Raphael Stevens

US President Joe Biden (L) holds a briefing on wildfires ahead of the wildfire season with cabinet members, government officials, as well as governors of several western states, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC,Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty ImagesPresident Joe Biden on Wednesday hosted a virtual meeting with Western governors to discuss the drought and heat waves in the U.S. that are growing worse with climate change, and how the country can better prepare for what could be a record-setting wildfire season.The meeting comes as a devastating heat wave grips the Pacific Northwest, leaving thousands of people without power, and while most of the U.S. West grapples with the worst drought in the last two decades. The conditions have already triggered wildfires in California, Nevada and Washington early in the season.A man takes a photo of the plume of smoke created by the Palisades fire in Topanga State Park, North West of Los Angeles on May 15, 2021.Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images”The threat of western wildfires this year is as severe as it’s ever been,” Biden said during the meeting. “Right now, we have to act and act fast.””The truth is we’re playing catch up,” the president said. “This is an area that’s been under-resourced.”Attendees included Vice President Kamala Harris as well as Democratic governors from Oregon, California, New Mexico, Nevada, Washington and Colorado and Republican governors from Utah and Wyoming. Cabinet members and business leaders also attended.In an aerial view, the San Gabriel River and the exposed lakebed of the San Gabriel Reservoir are seen on June 29, 2021 in the San Gabriel Mountains near Azusa, California.Mario Tama | Getty ImagesCalifornia — which is grappling with depleted reservoir levels and snowpack — will have its largest firefighting force in history working on the ground during peak fire season. The state has called on residents to limit electricity use to avoid blackouts in anticipation of fires after experiencing its worst season on record last year.The president said the government will provide a $37 million grant for wildfire mitigation projects in Sonoma County.Biden also said he is increasing wages for federal firefighters to $15 an hour, adding that the boost is “still not enough.” The wage increase follows the president’s meeting last with week with the Federal Emergency Management Agency chief on the government’s disaster preparedness.CNBC PoliticsRead more of CNBC’s politics coverage:Biden’s infrastructure plan would cut U.S. debt and slightly increase economic growth, Wharton study findsBlack Lives Matter leaders met with Biden officials – and they’re disappointed with police reform talksSeveral longtime Kamala Harris associates shut out as VP’s chief of staff keeps tight control over accessThe actions come as climate change fuels more frequent and severe weather disasters and scientists urge immediate action to slash global greenhouse emissions in order to avoid the most devastating effects of global warming.The president announced in May that FEMA would double the funding available to help cities and states prepare for extreme weather disasters, from $500 million last to year to $1 billion this year.Still, Biden’s recent bipartisan infrastructure agreement omitted measures to combat climate change, boost spending to address worsening disasters and transition the country to a clean energy economy. Democratic lawmakers must now take up those measures through a separate reconciliation bill. More

Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Wednesday he believes there’s enough Covid immunity protection across the U.S. population that, even as the highly transmissible delta variant circulates, the country is unlikely to experience a situation nearly as dire as previous points in the pandemic.”I don’t think it’s going to be a raging epidemic across the country like we saw last winter. I think that there’s going to be pockets of spread, and prevalence overall is going to pick up,” the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner said on “Squawk Box.” “But I think in parts of the country where vaccination rates are high, and that’s certainly true in the Northeast, I think we’re largely protected — at least from the current variants that are circulating,” added Gottlieb, who serves on the board of Covid vaccine maker Pfizer.On the other hand, Gottlieb said parts of the country are more vulnerable to outbreaks involving the Covid delta variant. Those are places where the number of people who have previously been infected or received the vaccine are low. He noted the situation in Missouri, where health officials have expressed concern about a rise in cases and hospitalizations, particularly in areas with lagging vaccination rates.”If you’re someone even who has been vaccinated living in those parts of the country, and there’s a dense epidemic of this new delta variant, you’re at risk as well because we know the vaccines aren’t 100% and we know in vulnerable populations — people who are immunocompromised, people who are much older — the vaccines may not work as well over time.”The delta variant, first found in India, has been identified in more than 90 countries, including the U.S, where about every two weeks its prevalence is doubling. In some countries, such as Israel, concern over the delta variant have led to governments to tighten public health restrictions.The U.K. earlier this month pushed back the latest phase of its economic reopening, citing the pace of new delta variant infections and an increase in hospitalizations. The majority of cases have been in unvaccinated people.  