Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Friday, September 3, 2021:

AT LEAST 46 DEAD IN IDA’S WAKE

At least 46 people are dead after remnants of Hurricane Ida slammed the northeast with tornadoes, torrential rains, and historic flash flooding. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said at least 23 people had died after being overtaken by flood water in their cars. Other victims died in six states: Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Many people are still unaccounted for. CNN

COVID-19 LATEST

NEW VARIANT: The WHO added a new variant to their list this week, but Dr. Fauci says it’s not an immediate threat to the U.S. Mu, also known as B.1.621, has mutations that suggest it could evade certain antibodies, including those produced by vaccines. But there’s not a lot of real world data to support that just yet, said Fauci, who explained the mutations have been found in in-vitro lab data. CNBC

BILLION DOLLAR INVESTMENT: The White House says it is going to invest $2.7 billion to ramp up domestic production of critical vaccine components, including tubing, needles, syringes and lipids. This is part of President Biden’s plan to make the U.S. the “arsenal of vaccines for the world.” NY TIMES

NK DECLINES SHOTS: North Korea has declined an offer of 2.97 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine. The country says they should be sent to other nations with worse outbreaks. North Korea shut its borders in January 2020, and has declined international aid for fear that outside help would bring the virus in. The country still maintains it has no virus cases, a claim that outside health experts are skeptical about. NY TIMES

UNEMPLOYMENT ENDS

By Monday, around 11 million people are set to lose federal unemployment benefits in some form. About 3 million people will lose weekly bonuses that are tacked onto their state unemployment benefits, and 7.5 million people will be cut off from aid entirely when the temporary pandemic unemployment programs expire. White House officials have said they will not continue the enhanced benefits past this month, as  they were meant to be temporary. CNET

JOBS REPORT

The August jobs report was released this morning and boy was it a flop. Economists expected around 720,000 payrolls to have been added last month. The actual number: 235,000. There had been an expected slowdown due to the COVID-19 delta variant; it just looks like it was much worse than predicted. Still, the unemployment rate dropped to 5.2% from 5.4%. CNBC

REDDIT IPO?

Reddit is reportedly looking to hire investment bankers and lawyers as it pursues an IPO in New York. The online message board that’s home to Wall Street Bets hopes it will be valued at more than $15 billion by the time it goes public. A timeline isn’t laid out just yet -- sources said that the timing and the size of the IPO are subject to market conditions. REUTERS

TWITTER TESTS “SAFETY MODE”

Twitter is testing a new feature called “Safety Mode” that screens out and filters tweets that could potentially be abusive. Users can enable the mode from the settings menu, and the filter lasts for seven days. It can be reactivated after a week. “Safety Mode” is only rolling out to a select number of users first, as the company hopes to focus on female journalists and marginalized communities. TECHCRUNCH

FTC INVESTIGATES MCFLURRY MACHINES

The Federal Trade Commission has reached out to McDonald’s franchisees seeking information about what exactly is going on with reports of broken ice cream machines after years of public outcry. Franchise owners have long complained that the machines are overly complicated, hard to fix, and time consuming to clean. McDonald’s said it understands the frustrations and is working on the problem. WSJ

BIG 12 EXPANSION?

The Big 12 is reportedly thinking about adding BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF to its conference. This would bring the Big 12 to 12 teams for the first time since 2010 before Colorado and Nebraska left. The conference is eyeing those four teams after it lost Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC. YAHOO SPORTS

SPOTTED…

… ABBA has announced a new album and a reunion of sorts: the Swedish band will perform virtually at a special London venue starting next May. They also posted one of their two new singles: LISTEN

… Kanye West released a music video for the song “Come to Life” off of his new album “Donda.” The video was filmed during West’s August 26 listening party. WATCH

LEFTOVERS: HAVE THAT THIRD CUP

New research shows that drinking up to three cups of coffee daily is associated with lower risks for stroke and death from cardiovascular disease, as well as death from all causes. The European Society of Cardiology says that “even high daily intake was not associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes.” USA TODAY

Note: The Need2Know Podcast and Newsletter will return Tuesday, September 7! 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!

Share:
More In Culture
Plant-Based Way to Quit Smoking; Innovation in Stroke Therapy
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.'
Pressure to Settle $1 Billion Claim From Nassar Survivors Against FBI
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."
Elevate Prize Foundation Wants to Create 'Fanbase for Good' With $10K Awards
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."
Stephanie Shojaee on Paving the Way for Women in Real Estate
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."
Hot summer could lead to rolling blackouts
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.
U.S. traffic deaths hit 16 year high
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 Closed at Session Highs Tuesday
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.
Gymnasts Seek $1 Billion From FBI Over Larry Nassar Case
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.
Kat Tat on Becoming 'Elite' Black Woman Tattoo Artist in Unwelcoming Industry
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."
Load More