News October 30, 2020

News Stories

• Why federal student loans need new protections on debt collection

  SPEAKER: Sheila Bair

  (Yahoo Finance) – We do not allow banks to extend and pretend loan obligations that are clearly unaffordable to the borrowers. We should at least ask the same of our government.

• Newt Gingrich: Harris vs. Pence vice presidential debate – Get ready for a truly historic encounter

  SPEAKER: Newt Gingrich

  (Fox News) – The stage is set for a truly historic encounter

• A Craving for Normalcy Spells the End of a Populist Presidency

  SPEAKER: Niall Ferguson

  (Bloomberg) – There are nine reasons Trump may still win, but none seems likely.

• Trump Can Take Credit for Vaccine Progress but Shouldn’t Rush It

  SPEAKER: Scott Gottlieb

  (The Wall Street Journal) – The FDA balances benefits with safety risks, and interference makes Americans nervous.

• 5 Common Coronavirus Misconceptions and the Science You Need to Know

  SPEAKER: Sanjay Gupta

  (CNN) – Since the beginning of 2020, when we first started hearing about a new coronavirus, eventually dubbed SARS-CoV-2, our understanding of what it is, how it infects people, who it infects and how we can protect ourselves have all evolved as our knowledge has grown.

• You Can Trust the FDA’s Vaccine Process

  SPEAKER: Scott Gottlieb

  (Wall Street Journal) – The agency can roll out a Covid shot safely, quickly and without bowing to political pressure.

• How ‘Emergency Use’ Can Help Roll Out a Covid Vaccine

  SPEAKER: Scott Gottlieb

  (The Wall Street Journal) – The FDA can approve a promising candidate for those most at risk while continuing to collect data.

• What Islamists and ‘Wokeists’ Have in Common

  SPEAKER: Ayaan Hirsi Ali

  (The Wall Street Journal) – Adherents of both pursue ideological purity, refuse to engage in debate and demand submission.

• Dr. Gottlieb: Vaccine For General Population Unlikely By This Year

  SPEAKER: Scott Gottlieb

  (MSNBC) – Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb weighs in on the suspension of a COVID-19 vaccine trial, the likelihood of a vaccine for the general public this year and what he expects from the coming flu season. 

• Dr. Gupta breaks down the effects of convalescent plasma

  SPEAKER: Sanjay Gupta

  (CNN) – The US Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma to treat Covid-19. CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a deeper look at the data and explains why controlled randomized trials are still necessary to fully understand the effectiveness of convalescent plasma. 

• ‘Weimar America’? The Trump Show Is No Cabaret

  SPEAKER: Niall Ferguson

  (Bloomberg Opinion) – Detractors have been equating the U.S. with 1920s Germany for 85 years, and they are still wrong.

• Republicans should campaign hard for votes of immigrants like me who are US citizens

  SPEAKER: Ayaan Hirsi Ali

  (Fox News) – The Republican Party has not done enough to win a significant share of our votes

• Search for coronavirus vaccine is making important progress

  SPEAKER: Newt Gingrich

  (Fox News) – It seems we’ll get a vaccine sometime next year at the latest

• On foreign policy, a call to ditch the grim worldview and reawaken idealism

  SPEAKER: Robert Zoellick

  (The Washington Post) – Imagine, an account by a GOP foreign policy insider that is both momentous and readable, literate and witty; that throws darts and settles scores subtly; and that does not leave the reader with a lower opinion of absolutely everyone involved.

• I Crossed Back Into a State of Denial

  SPEAKER: David Frum

  (The Atlantic) – At the Canada-U.S. border, I encountered a study in contrasts.

• Sweden Shouldn’t Be America’s Pandemic Model

  SPEAKER: Scott Gottlieb

  (The Wall Street Journal) – The Swedes aren’t close to reaching herd immunity. We need to continue to contain the virus spread.

• From Near Death With Chatbots To New Life In E-Commerce, Octane AI Raises $4.25 Million

  SPEAKER: Ben Parr

  (Forbes) – A startup that builds conversational commerce tools for brands has raised $4.25 million to help build its presence in the growing world of e-commerce.

