Wednesday, December 23rd, 2020
Trump’s New Demands, U.S. Sues Walmart & Apple Cars in 2024?
All the news you need in 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by BlueNile.com and Ritual.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 reading about the latest happenings…
Trump Wants Relief Bill Changes
The new coronavirus relief bill might not get to Americans as soon as lawmakers hoped. President Trump is now demanding changes. For example, he wants the individual relief payments to be much larger. Instead of $600 for most Americans, Trump says it should be $2,000. However, lawmakers already went home for the holidays after passing the bill earlier this week by veto-proof majorities. If Trump does try to veto it, Congress could step in and make the bill a law without him, but that process could take weeks.
Read More: Reuters, CNBC, WaPo, FOX News, Trump Tweet, Pelosi Tweet
Biden End-of-Year Address
President-elect Joe Biden gave a blunt end-of-year address. He said, “our darkest days in the battle against COVID are ahead of us, not behind us.” He told all Americans to keep taking precautions. Biden is also calling on Congress to pass another bill that includes money for state and local governments and more. He also criticized the Trump administration and said officials haven’t shared enough information about the recent cyberattack on American companies and federal government agencies. He promised to make cybersecurity a priority.
Read More: Bloomberg, Axios, FOX News, Politico
Biden Picks Education Secretary
President-elect Biden chose his education secretary. He picked Connecticut’s Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona. Before his current job, Cardona spent his career working as an Elementary school teacher, principal, district administrator, and assistant superintendent. During the pandemic, he’s been pressing for schools to stay open. The Senate would still need to confirm his nomination.
Read More: Politico, WaPo, USA Today, Biden Transition
Newsom Picks Harris Replacement
California Gov. Gavin Newsom picked the first Latino to represent California in the U.S. Senate. He chose the current California Secretary of State Alex Padilla as Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ replacement. Padilla will take over for Harris on Inauguration Day, January 20th. He will serve the remaining two years of her term. Newsom says he is going to nominate Shirley Weber, a member of the California State Assembly, to fill Padilla’s position. She would be California’s first Black secretary of state.
Read More: NBC News, WSJ, LA Times
Trump Issues Wave of Pardons
President Trump issued another wave of controversial pardons. For example, he pardoned his former campaign adviser George Papadopoulos. He was the first person to face charges related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents. Trump also pardoned four Blackwater contractors convicted of killing Iraqi civilians in 2007. Some Democrats are now accusing Trump of doling out pardons as a way to reward his friends and allies, rather than in the interest of justice.
Read More: NY Times, ABC News, WSJ, White House
COVID-19 Reaches Antarctica
The new coronavirus has now swept across every continent in the world. That became official this week when Antarctica reported its first outbreak. 36 people tested positive on a Chilean research base. Officials are now investigating how the virus reached the remote continent. So far, no one infected there has severe symptoms. American personnel doing scientific research in Antarctica are now all virus-free.
Read More: Al Jazeera, Axios, AP
Free/Discounted Rides to Vaccination Sites
Lyft and Uber say they’re going to be giving tens of millions of free or discounted rides to help people get to vaccination clinics. Lyft partnered with several other companies and organizations, including JP Morgan Chase, Anthem, and The United Way. In total, they want to provide 60 million rides. Nonprofit organizations will give out ride credits based on need. Also, Uber announced it’s giving 10 million free or discounted rides for people who want the vaccine. It’s working with organizations dedicated to serving people of color first.
Read More: USA Today, Fast Company, Lyft, Uber
DOJ Sues Walmart
The Justice Department is suing Walmart, saying it helped fuel the nation’s opioid crisis. The Justice Department argues Walmart pharmacists filled thousands of painkiller prescriptions, even though they knew they were invalid. The lawsuit also says the company failed to report suspicious orders, even though that’s required by law. However, Walmart says its pharmacists have actually refused to fill hundreds of thousands of prescriptions over the years and reported them.
Read More: AP, NY Times, Reuters, DOJ, Walmart
Apple’s Car Pursuits
The tech giant Apple is reportedly interested in making cars. Sources tell Reuters the company hopes to produce a passenger vehicle by 2024. It also apparently wants to come up with a new battery that would be used in electric vehicles. Ideally, the battery would be cheaper than what’s currently on the market and it would have more range. Still, it’s unclear who would assemble an Apple-branded car. So far, Apple hasn’t confirmed the report.
Read More: Reuters, The Verge, Engadget
’Coming to America’ Sequel Preview
A few trailers came out this week for highly-anticipated movies. One of them was for Coming 2 America. It’s the sequel to the 1988 movie. The first one was about a young royal who moves to New York City to escape an arranged marriage. In the new one, the prince meets a son he never knew about. At first, this was supposed to come out in theaters this month. However, because of the pandemic, the original studio Paramount sold it to Amazon. Now, Coming 2 America is set to come out on Prime Video in March.
Read More:: Variety, FOX News, Watch Trailer
‘The Beatles: Get Back’ Sneak Peak
This week, we got a sneak peek of an upcoming Beatles documentary. Director Peter Jackson says he’s still piecing through 56 hours of never-before-seen footage. However, he released a montage early, saying, “hopefully, it’ll put a smile on your face in these rather bleak times.” The Beatles: Get Back was also supposed to be out this year, but the pandemic delayed that one too. Now, it’s expected to be released in August of 2021 in theaters.
Read More:: Rolling Stone, Deadline, Watch Montage
Work Wednesday: Can Employers Require COVID-19 Vaccination?
Some people have wondered whether employers can require their employees to get vaccinated. Experts say the answer is yes, but with exceptions. One law professor told the AP when it’s their business, it’s their rules. It doesn’t necessarily mean you’d get fired if you refuse though. You might just need to sign a waiver or agree to work under certain conditions to lower your risk if that’s an option. Already, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission allows companies to require the flu vaccine. However, people can usually request to be exempt.
Read More: AP, USA Today, CNBC, EEOC, National Law Review