Friday, February 21st, 2020
Russian Interference, Winter Storm & Peloton vs. Flywheel
All the news you need in less than 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by www.Blinkist.com/news
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 perusing the latest happenings...
Nevada Weekend Caucuses:
Voters in Nevada will weigh in tomorrow on which Democrat they want to take on President Trump in November. Some have already caucused early by filling out a form ranking their choices (the first time Nevada has allowed this). Nevada is only the third state in the nation to hold a caucus or primary; Iowa and New Hampshire have put Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg in the lead. Nevada is a more diverse state and will better reflect how black and Latino voters are feeling about the candidates.
Read more: NPR, USA Today, Vox
Russia Backing Trump Again?:
The New York Times and other outlets are citing sources saying intelligence officials warned House lawmakers about Russia’s latest efforts to interfere in the 2020 Democratic primaries and the general election in November during a bipartisan briefing last week. President Trump is reportedly not happy about what was said and berated acting National Intelligence Director Joe Maguire for allowing it (Trump announced a replacement for him this week). Details regarding Russia’s plan to meddle or what the U.S. will do to respond have not been released.
Read more: NYT, WSJ, WaPo, CBS News
Roger Stone Sentencing:
Roger Stone was sentenced to more than three years behind bars for lying to Congress and witness tampering. The sentence is less time than the 7-9 years federal prosecutors on the case had originally asked for. Those prosecutors quit the case after their higher-ups recommended a lighter sentence. Now, Stone’s punishment has been put off because of his request for a new trial due to alleged juror misconduct. Some are wondering whether President Trump will issue a pardon later, since Stone is his longtime friend.Read more: AP, WSJ, CNBC
Winter Storm Impact:
A huge winter storm hit the Southeast, putting 12 million people under winter weather alerts. Snow and icy conditions forced schools to close today, and hundreds of flights were canceled yesterday.
Read more: USA Today, NBC News, CNN, Weather
USC Offers Free Tuition:
The University of Southern California will now offer free tuition to families making $80,000 or less per year. USC will also stop including the cost of a home in consideration for financial aid. The new policy will be phased in with the incoming class this fall and matches some University of California campuses.
Read more: CBS News, LA Times
Morgan Stanley Buys E*Trade:
Major Wall Street news: Morgan Stanley will buy E*Trade Financial in the biggest takeover by a giant U.S. Bank since the 2008 financial crisis. The $13 billion all-stock deal is expected to close later this year.
Read more: WSJ, Bloomberg, NYT
Flywheel vs. Peloton:
Cycling company Flywheel is shutting down its subscription service for at-home virtual cycling classes as of March 1st. After a long legal battle, Flywheel eventually admitted it copied Peloton’s tech and this is part of the settlement. Peloton is offering Flywheel owners a free used Peloton exercise bike for trading in their old Flywheel (Flywheel’s in-studio operations won’t be affected).
Read more: Business Insider, CNN, FOX Business
Facebook Recordings:
Facebook is rolling out a new program that will pay users to record phrases in its Viewpoints market research app. It’s meant to help Facebook improve its speech recognition technology. Users can earn about $5 per set of recordings. The move comes after Facebook and other tech companies were caught listening to a small percentage of voice recordings without customer permission.
Read more: The Verge
CBS Streaming Service:
A new streaming service from ViacomCBS is in the works. It will combine CBS’s current streaming option and live sports and news with Viacom’s network holdings, including MTV and BET. More details will be shared in a few months, with a soft launch of the platform set for next year.
Read more: The Verge, CNET
Hindus Celebrate:
Today Hindus celebrate Maha Shivaratri. The annual festival is one of the biggest and celebrates overcoming darkness and ignorance. People honor the holiday by praying, fasting, doing yoga and meditating.
Read more: Times of India, Beliefnet
More Feel Good Friday – Airlines Helping Families:
Two quick stories from two different airlines:
1) One little girl is over the moon after Delta Airlines reunited her with her beloved “daddy doll” thanks to a Facebook post. While traveling earlier this month, 1-year-old Kenley lost a doll with a picture of her father – who is currently deployed. The airline saw the post and was able to track the doll down (and gave her some extra gifts, too).
2) Also, flight attendants on a Southwest Airlines flight learned about a couple flying home with their newly-adopted baby girl. They announced it to a cheering cabin, and other travelers wrote well-wishes on napkins for the new parents.
Read more: USA Today, WaPo