National News - Page 128

Within CDC, there’s debate about how to best advise Americans on masks

By Elizabeth Cohen The day after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention came out with its much-awaited updated mask guidance in late April, email inboxes at the federal agency were buzzing with a link to a Trevor Noah monologue. In his self-described “viral rant,” the comedian ripped apart the new guidance as “too complicated” and “unreadable.” “I know science is difficult and this is a novel virus and all of that, but who’s running messaging at the CDC?” Noah asked. As CDC staff passed around a link to the April 27 monologue, a federal official told CNN, the

Biden signs cybersecurity executive order, though rules wouldn’t have applied to Colonial Pipeline

By Kevin Liptak President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday meant to better protect the nation from cyberattacks, but even as he signed it, the White House acknowledged more will need to be done to prevent the type of hack that affected the Colonial Pipeline. That attack, which temporarily shut down the pipeline supplying fuel to the eastern United States this week, caused gas stations to run dry and gas prices to spike as Americans flocked to the pumps in a spurt of panic buying. Instead, officials described the order — months in the making — as an initial

No, unemployment benefits aren’t the problem

Analysis by Anneken Tappe America’s job market is in a weird spot: it’s still millions of jobs short of where it was before the pandemic, but businesses complain they can’t find staff. Opponents of enhanced unemployment benefits during Covid say the government aid is so cushy, the jobless don’t want to return to work. On the surface, that argument has some merit. The jobless benefits Congress bolstered at the start of the pandemic have been extended until September. Now, though, people are getting vaccinated and employers want their laid-off employees to come back. That should be a recipe for success.

Biden administration winds down Trump’s pandemic food box program

By Katie Lobosco As the country slowly climbs out of the pandemic, the Biden administration is ending a program that delivered nearly 167 million boxes of fresh food to families in need and helped farmers sell their produce at a time when supply chain disruptions forced them to dump milk and destroy their crops. It’s one of many emergency federal aid programs that the government must decide how to wind down in a way that doesn’t create more problems for those still in need — and some, including New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, the new chairman of the Senate nutrition

Attorneys for Andrew Brown’s family will continue to petition for release of all videos of fatal shooting

By Madeline Holcombe Following the family’s viewing of body and dash camera footage of Andrew Brown Jr.’s death, attorneys for the family recommitted to pursuing the full release of all videos of the shooting. “We will move fairly quickly on that matter to go before the court to make our arguments to get the videos released,” attorney Harry Daniels said. Brown was fatally shot April 21 when Pasquotank County deputies in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, were trying to execute a warrant. The community and family have called for the release of the footage since, especially as their attorneys and prosecutors

Gasoline demand spikes in several states after pipeline hack

By Matt Egan A growing number of gas stations along the East Coast are without fuel as nervous drivers aggressively fill up their tanks following a ransomware attack that shut down the Colonial Pipeline, a critical artery for gasoline. The panic-buying threatens to exacerbate the supply shock. As of 9 pm ET Tuesday, 12.3% of gas stations in North Carolina and 8.6% in Virginia didn’t have gasoline, according to outage figures reported by GasBuddy, an app that tracks fuel prices and demand. The Virginia figure was up from 7.7% at 4p ET, while North Carolina was up from 8.5% previously.

Americans as young 12 could get the Covid-19 vaccine this week. Some experts think it could turn the pandemic around

By Madeline Holcombe Pediatricians and pharmacies across the US are ready to administer Covid-19 vaccines for 12 to 15-year-olds, a development the US Food and Drug Administration predicts could begin as soon as Thursday. In what President Joe Biden called a “promising development,” the FDA expanded the emergency use authorization (EUA) Monday for the Pfizer vaccine to be given to adolescents as young as 12. The agency also set a meeting for next month for vaccine advisors to discuss authorizing vaccines for younger children. “This is big news,” CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner told CNN’s Erin Burnett. “The young

The wife of Martin Luther King III has tough conversations about racism with their daughter, an emerging young activist

By Nicquel Terry Ellis At the age of 12, Yolanda King is a force. She has delivered dynamic speeches about racial equality and gun control. She’s advocating for youth activism and working to dismantle racism through her family’s organization, the Drum Major Institute. Yolanda is determined to promote her late grandfather the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s philosophy of non-violent protest. Her mother, Arndrea Waters King, said Yolanda’s desire to lead comes naturally. “She was born that way,” King said in an interview with CNN. “She has always had the heart for social justice and she has never let her

Louisiana unveils civil rights markers honoring the courage of activists and the places they organized and boycotted for change

By Lauren M. Johnson “Courage over oppression” is the message the Louisiana Office of Tourism is pressing into with the installation of historical markers memorializing significant locations that were crucial to the Civil Rights Movement around the state. Similar to the US project of the same name, the Louisiana Civil Rights Trail already has the first three markers in place. The project began when Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser discovered his state did not have a Civil Rights Trail. From there, Glenda McKinley told CNN she and her team at GMc+Co Strategic Communications were approached to set the project in

Dr. Sanjay Gupta: The complicated calculus of mask-wearing

By Dr. Sanjay Gupta Let’s face it, masks have been a hot button issue in this country since the very start of the pandemic. They were politicized early on, and quickly became a symbol of how seriously a person took the threat of the coronavirus. In our new world, where there’s now a highly effective way to prevent the spread of Covid-19 — vaccines — masks still remain a complicated issue, especially since US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxed its guidance on face coverings for fully vaccinated people outdoors. Now, masks aren’t only tied to politics, they’re also

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