Get the Need2Know newsletter in your inbox every morning! Sign up here!

Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Monday, December 20, 2021:

BUILD BACK NEVER

The centerpiece of President Biden’s domestic agenda appears to be dead after Sen. Joe Manchin said over the weekend that he will not support the Build Back Better bill. Manchin shocked the White House when he went on Fox News and said he’s a hard “no” on the $2 trillion bill, dooming it at least in its current form. The BBB legislation provided $500 billion for tax breaks and spending on climate change, as well as billions more to expand the social safety net by creating free preschool and expanding child care aid. WASH POST

OMICRON LATEST

Moderna says a booster shot of its Covid vaccine significantly increases the level of antibody protection against the Omicron variant, coming after Pfizer said a booster of its vaccine does the same. Dr. Fauci warned Americans to brace for a “tough few weeks to months” as Omicron becomes the dominant strain in the U.S., while the White House issued an unusually harsh statement warning that the unvaccinated are “looking at a winter of severe illness and death for yourselves, your families and the hospitals you may soon overwhelm.” President Biden is expected to deliver a version of that message when he addresses the nation tomorrow night. CNN

DRONE WAR CASUALTIES

The New York Times published a major investigation over the weekend focused on casualties from the U.S. drone war in the Middle East, finding that civilian deaths were far more widespread than previously known across the Obama and Trump administrations. The Times got its hands on a secret Pentagon archive that describes many drone strikes as relying on “deeply flawed intelligence” that led to thousands of civilian deaths, including many children, in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. The Biden administration has significantly pared back the U.S. air war. According to data from Airwars.org, there were 1,600 American airstrikes in Iraq and Syria during the first 11 months of the Trump presidency, and just four in the same period under Biden. NY TIMES

CHILE'S NEXT PRESIDENT

Chile has elected the leftist Gabriel Boric to be its next president, making the 35-year-old former student activist the youngest ever leader of the Latin American country. Boric ran on a platform of reducing inequality, raising taxes on the rich and addressing climate change and beat his far-right competitor by a larger margin than polls anticipated. Boric will take power with Chile in the process of drafting a new democratic constitution focused on gender equality, Indigenous rights and environmental protections. BBC

FUTURES IN THE RED

Stock futures are pointing sharply lower this morning ahead of a shortened trading week, as investors digest the rapid spread of the Omicron variant and the news that the Build Back Better bill appears to be doomed. Goldman Sachs lowered its growth forecast for 2022, citing the difficulties in getting that spending bill passed. December has been a bit of a dud for the markets, with the usual year-end “Santa Claus rally” failing to materialize so far. MARKETWATCH

DISNEY-YOUTUBE DISPUTE

ESPN is back on YouTube TV after Disney reached a deal with Google to reinstate its portfolio of channels on the popular streaming service. ESPN, FX, The Disney Channel and ABC were pulled from YouTube TV on Friday when their carriage agreement lapsed, leading YouTube to drop the monthly price for subscribers by $15. YouTube TV will return to its $65 per month cost now that the channels have been restored. THE VERGE

COVID IN SPORTS

Covid is once again ripping through pro sports, filling up teams’ reserve lists even though virtually every player testing positive for the virus is either asymptomatic or mildly sick. The NFL is amending its strict testing policy and will no longer require asymptomatic vaccinated players to test weekly, and will allow high-risk players to opt out of the rest of the season. The NHL is suspending games that involve cross-border travel until after Christmas, and there are concerns that the hockey league won’t be able to send players to Beijing for the Olympics. In the NBA, five games have been postponed amid a wave of players in the Covid protocol. The league has responded by allowing teams to sign replacement players if their rosters are depleted. ESPN

SPIDEY SAVES THE DAY

Spider-Man didn’t just break all Covid-era box office records, he obliterated them. Spider-Man: No Way Home opened to $253 million over the weekend, the biggest debut of the pandemic (by far), the biggest ever for a Spidey flick, and the third-biggest domestic opening of all time (behind just the final two Avengers movies). And the records fell in spite of the Omicron wave, giving Hollywood some much-needed evidence that people are itching to go back to the theaters --  at least to see big franchise blockbusters. VARIETY

SPOTTED...

…Tom Brady, smashing a Microsoft tablet to pieces on the sidelines as the Saints shut out the Bucs, 9-0: WATCH

…Paul Rudd, hosting SNL in front of an empty Studio 8H. The show sent its live audience and most of its cast and crew home out of “an abundance of caution” over Covid: WATCH THE MONOLOGUE

LEFTOVERS: LONG LIVE THE KING

Hassan Dervish spent 40 years selling ice cream out of a truck in London before he died last week of cancer at the age of 62. Dervish’s funeral procession included a fleet of 10 ice cream trucks playing their jingles as Dervish's fellow vendors came out to pay their respects to the “king of the ice cream”: WATCH

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!

