Los Angeles Dodgers Cody Bellinger and AJ Pollock bump elbows during Game 7 of the National League Championship Series Sunday, Oct. 18, 2020, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Monday, October 19, 2020:
COVID-19: THE NEXT 3 MONTHS
Sunday’s Meet the Press on NBC presented two different narratives about what’s coming as the U.S. heads into winter. Health and Human Services Sec. Alex Azar painted an optimistic picture, telling Americans to “hang in there with us” as effective treatments and vaccines are “weeks away.” The next guest, Dr. Michael Osterholm, a leading infectious disease expert, acknowledged that the medical cavalry was coming, but said: “the next six to 12 weeks are going to be the darkest of the entire pandemic.” NY TIMES
CLOSING ARGUMENTS
With just two more full weeks before Election Day, President Trump and Joe Biden are setting up their closing messages to voters. The president is jetting from rally to rally where he has been delivering a version of a stump speech -- complete with “lock them up” chants -- that many Republicans worry is doing little to bring in the independent voters he needs to close his polling gap with Biden. Meanwhile, the former VP has been hammering a message that he’s the better candidate for the economy -- the one area where Trump still holds an edge. The Biden camp is keeping a low profile this week ahead of Thursday’s final debate. NBC NEWS
FRANCE TERROR ATTACK
People in France took to the streets over the weekend to pay tribute to Samuel Paty, a history teacher who was murdered outside Paris after he reportedly showed his students cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad as part of a lesson. French officials say an 18-year-old Chechen refugee beheaded Paty on Friday near the school where he taught. The attacker was then killed by police. French President Emmanuel Macron has called the murder an “assasination” and an “Islamist terror attack.” EURONEWS
JACINDA WINS IN LANDSLIDE
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been reelected in a landslide victory that she is crediting to her administration’s coronavirus response, which has been held up around the world as the gold standard. Over the weekend, New Zealand reported a single new case of community transmission after going three weeks without any new cases. AP
UNITED STATES DEBT
The federal budget deficit skyrocketed to a record $3.1 trillion for the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, with debt totaling 102 percent of the country’s GDP. That’s the first time debt has exceeded the size of the economy in at least 70 years. Government spending has soared during the pandemic, and the growing deficit is the main reason Senate Republicans have been skittish about signing on to another stimulus bill. NPR
COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE CRISIS
The commercial real estate industry is in serious trouble as stores, theaters and hotels struggle to make enough money to pay their rents, and property owners are increasingly unable to meet their mortgage obligations. Brick-and-mortar retailers were already hurting before the pandemic, and with more going out of business every week -- combined with empty hotels, cinemas and malls -- the $15 trillion commercial real-estate market is under enormous pressure to avoid defaults and foreclosures. POLITICO
FALL CLASSIC
The L.A. Dodgers will face the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series -- a matchup that will feature the two teams with the best records in their leagues. Completing a stunning comeback, the Dodgers won Game 7 against the Braves in dramatic fashion after Cody Bellinger hit a go-ahead solo home run in the seventh inning to break open a tied game. Game 1 of the World Series is tomorrow night in Texas. LA TIMES
LIVE FROM NEW YORK...
Adele is set to host next weekend’s Saturday Night Live, the show announced, with musical guest H.E.R. The singer wrote on Instagram, confirming the news: “...if there was ever a time for any of us to jump head first into the deep end with our eyes closed and hope for the best it’s 2020 right?” VARIETY
SAVE OUR STAGES
The Foo Fighters played an all-acoustic set of their greatest hits at the empty Troubadour nightclub in Hollywood, part of the Save Our Stages virtual festival in support of independent music venues that are at risk of closing for good: WATCH
LEFTOVERS: GOT A ZEPTOSEC?
