Icicles hang on the back of a vehicle Monday, Feb. 15, 2021, in Houston. A frigid blast of winter weather across the U.S. plunged Texas into an unusually icy emergency Monday that knocked out power to more than 2 million people and shut down grocery stores and dangerously snowy roads. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Tuesday, February 16, 2021:
DEEP FREEZE
An historic coast-to-coast weather system is wreaking havoc across most of the country. Texas got the brunt of it so far, with temps as low as 7 in Dallas, snow on the beaches of Galveston, six inches in Austin, and rolling blackouts from ice that have left 3.9 million people across the state still without power this morning. Gas prices have jumped nationwide and will likely keep rising as the big Texas refineries have had to go offline due to the failure of the electrical grid. The system is tracking over the Midwest and Northeast through today and will bring widespread snow and damaging ice and with it. LIVE UPDATES
COVID-19: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
The numbers are continuing to improve in the U.S. by just about every metric: cases, hospitalizations and deaths are all still showing significant decreases, and the vaccination rate is slowly inching up, with the seven-day average now 1.64 million shots administered -- though that number may take a hit this week due to the impacts of the storm. Some more promising news is coming from Israel, where new data shows a staggering 94 percent drop in symptomatic cases among the 600,000 or so people who have received both vaccine doses, regardless of age. CNN
BLUE GOVS ON DEFENSE
Two Democratic governors who got early praise for their handling of the pandemic are now mired in scandal and controversy for that same stewardship. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has admitted that his office should have been more transparent in how it counted coronavirus deaths in nursing homes, which were far more than the state originally acknowledged. Cuomo stopped short of a full apology and denied allegations that he covered up those deaths to keep the Trump administration from investigating. Meanwhile, opponents of California Gov. Gavin Newsom say they have the 1.5 million signatures needed to trigger a recall election over his missteps. Those signatures are now in the process of being verified. POLITICO
THIN ICE
Most of Europe is also in a deep freeze, and officials across the continent are pleading with people to stop ice skating on frozen lakes and canals in order to spare their already stretched-thin emergency services. Amsterdam’s famous canals froze over for the first time in years, leading to throngs of lockdown-weary Dutch skaters trying out their skills. One man, wearing just a swimsuit, learned the hard way that the ice was not as solid as it looked: WATCH
JAG GOES ELECTRIC
Jaguar Land Rover, the British luxury automaker that’s been notoriously slow to adopt electric vehicles, says it will follow the likes of GM and others and take major steps to electrify its fleet in the coming years. The Jaguar brand will ditch the internal combustion engine by 2025, and Land Rover will release its first EV in 2024. BLOOMBERG
PARLER'S BACK
The controversial social-media app Parler is back online after it was cut off by Amazon, Google and Apple in the wake of the Capitol riot. Parler’s new CEO says old accounts are being restored and new users will be able to join in the coming days. Pre-Jan. 6, the app had become a clearinghouse for far-right extremists and conspiracy theories due to its lax moderation policies. THE VERGE
SERENA V. NAOMI
Serena Williams beat Simona Halep 6-3, 6-3, in the Australian Open to set up a semifinal showdown with Naomi Osaka tomorrow. Williams is two wins away from tying the Grand Slam singles record. In women’s doubles, Coco Gauff and Caty McNally are out after falling to Nicole Melichar and Demi Schuurs. ESPN
OPRAH SNAGS ROYAL EXCLUSIVE
A day after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced they’re expecting their second child, CBS says Oprah will interview the couple for a primetime special next month. The 90-minute sit down, which the network is promoting as “wide-ranging” and “intimate,” airs Sunday March 7. PEOPLE
SPOTTED...
… Shailene Woodley, arriving on the set of her new movie in Montreal after it was reported that she and Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers got engaged: SEE PIC
… Michael B. Jordan, renting out an entire aquarium for new girlfriend Lori Harvey on Valentine’s Day: SEE IT
LEFTOVERS: WALLEN IS TOPS
Two weeks after he had his recording contract suspended and songs taken off airplay for using a racial slur, country star Morgan Wallen is selling more music than ever. Wallen’s latest album is #1 in the U.S. for five weeks running now and his previous album has cracked the top 10 on Billboard’s album chart for the first time. BILLBOARD
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."
