Medical works operate a testing tent at a COVID-19 mobile testing site, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Thursday, November 12, 2020:
COVID-19: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
The U.S. is back up to 1,400 coronavirus daily deaths, a tally that hasn’t been seen since August, as more states add new restrictions. New York will require bars, restaurants and gyms to close at 10 pm and put a limit on private gatherings. Ohio is the latest state to issue a mask mandate. Nevada’s governor told residents they have two weeks to get the virus under control or he will impose new rules. Texas is the first state to hit one million cases, with California on track to become the second any day. WSJ
PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION
President-elect Biden has made his first senior leadership appointment, naming Ron Klain as White House Chief of Staff. Klain is a longtime confidant of Biden who served as his chief of staff during the Obama years. He was also Obama’s “Ebola czar” during the 2014 outbreak and is widely respected in the medical community. As the White House stalls on the transition, GOP Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma says he will use his authority on the Senate oversight committee to step in and make sure Biden is getting the presidential daily briefing by tomorrow. WASH POST
GEORGIA ON EVERYONE'S MIND
The one outstanding Senate race in Alaska has been called by the AP for the incumbent Republican, Sen. Dan Sullivan. That means that control of the chamber will indeed come down to whatever happens in the runoffs for Georgia’s two Senate seats, scheduled for Jan. 5. Before that, the Peach State will do an audit and hand recount of every ballot cast for president, where Biden is winning by about 14,000 votes. CBS NEWS
THE STORM THAT WON'T GO AWAY
Tropical Storm Eta made its fourth (!) landfall overnight, coming ashore north of Tampa with heavy rain, 50 mph winds and knocking out power to about 30,000 Floridians. Eta has been kicking around the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico for two weeks -- strengthening, weakening, strengthening and weakening again as it now moves over the Florida peninsula and then back out into the Atlantic. The Southeast and mid-Atlantic will see heavy rain today into tomorrow. TRACK
STUDENT DEBT FORGIVENESS
Can -- or will -- a Biden administration cancel student-loan debt? Biden has said he’s open to the idea, and Sen. Chuck Schumer has said he believes it would be one of Biden’s first executive actions. The plan reportedly being floated among Democrats is to zero out $10,000 per federal borrower as part of a larger coronavirus relief bill, which wouldn't require Congressional sign off. The majority of borrowers owe less than $20,000. YAHOO FINANCE
RING RECALL
About 350,000 Ring doorbell cameras are being recalled after some of them have caught fire. According to the CPSC, the cameras in question were sold on Amazon between June and October of this year. TECHCRUNCH
MASTERS LIKE NO OTHER
It’s not Augusta in April, but it is still the Masters. The iconic golf tournament starts today, seven months late, from the pristine greens of Augusta National, and without any spectators. Tiger Woods, defending his Masters title, tees off just before 8 a.m. ET. Bryson DeChambeau is the consensus favorite to win the green jacket this year following his U.S. Open victory in September. GOLF CHANNEL
SPOTTED...
...the Bush and Obama daughters, in throwback snapshots shared by Jenna Bush on Instagram, showing her and her twin sister giving Sasha and Malia a tour of the White House during the transition in 2008: SEE PICS
BRITNEY CONSERVATORSHIP
Britney Spears has lost her motion in court to have her father removed as the conservator of her estate. Jamie Spears has been the legal guardian of his daughter’s $60 million fortune for more than a decade, and a judge found that he can continue to control her finances for now. Spears has said she’s afraid of her dad and won’t perform so long as he’s her conservator. AP
LEFTOVERS: MEMES OF THE YEAR
If there was ever a golden age for the meme, 2020 has been it. Four Loko, the boozy drink brand, surveyed Americans in order to rank the top memes of this crazy year. No surprise: 8 of the top ten were pandemic themed: SEE THE LIST
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!
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 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.
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" 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The EU relaxed its Covid travel restrictions for vaccinated individuals among the union's 27 member states, doing away with testing or quarantine requirements for travelers. This comes soon after the World Health Organization said the omicron variant could help make the pandemic more manageable. The new rules take effect February 1st. Bryce Conway, Founder, 10xTravel joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