Scientists say they have measured the shortest unit of time ever: the time it takes a particle of light to cross a hydrogen molecule. That process takes 247 zeptoseconds, give or take. A zeptosecond is a trillionth of a billionth of a second, surpassing the previous measurement of femtoseconds, which are a millionth of a billionth of a second. SCIENCE
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Hinge users who have children can opt-in to a $100 stipend up to $25,000 for childcare. Logan Ury, the director of relationship science for the online dating platform, noted the issue as an obstacle for single parents who want to go out on dates. "We have heard that singles with children have a hard time going on dates for one of the reasons being that it's just hard to find childcare and it's hard to be able to afford it," she said. Ury also said that the hot topic among Hinge's users is mental health and the prioritizing of mental health.
Dolly Parton, Eminem, Lionel Richie, and Carly Simon are just a few of the nominees announced for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2022 induction. Results of the voting will be released in May, however, the ceremony date has yet to be announced.
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates: CEO of HereAfter AI discusses how artificial intelligence can be used to preserve family history and stories, and allow you to 'talk' to loved ones that have passed; Creator of the board game 'Travel Explore Discover' explains how she came up with the idea for this informative and educational board game, and how she's using the proceeds to give back to her community; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'The Humboldt Current.'
According to the Federal Reserve, the investment gap between Black and white Americans has remained substantial, with only 34 percent of Black households joining in on the historic rise in the markets. Stacey Tisdale, the first Black woman to have reported from the NYSE and the CEO and president of Mind Money Media Inc., said that the data might not be as disheartening as it seems. "I think that number is very deceiving. That Federal Reserve study is actually from 2019, and it's very important that we all look beneath that number and look beneath the surface because there is nothing short of an investing revolution going on in the Black community," Tisdale said.
James Vlahos, Co-Founder and CEO of HereAfter AI, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss how artificial intelligence can be used to preserve family history and stories, and allow you to 'talk' to loved ones that have passed.
Ava Rathenberg, Creator of the board game 'Travel Explore Discover,' joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss how she came up with the idea for this informative and educational board game, and how she's using the proceeds to give back to her community.
An award-winning performance by the LSU Tiger Girls dance team is going viral on TikTok, but like many other viral tiktoks, this one had a larger story to tell. The story goes back to 2021 when for the first time in 22 years, the LSU dance team was informed it could not compete at Universal Dance Association Nationals. The team made their anticipated return to UDA Nationals this year with a performance that delivered a strong and clear message to their university. The LSU Tiger Girls walked away from the competition with their first national championship title in 12 years, redemption against the university that held them back, and of course- millions of new fans and friends on TikTok.
Solid-state battery maker Factorial Energy recently raised $200 million in a Series D round led by Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis. Factorial says the funding will be used to accelerate commercial production and deployment of its solid-state battery technology, which the company says is safer, and offers up to 50% more driving range than current lithium-ion technology. Factorial also has joint development agreements (announced in late 2021) with Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and Hyundai, three of the top 10 global automotive manufacturers, to commercialize its batteries. Factorial CEO Siyu Huang joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Former Dolphins coach Brian Flores filed a lawsuit against the NFL over racial discrimination, exposing a long-running problem the NFL has had with diversity in its top coaching and management positions. Eric Mitchell, the president and CEO of public relations and communications company LifeFlip Media, joined Cheddar News to delve into the scandal rocking the pro football world just before the Super Bowl. "There is a problem. If you look at who owns teams in the NFL, it's right, it's a good old boys club, it's a bunch of old white guys," he said. "So, it's exposing something that's been around for ages and now that we're sitting in 2022 has come up."
This April, Madison Square Garden will be hosting the first-ever women's boxing match to headline at the arena in its 140 years of history in boxing. Undisputed lightweight champion, Katie Taylor, and seven-division champion, Amanda Serrano, will go head-to-head for a career-high guaranteed seven-figure purse for both of them. The pair joined Cheddar News to talk about the upcoming "fight of their lives." "I mean, this is the first step I believe," said Serrano. "Unheard of, two women headlining the Garden, we get in the biggest paydays of our career, I hope it continues to break down barriers."
