Thursday, March 12th, 2020
Travel Ban, Weinstein Sentenced & Olympic Tradition (+ Talking with Dr. Oz)
All the news you need in less than 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 perusing the latest happenings...
Coronavirus Crackdown
Most travel from Europe to the U.S. will be put on hold, starting Friday, in hopes of stopping the spread of COVID-19. The 30-day restrictions do not apply to Britain or to Americans coming home. The announcement came the same day the World Health Organization labeled the new coronavirus a “pandemic,” meaning it's a new virus that is widespread around the world. In the U.S., Congress’ in-house doctor reportedly told staffers as many as 70-150 million Americans will likely get the virus this season (but 80% of cases are likely mild or moderate).
Europe Travel Ban: PBS News, NYT, WaPo
WHO Declares Global Pandemic: USA Today, Axios
Expert Warnings & Advice: Politico, Stat News, CNBC, CDC
Dow Down, NBA SuspendedFears sent the stock market into another deep dive. The Dow fell into a bear market. The S&P 500 is a single percentage point away. To help the economy, the White House is negotiating with Congress over a potential stimulus deal. A House vote could come as soon as today.
Also, the NBA suspended its season "until further notice." The news came after a player on the Utah Jazz was diagnosed with COVID-19. As for March Madness, the NCAA basketball tournament will still go on (for now), but without fans in the crowd. In New York, studio audiences will no longer be allowed to watch late night talk show tapings.
Economy: AP, NBC News, Fox News, NYT
Basketball: SI, ESPN, NBC Sports, Yahoo Sports, USA Today, CBS Sports
Hollywood: THR, AP, ET
Harvey Weinstein Sentenced
Disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in New York state prison. He was already convicted of sexual assault and rape, marking a watershed moment for the #metoo movement. Weinstein could also be sentenced to another 28 years in prison, if found guilty at a separate sexual assault trial in Los Angeles. Weinstein still insists all encounters were consensual.
Read More: LA Times, WSJ, Deadline
Super Tuesday 2.0 Update
Results are still trickling in from what’s been called “Mini Super Tuesday.” Sen. Bernie Sanders won over voters in North Dakota. Still, Washington is easily split. As of this morning, the winner was still too close to call. The night’s big winner was former Vice President Joe Biden. He won 4 states, including the biggest of the week: Michigan. Sanders says he's pushing ahead.
Read More: WaPo, FoxNews, CNN
Olympic Flame Lighting
The Olympic torch will be lit in Greece today. The ceremony will be held in front of only 100 people this year. The public is banned over coronavirus concerns. Also, for the first time, a woman will be the first to bear the torch after it’s lit. The honor will go to 2016 gold medalist, Anna Korakaki.
Read More: NBC News, ABC News, Deadline
Sports Roundup
It appears a former New England Patriots player is making a comeback, but not for the NFL. Rob Gronkowski is reportedly close to finalizing a deal with the WWE. The former tight end could appear on WWE Smackdown as soon as next Friday.
It’s about to get easier to watch women’s soccer. The NWSL just struck a deal with CBS Sports and Twitch, allowing them to stream the matches online. Until now, the matches haven’t been widely broadcasted.
Rob Gronkowski to WWE: ESPN, Fox Sports
Women’s Soccer Games on Twitch: The Verge, Engadget
Soulcycle to Stream Classes
Peloton has new competition. Soulcycle is now expanding into the stationary bike market. So people who are fans of the spin classes can workout from home and stream classes on-demand. The bike reportedly costs $2,500 and it will cost an extra $40/month to stream classes.
Read More: Fox Business, The Verge
Smallest Dinosaur Discovered
Scientists think they’ve discovered the smallest dinosaur to ever exist. They think it was a bird-like dinosaur, smaller than a hummingbird. Its head was only about the size of a human thumb, but its jaw was packed with more than 100 serrated teeth, so it was likely a predator. Scientists found its skull in a chunk of amber that’s 99 million years old.
Read More: CNN, Livescience
Thing to Know Thursday:
DISCUSSING COVID-19
Guest: Dr. Oz
Dr. Oz has won ten Daytime Emmy® Awards for “The Dr. Oz Show” and is an Attending Physician at NY Presbyterian-Columbia Medical Center. Dr. Oz received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and obtained a joint MD and MBA from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Wharton Business School.
Previously, Dr. Oz was a featured health expert on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” for six seasons. He is the co-founder of Sharecare.com which won “Best Medical App” award for AskMD in 2014 and has a bookazine with Hearst titled, “The Good Life.” Dr. Oz is also the proud author of eight New York Times Best Sellers including his most recent, “Food Can Fix It.”
In addition to belonging to every major professional society for heart surgeons, Dr. Oz has been named Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People, Forbes’ most influential celebrity, Esquire magazine’s 75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century, a Global Leader of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum, Harvard’s 100 Most Influential Alumni, as is a recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and AARP 50 Influential People Over 50.
Dr. Oz resides in New Jersey with his wife Lisa Oz and is a proud father of four and grandfather of four.