• Betting on Better Drug Trials to Beat Covid-19

  SPEAKER: Scott Gottlieb

  (The Wall Street Journal) – Studies are competing for too few patients. It’s time to direct resources toward the most promising therapies.

• Chaos at home and threats abroad can be better dealt with by studying Eisenhower

  SPEAKER: Newt Gingrich

  (Fox News) – Few people provide a better model of leadership for our current moment then President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

• Why I am not sending my kids back to school

  SPEAKER: Sanjay Gupta

  (CNN) – One of the questions I am getting more than any other: Am I going to send my children back to school? As a father of three teen and preteen girls, this has been a constant discussion in our household, and it hasn’t been easy.

• What Biden needs to understand about Prophet Muhammad saying he used at Muslim voter event

  SPEAKER: Ayaan Hirsi Ali

  (Fox News) – I would strongly advise the Biden camp to reach out to Muslim reformers and progressive dissidents to formulate a better strategy

• TikTok Is Inane. China’s Imperial Ambition Is Not.

  SPEAKER: Niall Ferguson

  (Bloomberg Opinion) – The U.S. won the Cold War by exporting its values, and China has a similar plan for Cold War II.

• Susan Rice is the VP Biden needs

  SPEAKER: Jen Psaki

  (CNN) – Joe Biden has a high-class problem. He has a short list of highly qualified women, who would all serve as excellent running mates.

• The Danger of Allowing Banks to Artificially Boost Capital Ratios

  SPEAKER: Sheila Bair

  (Yahoo Finance) – Ironically, big bank lobbyists are now using the Covid-19 crisis to undo those very reforms, cynically claiming deregulation will help banks support the real economy.

• Do some people have protection against the coronavirus?

  SPEAKER: Sanjay Gupta

  (CNN) – We’re now more than seven months into the coronavirus pandemic that has upended the lives of most of Earth’s inhabitants. And while it is true that the scientific community has learned many things about the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the disease it causes, Covid-19, there are also many gaps in our understanding.

• Want Schools to Open? Get Serious About Outbreaks

  SPEAKER: Scott Gottlieb

  (The Wall Street Journal) – The spring decision to open inessential businesses came at the expense of fall classrooms.

• ‘Archaeology Can Cover the Totality of the Human Story’

  SPEAKER: David Frum

  (The Atlantic) – A conversation with David Carballo about the fall of the Aztec empire

• Scott Gottlieb: High rate of COVID-19 spread in schools making it “very hard to open” in fall

  SPEAKER: Scott Gottlieb

  (Face The Nation) – The former FDA commissioner suggests that testing delays need to be resolved before widespread reopenings of America’s schools.

• Dr. Gupta explains the science behind push to reopen schools

  SPEAKER: Sanjay Gupta

  (CNN) – White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany says that science is on the side of reopening all schools. CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Jake Tapper discuss what that science actually shows.

• Canada Got Better. The United States Got Trump.

  SPEAKER: David Frum

  (The Atlantic) – Two North American nations seemed to be on the same path—and then they diverged.

• Covid Shows the Need for a Diagnostic Stockpile

  SPEAKER: Scott Gottlieb

  (The Wall Street Journal) – Congress can meet the current surge in demand for testing and be ready for the next pandemic.

• Like Nixon, Trump Has the Opportunity to Build a New U.S.-China Framework

  SPEAKER: Michael Pillsbury

  (Newsweek) – It may have come a decade or two late, but the United States is undergoing the most dramatic reappraisal of our relationship with the People’s Republic of China since the famous “opening” pursued by President Richard Nixon nearly 50 years ago.

• Britain has a critical role ‘East of Suez’ in the Indo-Pacific century

  SPEAKER: Stephen Harper

  (The Telegraph) – The UK can act as a bridge between democratic allies in the region, and protect the rules-based order.

