Wednesday, February 3rd, 2021
Trump Trial Preview, Fallen Officer Honored & New Amazon CEO
All the news you need in 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by Noom.com/newsworthy and BlueNile.com
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 reading about the latest happenings…
Impeachment Managers Trial Briefs
We are now less than one week away from former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial. House Democrats, acting as the prosecutors, filed an outline of their case in the Senate. They’re accusing the former president of summoning a mob, whipping that mob “into a frenzy,” then aiming the crowd at the U.S. Capitol “like a loaded cannon.” They say Trump is “singularly responsible” for the riot that invaded the Capitol, damaged the historic building, and ultimately left five people dead.
Read More: NPR, NY Times, WaPo, FOX News, House.Gov
Trump Impeachment Response
Former President Trump’s lawyers filed an official response to the impeachment article. They argue Trump did not incite the crowd to be destructive and the speech he gave to the crowd before the riot is protected by freedom of speech laid out in the first amendment. For example, they say when he told the crowd to “fight like hell,” he didn’t mean to get violent, but to fight for election security in general. They also argue it’s not constitutional to hold an impeachment trial for a former president
Read More: Politico, WaPo, Reuters, CNBC, Defense Response
Ofc. Sicknick Lies in Honor
A Capitol Police officer who was killed in last months’ riot is being honored at the same government building he died trying to protect. Today, Ofc. Brian Sicknick is lying in honor in the U.S. Capitol. It’s a rare tribute offered to private citizens. He’ll be only the fifth American to ever be honored this way. Already, President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden visited to pay their respects last night. Other police officers and lawmakers are scheduled to visit today. Then, the officer will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Read More: NY Times, AP, NBC News, CNN
Immigration Executive Action
In his latest round of executive actions, President Biden took on immigration. For example, he created a task force to reunite several hundred families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border. Advocacy groups and lawyers have been working on this already, but more than 600 parents who were separated from their kids still need to be found. Biden also signed executive action to kickstart reviews of Trump’s policies about asylum and legal immigration.
Read More: LA Times, AP, FOX News, White House
Mayorkas & Buttigieg Confirmed
The Senate confirmed Alejandro Mayorkas as the Secretary of Homeland Security. He’s the first Latino and first immigrant to take that job. Right away, Mayorkas will have a big say in immigration policy. He’ll also have a hand in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and other national security threats.
The Senate also confirmed former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg as Biden’s Secretary of Transportation. That makes him the first openly gay cabinet member confirmed by the Senate in U.S. history. Biden wants him to start working on a climate-friendly infrastructure package he can present to Congress soon.
Read More: CNN, WaPo, NY Times, Politico
Navalny Sentenced
Once again, hundreds of protesters have been rallying in the streets of Moscow, Russia over opposition leader Alexei Navalny. A court sentenced him to 2.5 years in prison, saying he did not check in with his parole officer, like he was supposed to, while he was in Germany. Navalny went to Germany last year to recover from being poisoned. He and many others think the Russian government was behind it. However, Putin denies that. Navalny told the court the charges against him are made up. Now, his lawyers are promising to appeal.
Read More: AP, Axios, CNBC, Blinken Tweet
Vaccines Going Right to Pharmacies
For the first time, the U.S. government will send COVID-19 vaccines directly to pharmacies around the country. Starting next week, a million doses will be available in 6,500 stores like CVS and Walgreens. As the vaccine supplies grow, the program will eventually reach as many as 40,000 pharmacies. Before this, the federal government reportedly sent vaccines only to hospitals and state health departments. This should streamline the process.
Read More: Bloomberg, NBC News, Reuters, CDC
Amazon CEO Steps Down
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is stepping down as the company’s CEO. Bezos plans to transition into the role of executive chairman of the company’s board by July. Andy Jassy will take over for him as CEO. He’s the current chief executive of Amazon Web Services. In a memo to employees, Bezos says he wants to devote more energy to other projects like his space company, Blue Origin, the newspaper he owns, The Washington Post, and various nonprofits.
Read More: NBC News, WSJ, Fox Business, Amazon
Uber Buys Alcohol Delivery Service
Uber is taking over the alcohol delivery service Drizly for $1.1 billion. Drizly already delivers alcohol from liquor stores in more than 1,400 American cities. Now that Uber is buying it, it will eventually be merged into the Uber Eats app. The existing Drizly app will stick around too for people who prefer to use that one. Uber’s deal with Drizly is expected to close in the next few months.
Read More: The Verge, WaPo, Uber
College FB Practice Concussion Risk
American college football players are getting more concussions during practices than they are in games. That’s what medical researchers are saying in a new peer-reviewed study. They looked at dozens of concussions over the span of five college football seasons and found 72% of them happened during practice. The NCAA says it could consider new rules. Researchers also say certain teams and individual players can keep their evidence in mind and avoid extra risks.
Read More: NY Times, Axios, JAMA
College Football Video Games
EA Sports is bringing back its popular college football video game series. It discontinued its college football video games back in 2013. At the time, there was a legal fight about using the names and images of real players in the games. However, this time around, the games won’t include specific athletes. Instead, the games are said to include the logos, uniforms, mascots, and other traditions of real college teams. For now, the games are still in development, so we don’t know when they’ll be released to the public.
Read More: ESPN, WSJ, The Verge, EA Sports
Nike Unveils Hands-Free Shoe
Nike has a new pair of hands-free sneakers. The sneakers don’t have laces. Instead, they have a hinge of sorts on the bottom of the shoe. The idea for the technology was inspired by a teenager who was born with cerebral palsy. He wrote to Nike about creating a shoe he didn’t need to tie. Now, Nike’s design team says it hopes the shoes will help a lot more with disabilities or even pregnant women who have a hard time tying their shoes too. A limited number of the new sneakers will be released on February 15th for $120 a pair.
Read More: USA Today, CBS News, Nike
Work Wednesday: Best Cities for Remote Jobs
InMyArea.com ranked the top American cities for working from home. They ran the numbers to find out which places give remote workers the best balance of affordable housing and access to high-speed internet. They found San Antonio, Texas ranked the highest among big-city options. The monthly rent there is about $1,300 for an average one-bedroom apartment. Plus, high-speed internet is available to nearly everyone. Morristown, Tennessee ranks number one for medium-sized cities, and Tell City, Indiana comes in first for small cities.
Read More: Dallas Morning News, InMyArea, Numbeo