10 things you need to know today: December 11, 2020

1. FDA panel recommends approving Pfizer vaccine for emergency use

A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee on Thursday recommended authorizing emergency use of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine, saying the potential benefits outweigh the risks. The decision by the independent panel cleared the way for the expected approval of the two-shot vaccine for people 16 and older. The vaccine developed by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech is the first to go through the FDA review. The FDA first doublechecked Pfizer's trial data and determined that it met U.S. standards for emergency use. The federal government is gearing up for a massive vaccination campaign to begin next week, starting with priority groups, including health-care workers and residents of long-term care facilities.

Politico Stat News

2. Battleground states slam 'seditious' Texas election

The four battleground states whose presidential election results Texas is asking to reverse urged the Supreme Court not to consider the case. The states — Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Georgia — have all certified President-elect Joe Biden's defeat of President Trump, entitling Biden to their electoral votes. In harsh briefs on Thursday, they called Texas' challenge "seditious" and warned the justices that granting Texas' unprecedented request would "do violence to the Constitution" and "disenfranchise millions" of voters. Also on Thursday, Washington, D.C., Attorney General Karl Racine filed a separate brief defending the swing states on behalf of the nation's capital and 22 states and territories. The responses to Texas' actions came a day after Trump vowed to "intervene" in support of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's longshot bid to reverse the election outcome.

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3. U.S. tops a record 3,300 coronavirus deaths in 1 day

The U.S. reported more than 3,300 coronavirus deaths on Thursday, setting a single-day record above 3,000 for the second straight day, according to The Washington Post. The national total has surpassed 292,000. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warned that over the coming two to three months the death toll would remain high. As new cases and hospitalizations also continued to surge, several states stepped up restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of infections. Virginia imposed a midnight curfew, and New Mexico barred elective surgeries. With the financial strain, more Americans reportedly have been shoplifting food. "People will say, 'I was just hungry,'" said Joo Park, manager of a Washington, D.C., supermarket where thefts have doubled. "And then what do you do?"

The Washington Post

4. Biden picks Susan Rice to lead White House Domestic Policy Council

President-elect Joe Biden will name Susan Rice as head of the White House Domestic Policy Council, Biden's transition team announced Thursday. Rice served as national security adviser and United Nations ambassador under former President Barack Obama, and was on Biden's vice presidential shortlist. But she has relatively little domestic policy experience, a fact that prompted criticism of her appointment, which doesn't require Senate approval. Another Biden pick drew fire for similar reasons. Biden indicated he would nominate Denis McDonough to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. McDonough was a chief of staff in the Obama White House, and was reportedly chosen for his skill in crisis management. But he is not a veteran, and would be only the second non-veteran to hold the job.

The Associated Press The Wall Street Journal

5. CDC director accused of telling staff to delete email

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield allegedly ordered staff to delete an email from a Trump political appointee seeking to alter a scientific report on coronavirus risk to children, Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), chair of a congressional oversight subcommittee, said Thursday. Clyburn sent Redfield and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar a letter expressing "serious concern" about a senior CDC official's allegations "about what may be deliberate efforts by the Trump administration to conceal and destroy evidence that senior political appointees interfered with career officials' response to the coronavirus crisis." The report was not altered, and Redfield said in a statement that he had "instructed CDC staff to ignore" the appointee's comments.

The Washington Post Politico

6. U.S. executes Brandon Bernard for role in double murder when he was 18

The federal government executed Brandon Bernard by lethal injection on Thursday for his role in a 1999 double murder in Texas that occurred when he was 18. The execution, carried out despite objections from jurors in the case, was the first of five scheduled in the final weeks of the Trump administration, and the first in a presidential lame-duck period in 130 years. Bernard was the youngest prisoner, based on his age at the time of the crime, executed by the federal government in nearly 70 years. Bernard apologized to the relatives of the victims, Todd and Stacie Bagley, and his own family, saying: "I wish I could take it all back, but I can't." Georgia Bagley, Todd's mother, expressed relief that the sentence was carried out, and said Bernard's remorse helped "heal my heart."

NBC News The Associated Press

7. New Hampshire House speaker dies of COVID-19

New Hampshire state Rep. Dick Hinch, who was elected speaker of the New Hampshire House a week ago, has died of COVID-19. His death on Wednesday came a month before the state legislature is expected to convene for its annual session. Hinch, 71, was formally chosen as House speaker on Dec. 2. The vote was held in an outdoor session at a University of New Hampshire athletic field, due to coronavirus concerns. Several Republican House members had tested positive earlier that week. Since then, a member of Gov. Chris Sununu's staff and a House speaker's office staffer also have tested positive. In his speech after being named speaker, Hinch urged his colleagues "to not look at each other as Republicans and Democrats, but as friends and colleagues, working towards the same goal."

NPR

8. Jobless claims rise more than expected

The Labor Department reported on Thursday that 853,000 Americans filed first-time jobless claims last week, up 137,000 from the previous week's revised level of 716,000. The figure far exceeded the 730,000 claims economists had been expecting. It was the highest weekly total since Sept. 19. The rise came as COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths surged across the United States. The nation on Wednesday set a record for daily coronavirus deaths with more than 3,000 in a single day. The numbers marked the latest in a series of indications that hiring is slowing as some states impose new stay-at-home and business restrictions. The Labor Department last week released a disappointing jobs report showing that only 245,000 jobs were added in November. Economists had expected 440,000 new jobs.

Bloomberg CNBC

9. Israel, Morocco agree to resume diplomatic relations

Israel and Morocco on Thursday announced that they have agreed to normalize relations. The pact was the fourth Israel has made in recent months with Arab countries. "Another HISTORIC breakthrough today!" President Trump tweeted. "Our two GREAT friends Israel and the Kingdom of Morocco have agreed to full diplomatic relations — a massive breakthrough for peace in the Middle East!" In an apparent reward for agreeing to the diplomatic thaw, Trump said he signed a proclamation recognizing Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, tweeting: "Morocco's serious, credible, and realistic autonomy proposal is the ONLY basis for a just and lasting solution for enduring peace and prosperity!" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the agreement with Morocco and thanked Trump for his "extraordinary efforts" to "bring peace to Israel and the peoples of the Middle East."

NPR

10. Time names Biden, Harris as 2020 'Person of the Year'

President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are Time's 2020 Person of the Year, the magazine announced Thursday night. Time says the Person of the Year is someone who "affected the news or our lives the most, for better or worse." 2020 was tumultuous and brutal, "a year without measure," Time editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal said, and Biden and Harris "show where the nation is heading: a blend of ethnicities, lived experiences, and world views that must find a way forward together if the American experiment is to survive." The other finalists were President Trump, "the movement for racial justice," and a combination of frontline health workers and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's top infectious disease expert.

Time