Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Thursday, August 27, 2020:
HURRICANE LAURA: DIRECT HIT
LANDFALL: Hurricane Laura slammed into the southwest Gulf Coast overnight, near the city of Cameron, Louisiana, just shy of Cat 5 status with 150 mph winds -- one of the strongest hurricanes to ever make a direct hit on the U.S. More than 1.5 million people along the Texas and Louisiana coastlines were told to evacuate; those who did not were told to prepare for the worst. The storm is now a Cat 2 as the eyewall moves inland over southwestern Louisiana. TRACK
STORM SURGE: The National Hurricane Center warned of a “catastrophic” and “unsurvivable” storm surge along the coast, the biggest since Katrina 15 years ago. A wall of water as high as 20 feet was expected to wash over the Texas-Louisiana border. CNN
REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION
LAST NIGHT: With the country reeling from a deadly virus, record unemployment, social unrest, riots, boycotts, a hurricane and wildfires, Vice President Pence spoke from Ft. McHenry and warned that “you won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America.” Night 3 of the RNC was heavy on a “law-and-order” message, though Pence also recognized the pandemic as a “time of testing” for the nation. CHEDDAR
TONIGHT: On the final night, President Trump will formally accept the nomination from the White House grounds. Teeing him up: his daughter, Ivanka, Rudy Giuliani, Dana White from the UFC, Sens. Tom Cotton and Mitch McConnell, and more. CBS NEWS
KENOSHA LATEST
ARREST: Police have arrested a white teenager who allegedly gunned down two protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin and injured another. The suspect, 17, from Illinois, is charged with first-degree homicide in those killings. Authorities say he crossed state lines with a long gun to join a militia that was patrolling the streets. JOURNAL SENTINEL
BLAKE SHOOTING: The Justice Dept. has opened an investigation into the shooting of Jacob Blake. Authorities say Blake had a knife in his car when he was shot repeatedly by a Kenosha officer, who first tried to Tase him. Blake was unarmed when he was shot seven times in the back. The officer who shot him has been identified as Rusten Sheskey. SKY NEWS
SPORTS STRIKE: All three Game 5s in the NBA Playoffs were postponed after players on the Milwaukee Bucks refused to take the court in protest of the Blake shooting. They were joined by players in the WNBA, MLB, MLS and pro tennis in one of the biggest coordinated walkouts in sports history. No determination has been made about today’s NBA games in the rapidly evolving boycott. ESPN
COVID-19: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
MEDICAL ADVANCES: Moderna has announced more promising early results from its vaccine trials. The biotech company says elderly patients are seeing similar immune responses to the younger patients also being given the vaccine. Separately, Abbott Labs was given the green-light by the FDA for its $5 rapid test and will begin shipping tens of millions of units. MARKETWATCH
POLICY: The CDC was reportedly instructed by “higher-ups” in the Trump administration to tighten testing guidelines in order to exclude people who are asymptomatic even if they've been in contact with someone who is sick. The virus is known to be transmitted by those without symptoms. The task force is said to have made the final decision to change the guidelines last week, at the same time Dr. Fauci was under anesthesia getting surgery. NY TIMES
ANOTHER FT. HOOD DEATH
The police say there’s no signs of foul play after another soldier at Fort Hood in Texas was found dead after disappearing from the base. What’s believed to be the body of Sgt. Elder Fernandes was found this week and his family is calling on Congress to investigate, saying he was a victim of sexual abuse. Fernandes is the third Ft. Hood soldier to go missing in the last year. ARMY TIMES
IPHONE TRACKING PROMPT
The upcoming version of Apple’s iOS will require apps to make users opt-in to data-tracking permissions, and many app developers -- and advertisers -- are worried the prompt will seriously harm their ability to serve targeted ads on mobile, since most people will decline it. Facebook is warning that the new iOS will cripple its ability to serve ads across other apps. WSJ
D.C. NFL TEAM UNDER FIRE AGAIN
The Washington Football Team’s front office is once again under fire over a new bombshell exposé in the Washington Post. According to multiple former employees who spoke on the record, team employees would cut partially-nude outtakes from the cheerleaders’ calendar shoots into a lewd movie that would be passed around the office, including among executives. One former cheerleader also accuses Dan Snyder, the team’s embattled owner, of suggesting she go to a hotel room to “get to know” one of his friends. At least 42 women have said they were sexually harassed while employed by the team. READ IT
BRITNEY'S MONEY
Britney Spears’ sister, Jamie Lynn Spears, has been taking steps to get more involved in the protracted battle over the singer’s conservatorship. Jamie Lynn was made a trustee of the fortune in 2018, according to newly revealed court filings. It’s unclear what that means for the battle between Spears and her father over his status as a conservator of that trust. Spears has not controlled her own money since her 2007 breakdown. VANITY FAIR
SPOTTED...women’s rights pioneers Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, memorialized in a new statue unveiled in NYC’s Central Park on the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment. It’s the park’s first statue that depicts real-life women: SEE IT
LEFTOVERS: MUST SEE TV?
CBS is the first network to debut its fall lineup and it’s...bleak. The big “new” shows are essentially content that was already available elsewhere, like Star Trek: Discovery, which debuted on CBS All Access three years ago. The rest of the schedule is padded with reality TV, but for the first time in 20 years, there’s no new season of Survivor. The producers were unable to figure out how to make the production safe. TV INSIDER
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