Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Thursday, November 5, 2020:

WHERE THINGS STAND

As of this morning, Joe Biden has 264 electoral votes and President Trump has 214, according to the Associated Press, which has called Michigan and Wisconsin for Biden. Pennsylvania, Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina and Alaska have not yet been called. Should one of the first four go for Biden, he wins (also assuming that AP’s Arizona call holds). Biden has received more than 71 million votes, the most in history, surpassing Hillary Clinton’s popular vote by more than 5 million. Here’s an explanation of every race that the AP has called: READ IT

LEGAL BATTLE BEGINS

The Trump campaign says it will formally request a recount in Wisconsin. The campaign is suing to stop ballots from being counted in Michigan and Pennsylvania, and said it has also filed suit in Georgia to separate ballots that arrived after the voting deadline. At a convention center in Detroit where mail-in ballots were being tallied, police had to push back crowds as they demanded to be let in. AP

DEM DOWN-BALLOT DISAPPOINTMENT

Even though Joe Biden could very well become president-elect, Democrats had a very disappointing showing down-ballot. In the Senate, the party raised more than $300 million and ended up losing six of the biggest races. In the House, Dems are set to keep control but Republicans are on track to pick up at least seven seats. At the statehouse level, the National Conference of State Legislatures predicts that only four chambers in the whole country will flip -- two for Dems, two for the GOP -- the lowest number since 1946. NY TIMES

COVID-19: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

The UK has re-entered a national lockdown, with restaurants, bars and non-essential businesses closing for at least a month and households banned from mixing indoors. Italy is also instituting severe new restrictions via a “traffic-light” regional system. Four regions, including Milan and the surrounding area, are essentially quarantine zones, with no one allowed in or out. The restrictions will be reevaluated every two weeks. Denmark will kill its entire population of mink, culling all 15 million of the animals over fears that a mutated virus among the mink could jump to humans. The U.S. shattered its own single-day record of cases with a tally of more than 104,000 new infections on Wednesday. CNN

RELIEF RALLY

Is a divided government good for business? That may be the takeaway, judging by how the market reacted on the first day of trading post-election. The Dow, S&P and Nasdaq all surged in a classic “relief rally,” as investors appeared to like the idea of a Democratic White House and Republican Senate. While that all but ensures more gridlock in D.C., it also means it’s less likely that there will be legislation to strengthen regulation or hike corporate taxes. CHEDDAR

BIGGEST IPO ON HOLD

The Chinese fintech giant Ant Group was supposed to be going public today via a dual listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong that would have been the largest IPO in history. But in a shocking move, China’s ruling party stepped in at the last minute and yanked the listing. Beijing says Ant needs to fix some capital requirements if it wants to go public. The message is clear: the government can and will show it’s in charge of the economy, even if that means Chinese investors lose out. BLOOMBERG

NBA SEASON

Normally, the NBA would be in week two of its regular season by now. The league is reportedly close to an agreement with the players’ association on starting the 2020-21 season just before Christmas, on or around Dec. 22. If both sides agree, the plan on the table calls for a reduced 72-game season that would end just before the Summer Olympics next July. ESPN

SPOTTED...

...Michael J. Fox, opening up in a new interview about his struggle with Parkinson’s. Fox reveals that his “short-term memory is shot.” PEOPLE

AUNT BECKY IN JAIL

Lori Loughlin is said to be a “wreck” as she serves out her first week behind bars. The Full House actress reported to federal prison in California last Friday, where she is serving a two-month sentence for her role in the college admissions scandal. Loughlin is reportedly hoping to get released by Christmas. US WEEKLY

LEFTOVERS: BOOZE AND FRIES

It wasn’t just you. Google searches for “liquor stores near me” hit an all-time high as returns started coming in on Election Night. Google Trends reported that searches for “fries near me” also hit a new high. See what else people were Googling: SEARCH TRENDS

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!

Share:
More In Culture
LA Rams Star Cooper Kupp on Partners With Pataday to Take on Seasonal Allergies
Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp is partnering with eye-drop brand Pataday to help those struggling with allergies — such as himself. The Super Bowl LVI MVPjoined Cheddar News to discuss his own struggle with seasonal allergies. “It's right when football's starting back up, I feel like I get so excited to finally be back playing the game, and then, you know, spring comes around and completely knocks me out," he said.
Buy Now, Pay Later Services Might Be Complicating Your Credit
Buy now, pay later — or point-of-sales loans — might be making it difficult to get a handle on your credit. These companies typically do not report payment history during transactions, so without this data going to credit scoring companies, it makes it difficult to know how many loans a customer still needs to pay. Experts are recommend paying off these debts as soon as possible.
Foodgod and Hertz Bring Korean Tacos, Poutine Trucks to Drivers Waiting at the Airport
Host Foodgod takes viewers to the world's most interesting food spots on Discovery+’s “Foodgod," and now he is partnering with Hertz to bring food trucks to car rental customers at Los Angeles International Airport. Formerly known as Jonathan Cheban, the TV personality, food influencer, and Kardashian friend joined Cheddar News to discuss his life as the ultimate foodie and his partnership with Hertz. “I picked out two amazing food trucks. One was Korean barbecue tacos and one was poutine," he said. "People that were coming out or waiting for their cars were able to come to eat this and have this amazing experience because you know with Hertz, it's about the moments that matter," he said.
How Advertisers Convinced Us We Need Deodorant
Body odor is natural, but it’s not exactly welcome… Thankfully, we have all kinds of deodorants and antiperspirants to help eliminate the stink. But believe it or not, there was a time when people weren’t so ready to accept these solutions. In fact, it took a pretty savage marketing campaign to convince us we had a problem at all.
Margaret Cho Talks Importance of Comedy in Queer Rom-Com ‘Fire Island’
Just in time for Pride Month, Hulu’s "Fire Island" is a rom-com about a group of queer friends on a weeklong vacation at the iconic vacation spot. Actor and comedian Margaret Cho joined Cheddar News to talk about her role in the upcoming film alongside two Asian American leads Bowen Yang and Joel Kim Booster. "I think it's really important to acknowledge how important comedy is because comedy is really a barometer of how society is feeling about topics and situations and the changing nature of our society," she said. "Humor is a way to look for hope in the situation so that you can survive it."
Tiffani Thiessen Urges Parents to Get Their Teens the Meningitis Vaccine
It's About Time: Help Stop the Clock on Meningitis is a campaign calling on parents to seriously consider the meningitis vaccine for their pre-teens and teens. Advocate and actor Tiffani Thiessen joined Cheddar News to talk about her partnership with the campaign. "I think we're so honed in on our kids getting their vaccinations from baby to like year five or six, and then we forget sometimes that there's vaccinations that need to happen when there are older,” she said. The "Saved by the Bell" star also discussed the upcoming third season of her comedy clip show "Deliciousness."
Singer Pip and Vault Change Up How NFTs Are Used to Curate Exclusive Content
Vault, an NFT platform that allows creators to curate their own music and videos via an exclusive invitation, recently teamed up with independent artist Pip for the launch of his new album "Cotton Candy Skies." Nigel Eccles, the CEO of Vault, and singer-songwriter Pip joined Cheddar News to break down how the new platform works and why it's different from other blockchain concepts. "The way we've built it is we use the NFTs as keys that unlock the vault, and it's only the people who have those keys can actually see the contents of the vault," said Eccles. Pip added that he felt "inspired" to help with a new way of doing things in the music industry.
Load More