Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Monday, August 23, 2021:
SEVERE WEATHER
HENRI SLAMS NORTHEAST: Tropical Storm Henri drenched the northeast before it made landfall midday Sunday in Rhode Island. Despite weakening, the storm will continue to impact cities inland with flooding rain and high winds into Monday; flash flood warnings have been issued for many areas as additional rainfall totals of between 1 and 3 inches are expected today across the region. Over 100,000 customers lost power in New England, New York and New Jersey as the storm swept through Sunday. THE WEATHER CHANNEL
TN FLOODING: Meanwhile, Tennessee is dealing with extreme flooding that has left at least 21 people dead and 45 people missing as of Sunday evening. Hundreds of homes in Humphreys County, west of Nashville, are thought to be uninhabitable at this point. Search and recovery efforts are underway and a curfew was put into place last night. President Biden said on Twitter his administration has “reached out to the community and will offer any assistance they need in this terrible moment.” TENNESSEAN
AFGHANISTAN LATEST: ‘A LOT COULD STILL GO WRONG’
President Biden said Sunday the U.S. is considering extending evacuation efforts beyond the August 31 deadline. Biden told reporters discussions are ongoing and his administration hopes they won’t have to extend the deadline, but said there’s still a “long way to go and a lot could still go wrong” as evacuations continue. Thousands still remain at Hamid Karzai Airport in Kabul waiting to be airlifted out after the Taliban seized control earlier this month. Biden said the U.S. evacuated roughly 11,000 people over a 30-hour period this weekend. Amid criticism from both parties, Biden said, “the evacuation of thousands of people from Kabul is going to be hard and painful no matter when it started or when we began." NBC News
COVID LATEST
FDA APPROVAL: Pfizer’s two-dose vaccine is set to receive full FDA approval today. Regulators were finalizing the process Friday but still working on paperwork and negotiations with the company. Sources told The New York Times that approval may not happen today if some parts of the final review need more time. Previously, the FDA had set an unofficial deadline of Labor Day for Pfizer’s shot. If approved, that could pave the way for more mandates. NY TIMES
GULF COAST CASES: As Delta variant cases tick up, the Gulf Coast region is being hit the hardest. The average per person hospitalization rate for tourist hotspots like Panama City, Florida; Mobile, Alabama; and Gulfport, Mississippi is higher than their states as a whole -- and per person average case rates in surrounding counties are more than twice the national average. Vaccination rates in all three counties are well below 40 percent. NY TIMES
CHILD HOSPITALIZATIONS: Meanwhile, child hospitalizations for COVID-19 have increased to levels not seen since January. As of last Wednesday, U.S. hospitals were tending to an average of more than 1,200 kids a day -- twice the number from the end of July. Rising hospitalization rates are happening as kids go back to school, a topic that’s been rife with debate this year over mask mandates. NBC NEWS
BYE BYE, CUOMO
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s resignation is set to go into effect later today, and Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul will become governor tomorrow morning at 12:01 A.M. But Cuomo didn’t let Tropical Storm Henri put a damper on his last days in office: he’s been fully engaged in the state’s storm preparations, and joined a televised briefing Sunday to discuss emergency services. He said Hochul, who did not attend the briefing, is up to speed on his administration’s storm response plans. Cuomo resigned after State Attorney General Letitia James said she found evidence Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women and created a toxic work environment. AP
PAYPAL CRYPTOCURRENCY
Starting today, PayPal users in the U.K. can buy, hold, and sell digital currencies. This is PayPal’s first international crypto expansion after the product launched in the U.S. in October 2020. Users can buy or sell bitcoin (which is once again trading above $50,000), bitcoin cash, ethereum or litecoin with as little as £1. Users can also track prices in real time and find educational content about the crypto market. PayPal says its aim is to make it easier for more people to join in on crypto trading. CNBC
T-MOBILE DATA BREACH
Fallout from the T-Mobile data breach continues. The company revealed Friday that hackers accessed the info of even more people than previously thought: over 53 million people in total are now impacted. Data includes addresses, birth dates, and customer phone numbers, and T-Mobile continues to assure customers that no financial information like credit card numbers or other payment data was leaked. Some customers sued T-Mobile for damages late Thursday night in Seattle federal court, alleging that the cyberattack violated their privacy and exposed them to a higher risk of fraud and identity theft. REUTERS
WHAT IS… STEPPING DOWN?
After a brief tenure as the new host of “Jeopardy!,” Mike Richards is stepping down after his past misogynistic, antisemitic, and other demeaning comments surfaced last week. Richards, who will reportedly continue to serve as the show’s executive producer, had been chosen as the successor to longtime host and fan favorite Alex Trebek, a choice that had sown chaos and division from the very beginning of the search for a new host. Richards’ comments were unearthed by The Ringer after their team listened to all 41 episodes of “The Randumb Show” podcast which aired from 2013-14. The search for a new host will start (again) with another rotating cast of fill-in hosts. However, the few episodes that Richards has taped will air in September. AP
TIGERS PLAYER JOINS 500 CLUB
Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera became the 28th MLB player in history to hit 500 home runs during the team’s matchup against the Toronto Blue Jays Sunday. Cabrera is the first Venezuelan-born player and member of the Tigers to hit 500 home runs -- and the first to do it since David Ortiz reached the record back in 2015. Cabrera, who has been playing in the major leagues for 19 years, came close to hitting the milestone Wednesday, but his fly ball went into the warning track against the Los Angeles Angels. YAHOO SPORTS
SPOTTED…
… Zoë Kravitz and Channing Tatum turning heads while hanging out in NYC, including partaking in a close bike ride where the pair hung onto one another. SEE IT
… a star-studded lineup of musicians from the “We Love NYC: The Homecoming Concert” doing impromptu performances despite being rained out. Barry Manilow was cut short in the middle of his song “I Can't Smile Without You” (which he then performed for CNN’s Anderson Cooper over the phone on live TV). The Killers didn’t take the stage, but still performed their hit “Mr. Brightside” from their dressing room: WATCH
… Former President Trump booed at an Alabama rally after telling his supporters to get vaccinated. WATCH
LEFTOVERS: SPIDER-MAN LEAK
Sony rushed late Sunday night to shut down what appeared to be a leaked trailer for the next Spider-Man installment. Twitter accounts were sharing a trailer for “Spider-Man: No Way Home” before they were slapped with a copyright statement and removed. Fans have been eager to see who will show up from previous Spider-Man films, and the rumor mill has been swirling. The Hollywood Reporter saw the alleged leak, and they say it’s legit. The movie is set for theatrical release on Dec. 17. THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
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Updated at 11:55 am ET to add video.