Officials in Los Angeles County this week issued indoor mask guidance, including for fully vaccinated people, due to worries over the delta variant. It comes about two weeks after the county joined the state of California in lifting indoor mask mandates for fully vaccinated people in most settings.The World Health Organization on Friday also urged fully vaccinated people to keep wearing face masks, with officials saying there’s a need to “play it safe” because many parts of the globe remain unvaccinated.”The goal should be to try to reduce transmission as much as possible here in the United States. I don’t think we should be cavalier about this,” said Gottlieb, who led the FDA from 2017 to 2019 in the Trump administration. “But we’re going to see the overall impact of the virus be substantially reduced because so many people have become vaccinated.”In the U.S., roughly 154.2 million people, or 46.4% of its population, has been fully vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 180 million individuals, or 54.2% of the country’s population, have received at least one dose.The U.S. is averaging around 12,400 new coronavirus cases per day, based on a seven-day average, according to a CNBC analysis of Johns Hopkins University data. That’s up 10% compared with one week ago. The daily average of deaths from Covid is down 7% over that same period, to 278 per day.Despite the increase in cases, Gottlieb said he believes public health officials in the U.S. should be cautious about reimplementing pandemic restrictions at the moment. Daily new infections remain dramatically lower than their single-day peak in the U.S. of 300,462 on Jan. 2, according to Johns Hopkins data.”I think the right response, first and foremost, is to get more people vaccinated,” Gottlieb said. “We’re at a point right now where our mitigation really should be reactive, not proactive,” he added. “We shouldn’t be shutting things down or putting in mask mandates in anticipation of spread. I think we should do it when we see signs of spread, signs of outbreaks.”Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Pfizer, genetic testing start-up Tempus, health-care tech company Aetion Inc. and biotech company Illumina. He also serves as co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings’ and Royal Caribbean’s “Healthy Sail Panel.” More

In this articleVINO-GBVGII[This livestream has ended. A replay is available at the video player above.]Virgin Orbit, the satellite-launching spinoff of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, sent its second mission of the year to orbit on Wednesday as the company picks up momentum.”It was just magical,” Branson said on the company’s livestream, adding that he hopes the missions are “going to become almost routine, and [Virgin Orbit] will be able to more and more and more satellites, more and more and more rockets into space.”The mission, called “Tubular Bells: Part One,” launched four cube satellites under the U.S. Department of Defense’s Space Test Program, as well as a small satellite for the Royal Netherlands Air Force and two imaging satellites for Polish company SatRevolution.Virgin Orbit uses a modified Boeing 747 aircraft to launch its rockets, a method known as air launch. Rather than launch rockets from the ground, like competitors such as Rocket Lab or Astra, the company’s aircraft carries its LauncherOne rockets up to about 45,000 feet altitude and drops them. The rocket then fires its engine and accelerates into space – a method the company touts as more flexible than a ground-based system.The mission on Wednesday released the rocket above the Pacific Ocean beyond California’s Channel Islands.LauncherOne is designed to carry small satellites that weigh up to 500 kilograms, or about 1,100 pounds, into space. Virgin Orbit completed its first successful launch in January, and plans to conduct its second later this month.Virgin Orbit, wholly separate from Virgin Galactic, is privately held by Branson’s multinational conglomerate Virgin Group, with a minority stake from Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala.Virgin Orbit flew its modified Boeing 747 airplane “Cosmic Girl” with the company’s LauncherOne rocket under its wing for the first time on November 18, 2018.Virgin OrbitThe company is in talks with SPAC NextGen Acquisition II to go public at a valuation of about $3 billion, a source told CNBC earlier this month, with a deal expected to be announced in the coming weeks. Virgin Orbit has not publicly commented on the plan to go public.Become a smarter investor with CNBC Pro.Get stock picks, analyst calls, exclusive interviews and access to CNBC TV. Sign up to start a free trial today. More

