News April 22, 2021

News Stories

• Drug Safety Is FDA’s Job, Not CDC’s

  SPEAKER: Scott Gottlieb

  (WSJ) – Clear lines of authority would make it easier to resolve the Johnson & Johnson complications.

• WWSG Exclusive: Ambassador Robert O’Brien

  SPEAKER: Robert O'Brien

  (WWSG News) – We’re proud to welcome Robert C. O’Brien as our newest exclusive speaker.

• Visiting speaker Marc Short shares about his community of faith while working as Mike Pence’s chief of staff

  SPEAKER: Marc Short

  (Liberty University) – Short also offered encouragement by noting that although President Trump and Pence did not share all the same ideas, Pence’s humble disposition and desire to serve contributed to the duo’s productivity while in office.

• Former head of FDA’s medical and scientific affairs on Covid: ‘FDA has never been tested like this’

  SPEAKER: Anand Shah

  (Endpoints News) – FDA has to keep up with constantly evolving science, as well as the need to recruit and train people with highly specialized skills.

• Republicans Are Making 4 Key Mistakes

  SPEAKER: David Frum

  (The Atlantic) – Misperceptions and rage are blinding Republicans—and their voter-suppression measures may backfire.

• Trump CDC director hired by Big Ass Fans, a company that claims to have COVID-killing tech

  SPEAKER: Robert Redfield

  (Washington Examiner) – A former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director is joining the team at Big Ass Fans, a company that claims to have a COVID-19-killing technology.

• Former Vice President Mike Pence memoir set for 2023 release

  SPEAKER: Mike Pence

  (ABC) – Former Vice President Mike Pence has a book deal.

• WWSG New Exclusive Speaker: Dr. Deborah Birx

  SPEAKER: Deborah Birx

  (WWSG News) – WWSG is proud to announce Dr. Birx as our newest exclusive speaker.

• EXCLUSIVE: Pence returns to MAGA world with Trump-backed political group

  SPEAKER: Mike Pence

  (Washington Examiner) – It will seek to defend the Trump-Pence administration’s record while building what aides said would be a “winning formula for a broader coalition.”

• Building on the Trump administration’s victories to advance American freedom

  SPEAKER: Mike Pence

  (Washington Times) – Advancing American Freedom will help ensure that we continue to boldly forge a future of freedom for all the American people.

• With 2M Shots In Arms, Looking To Winter Boosters

  SPEAKER: Scott Gottlieb

  (CT News) – Despite worries that the country was heading for a fourth wave, Gottlieb said he believed the nation had crossed an “inflection point” and he expected spikes to be more isolated than in the past.

• How Dr. Scott Gottlieb protects his young kids on playdates before they can get Covid shots

  SPEAKER: Scott Gottlieb

  (CNBC) – A person who received a Covid shot should still wear a mask around an at-risk individual who hasn’t been vaccinated.

• American decline: Perception or reality?

  SPEAKER: Niall Ferguson

  (The Hill) – Decline is a relative term, but clearly by a preponderance of measures America is declining while China is ascending.

• Covid Arsenal Needs Pills as Well as Shots

  SPEAKER: Scott Gottlieb

  (WSJ) – A drug that could prevent severe symptoms could help those who can’t or won’t get vaccinated.

• Don’t Let China Mint the Money of the Future

  SPEAKER: Niall Ferguson

  (Bloomberg) – U.S. policy makers need to wake up to the potential of digital currency and electronic payments and the peril of allowing China to dominate them.

• My Fair Lady

  SPEAKER: Lady Fiona Carnarvon

  (Hawaii Luxury) – Lady Carnarvon, resident of television’s beloved Downton Abbey, adds Hawaii’s Hoola Nã Pua to her fascinating repertoire.

• The Strange New Doctrine of the Republican Party

  SPEAKER: David Frum

  (The Atlantic) – The GOP’s version of freedom puts greater priority on right-wing cultural folkways than on rights of property and ownership.

• Opinion: What if the former CDC director is right about the Wuhan labs?

