10 things you need to know today: December 10, 2020

1. U.S. records more than 3,000 coronavirus deaths in 1 day

The United States confirmed more than 3,000 deaths related to the coronavirus on Wednesday, a single-day record, The Washington Post reported. Total U.S. deaths reached nearly 290,000. Texas, Colorado, Illinois, and Pennsylvania each reported more than 200 new deaths. There were more than 213,000 new cases across the country. The continuing record-setting U.S. surge came as federal regulators moved closer to approving a vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. A federal review this week confirmed the vaccine met U.S. standards for emergency use. A new Associated Press-NORC poll found that only about half of Americans are ready to get the two-dose vaccine, with some fearing rushed approval. Public health experts estimate 70 percent of the population must be vaccinated to reach herd immunity. The federal government has ordered 100 million doses of the two-shot vaccine.

The Washington Post The Associated Press

2. House passes stopgap spending bill to avert government shutdown

The House on Wednesday approved a stopgap spending bill to keep the federal government funded for another week, sending it to the Senate with time to beat a Saturday deadline and avoid a shutdown. The legislation would keep the federal agencies funded until Dec. 18 and provide more time to reach a deal on a larger bill that would keep the government running through Sept. 30. The Senate is expected to pass it before the deadline. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) have called for including coronavirus relief measures in the bill. Democratic leaders have backed a bipartisan $908 billion coronavirus relief package. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin unveiled a $916 billion White House plan on Tuesday.

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CNBC

3. Trump backs Texas' request for Supreme Court to reverse Biden win

President Trump said Wednesday that he would intervene in favor of a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asking the Supreme Court to reverse voting results in four states Trump lost to President-elect Joe Biden. Seventeen other states have backed the long-shot lawsuit that aims to overturn the outcome by giving Trump the electoral votes of the four key battleground states of Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Trump has falsely claimed that he won the states — and the election — and maintained without evidence that Biden only won due to widespread ballot fraud. Trump did not say how he planned to intervene in the case. Officials in the four states have dismissed the lawsuit as a baseless and reckless assault on democracy.

Reuters

4. Canada becomes 3rd country to authorize emergency use of Pfizer vaccine

Canada on Wednesday became the third country to approve emergency use of the Pfizer and BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, after the United Kingdom and Bahrain. Canada's drug regulator, Health Canada, limited its approval to a single production run of the vaccine. The authorization was largely based on Pfizer's analysis. Canadians could start getting shots of the two-dose vaccine as soon as next week. British regulators on Wednesday ordered hospitals not to administer the vaccine to anybody with a history of "significant" allergic reactions. The notice came after two U.K. National Health Service staffers showed symptoms of "anaphylactoid reaction" after being vaccinated Tuesday with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, as Britain launched the first mass coronavirus immunization campaign in the West.

The New York Times The Washington Post

5. Hunter Biden says his 'tax affairs' under investigation

President-elect Joe Biden's son Hunter revealed Wednesday that he is under federal investigation for his "tax affairs." Hunter Biden said in a statement by the president-elect's transition team that the U.S. Attorney's Office in Delaware advised his legal counsel about the inquiry. "I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately," Hunter Biden said. The statement also said the president-elect is "deeply proud of his son, who has fought through difficult challenges, including the vicious personal attacks of recent months." No further details were provided, but CNN reported that investigators were examining whether Hunter Biden and associates violated tax and money laundering laws in business dealings in China and other countries.

The Washington Post CNN

6. Hospitals serving 100 million run low on ICU beds

Hospitals serving more than 100 million Americans have reported that their intensive-care-bed capacity is down to less than 15 percent as coronavirus cases hit record levels, The New York Times reported Wednesday, citing data released by the Department of Health and Human Services. El Paso hospitals were down to 13 beds out of 400. Fargo, North Dakota, had just three. Albuquerque had none. The data showed that one in 10 Americans live in areas where intensive beds are all full, or fewer than 5 percent remain. The ICU bed shortages mean that in some areas maintaining existing standards of care for the sickest people could become impossible. "There's only so much our frontline care can offer," said Beth Blauer, director of the Centers for Civic Impact at Johns Hopkins University.

The New York Times

7. FTC sues Facebook to divest of WhatsApp and Instagram

The Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general from 46 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam filed long-expected lawsuits against Facebook, accusing it of unfairly stifling competition. "For nearly a decade, Facebook has used its dominance and monopoly power to crush smaller rivals," New York Attorney General Letitia James said. "Today, we are taking action to stand up for the millions of consumers and many small businesses that have been harmed by Facebook's illegal behavior." The lawsuits argue that Facebook's acquisitions of photo-sharing app Instagram and messaging app WhatsApp were done illegally. The attorneys general asked the federal court to step in and possibly order Facebook to spin off the formal rivals. The FTC also is pushing for Facebook to divest from WhatsApp and Instagram.

NPR

8. Pennsylvania governor tests positive for coronavirus

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) has become the latest government official to test positive for COVID-19. Wolf received the positive diagnosis during a "routine test" on Tuesday, he said in a Wednesday statement. "I have no symptoms and feeling well," Wolf added, saying he would be working remotely as he quarantines at home with his wife Frances. "My positive test is a reminder that no one is immune from COVID," Wolf continued, reminding Pennsylvanians to wear a mask, stay home, and socially distance. Pennsylvania has seen case counts grow by more than 50 percent over the past few weeks, and ICU beds throughout the state are 80 percent full as well, according to Health and Human Services Department data.

ABC News

9. Report: 14 designated hate groups received PPP funds

Fourteen organizations designated as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center or the Anti-Defamation League got a total of $4.3 million in Paycheck Protection Program funding, NBC News reported Wednesday, citing data released last week by the Small Business Administration. The flagged organizations included the New Century Foundation, publisher of the white supremacist website and now-discontinued magazine American Renaissance. That group received $51,600. NBC News, one of 11 newsrooms that sued for access to the data, crosschecked the PPP data against 73 designated hate groups. The groups that received money also included American Family Association, which opposes what its leaders describe as the "homosexual agenda." It got $1,390,800. The anti-immigration Federation for American Immigration Reform received $683,680 from the PPP program.

NBC News

10. SpaceX Starship test flight ends in a fiery crash

SpaceX's experimental SN8 rocket successfully flew eight miles above the company's South Texas testing facility and came back down on Wednesday, but exploded in a fireball as it was landing. There was nobody on board the self-guided SN8. The rocket was a prototype of the 16-story-tall Starship heavy-lift launch vehicle being developed by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's private space company to transport humans and 100 tons of cargo on future missions to the moon and Mars. Wednesday's test flight was the first for the rocket. Before the launch, Musk tweeted that there was a one-in-three chance it would land safely. SpaceX had scrapped the first two attempts to launch the test flight with moments left on the countdown clock.

CNN Reuters