On Friday, the 9/11 “Tribute in Light” will mark 19 years since the 2001 World Trade Center attacks. Starting at dusk, two giant beams of light will shine over New York City, memorializing the city’s strength and serving as a reminder that New Yorkers have rebuilt before and will rebuild again.
As New York City mayor for the 12 years that followed 9/11, Mike Bloomberg presided over the rebirth of Lower Manhattan and served as the longtime Board Chairman of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, created to honor the 3,000 who lost their lives that day. Last month, Mike ensured this year’s annual "Tribute in Light" would go on as planned, helping to offset the increased costs associated with keeping workers safe during the Coronavirus pandemic. On television Friday, ABC will air a special, "9/11 Remembered: The Day We Came Together," featuring speeches from Barack Obama as well as Mike, victims’ family members, first responders and others filmed at the 2014 opening of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.
Clickherefor a preview of the special and tune into ABC Friday at 8pm EST, or watch the program on Hulu.
On January 28, Donald Trump's deputy national security adviser told the president that after reaching contacts in China, it was evident that the world faced a health emergency on par with the flu pandemic of 1918, which killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide, according to Bob Woodward's new book, "Rage."
Ten days later, Trump called Woodward and revealed that he thought the situation was far more dire than what he had been saying publicly.
“You just breathe the air and that’s how it’s passed,” Trump said in a Feb. 7 call. “And so that’s a very tricky one. That’s a very delicate one. It’s also more deadly than even your strenuous flu.”
“This is deadly stuff,” the president repeated for emphasis.
At the same time, Trump was telling the nation that the virus was no worse than a seasonal flu, predicting it would soon disappear, and insisting that the U.S. government had it totally under control.
Trump admitted to Woodward on March 19 that he deliberately minimized the danger. “I wanted to always play it down,” the president said.
Read the full story and listen to excerpts of Woodward's interviews with Trump here.
Campaign 2020 Insight fromJames Owens at Hawkfish:
Facebook’s ad ban is changing campaign tactics in the lead up to the election — and Trump may benefit the most.
The most direct impacts may be seen in get-out-the-vote efforts. The GOTV focus on turnout and ballot chase typically comes as persuasion messaging tapers off — landing both before and after Facebook’s October 27th cut-off for new ads.
Also impacted is a campaign’s ability to respond to breaking news such as the unexpected closure of a polling place or a last-minute political attack (the infamous Comey letter was sent to Congress 11 days before Election Day in 2016). Even state election officials may be blocked from reaching voters through paid communications.
These new limits put Trump in a relatively better position to communicate during the restriction period. Due to his large organic reach on the platform, he can reach vastly more eyeballs without any spend.
On a head-to-head level, Trump’s primary Facebook page has more followers than Biden (31 million vs. 3 million). When you include all pages controlled by the two campaigns (14 vs. 4), Trump’s organic follower advantage grows even more (35 million vs. 5 million).
This leg up for pro-Trump messaging on Facebook holds across the platform’s U.S. audience. In fact, in just the last 24 hours, eight of the ten top-performing link posts originated from outlets on the partisan right.
Perhaps the stakes were best summed up by Facebook’s own CEO — who previously dismissed a broader ban on ads. Speaking at Georgetown last year, he said, "banning political ads favors incumbents and whoever the media chooses to cover.”
Depending on how the last seven days play out, he just may be proven right.
U.S. vs. UK: Four Times As Many New Virus Cases.
The U.S. had more than four times the number of new Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people over the past week than the UK.
At the same time, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a new cap on public gatherings of just six people, down from 30, in an attempt to squash a recent spike in cases in which the UK is registering 2,200 new cases per day.
The chart below shows the number of new Covid cases and deaths, in total, over the past week as well as the new cases and deaths per 100,000 people in both the U.S. and the UK, for comparison.
More than 50 American tech companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have sued to stop the ban on several non-immigrant work visas for the rest of the year.
Steve Rao with New American Economy — a bipartisan advocacy organization fighting for smart immigration policies and founded by Mike Bloomberg — believes the order will only hurt American companies.
“What we’re doing now is saying we don’t want the best and brightest coming here,” Rao said. “That’s going to hurt us long term.”
Reaching all 7.8 billion people on the planet with a coronavirus vaccine will require a global airlift filling the equivalent of 8,000 Boeing 747 freighters, according to the International Air Transport Association.
IATA is working with airlines, airports, global health bodies and pharmaceutical firms to pull together plans for a distribution program, calling it the industry’s “largest single transport challenge ever.”
Restaurants must have temperature checks, enhanced air filtration systems, and customers must wear masks except when they’re seated. Diners must also leave contact information with restaurants for contact tracing to cut down on outbreaks.
Best of Late Night.
On reports that one of the massive California wildfires was started because of a pyrotechnic device at a gender reveal party:
"This year’s wildfire season has been one of the worst in history, with dozens of fires burning a record two million acres. And now we’re finding out that one of this weekend’s biggest blazes started in one of the dumbest ways possible." -- Trevor Noah
"Oh my goodness, they used pyrotechnics. Seriously? It’s a gender reveal, not a Kiss concert."
-- Jimmy Fallon
"Even people who fall off cliffs taking selfies are like, 'What a bunch of idiots'."
-- Jimmy Fallon
"Yeah, it turns out the couple is now expecting six months in jail and thousands in legal fees."
-- Jimmy Fallon
On the Trump campaign squandering its cash advantage:
"The Trump campaign blew through $800 million in a few months. Who is running his campaign? Trump in the 80's?"
-- Jimmy Fallon
"The Trump campaign spent $156,000 on planes that pull banners. So their advertising strategy is basically the same as the clam shack down on the Jersey Shore."
-- Jimmy Fallon
Thank you for reading! For LIVE news updates, bookmark and visit my website, SheekeyDaily.com.
Please forward my email to anyone you think should read it. They can sign up here.
Send any feedback and tips by simply replying to this message.
Follow me on Twitter for more updates. And get the latest updates from Mike on Twitter and Instagram.
If you prefer not to receive this newsletter, you can opt out the email address <<Email Address>> here.