  SPEAKER: Robert Redfield

  (Washington Post) – We have no choice but to pursue all possible theories and accept whatever truth the facts lead to.

• Elaine Chao, Former Secretary of Transportation Now Speaking Exclusively with WWSG

  SPEAKER: Elaine Chao

  (WWSG News) – WWSG is proud to announce Secretary Chao as our newest exclusive speaker.

• Experts Say What You Can, Can’t Do Post-Vaccine in Viral Reddit Thread

  SPEAKER: Caitlin Rivers

  (Yahoo!) – What can you do if you’ve received the COVID-19 vaccine, but your kids haven’t?

• Republicans form conservative coalition to fight Biden’s tax hikes in $3T infrastructure project

  SPEAKER: Marc Short

  (FOX) – The Coalition to Protect American Workers officially launched its website Tuesday and is designed to fight back against proposed tax increases on businesses.

• The Bombs That Never Went Off

  SPEAKER: David Frum

  (The Atlantic) – The fall of the Soviet Union left behind a grim legacy of nuclear danger. After 30 years, the last weapons-grade uranium has been eliminated.

• Sheila Bair: The Fed is making the right moves to help America’s small businesses

  SPEAKER: Sheila Bair

  (CNN) – Larger employers will benefit from the Fed’s decision to start buying the debt of commercial companies, including newly issued debt.

• Alex Honnold Once Took A 45-Minute Call And Ate Lunch While Scaling a Cliff

  SPEAKER: Alex Honnold

  (Sports Illustrated) – While on the Pat McAfee Show, Honnold recounted a time when he was rock climbing on a “rest day” in Yosemite National Park.

• How to Make Spring the Last Lost Semester

  SPEAKER: Scott Gottlieb

  (WSJ) – With Covid precautions and eventual vaccines for children, classrooms can reopen in time for the fall.

• New Exclusive Speaker Announcement: Former Vice President Mike Pence

  SPEAKER: Mike Pence

  (WWSG News) – WWSG is thrilled to announce former Vice President Mike Pence as their newest exclusive speaker.

• A Taiwan Crisis May Mark the End of the American Empire

  SPEAKER: Niall Ferguson

  (Bloomberg) – America is a diplomatic fox, while Beijing is a hedgehog fixated on the big idea of reunification.

• Where’s the Science Behind CDC’s 6-Foot Social-Distance Decree?

  SPEAKER: Scott Gottlieb

  (WSJ) – The new limit for schools is 3 feet. But the public is in the dark about the basis of these recommendations.

• I Got My Covid Vaccine. Now Can I Hug My Mom?

  SPEAKER: Caitlin Rivers

  (NYT) – Three experts respond to questions from readers about what they can do after getting vaccinated.

• Bloomberg Wall Street Week: Stimulus Special (Podcast)

  SPEAKER: Niall Ferguson

  (Bloomberg) – The conversations highlight how the $1.9 trillion injection of stimulus will affect states, education, and inflation in the United States.

• [TRANSCRIPT] FOMC decision: we’re going to see a lot of volatility no matter what: Sheila Bair

  SPEAKER: Sheila Bair

  (Yahoo! Finance) – Sheila Bair, Volcker Alliance Director & Former FDIC Chair, joins Yahoo Finance to discuss what to expect next from the Fed.

• Biden Has a Border Problem

  SPEAKER: David Frum

  (The Atlantic) – Only 52 percent [of constituents] approve of the way [Biden] is handling immigration—yet the administration seems too paralyzed to act.

• Joe Grogan Joins David Webb’s Podcast

  SPEAKER: Joseph Grogan

  (David Webb) – David speaks with Joe Grogan about Biden’s speech, covid, and healthcare.

• ActivePure Technologies Names Former White House Coronavirus Coordinator as Chief Advisor

  SPEAKER: Deborah Birx

  (Dallas Innovates) – Dr. Deborah Birx is ActivePure’s new chief medical and scientific advisor.

