Raphael Stevens

A police officer stands guard inside the gate to the Colonial Pipeline Co. Pelham junction and tank farm in Pelham, Alabama, U.S., on Monday, Sept. 19, 2016.Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesColonial Pipeline is working to restore service and has some smaller lateral lines between terminals and delivery points operating again, the company announced Sunday afternoon.The company, the operator of the country’s largest fuel pipeline, temporarily suspended all operations due to a ransomware attack on Friday.Its four mainlines remain offline. Colonial said it’s developing a restart plan, but provided no timetable as to when full service will be restored. “We are in the process of restoring service to other laterals and will bring our full system back online only when we believe it is safe to do so, and in full compliance with the approval of all federal regulations,” Colonial said in a statement.The federal government is working to avoid supply disruptions after the company suspended operations, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Sunday morning.”This is what businesses now have to worry about,” Raimondo said during an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “Unfortunately, these sorts of attacks are becoming more frequent. They’re here to stay.”President Joe Biden has been briefed on the ransomware attack and the F.B.I. said it’s working closely with Colonial Pipeline and government partners to address the situation.The Department of Energy is leading the federal response, according to Colonial. The Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is coordinating with the company.Colonial said it learned Friday that it “was the victim of a cybersecurity attack” and has since shut down 5,500 miles of pipeline that carry nearly half of the fuel supplies on the East Coast, raising fears of spot shortages of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.The pipeline is the largest refined products pipeline in the nation, according to Colonial.”It’s an all hands on decks effort right now,” Raimondo said. “We’re working closely with the company, state and local officials to make sure that they get back up to normal operations as quickly as possible and there aren’t disruptions to supply.”Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo testifies before the Senate Appropriations Committee during a hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., April 20, 2021.Chip Somodevilla | Pool | ReutersThe company connects refineries on the Gulf Coast to more than 50 million people in the southern and eastern U.S., according to its website.The ultimate impact of the attack on fuel prices is unclear since there’s no timeline for Colonial to resume operations, according to Bernadette Johnson, senior vice president of power and renewables at Enverus. Johnson predicted a short-term spike in refined product prices given a short-term outage.”Refined product storage in both the USGC and Northeast can mitigate the impact of a short term event,” Johnson said Saturday.But If the shutdown persists, the country could see shortages of fuel develop rapidly, according to John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital in New York. Kilduff predicted that gas prices will skyrocket on the open of futures trading Sunday evening if the company’s operations don’t resume by then.Johnson agreed: “If this outage were to persist for a significant amount of time, there would be product shortfalls in the Northeast and a glut of product in the USGC, which would impact prices across the country,” she said.Jay Hatfield, founder and CEO of Infrastructure Capital Management in New York, said a temporary outage will likely drive already rising national retail gas prices over $3 per gallon for the first time since 2014.Gas futures gained 0.6% to settle at $2.1269 a gallon and diesel futures rose 1.1% to settle at $2.0106 a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday.— CNBC’s Pippa Stevens contributed to this report More

SpaceX founder Elon Musk gestures to the audience after being recognized by U.S. President Donald Trump at NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building following the successful launch of a Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon spacecraft from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space CenterPaul Hennessy | SOPA Images | Getty ImagesElon Musk’s SpaceX will launch the “DOGE-1 Mission to the Moon” in the first quarter of 2022, with the company accepting the meme-inspired cryptocurrency as full payment for the lunar payload.Geometric Energy Corporation announced the dogecoin-funded mission on Sunday, which SpaceX’s communications team confirmed in an email to reporters. The mission’s financial value was not disclosed.DOGE-1 will fly a 40 kilogram cube satellite as a payload on a Falcon 9 rocket, with Geometric Energy Corporation saying its payload “will obtain lunar-spatial intelligence from sensors and cameras on-board with integrated communications and computational systems.”SpaceX vice president of commercial sales Tom Ochinero said in a statement that DOGE-1 “will demonstrate the application of cryptocurrency beyond Earth orbit and set the foundation for interplanetary commerce.””We’re excited to launch DOGE-1 to the Moon!” Ochinero said.A Falcon 9 rocket launches the Transporter-1 mission in January 2021.SpaceXMusk previously announced the company’s plans, albeit in a tweet on April Fool’s Day.”SpaceX is going to put a literal Dogecoin on the literal moon,” Musk wrote.The DOGE-1 mission comes after Musk, the self-proclaimed “Dogefather,” made his debut as host of “Saturday Night Live.” The price of dogecoin plunged during his appearance, falling below 50 cents, despite his references to the cryptocurrency.For SpaceX, the announcement also comes on the day the company set a new record for its Falcon 9 series of rockets. After launching another batch of Starlink satellites into orbit, SpaceX landed the Falcon 9 rocket’s booster for a 10th time — a benchmark Musk has previously described as key in the company’s progress of reusing its rockets.”It’s designed to do 10 or more flights with no refurbishment between each flight,” Musk told reporters in May 2018.”We believe that the [Falcon 9] boosters are capable of on the order of at least 100 flights before being retired. Maybe more.”A Falcon 9 rocket booster lands after launching the Sentinel-6 mission.SpaceXBecome 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

