Wednesday, August 10th, 2022
GOP Defends Trump, Dueling Military Drills & Serena’s Final Matches
All the news you need in about 10 min:
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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…
Classified Docs Investigation Background
There are still a lot of questions this morning about the FBI’s unprecedented search at former President Trump’s home. However, the Justice Department is staying tight-lipped about it. Remember, the FBI executed a search warrant at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Many news outlets cite sources who say the raid was connected to documents Trump took from the White House that may have been classified. Taking them would be illegal. In the past, Trump has said he never meant to take anything he wasn’t supposed to and that he’s been cooperating with the government to sort things out.
Read More: AP, NY Times, WSJ, WaPo
Reactions to Mar-a-Lago Search
Former President Trump says the raid at his home only happened for political reasons, and a lot of Republicans back him up on that. For example, the Republican National Committee chairwoman called the search an “abuse of power”. House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy promised to investigate the Justice Department if Republicans take over Congress next year. So far, all the U.S. attorney general has said about the case publicly is, “no one is above the law”.
Read More: CBS News, The Hill, Newsweek, Axios
FDA Stretches Monkeypox Vax Supply
There is a new plan to deal with the growing number of monkeypox cases in the U.S. and a shortage of vaccine for it. The FDA will now allow the monkeypox vaccine to be injected between skin layers instead of deeper into body fat. Vaccine injections in the skin require a fifth of the dosage, so the change stretches out the supply. Since the dose will be smaller, kids will be able to get the vaccines, too. Right now, adults or kids who have been exposed or are considered high-risk are eligible for the vaccine. More than 9,000 people have been infected with monkeypox in the U.S. so far this year.
Read More: FDA, CDC, CNBC, Reuters, NPR, Stat
China/Taiwan Military Drills Expanded
This week, China indefinitely extended military exercises that have disrupted one of the biggest trade routes in the world. Since then, the Taiwanese launched anti-invasion drills. The show of military might between the two countries has some worried this could be the beginning of a war. The conflict got worse after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi went to Taiwan to show her support for democracy. This week, Pelosi told NBC News the trip was worth it, and she said China’s president is acting like a “scared bully” with the new drills.
Read More: Newsweek, WSJ, Fox News, AP, NBC News
3rd-Hottest July on Record
NOAA found the U.S. just experienced its third-hottest July of all time. Scientists say the U.S. was 2.8 degrees hotter on average than it typically is. The heat has led to extreme drought conditions and massive wildfires in certain states. A European Union program also put out a new report this week, saying this July was one of the three hottest on record worldwide. Extreme heat toppled records across Portugal, Spain, France, and other parts of Europe. China also issued “red alert” heat warnings last month. Japan experienced one of its worst heatwaves of all time in June, and India dealt with blistering heat for weeks on end in April.
Read More: NOAA, Copernicus, Axios, WGN, Scientific American
Online Prices Fall
For the first time in more than two years, prices for online items went down. New data from the Adobe Digital Price Index show online prices dipped 1% in July compared to the same time last year. Experts say many businesses had stocked up on inventory to meet online demand during the height of the pandemic. Now, with high inflation, people aren’t buying as much, so companies have an oversupply, forcing them to lower prices. The report found electronics saw the biggest drop over the past year, falling 9%. However, the cost of other categories like food stayed high.
Read More: Adobe Analytics, CBS News, CNN, Fox Business
Signs of Easing Inflation
There are more signs inflation is easing in the U.S. The national average price for a gallon of gas has fallen below the $4 mark for the first time since March. Economists think the inflation rate will be about 8.7% in July. That’s considered high, but it’s down from just over 9% in June. We’ll find out soon because the latest government data will be released today.
Read More: AP, WSJ, Forbes, MarketWatch, GasBuddy
Snapchat Parental Controls
Snapchat is rolling out a new tool to let parents see who their teens are talking to on the app. They can also report any accounts they may be worried about without their children knowing. To use the new feature, parents need to download the Snapchat app and link their accounts to their teens’. Both parent and teen have to opt-in. Then, parents can see who their child is communicating with, but not the content of their interactions.
Read More: Snapchat, Twitter, NPR, NYT, Tech Crunch, Fox Business
Sesame Place Diversity Training
A Philadelphia-based theme park is promising to better train its employees after several allegations of bias against Black children. A video that’s been going around on social media shows someone in a Sesame Street character costume appearing to snub two Black girls during a parade. Other similar allegations have also come out about the theme park called Sesame Place. The park now says national civil rights experts will lead a racial equity review. There will be new anti-bias training for employees and more.
Read More: Sesame Place, KYW, WPVI, Fox Business, TMZ
Serena Williams Retirement
The most dominant women’s tennis player in the world says her playing career is coming to an end. Serena Williams says she doesn’t like the word “retirement”, so she told Vogue magazine she’s “evolving away from tennis”. Williams made her professional debut in 1995 at 14 years old. Since then, she has won 73 career singles titles and four Olympic gold medals, on top of a lot of other accolades. Williams is still competing, too. She says she’s going to “try” to win the U.S. Open next month, which will likely be her final competition.
Read More: Vogue, Serena Williams, ESPN, NY Times, CNN, Yahoo! Sports
Work Wednesday: States With Best Workers
CNBC ranked certain states by the quality of their workforce. Colorado took the top spot. That’s partly because it has some of the most educated workers in the country. Far fewer college-educated employees leave Colorado than move to the state each year. Texas is next on the list. The state is in the top ten for worker productivity. On the other end of the list, Vermont is the state with the worst-ranked workforce. Recent studies found Vermont had more than 46,000 job postings per 100,000 people, the highest rate in the nation. The state also has a high rate of resignations.
Read More: CNBC, Burlington Free Press, WalletHub
Full Rankings: CNBC Study