1 Biden Delivers Remarks After U.S. Crosses 500K COVID Deaths
President Biden says Americans need to "resist becoming numb to the sorrow" of the coronavirus pandemic. Biden delivered remarks after the U.S. crossed 500-thousand deaths since the outbreak started. He called it "grim" and "heartbreaking." During his speech, the President noted more Americans have died during the pandemic than in both World Wars and the Vietnam War combined. He also held a moment of silence and insisted the country needs to remember those who fell victim to the virus. Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson plans to rollout 20-million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine by late March with FDA approval. Johnson & Johnson also indicates it's on track to supply 100 million doses by the end of June. An FDA panel is set to meet Friday to consider emergency authorization for the highly anticipated vaccine. Unlike other coronavirus vaccines, this one only requires a single shot.
2 SCOTUS Won't Stop Grand Jury from Getting Trump's Tax Returns
Bad News out of the Supreme Court for former President Trump. SCOTUS has blocked his bid to stop a New York grand jury from obtaining his financial and tax returns going back eight years. Not only that, but the justices didn’t offer any reasoning behind the decision nor did anyone issue a dissenting opinion. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance can now require Trump to turn over the records, but they will only become public if he brings criminal charges forward. In other words, the ruling does not mean Trump's taxes will become public any time soon. Vance responded to the ruling on Twitter by saying, "the work continues." This is the second time the nation's highest court has weighed in on the matter. Last July, the high court rejected Trump's claim that a sitting President is absolutely immune from criminal proceedings.
3 NTSB's Initial Assessment Of Untied Engine Points To Metal Fatigue
The NTSB says the initial investigation suggests metal fatigue may have caused an engine failure on a United Airlines flight over the weekend. A United flight bound for Hawaii began having trouble 15-thousand feet above Denver – fortunately everyone landed safely. The NTSB's first look at the Boeing 777's engine found damage to a fan blade that may have resulted in the incident – investigators also found that debris damaged the fuselage. NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt noted that it's too early to say whether the engine issue is similar to other engine failures on planes with the same engine type. In this case, however, the plane involved was about 26 years old – and according to some reports the engine that ultimately failed had issues at least twice before. The investigation continues.