Medina Spirit #8, ridden by jockey John Velazquez, (R) crosses the finish line to win the 147th running of the Kentucky Derby ahead of Mandaloun #7, ridden by Florent Geroux, and Hot Rod Charlie #9 ridden by Flavien Prat ,at Churchill Downs on May 01, 2021 in Louisville, Kentucky.Jamie Squire | Getty Images Sport | Getty ImagesKentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit’s victory will be invalidated if it is upheld that the champion horse failed a drug test, Churchill Downs said Sunday.Medina Spirit’s trainer Bob Baffert will be immediately suspended from entering any horses in races at Churchill Downs’ track “given the seriousness of the alleged offense,” said the statement from the company that runs the Derby.”Failure to comply with the rules and medication protocols jeopardizes the safety of the horses and jockeys, the integrity of our sport and the reputation of the Kentucky Derby and all who participate. Churchill Downs will not tolerate it,” the press release said.If the finding is upheld, runner-up Mandaloun will be declared the winner of the race, Churchill Downs said.Baffert on Sunday morning denied any wrongdoing. He revealed at a news conference that Medina Spirit in a post-race test was found to have 21 picograms of the steroid betamethasone, twice the legal threshold, in its system.”I got the biggest gut-punch in racing, for something I didn’t do,” Baffert said.Just two other horses in the 147-year history of the Kentucky Derby have been disqualified, according to the Associated Press.”It is our understanding that Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit’s post-race blood sample indicated a violation of the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s equine medication protocols,” Churchill Downs’ press release said.”The connections of Medina Spirit have the right to request a test of a split sample and we understand they intend to do so,” the company said.”We will await the conclusion of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commissions’ investigation before taking further steps.”With reporting from the Associated Press. More

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases testifies at the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis on the Capitol Hill in Washington, April 15, 2021.Susan Walsh | Pool | ReutersWASHINGTON — White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that people may decide to wear masks during certain seasons when respiratory illnesses are more prevalent.”I think people have gotten used to the fact that wearing masks, clearly if you look at the data it diminishes respiratory diseases, we’ve had practically a non-existent flu season this year merely because people were doing the kinds of public health things that were directed predominately against Covid-19,” Fauci said during an interview on NBC Sunday program “Meet the Press.” “So it is conceivable that as we go on a year or two or more from now that during certain seasonal periods when you have respiratory borne viruses like the flu, people might actually elect to wear masks to diminish the likelihood that you’ll spread these respiratory borne diseases,” he added.Fauci’s comments come less than a month after the Biden administration announced a relaxation of federal public health guidance on wearing masks outdoors.Visitors walk past a sign requiring face masks to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) during Memorial Day weekend at Bethany Beach, Delaware, May 24, 2020.Kevin Lamarque | ReutersThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that fully vaccinated people can exercise and attend small gatherings outside without wearing a face mask. The agency still recommends that fully vaccinated people wear a mask outdoors when in crowded areas.”We are at the point right now where we can and start lifting these ordinances and allowing people to resume normal activity. Certainly, outdoors, we should not be putting limits on gatherings anymore and we should be encouraging people to go outside,” Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CBS Sunday program “Face the Nation.”Gottlieb added that indoor public health measures should also be relaxed in states where coronavirus infections are low and vaccination rates are high.”Covid won’t disappear, we are going to have to learn to live with it but the risks have substantially reduced as a result of vaccination and as a result of immunity that people have acquired through prior infection,” Gottlieb said.As of Saturday, more than 45% of the U.S. population has received at least one vaccine dose, including 33.9% who have been fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Pfizer, genetic testing start-up Tempus and biotech company Illumina. Pfizer has a manufacturing agreement with Gilead for remdesivir. Gottlieb also serves as co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings′ and Royal Caribbean’s “Healthy Sail Panel.” More

