President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, March 25, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
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
Listen to the N2K Podcast! Looking for more context and analysis on the big stories of the day? Check out our podcast! Hosts Jill and Carlo break down the headlines, every weekday morning Listen on Apple or Spotify, or watch on YouTube, and send us your feedback!
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates: CEO of Achieve Life Sciences discusses a new plant-based compound that's being used to fight nicotine addiction; President & CEO OF DiaMedica Therapeutics explains a new ischemic stroke treatment option that expands the window for effective therapy for stroke patients; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'Asteroid Rush.'
Catching you up on today's entertainment headlines with the Tribeca Film Festival has kicked off in NYC, "Black Adam," starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson dropped its first full trailer, the musical "Come From Away" based on a true story set during 9/11 will be closing on Broadway this October, and more.
Survivors of Larry Nassar, including Olympian Simone Biles, are seeking $1 billion in damages from the FBI due to its failure to investigate the former gymnastics team doctor convicted of committing years of serial sexual abuse of minors. Jack Queen, a senior reporter at Law360, joined Cheddar News to break down the legal grounds of this case. "This is one of the biggest black eyes that the Bureau has faced in generations, quite frankly, and the FBI has taken full responsibility and admitted that it completely botched this investigation," he said. "So, there's a lot of pressure to settle."
The Elevate Prize Foundation is donating $10,000 to different grassroots organizations based on a theme every month to help scale their work, focusing on a different theme each time. Upcoming prizes will help uplift an organization supporting the LGBTQ community and one mobilizing to help end gun violence. The foundation's CEO Carolina Garcia Jayaram joined Cheddar to discuss the initiative and why it's important to uplift these grassroots organizations. "We are identifying social entrepreneurs around the world to help them scale their work. but the ultimate purpose of that is to create the first-ever fanbase for good," she said. "We're trying to make good famous and by inspiring people to think about the role they can play in doing good in the world."
With real estate being a largely male-dominated industry, Stephanie Shojaee, vice president and chief marketing officer at development company Shoma Group, joined Cheddar News to discuss how she took on the gender gap for women to achieve leadership roles, starting at her own company. “It's been very important to teach all the women that work here, especially the younger ones, that they shouldn't change themselves," she said. "You need to be happy with who you are and just keep breaking barriers."
We are already starting to feel the effects of summer. Heat waves in Texas and California are already sending temperatures soaring. That could spell trouble for the nation's power supply. there are new concerns about outages in many areas of the country. Cheddar's Shannon Lanier explains the two main causes of blackouts, and what states are doing to keep the lights on and the air conditioning running.
If you have been on the road this past year, you've probably seen more accidents on the road than you ever have. You're not wrong. Traffic fatalities are not only increasing they are hitting historic highs. Almost 43,000 people died in motor vehicle accidents in 2021. Cheddar's Shannon Lanier investigates - and finds out why.
U.S. stocks close Tuesday at session highs after a subpar start to the trading day. Tim Chubb, Chief Investment Officer at the wealth advisory firm, Girard, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss. 'We're starting to see the moderation of three core things -- we've seen the moderation of prices, we've seen the moderation of wage growth we've seen in the labor market, and we've also seen a moderation of job openings,' he says.
The victims from the USA gymnastics sexual abuse scandal continue to seek justice. Survivors of Larry Nassar are seeking more than one-billion dollars from the FBI for failing to stop the convicted sports doctor when the agency first received allegations. According to a report released by the Justice Department's Inspector General, FBI agents knew
in July of 2015 that Nassar was accused of abusing gymnasts; however, Nassar wasn't arrested until December of 2016. The group that filed the claim includes Olympic medalist Simone Biles and around 90 other women. Louise Radnofsky, sports reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Tattoo artist Katrina "Kat Tat" Jackson, famous for starring in the VH1 hit series "Black Ink Crew: Chicago," is also the first Black woman to own a tattoo shop in Beverly Hills. She joined Cheddar News to discuss her trailblazing work, the stigma BIPOC tattoo artists face in the industry, and the way the space has changed for artists of color since her start. "In the beginning, I remember walking into a tattoo shop just like, hey, I wanna learn, I wanna be a tattoo artist and kind of just being laughed at, not taken seriously," she said. "Even with the tattoo conventions, a lot of African American tattoo artists were almost scared to go to conventions because it's not a welcoming environment."