People walk outside “Hamilton” at Richard Rodgers Theatre in Times Square on May 12, 2021 in New York City.Noam Galai | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty ImagesBroadway hit “Hamilton” could receive as much as $50 million from the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program, a $16 billion federal aid program that provides pandemic relief to live-event businesses, according to a report by the New York Times.The pandemic shut down the Broadway production along with four tour productions. Through this grant program, each production was eligible for $10 million to make up for lost revenue. (There is also a show in London, but it is not eligible for the grant.)The Tony Award-winning musical has been playing to a full house since it opened in 2015, and millions have seen it. While some may be critical of a highly successful production receiving federal aid, the show’s lead producer Jeffrey Seller told the New York Times the goal is to return Hamilton’s finances to pre-pandemic levels.It is standard practice for shows to separately incorporate touring productions, but Hamilton has the largest number of tours due to its popularity, and therefore is eligible for $50 million. The Broadway production and two of the tours have each received grants, while the remaining two are still waiting to hear back, the paper reported. Seller told the New York Times that none of the grant money will be going to producers, investors or royalty payments. The money will, instead, be used for reopening costs and reimbursements for pandemic-related expenses that the productions incurred. These are all costs the productions had to take on when they were not making any income, he said.Some of the reopening expenses include rehearsals for actors, musicians and stagehands, workshops for new cast members, repairs and replacements of equipment, transporting people and sets, Covid-19 safety personnel and marketing the shows.A spokesperson from “Hamilton” wasn’t immediately available to comment when contacted by CNBC. The relief program for cultural events and live entertainment venues was included in the second Covid-19 relief package and was aimed at sustaining the industry, which had been hit hard by pandemic. Safety measures resulted in many of these venues being shuttered for months. Eligible businesses, including music clubs, theaters and promoters, have access to up to $10 million based on their gross revenue from 2019.The program got off to slow start after its inital launch was delayed by technology glitches, which have since been resolved. It was then criticized for slow turnaround in processing applications. More than 14,000 small businesses across the country have applied for the grants, according to the Small Business Association.Last week, Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., said the SBA will process most aid applications for shuttered venues by early July.Others receiving $10 million grants include the Nederlander Organization, which owns nine theatres in New York, and Jujamcyn Theatres, which owns five theatres and currently houses “The Book of Mormon” production, according to the agency’s records. Read the full story in the New York Times. More

Scott O’Neil, chief executive officer of the Philadelphia 76ers in New York, Sept. 26, 2016.Christopher Goodney | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesAdd another task to the Philadelphia 76ers offseason to-do list.The team announced Wednesday that CEO Scott O’Neil is leaving the franchise to seek “new opportunities.” Hired in 2013, O’Neil is credited for helping rebrand the Sixers over his eight seasons with the club. He landed the National Basketball Association’s first jersey patch deal in 2016, a new practice facility and helped the Sixers finish first attendance in 2019.O’Neil served as CEO of Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Sixers and National Hockey League’s New Jersey Devils. The sports company is run by Apollo Global Management co-founder Josh Harris and Blackstone executive David Blitzer.In a statement, O’Neil said working for HBSE was one of the most difficult challenges of his career “and the most fun I have ever had, because every day brought a new opportunity to learn and develop.”In 2016, O’Neil orchestrated a deal that made the Sixers the first U.S. pro sports franchise to own an e-sports team. That helped the team rank 12th on the Sports Innovation Lab’s 25 most innovative teams in the world.”Scott has accomplished so much on behalf of the organization in a relatively short amount of time, driving our growth, culture, and commitment to strengthening the communities in which we live, work, play, and win,” Harris said in a statement. “I cannot overstate how much we value Scott’s enormous contributions to the company and how grateful I am for his leadership and partnership in creating a best-in-class culture at HBSE.”Before joining HBSE, O’Neil was president of Madison Square Garden Sports and a long-time NBA league office executive. His departure comes at a time the Sixers are in transition on and off the court.Ben Simmons #25 of the Philadelphia 76ers handles the ball against the Atlanta Hawks during Round 2, Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Playoffs on June 20, 2021 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Jesse D. Garrabrant | National Basketball Association | Getty ImagesThe team failed to reach the conference finals despite finishing first in the East. Co-franchise star Ben Simmons struggled in the postseason, and his future with the team is unclear. And on Tuesday, long-time play-by-play TV announcer Marc Zumoff announced his retirement.The team’s next CEO will be tasked with keeping the franchise stable on the business front, landing the Sixers a new arena, and possibly steering the NBA’s All-Star Game back to the city. Before the pandemic, rumblings around the league suggested the Sixers and city officials could make a bid for the 2026 event, but a decision to present a proposal to the NBA has not been made.If a bid is submitted, Philadelphia could potentially host two major league all-star games in one year. The city is already set to host Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game at the Phillies’ Citizens Bank Park that year.On the Devils front, O’Neil landed the team the NHL’s first helmet sponsor last December. However, the team finished with a 19-30-7 this season and haven’t made the playoffs since 2018.The franchise value Devils declined 4% and now worth $530 million, according to Forbes. The outlet also notes the Sixers are worth $2 billion. More