Jason Wallace (C), director of the District of Columbia’s Commission on Fathers, Men, and Boys, gets a little emotional support from DC Office of Nightlife and Culture Director Shawn Townsend (L) and Deputy Mayor John Falcicchio (R) as he gets a shot of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine from DC Health Nurse Kendria Brown during a walk-up clinic at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ outdoor Reach area on May 06, 2021 in Washington, DC.Chip Somodevilla | Getty ImagesMore than half of adults in the United States have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. With second doses incoming and millions more to soon be immunized, many wonder if it is safe to celebrate their Covid shot with a booze shot.Marijuana smokers who use the plant as a pain and anxiety reliever may also turn to the herb as a treatment for side effects.Bars across the country are offering free beer if patrons provide proof of immunization, with some bars in New Jersey even offering a beer on site during inoculation.”A glass of wine or a beer is OK, but heavy alcohol intake can suppress your immune system and should be avoided in general. As always, moderation is the key,” Katherine Yang, a clinical professor of pharmacy at the University of California San Francisco told CNBC.Dr. Anne Liu, an infectious disease physician at Stanford Health told CNBC that a celebratory drink or two is totally fine, and it doesn’t make a difference if you drink on the day of the vaccine or a week later.”Certainly when people drink enough to affect their liver, that can affect their immune system,” Liu said. “The liver is a very important organ in terms of having a normal immune response, and people who have poor liver function for various reasons may not respond well to the vaccine and in general are probably at a higher risk of complication from Covid,” she said.As for marijuana, it depends on the form of consumption. Marijuana can be consumed in a variety of ways from foods, to vapor, to smoke and more. Cigarette smokers are particularly at risk for complications with Covid-19.”Smoking has specific effects on blood vessels and the cardiovascular system,” Liu said. “What is not necessarily the case with other respiratory viruses and has clearly been the case with Covid is that people with disorders of blood vessels and the cardiovascular system are at much higher risk of complications with Covid, which is why smokers were high priority in some places for getting the vaccine,” she said.Consuming marijuana in ways other than smoking is probably fine: “While there aren’t any studies on the effect of marijuana and Covid vaccine, it is unlikely to affect the immune response to vaccine,” Yang said. “It is possible, however, that marijuana or wine could make any side effects to the vaccine such as headache, nausea or achiness worse so that is something to watch out for.”As for harder drugs like cocaine or ecstasy, Liu said we probably don’t know enough to be able to say whether it is safe or not.”Anything in modest amounts of those substances are unlikely to significantly impair your immune system … but it becomes much less predictable. If it’s something you use recreationally, maybe just skip it that day, getting a vaccine is celebration enough,” she said.The general consensus among experts is that when it comes to consuming marijuana or alcohol, moderation is key. If a person consumes these substances on a regular basis already, then pouring one out or rolling one up on the day of your vaccination, is probably fine. More

Florida has recently attracted some of Wall Street and Silicon Valley’s biggest names like Keith Rabois, Elliot Management and Goldman Sachs.”For years, even though people would talk about moving, it really wasn’t cool among the wealthy to move to Florida. It was like, OK, you couldn’t hack it in New York, so you go to Florida,” said Robert Frank, CNBC’s wealth reporter. “Now you’re that chump who stayed in New York.” Reports of Florida slowly morphing into a legitimate tech and financial hub started well before the coronavirus pandemic. In 2018, Florida solidified its place in the big leagues when $2.88 billion was raised in venture capital. That trend has continued all throughout 2020. Delian Asparouhov, a venture capitalist from Silicon Valley, made the move to Florida in March after Miami Mayor Francis Suarez responded to his tweet about leaving Silicon Valley for Miami.Asparouhov believes Miami has the potential to become the largest tech hub in the United States.”New York gets, you know, seven or eight times the amount of venture capital investment flowing into it than Florida does. And California gets, you know, five times what New York gets. So Florida is not part of the tech economy at all,” said Cristobal Young, a Cornell University professor who studies the migration of wealthy Americans. Other potential challenges in the way of Florida’s rise include low wages, income inequality and a housing shortage. Migration data and GDP growth from 2020 also do not indicate a major upswing.Watch the video to hear from locals as well as those who have recently made the move to Florida and what that means for the state in 2021 and beyond. More

