Thursday, November 19th, 2020
Ballot Recount 2.0, 737 MAX Cleared to Fly & Wonder Woman Release
All the news you need in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by www.Rothys.com/newsworthy and Fitbod.me/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 peruse the latest happenings...
Pfizer Completes Vaccine Trial
The drugmaker Pfizer says it completed its final phase of COVID-19 vaccine trials. It found its vaccine candidate proved to be 95% effective and there weren’t any serious side effects. The drugmaker also said the age, race, or ethnicity of the volunteers didn’t impact how effective the vaccine was. Now, Pfizer will apply for the FDA’s emergency authorization within the next few days. The FDA will review safety data and manufacturing records. Then, it will ask an outside panel of vaccine experts to weigh in. The process could take a few weeks.
Read More: Stat, AP, Reuters, ABC News
U.S. Death Toll, Case Count Rising
More than 1,700 people died from COVID-19 in the U.S. yesterday, the highest daily death toll in six months. Overall, the total number of Americans who have died from COVID-19 has topped 250,000 since the end of February. Experts warn the death rate is only going to get worse from here. A surge in deaths usually reflects a surge in cases from about two or three weeks earlier. When it comes to cases right now, nearly every state in the U.S. is heading in the wrong direction.
Read More: CNN, CBS News, NPR, NY Times, Johns Hopkins
New COVID-19 Restrictions
The nation’s largest school district, in New York City, is closing public schools starting today and going virtual only. Kentucky’s governor also ordered all public and private schools throughout the state to shut down and move to online-only starting Monday. Businesses are facing new restrictions too. For example, Minnesota just ordered entertainment venues and gyms to shut down for a month. Bars and restaurants have to move to takeout only. Ohio’s 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew starts today. Iowa just issued its first statewide mask mandate.
NYC, KY to Close Public Schools Again: NY Times, WaPo, AP, Reuters
More Business Limits, Mask Mandates: CBS News, NBC News, AP
Senate Leaves for Recess
U.S. Senators left for Thanksgiving recess early, before approving another aid bill. They return on November 30th, then have just three weeks before the next break. That one lasts until January. The last round of coronavirus relief expired in July, leaving people without boosted unemployment benefits. Other provisions, like pandemic funding for state and local governments, are set to expire at the end of the year.
Read More: NBC News, WaPo, USA Today, CBS News
HHS Ignoring Biden
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said his department will not work with the transition team until President-elect Biden’s election win is recognized by the Trump administration. The GSA usually makes that designation right after the race is called, but it hasn’t done that yet since President Trump is challenging results in court. President-elect Biden criticized the lack of cooperation and worried that vaccine distribution could lag if his team isn’t in the loop now.
Read More: CNN, The Hill, NY Times
Georgia Recount Results
This afternoon, Georgia is expected to release the results of its hand recount of about five million ballots in the presidential race. The deadline to complete the recount and audit was midnight. Originally, President-elect Biden led the state by about 14,000 votes. Reports say that lead appears to have dipped by a couple thousand during this process, but Biden is still expected to win again when it’s all said and done. Also, even if Biden lost Georgia, he would still have enough electoral votes to win the presidency.
Read More: NPR, WSJ, WaPo
Trump Requests WI Recount
President Trump’s campaign is paying $3 million for recounts in two Wisconsin counties. Recounts are not automatic under Wisconsin law, but certain losing candidates can request them if they cover the cost. Trump’s team did that in the state’s two most populous and liberal-leaning counties: Milwaukee and Dane. The Trump team argues those counties had the “worst irregularities.” However, state election officials say there was no evidence of problems or wrongdoing. That recount is set to start Saturday and wrap up by December 1st.
Read More: USA Today, FOX News, CNN, Axios
FAA Clears Boeing 737 MAX
The Boeing 737 MAX is officially cleared to fly again. It got the green light from the FDA after being grounded for nearly two years. The aircraft was involved in two deadly crashes: one in Indonesia in 2018, the other in Ethiopia last year. Since then, the company changed software, design, and training protocol. The FAA says it left “nothing to chance” and it’s now the most scrutinized transport aircraft in history. Still, some airlines are giving passengers scheduled on 737 MAX planes the option to change their flight or get a refund.
Read More: NY Times, WaPo, AP, NBC News
Apple New “Battery Gate” Settlement
Apple has again agreed to pay up for its “battery gate” controversy. Remember, the company was accused of slowing down older iPhones to push customers to buy new phones or batteries. The tech giant was hit with a slew of lawsuits. Earlier this year, it said it would pay $500 million to settle a class-action lawsuit. Now, it says it’ll hand over another $113 million to settle lawsuits from 34 states. A judge still has to sign off.
Read More: Axios, The Verge, Cnet
‘Wonder Woman 1984’ Release Details
Wonder Woman 1984 is set to be released next month, but the release will be anything but conventional. The movie will hit both theaters and the at-home streaming service HBO Max at the same time on Christmas. It won’t cost people extra to stream the new movie, as long as they are HBO subscribers. The only catch is it will initially only be available to stream for one month. After that, it will be exclusively in theaters for a period of time, then shift back to streaming.
Read More: WSJ, The Verge, Hollywood Reporter, Warner Media
People’s Sexiest Man Alive
People Magazine named actor Michael B. Jordan 2020’s Sexiest Man Alive. He’s already a movie star known for roles in Black Panther and Creed. He also owns a production company called Outlier Society Productions. It was one of the first to insist filmmakers enlist a diverse cast and crew. Jordan says it’s a “cool feeling” to be named this year’s Sexiest Man Alive. People has been doing this annually for the last 35 years. Past winners include George Clooney, Denzel Washington, Brad Pitt, and Patrick Swayze.
Read More: NBC News, WaPo, People
Thing to Know Thursday: Vaccine Effectiveness
“Vaccine effectiveness” refers to the likelihood a shot will work. However, there’s more to it than that. In some cases, it means an infection is prevented, but it could also mean the severity of symptoms are lower, or in other words, it’s a mild case. Either way, it likely means when more people start getting COVID-19 vaccinations, we’ll see fewer hospitalizations and deaths. However, with COVID-19, even if you have no symptoms, you may still spread the virus to others. It’s also still not known how long a vaccine’s protection may last. Research is ongoing.
Read More: AP, WHO, CDC