Monday, January 4th, 2021
Trump’s Recorded Demand, Pet Food Recall & New Streaming Option
All the news you need in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by www.Rothys.com/newsworthy and Noom.com/newsworthy
Story Summaries
All the news stories mentioned in today's episode are listed with links below, so you can spend as much -- or as little -- time as you want to review the latest happenings...
New Congress Sworn In
New and re-elected members of Congress were sworn into office yesterday. The 117th Congress is the most diverse yet. At least 121 women and 124 people of color are set to take office. Nancy Pelosi was re-elected as House speaker for the fourth time. Also, Congress is just as divided as ever. Only an hour into the new session, some Democrats and Republicans got into a shouting match. The dispute was reportedly over two incoming Republicans who refused to wear masks on the House floor, despite COVID-19 protocols.
Read More: USA Today, WaPo, Vox
Trump and Biden Campaign in GA Today
Tomorrow will be the last chance for Georgia voters to decide who they want representing them in the U.S. Senate. The results of the two Georgia races on Tuesday will determine which political party will have the majority in the Senate this year. Both President Trump and President-elect Biden are holding events today. Biden is campaigning for the two Democratic candidates: Rev. Raphael Warnock and documentary filmmaker Jon Ossoff. President Trump is holding a rally for the two Republican incumbents: Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue.
Read More: AP, WSJ, NBC News, Politico
Recorded Call b/t Trump, GA Official
President Trump is facing criticism for comments he made to Georgia’s top election official. The recorded phone call was released by the Washington Post. In it, Trump tells Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger that he actually won the state by “hundreds of thousands” of votes, but that he just needs Raffensperger to “find 11,780.” That was Biden’s margin of victory in the state. Trump pointed to a couple of theories, like voting machine tampering and ballot shredding. To that, Raffensperger said those theories aren’t true.
Read More: WaPo (full recording here), WSJ, AJC, AP
Senate Overrides Defense Spending Veto
Congress has gone against a veto from President Trump for the first time in his four years in office. The U.S. Senate joined the House by overwhelmingly voting to override Trump’s veto of the defense spending bill. Despite Trump’s objections, the bill is now law. It does a variety of things, including giving service members pay raises. Trump didn’t like the measure for other reasons. For example, it gets rid of Confederate names from military bases. Trump also wanted to use the bill to get rid of certain legal protections for tech companies.
Read More: LA Times, Axios, CNBC
U.S. COVID Death Toll
December brought the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths of any month since the pandemic began. Experts expect the numbers will keep going up in the coming weeks after recent holiday gatherings. Overall, more than 351,000 Americans have now died from the virus. That data is from Johns Hopkins University and the CDC shows similar numbers. President Trump says he doesn’t believe it though, calling the death toll “far exaggerated.” To that, top officials said there’s no reason to doubt the numbers.
Read More: LA Times, FOX News, Johns Hopkins, Trump Tweet
Vaccine Distribution Lagging
The vaccine rollout is so far going slower than expected. The government had hoped to have the first shots reach 20 million people by the end of 2020. However, that number ended up being just over 4.2 million people. The U.S. surgeon general says it’s picking up now and the slow start was, in part, due to so many healthcare workers being off for the holidays. Some local officials also say health care workers are overwhelmed with treating COVID-19 patients and testing for it, that there aren’t enough workers focused only on vaccinating people.
Read More: NY Times, NPR, Bloomberg, CDC
New Laws for 2021
Many new laws went into effect on January 1st. For example, 20 states raised their statewide minimum wage. Also, Hawaii is now the first state to ban the sale and distribution of certain sunscreen products. It no longer allows any that use the chemicals oxybenzone and octinoxate because they can harm coral reefs and other marine life. Meanwhile, Delaware is now the 8th state to ban plastic bags. In Florida, greyhound racing is now illegal, and now, in Arizona and Virginia, you can be pulled over and ticketed for simply holding a cellphone while driving.
Read More: NBC News, ABC News, CBS News
Pet Food Recall
Several types of Sportmix dog and cat food are being recalled because they’ve been linked to the deaths of 28 dogs. Eight others became sick after eating the food. The issue is one ingredient in the food called Aflatoxin. It can build up in your pet’s system and make them very sick. Now, the company says anyone who has the products in question should throw them away and sanitize their pets’ food dishes. Also, monitor your pets for symptoms like fatigue, loss of appetite, and digestive issues.
Read More: FOX Business, NBC News, NY Times, FDA, Recall Notice
Sugar Bowl/Rose Bowl Winners
Alabama and Ohio State will play for college football’s national championship title. The top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide secured its spot on Friday by beating Notre Dame 31-14 in the Rose Bowl. Later that evening, the Ohio State Buckeyes punched their ticket to the championship by overtaking Clemson 49-28 in the Sugar Bowl. Next, these two teams will face off a week from today in the championship game. It’s set to be played in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Read More: NY Times, ESPN, NCAA
Alex Trebek’s Final ‘Jeopardy!’ Episodes
Alex Trebek’s final Jeopardy! episodes are set to air this week. These will be the last five episodes with the iconic host. Trebek filmed them in late October, just weeks before he died from pancreatic cancer at 80 years old. Trebek had hosted the show since 1984, taping more than 8,000 episodes over the last few decades. For now Jeopardy! still hasn’t announced who will replace him as host. Starting next week, we’ll start seeing a slate of fill-ins.
Read More: USA Today, EW, NY Post
Discovery+ Launches
Discovery is launching a new streaming platform today. It’s called Discovery+ and it will include all sorts of content from the Discovery Channel. It will also have shows from the Food Network, HGTV, TLC, Animal Planet, and others that are Discovery-owned. Overall, people will be able to flip through thousands of hours of shows and documentaries. The platform says it will have the largest-ever content offering of any new streaming platform. It costs $5 a month with commercials and $7 without.
Read More: Variety, The Verge, Discovery, Discovery Plus
Money Monday: Home Prices Rise
U.S. home prices have gone up at their fastest rate in more than six years. New data shows that in October, they jumped nearly 8% compared to a year earlier. Analysts say the surge in home prices is due to strong demand and limited supply. More Americans are reportedly looking to buy a house that fits their new needs during a pandemic. Also, mortgage rates hit record lows in 2020. Some cities have gotten more expensive than others. Home prices shot up the most in places like Phoenix, Seattle, and San Diego.
Read More: AP, Fox Business, Forbes