A woman wearing a protective face mask buys a bunch of flowers from a stall in Columbia Road flower market in east London on Mother’s Day, March 22, 2020.Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS | AFP | Getty ImagesThis Mother’s Day, it’s more likely to be breakfast in bed, not an opulent buffet.Even though consumers are expected to spend more on mom this year, celebrations will likely still take place at home despite rising vaccination rates.”There’s more people who are planning, you know, Mother’s Day brunch or special outing, but we’re not back at where we were pre-pandemic,” said Katherine Cullen, senior director of industry and consumer insights at the National Retail Federation. “I think there’s still a little bit of hesitancy on the part of consumers to kind of plan those types of activities.”In a recent survey by the trade group, only about half of 7,818 consumers polled said they were planning a special outing for the holiday, despite consumers expecting to spend more on the occasion.Many restaurants, mindful of the wariness, are offering Mother’s Day brunch and dinner menus for pickup or prepped meals you can cook at home.”I’ve seen a lot of restaurants offering a Mother’s Day Special, where they give you all the ingredients and it might be partially assembled and you take it home and heat it up, and you can get a restaurant-quality meal at home,” Cullen said. “I think a lot of those trends and services are going to be here to stay.”Flour, a bakery with nine locations and a commissary kitchen in Boston, is offering special menu options for Mother’s Day, including frozen, ready-to-bake sticky buns and cinnamon rolls that can be picked up at the store. There is also a second menu for items, including a coconut cake, that can be shipped nationwide.”We’re doing a Mother’s Day gift box, which we don’t usually offer, which is really popular for e-commerce,” said Holly Najdzin, senior operations support manager at Flour. The box includes homemade granola, a crunchy buttery toffee, sable cookies, English breakfast tea, a tea towel and a Mother’s Day mug.Flour also offers virtual baking classes that can be given as a gift, with the option to mail the ingredients to the recipient for an extra charge.Numerous other online classes are available as well. For example, 1-800-Flowers.com has workshops that teach how to arrange flowers or make a charcuterie board. Both have been popular Mother’s Day gifts this year.”Livestreaming experiences are also seeing an increase in demand compared to years prior to the pandemic as consumers seek to bond with mom virtually or simply in the comfort of home,” said Chris McCann, CEO of 1-800-Flowers.com.Americans plan on spending an average of $220.48 on celebration plans and gift giving for Mother’s Day this year, according to data collected in the NRF survey from April 1-9. That brings the total expected spending for Mother’s Day to $28.09 billion.It’s also an average of $15.74 more than consumers planned to spend in 2020 and $24.01 more than they planned to spend in 2019.”This is the highest expected Mother’s Day spending we’ve seen since we started doing this survey over a decade ago,” said Cullen. “There’s really a focus on giving things rather than giving experiences.”After greeting cards, the most popular item consumers will purchase is flowers, with 68% of respondents saying that’s part of their plan.”Mother’s Day is the largest floral holiday of the year and our 1-800-Flowers.com brand expects to deliver approximately 23 million stems for the holiday,” McCann said.But shoppers may be spending more on flowers this year due to a shortage and higher transportation costs. Some florists say consumers should be ready to accept substitutes and pay as much as 25% more than they did last year, according to media reports.”Farms, not knowing how to plan for this year, cut back and it is causing a bit of contention,” McCann said on “Squawk Box” on Thursday. “That, coupled with some weather conditions, has caused the challenge that we see in the floral industry today.”1-800-Flowers said it was able to secure enough flowers to meet its demand.McCann said he is also seeing higher demand for food gifts, and NRF’s Cullen said consumers were planning to spend more on jewelry.”Even with all the hardships caused by Covid, even with all the uncertainty, consumers are really seizing on to moments where they can celebrate,” Cullen said. “And we’ve seen this in pretty much every single holiday and special event throughout the pandemic.” More