Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Thursday, September 17, 2020:
TRUMP VS. CDC
President Trump publicly contradicted and scolded his own CDC director when it comes to the timeline for a vaccine. After Robert Redfield told Congress that a vaccine should be widely available to all Americans in mid-2021, the president said Redfield must have been confused, and that it would be much sooner. Redfield aso hammered home the message that the single best defense against the virus is a face mask, coupled with hand washing and distancing. NY TIMES
HURRICANE SALLY
Sally has weakened to a tropical depression, after unleashing torrential rain on parts of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. At least one person is dead and hundreds rescued after the storm came ashore Wednesday, packing 105 mile per hour winds and rain that measures in feet. Florida got four months of rain in four hours, with 30 inches of rain in Pensacola alone. CNN
POLLERCOASTER
The presidential election gets all the ink, but the Senate is also up for grabs in November. A new batch of polling shows warning signs for some incumbent Republicans: Sen. Lindsey Graham is in a dead heat with his Democratic challenger, Jaime Harrison, in South Carolina. Sen. Susan Collins is down a shocking 12 points against her Democratic challenger, Sara Gideon, in Maine. Meanwhile, in the latest Gallup poll, President Trump’s approval rating remains at 42 percent -- unchanged from where he stood before the conventions. AXIOS
BIG TEN BACK ON
The Big Ten has voted unanimously to kick off its football season the weekend of Oct. 24, reversing course after pressure from President Trump and new guarantees on the availability of daily testing. Each team will play eight games in eight weeks, leaving no room for error or bye weeks, with the conference championship game slated for Dec. 19. No fans will be allowed in stadiums, and all student athletes at all 14 schools will be tested for COVID-19 every day. ESPN
FED KEEPS RATES LOW
The Federal Reserve made clear that it plans to keep interest rates near zero through 2023 to counter the long-term fallout from the pandemic. Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested that the economy was recovering faster than anticipated, but said a full recovery is entirely predicated on what happens with the virus and urged Congress to pass more stimulus. NBC NEWS
IPO BLOWOUT
A cloud computing company called Snowflake just had the biggest-ever software IPO. Shares of Snowflake, trading under the ticker SNOW, more than doubled in their debut, opening at $245 per share after pricing at $120. At market close, Snowflake was valued at $70 billion. The company lets businesses store and analyze data in the cloud and has the backing of Salesforce and Warren Buffett. GEEKWIRE
CONSOLE WARS
Sony has announced the price and release date of the PlayStation 5: $499, on sale Nov. 12. That puts it head-to-head with Microsoft’s new XBox Series X, launching the same week at the same price -- just in time for the holidays. THE VERGE
SNL FINDS ITS BIDEN
Saturday Night Live has tapped Jim Carrey to play Joe Biden this fall, answering one of the biggest open questions in comedy. SNL will kick off its 46th season with five consecutive shows, starting on Oct. 3 and going right until the election. A “limited” audience will be allowed in-studio. VULTURE
LOVE & JUSTICE
Former WNBA star Maya Moore announced that she got married over the summer to the man she helped free from jail. Moore left her basketball career last year to answer what she said was a call from God: working to help overturn the conviction of Jonathan Irons, who had been in jail for more than 20 years. Irons was convicted on assault and burglary charges in 1998, but a judge ruled in March that prosecutors had suppressed crucial fingerprint evidence. He walked out of jail on July 1, and married the woman who helped free him soon after. GMA
LEFTOVERS: COOL IT
One of the biggest conundrums in computer science has been how to deal with the heat that’s generated as microchips get both smaller and more powerful. More processors equal higher temperatures, which equals more power needed to cool them -- data centers alone use 1 percent of the world’s electricity, much of it to keep those processors from overheating. Now Swiss researchers say they have invented a solution: chips that include tiny, fluid-filled grooves that keep them cool. The breakthrough could be revolutionary both in terms of saving energy and the pace of innovation. SMITHSONIAN
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Updates September 17 to correct Jonathan Irons' name.
