Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Thursday, August 20, 2020:
DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION
LAST NIGHT: The Democratic Party formally nominated Sen. Kamala Harris for the vice presidency, capping the most policy-focused night of the DNC so far. Harris called this an “inflection point” in America and defined her role in the campaign as fighting “for the people,” a nod to her days as a prosecutor. Barack Obama delivered the sharpest condemnation of a sitting president from a former president ever, saying: “Donald Trump hasn’t grown into the job, because he can’t.” An emotional Obama addressed voters directly, telling them that Republicans “know they can’t win you over with their policies, so they’re hoping to make it as hard as possible for you to vote…That’s how they win.” HIGHLIGHTS
TONIGHT: Joe Biden will formally accept the nomination in the fourth and final night of programming. Other speakers include Sens. Cory Booker, Chris Coons and Tammy Baldwin, Pete Buttigieg and Andrew Yang. CBS NEWS
CALIFORNIA FIRES: Cal Fire has issued an extraordinary warning, telling all residents of California to “be ready to go” in the event of wildfires. There are now more than 350 fires across the state, sparked by lightning strikes and fanned by an historic heat wave and high winds. The worst of those are in Northern California and have sent a blanket of ash over San Francisco. Tens of thousands of people are under evacuation orders in the wine country of Sonoma and Napa Counties. MERCURY NEWS
OPERATION LEGEND: The attorney general announced that there have been nearly 1,500 arrests made across eight U.S. cities in recent weeks, as part of a federal law enforcement initiative dubbed Operation Legend. AG Barr said most of those arrests are gun- and drug-related. This is a separate initiative from the controversial strategy of sending federal authorities into cities like Portland to quell civil unrest. That city continues to see violent protests nearly every night; Portland Police declared a riot this week after arsonists set fire to a government building. USA TODAY
COVID-19: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: A new study from researchers at Mass Gen suggests that children may play a larger role than thought as “super spreaders” of the coronavirus, even if they show no symptoms. The U.S. is still recording about 1,300 deaths a day. Meanwhile, the FDA has paused a plan to issue an emergency-use-authorization for convalescent blood plasma as a treatment for COVID-19, saying more study is needed. NATURE
TWO TRILLION CLUB: Apple is the first American company to reach a market valuation of $2 trillion. The iPhone maker has doubled its value in just two years, joining the Saudi state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco as the only companies to ever hit the milestone. Investors were worried that the coronavirus was going to majorly disrupt Apple’s supply chain, but the stock has been on fire, up more than 50 percent since the pandemic began. THE VERGE
NETFLIX SHUFFLE: Netflix is trying to make the days of arguing over what to watch a thing of the past. The streaming giant has been testing a ‘shuffle’ button that lets you roll the dice and have the algorithm play something random. TECHCRUNCH
PARTY ON, POWER OFF: The mayor of Los Angeles authorized the city to shut off power at a home in the Hollywood Hills that belongs to a trio of TikTok stars who have been throwing large parties in violation of public health orders. Mayor Eric Garcetti followed through on a warning that he would disconnect the utilities at homes that continued to host parties, calling the home in question a “nightclub in the hills.” TikTok personalities Bryce Hall, Noah Beck and Blake Gray reportedly live together in the house. CBS LA
SPOTTED...Bill Murray, reunited with Lost in Translation director Sofia Coppola, in the trailer for Coppola’s new comedy, On the Rocks: WATCH
LOUGHLIN SENTENCING: Lori Loughlin and husband Mossimo Giannulli will be sentenced tomorrow in the college-admissions scandal (a.k.a. Operation Varsity Blues). Prosecutors are expected to argue that the couple’s daughters, Bella and Olivia Jade, were in on the scam and went along at their parents’ urging by doing things like posing for staged photos for their applications. THE CUT
LEFTOVERS: TRANSPARENT BATHROOMS: A famous Japanese architect is redesigning some of Tokyo’s public bathrooms with a novel approach. The bathrooms are entirely see-through, so that passersby can tell when they're empty and check out the cleanliness before they commit. Once in use, the walls turn a glowing opaque, ensuring privacy. SEE THEM
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