Share:
More In Culture
AT&T Investors Digest WarnerMedia Spinoff Merger With Discovery for $43 Billion
AT&T announced earlier today it is spinning off its media properties in WarnerMedia in a merger with Discovery in a $43 billion deal.Scott Rostan, founder and CEO at Training The Street, joined Cheddar to talk about what the unwinding of the telecom giant's Time Warner media properties means for investors. "I think the investor sentiment is they're digesting the new information, and they're looking into the dividend, especially the reduction of the dividend," said Rostan, noting the transaction allows AT&T to focus on its core telecommunications business.
Energy Storage Solutions Company Leclanché Powers EV Fleets to Reduce Emissisions
A 2021 report from UK Research and Innovation found that the shipping industry makes up at least 2.5 percent of the world's total CO2 emissions. It's a problem that energy solutions company, Leclanché, is trying to solve. Founded in 1909, the company has been developing and producing batteries for more than 100 years. Today, Leclanché's lithium-ion battery is used to electrify not just ships, but also railroad locomotives, trucks, and specialty vehicles. Cheddar News spoke with Pierre Blanc, chief technology and industrial officer of Leclanché, to discuss.
Amazon Funds Amogy to Commercialize Ammonia-Powered Cargo-Shipping Vessels, Decarbonize Transportation
Amazon is betting that ammonia could be the fuel of the future, participating in a Series A round for the Brooklyn-based company Amogy in December. Amogy aims to de-carbonize transportation with a clean energy system that uses ammonia as a renewable fuel. Amogy is partnering with Amazon on its first commercial product - an ammonia-powered cargo-shipping vessel. Amogy CEO Seonghoon Woo joins Cheddar Climate to discuss.
FedEx Announces Student Ambassador Program With Historically Black Colleges & Universities
One of the world's largest transport companies is kicking off Black History Month with a new initiative aimed at the next generation of business leaders. Today, FedEx announced the launch of its Student Ambassador Program. Participants selected from eight historically black colleges and universities will receive career guidance from FedEx executives. The program is part of FedEx's ongoing commitment to HBCUs and will also help the company expand its pipeline for diverse talent. Cheddar News welcomes senior vice president at FedEx, Jenny Robertson, and Jerryl Briggs, President of Mississippi Valley State University, to discuss.
'Sing 2' Takes Top Spot From 'Spider-Man' at UK Box Office
"Sing 2" has overthrown "Spider-Man: No Way Home" as the number one film at the UK box office. The animated sequel brought in $8.1 million, in just its two first weekends. However, "No Way Home" is still on track to beat "Avatar" as the number one grossing movie of all time.
First Black CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America on Empowering Youth With NFL
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America has been a driving force for youth mentorship since 1904. The nonprofit organization is launching its annual Big Draft campaign this month in partnership with the NFL, and Artis Stevens, the first Black CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, joined Cheddar to discuss the push for adding more "Bigs" as mentors on his one-year anniversary leading the non-profit organization. "While the NFL is recruiting and drafting more players, they're also helping us to draft more mentors and, particularly, men all the way from across February to all the way to April of this year," Stevens explained.
Supreme Court To Hear Challenge To Affirmative Action
The Supreme Court will reconsider race-based affirmative action in college admissions. The court will examine admissions policies at Harvard University and The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, which count the race of applicants as a factor in admissions. The court has upheld affirmative action policies in the past, saying it helps to create more diverse student bodies. However, the conservative Supreme Court could be skeptical and even possibly hostile to such policies. Nick Anderson, Higher Education Writer, Washington Post joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Crypto Prices Plummet, Wiping Out $1 Trillion In Global Value
The value of most cryptocurrencies have plummeted in recent months since reaching all-time highs in November, wiping out more than $1 trillion in value globally. The steep crash has some talking about the possibility of a crypto winter, a term referring to a prolonged bearish period where asset prices persistently fall over many months. This all comes as the Fed is expected to raise interest rates, and the Biden administration is working on an executive order to regulate Bitcoin and other assets. Josh Goodbody, COO of Qredo, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss the crypto crash, and how the industry might recover from it.
Streaming Giants Struggle to Retain Subscribers Following Big Releases
Recent data reveals that streaming giants are struggling to retain subscribers in the months following a major release. According to data from Antenna, subscriber trends show that users will subscribe to a given streaming service just to watch a particular show, and then cancel those subscriptions shortly after. This comes as the streaming space continues to heat up as new entrants crowd the space. Jon Christian, Founding Partner + Digital Supply Chain Leader at OnPrem joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Load More