Beyonce appears in the audience before accepting the award for best rap song for "Savage" at the 63rd annual Grammy Awards at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Sunday, March 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Monday, March 15, 2021:
COVID-19: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Even though the rate of vaccinations continues to improve -- a record 3 million shots were given on Saturday -- the decline of new cases in the U.S. appears to have leveled off, raising concerns that the country is plateauing at a level that’s still too high. There are ominous signs abroad, too. Much of Italy is going into another lockdown effective today as it deals with an exponential rise in cases brought on by at least one of the new variants. The entire country will lockdown for Easter weekend. At least six European countries have suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine over concerns about blood clots, even though the EU’s drug regulator says the benefits still outweigh the risks. CNN
VACCINE ELIGIBILITY
A bunch of states are expanding their vaccine eligibility requirements today. California is opening it up to anyone with a serious underlying condition. Georgia goes 55 and up plus anyone with high-risk conditions. Texas expands to 50 and up. New Jersey adds transit workers and other public-facing personnel. New York opens its next phase on Wednesday, and is now authorizing four hours paid time off for every public and private state employee. BI
CUOMO LATEST
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s “vaccine czar” has reportedly been calling county officials across the state to gauge their loyalty to the governor amid his widening scandals. The calls led at least one local official to believe the implication was that vaccine supply could suffer if their loyalty was deemed insufficient. Cuomo reiterated on Friday that he had no plans to resign, after the New York Senate delegation called on him to step down. NY TIMES
WINTER STORM
There are 27 inches of snow on the ground at Denver International Airport, making the weekend’s winter blast the fourth-largest on record for the Mile High City. Some mountain locations recorded 60 inches. The system is moving across the Midwest today, creating a travel nightmare for the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin. TRACK
AMERICAN OPTIMISM
Americans are growing increasingly optimistic about the next few months. The latest CBS News poll shows 64 percent of respondents think the vaccine rollout is going well; 55 percent will get or already have gotten vaccinated; 75 percent are in favor of the new stimulus package and 71 percent think the law is going to help the working class. Last week, a Politico poll found 50 percent of Americans think the country is on the right track (that number has rarely been above water in the last 20 years). CBS NEWS
STREAMING WARS
Disney’s streaming platform is such a smashing success that it’s now on pace to overtake Netflix in the next three years. Disney announced earlier this month that Disney+ has more than 100 million subscribers after 16 months. It took Netflix a decade to reach that milestone. Between Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, Disney is expected to steal Netflix’s crown as the world’s top streamer by 2024. GUARDIAN
LET'S DANCE
The field of 68 is set for March Madness. Gonzaga, Illinois, Baylor and Michigan are the top seeds. Four teams that didn’t make the cut -- Louisville, Colorado State, St. Louis and Mississippi -- are on standby for the first round in case any team has to drop out by tomorrow due to COVID protocols. SEE THE BRACKET
GRAMMY HISTORY
Women ruled the night at the Grammys: Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Megan Thee Stallion and Billie Eilish were the big winners from the socially-distanced show at the Staples Center. Beyoncé broke the record for most Grammy wins by a female -- and any singer, male or female -- with 28. Before the show, she and daughter Blue Ivy Carter won the award for best music video for Brown Skin Girl, making 9-year-old Blue Ivy one of the youngest Grammy winners ever. BILLBOARD
SPOTTED...
...Alex Rodriguez, telling a TMZ photog he’s “not single” amid reports that he and fiance Jennifer Lopez had called it quits: SEE PIC
...Yo-Yo Ma, giving an impromptu concert to Mass. residents waiting in line to get vaccinated: WATCH
LEFTOVERS: CHEER MOM
A Pennsylvania woman has been arrested on charges that she created deepfake videos of her daughter’s cheerleading rivals in compromising situations and sent them to the coaches in order to get the girls kicked off the squad. Raffaela Spone is charged with cyber harassment of a child. The case is bringing new attention to the ethical concerns with deepfake technology, now that it is becoming much more advanced. PENNLIVE
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."