• COVID-19 Reminds Us Our Fates Are All Tied Together

  SPEAKER: DeMaurice Smith

  (Sports Illustrated) – DeMaurice Smith reflects on the legacy of the late Congressman John Lewis, and reminds us of how COVID-19 is more proof that we are all in this together.

• Europe’s ‘Hamilton Moment’ Is a Flop. That’s Fine.

  SPEAKER: Niall Ferguson

  (Bloomberg Opinion) – Federalizing debt was what united the states, but don’t expect the same effect from a European Recovery Fund.

• Behind the HHS-CDC Disagreement

  SPEAKER: Scott Gottlieb

  (The Wall Street Journal) – An interagency feud over key data demonstrates the inadequacy of U.S. efforts to prepare for a pandemic.

• Back to school or back to square one?

  SPEAKER: Sanjay Gupta

  (CNN) – Even though the heat of mid-summer is still upon us and the coronvirus pandemic continues, back-to-school season is right around the corner. With the possible exception of mask-wearing, no topic is generating as much debate as the reopening of schools.

• Ivanka Trump’s tone-deaf Tuesday

  SPEAKER: Jen Psaki

  (CNN) – Ivanka Trump had quite a day on Tuesday. She started it as the face of one of the most tone-deaf campaigns the White House has launched yet — and there is no shortage of competition in that category — and ended it by possibly violating a government ethics rule.

• Schools Can Open Safely This Fall

  SPEAKER: Scott Gottlieb

  (Wall Street Journal) – Staggered schedules and other precautions would help reduce children’s low but real risk from Covid.

• America and China Are Entering the Dark Forest

  SPEAKER: Niall Ferguson

  (Bloomberg Opinion) – To know what the Chinese are really up to, read the futuristic novels of Liu Cixin.

• If the United States were my patient: We aren’t ready to celebrate yet

  SPEAKER: Sanjay Gupta

  (CNN) – Seven weeks later, as we approach the patient’s birthday — July 4th — I thought it would be a good time to check in and see how the patient’s doing.

• Antibodies Can Be the Bridge to a Vaccine

  SPEAKER: Scott Gottlieb

  (The Wall Street Journal) – Drugs that mimic an immune response are in development, but it’s time to ramp up manufacturing.

• China poses serious threat to US in new space race – no issue is more important

  SPEAKER: Newt Gingrich

  (Fox News) – Whoever dominates space is going to be able to control Earth and dictate the planet’s culture and values.

• Science by press release: When the story gets ahead of the science

  SPEAKER: Sanjay Gupta

  (CNN) – A little more than three months after the World Health Organization officially declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic, it has become evident that both the research cycle and the news cycle have accelerated to levels never seen before in our lifetime.

• Reinvent Health Care to Beat Covid-19

  SPEAKER: Scott Gottlieb

  (The Wall Street Journal) – Important surgeries can continue, but doctors need to be paid more for managing outbreaks.

• America Doesn’t Need a New Revolution

  SPEAKER: Ayaan Hirsi Ali

  (Wall Street Journal) – Outrage is the natural response to the brutal killing of George Floyd. Yet outrage and clear, critical thinking seldom go hand in hand. An act of police brutality became the catalyst for a revolutionary mood.

• America Is on the Road to Relapse Not Recovery

  SPEAKER: Niall Ferguson

  (Bloomberg Opinion) – The U.S. isn’t following the example of countries that have shown what a “smart reopening” entails.

• Low interest rates widen the gap between Main Street and Wall Street

  SPEAKER: Sheila Bair

  (Yahoo Finance) – Is there no end to the absurdity of our debt culture? For most of the past 12 years, we have lived in an era of zero interest rate policy, or “ZIRP.”

• China’s secret campaign to spy on US and buy influence is exposed

  SPEAKER: Newt Gingrich

  (Fox News) – For years, China has invested in American universities in various ways, donating millions of dollars, collaborating with academics, and setting up cultural centers.

• Trump’s 3-Point Plan to Win in 2020

  SPEAKER: David Frum

  (The Atlantic) – He will attack the independence and integrity of the legal system, try to benefit from foreign help, and benefit from voting obstacles.