matriarch of the Bluth family in the cult-favorite Fox show that spawned a million catchphrases and memes. Walter was 80. OBIT
SPOTTED...
...every celebrity vaccine selfie -- or “vaxxie” -- ranked from worst (Tony Bennett) to best (Dolly Parton): SEE THE LIST
...Chrissy Teigen’s famous Twitter profile, gone. Teigen said she deleted the social network once and for all after years of harassment, becoming the highest profile Twitter “power user” to quit: READ THE THREAD
LEFTOVERS: NOSE MASK
Researchers in Mexico have invented a COVID mask that only goes over the nose, which they say could help reduce transmission in restaurants when people are eating. The problem is that it looks like this: SEE IT
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