• Op-ed: What’s Good for Women Is Good For the World

  SPEAKER: Cristina Mittermeier

  (KatieCouric.com) – Girls may be the climate heroes of the future. But first, we must empower the ones we have left behind.

• How Biden Can Make the Quad Endure

  SPEAKER: Evan Feigenbaum

  (Carnegie) – To succeed, the Quad needs to evolve from a China-focused club of four to a group of first movers on an array of specific functional challenges. The best way to do this is for the four countries to form the core of a rotating set of ad hoc problem-solving coalitions in the Indo-Pacific.

• America Needs Leaders Like Elaine Chao

  SPEAKER: Elaine Chao

  (WSJ) – She’s an inspiration to minorities and women and is under baseless attack.

• Federal response one year after the start of the pandemic

  SPEAKER: Caitlin Rivers

  (CBS Newspath) – One year after the coronavirus was declared a pandemic, more than half a million people in the U.S. have lost their lives to the virus.

• Caitlin Rivers: New WWSG Exclusive Speaker

  SPEAKER: Caitlin Rivers

  (WWSG News) – Worldwide Speakers Group welcomes Dr. Caitlin Rivers to our list of impressive exclusive speakers.

• Will proposed mergers put our national defense at risk?

  SPEAKER: Gregory Slavonic

  (Military News) – As President Biden’s team at the Department of Defense (DoD) starts settling into their new roles, one of their first priorities will be to address what the stated U.S. defense strategy will be.

• March and April are critical months in stopping another Covid-19 surge

  SPEAKER: Michael Osterholm

  (CNN) – The next two months could determine whether the US will experience another surge in coronavirus cases, according to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

• How Standard Setting Can Help Taiwan Grow Its Global Role

  SPEAKER: Evan Feigenbaum

  (Carnegie Endowment) – Taiwan’s prowess in high-tech manufacturing and data privacy could make Taiwan firms unsung heroes of the global competition over standard setting for emerging technologies.

• The Fed Doesn’t Fear Inflation. Its Critics Have Longer Memories

  SPEAKER: Niall Ferguson

  (Bloomberg) – “Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon in the sense that it is and can be produced only by a more rapid increase in the quantity of money than in output.”

• How Standard Setting Can Help Taiwan Grow Its Global Role

  SPEAKER: Evan Feigenbaum

  (Carnegie) – Taiwan’s prowess in high-tech manufacturing and data privacy could make Taiwan firms unsung heroes of the global competition over standard setting for emerging technologies.

• Pence will make his first speech since leaving office.

  SPEAKER: Mike Pence

  (NYT) – Former Vice President Mike Pence is planning to make his first public remarks since leaving office in January.

• Allen West: Brilliance of First Amendment Will Protect Religious Freedom from Equality Act

  SPEAKER: Allen West

  (Faithwire) – I am hopeful this will not come to pass, and our religious freedoms will not be stripped from us, because of that all-important First Amendment guaranteeing the free exercise of religion.

• Former Biden COVID-19 Advisor Says ‘We Have Every Reason To Believe’ Virus Cases Will Rise

  SPEAKER: Michael Osterholm

  (Daily Caller) – Epidemiologist Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota said Thursday “we have every reason to believe” coronavirus cases will rise.

• Deepening the U.S.-Taiwan Economic Partnership

  SPEAKER: Evan Feigenbaum

  (Carnegie) – A U.S.-Taiwan trade pact would be welcome, but laying the groundwork will take time, and the two sides risk losing momentum. Several other shovel-ready economic initiatives could be ready sooner and shouldn’t be delayed.

• Election Integrity Is a National Imperative

  SPEAKER: Mike Pence

  (The Daily Signal) – Every citizen deserves the freedom to support, oppose, criticize, or promote the candidates and causes they believe in.

• Former CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield joins Maryland’s coronavirus task force

  SPEAKER: Robert Redfield

  (FOX) – Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced at a press conference on Tuesday that former CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield would be joining Maryland’s public health team as a senior adviser.