In this articleREGNNTLAGene-editing technology CRISPR reached a major milestone this past weekend, completing its first systemic delivery as a medicine to a human body.CRISPR, or clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, effectively cuts genomes and slices DNA to treat genetic diseases.The latest breakthrough, the result of a trial between biotech company Regeneron and Boston-based startup Intellia Therapeutics, treated a rare disease after being given as an IV infusion. Previously, other applications of the CRISPR technology had been limited to ex vivo therapy, or where cells are removed from the body for genetic manipulation in a laboratory and then reintroduced to the body.Jennifer Doudna, who was awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in chemistry for her work on CRISPR gene editing and is the co-founder of Intellia, recently told CNBC the evolution of the technology from the publication of her early work to clinical trials showing it to be effective in treating diseases in less than 10 years represents, “One of the fastest rollouts I think of technology from the fundamental, initial science to an actual application.””It’s largely because the technology comes at a moment when there’s enormous demand for genome editing, as well as a lot of knowledge about genomes,” Doudna said at the recent CNBC Global Evolve Summit in mid-June.As for what’s next, Doudna highlighted several challenges and opportunities on the horizon for CRISPR.Delivery of CRISPR remains a big challengeWhile the technology has continued to advance, the task of getting the edited molecules to travel in the body to the cells in the areas where they are needed remains a challenge.”This is especially an issue in clinical medicine where being able to edit brain cells, heart cells or muscle cells has incredible potential but right now we don’t really have the tools to introduce the editors into those cells,” Doudna said. “We have the editors; we just don’t know how to get them where they need to go.”Sickle cell anemia has been an early focusMuch of the success of the applications of CRISPR thus far has been with ex vivo therapy, where extracted cells are manipulated in a laboratory and then reintroduced into a patient.Sickle cell anemia, which is passed down genetically and affects approximately 100,000 Americans, according to the CDC, has been a particularly good target for the technology as blood stem cells can be “harvested, edited and then reintroduced to patients,” Doudna said.Genetic diseases of the eye have also been a focus for CRISPR applications as Doudna said “it’s easier certainly to deliver to the eye than to other parts of the body.”Delivering the edited cells to the liver has also proven to be easier thus far. “A liver is an organ that naturally takes up molecules in the body,” she said.Any progress in eradicating the more than 100 liver diseases could have a major impact on the lives of Americans. At least 30 million people, or one in 10 Americans, has some sort of liver disease, according to the American Liver Foundation.Focusing next on the brain, heart, musclesThe next step for innovation around CRISPR will be getting those cells to other parts of the body, such as the brain, the heart and muscles, Doudna said.”There are some technologies already that enable some of this, for example using various kinds of viruses or virus-like particles, and I’m excited about the innovation that will come in the next few years in this regard,” she said.The cost of treatment is a concernBut as the technology improves and scientists gain the ability to target diseases all across the body, Doudna said that for CRISPR technology to be “widely impactful,” it will need to be cheaper.Treating sickle cell disease with CRISPR therapy, Doudna said, costs about $2 million a patient.”That is clearly not a price point that will make this available to most people that can benefit from it,” she said.While addressing delivery challenges may also help lower costs, Doudna said that the medical field needs to figure out how to “scale the molecule production so that we reduce costs.”Applying CRISPR to agricultureThe advancement of CRISPR technology can also have an impact on other industries, with agriculture being one of the first to benefit.Rather than trying to address genetic issues through breeding which can take months to years, or current methods for genetically modifying crops that have boomed in recent decades but involve inserting biological material from other species, the CRISPR technology can manipulate the genes of plants “without touching anything else,” Doudna said.”This is opening the door to lots of things now that can be done to both address challenges of climate change, dealing with drought conditions, introducing traits in the plants that give them protection against pests,” she said. More