Thursday, January 14th, 2021
Trump Makes History, One-Dose Vaccine Data & Netflix Movie-a-Week
All the news you need in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by BlueNile.com and Apostrophe.com/Newsworthy (Listen for the discount code)
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 peruse the latest happenings...
Trump Impeached Again
President Donald Trump is now the only president in the nation’s history to be impeached twice. 10 House Republicans voted with every House Democrat to impeach him for inciting the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol. It’s now up to the Senate to decide whether to convict and remove president Trump. For now, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is not bringing Senators back early for the trial. It likely won’t start until after President-elect Joe Biden is in office. Once the trial is complete, there needs to be a two-thirds vote in the Senate.
Read More: AP, WaPo, Politico, NY Times
Latest Inauguration Week Warnings
Intelligence officials are putting out another chilling warning ahead of next week’s inauguration. Federal officials told police chiefs in major cities to be on high alert and to share intelligence about any signs of trouble. A few police chiefs on the call told the New York Times they’re worried about armed militia groups and racist extremists. The U.S. Capitol is already surrounded by the largest-ever security force, so local law enforcement officers are preparing for potential attacks on state capitols, federal buildings, and certain politicians' homes.
Read More: NY Times, USA Today, The Hill
Trump Calls for Peaceful Transition
President Trump is calling on all Americans to “ease tensions and calm tempers.” The White House released a video showing the president in the oval office condemning last week’s riot and discouraging any other plans to break the law. He said, “No true supporter of mine would ever endorse political violence.” A bipartisan group of lawmakers wrote to Trump on Wednesday asking him to, "address the nation and unequivocally denounce domestic terrorism, condemn harmful propaganda,” and more. Trump did not mention impeachment.
Read More: FOX News, Axios, White House, WH Tweet
U.S. Vaccines Near 1M a Day
For the first time, the U.S. gave out nearly one million COVID-19 vaccine doses in a single day. The CDC says yesterday’s record was the fastest pace of vaccinations since rollout started a month ago. However, even with the recent pickup, more than two-thirds of doses sent to states have yet to be administered. According to CDC data, nearly 30 million doses have been shipped to all 50 states. Of those, just 10.3 million had been given.
Read More: CBS News, Reuters, CDC
J&J Vaccine Data Promising
Johnson & Johnson published some early data on its COVID-19 vaccine candidate showing it’s safe and appears to work. This version of the vaccine is especially promising because it only requires one shot, not two like the others. However, it’s not clear if this vaccine candidate will be as effective as the Moderna and Pfizer shots already on the market. The company is expected to release full results from its final-phase trial later this month.
Read More: CNBC, Stat, Data
Outbreaks Not Driven By In-Person Learning
A CDC report found in-person classes at schools in nearly two-thirds of the U.S. have not led to community outbreaks. Federal scientists have already been saying schools should be the last to close and the first to open. New data shows among all age groups, cases were lowest among children 10 and younger. However, this report doesn’t mention case trends among teachers and school staff.
Read More: Bloomberg, CNN, CDC
Record U.S. Daily Death Toll
More than 4,400 COVID-19 deaths were reported in the U.S. on Tuesday alone. At this rate, the nation’s coronavirus death toll will hit 400,000 next week. That’s about the population of Tampa, Florida, or Tulsa, Oklahoma. The number of new cases is rising at an unprecedented rate too. Doctors say now is the time for physical distancing, mask-wearing, testing, tracing, and vaccinations to all come together.
Read More: AP, WSJ, USA Today, Johns Hopkins
China New COVID Lockdown
China ordered 22 million people into lockdown. That makes this lockdown twice as big as the first one that happened this time last year in Wuhan. China says it’s now seeing an average of 109 new cases a day, mostly around the capital in Beijing. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has a team of experts set to arrive in China today. They’ll have to quarantine for two weeks, then start investigating the source of this worldwide pandemic.
Read More: Reuters, NY Times, WSJ, AP
U.S. Blocking Some Chinese Imports
The Trump administration banned all cotton and tomato products from the region of Xinjiang. It’s over allegations the Chinese communist party is using forced labor from detailed Uighur Muslims. However, China denies it and says the camps are just job training centers needed to fight extremism. The ban could have a big impact on businesses since the U.S. estimates about $9 billion worth of cotton products and $10 million worth of tomato products were imported from China into the U.S. last year.
Read More: AP, Reuters, NY Times
Airlines, Hotels Increase D.C. Security
Ahead of next week’s inauguration, Airbnb is blocking all reservations for the Washington D.C. area. That means you can’t use the platform to book a stay and if you already did, the booking will be canceled. Meanwhile, Hilton says it won’t cancel customers’ reservations, but it is waiving cancellation penalties. Both Hyatt and Marriott say they’re increasing security at the D.C.-area hotels. As for airlines, United says it’s beefing up its staff and American has banned alcohol on flights to and from D.C.
Read More: CNBC, AP, The Verge, Airbnb
Netflix 2021 Lineup
Netflix announced plans to release at least one new movie every week for the next year. Overall, the 2021 lineup includes 71 titles including musicals, romantic comedies, cartoons, and action movies. They include some of the biggest names in Hollywood. For example, the heist film Red Notice stars Gal Gadot, Ryan Reynolds, and Dwayne Johnson. There’s also a western called The Harder They Fall with Regina King and Idris Elba. Then there’s a political satire called Don’t Look Up. Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, and more are in it.
Read More: Variety, The Verge, Cnet
Watch Sizzle Reel: Netflix
Jeopardy! Announces New Guest Hosts
Jeopardy! is about to get some star-studded guest hosts. Its lineup includes the Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, former Today Show anchor Katie Couric, and more. They’re taking over for the iconic game show host Alex Trebek, who recently passed away from pancreatic cancer. However, it’s not clear when the celebrity hosts will start. Ken Jennings, considered the show’s greatest champion, is guest hosting now.
Read More: AP, USA Today, Jeopardy!
Thing to Know Thursday: Lottery Jackpots Growing
Last night’s Powerball drawing came back without a winner, so the prize grew to $640 million. It was a similar story after Tuesday night’s Mega Millions drawing. The prize climbed to $750 million. It’s been nearly two years since two national lottery games offered such giant prizes and it’s only the second time in history both jackpots have topped $500 million at once. Lottery officials say the prizes are growing because it’s been months since anyone won a jackpot. Also, more people are buying tickets these days.
Read More: CNN, AP, USA Today, Powerball, Mega Millions