Raphael Stevens

Janet Yellen, U.S. Treasury secretary, speaks during a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, not pictured, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, Jan. 29, 2021.Shawn Thew | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesTreasury Secretary Janet Yellen warns that the Latino community has been hit “disproportionately hard” by the last five economic crises in the United States.”I took my first economics course around 1963. Since then, our country has endured at least 5 major economic crises,” she said in remarks she delivered Tuesday at the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.”Each of these crises was very different but they all shared at least once significant characteristic: They all hit Latino-Americans disproportionately hard.”Yellen also summarized her remarks in a thread on Twitter.In the virtual remarks, Yellen said that the Hispanic unemployment rate is always higher than the national average, and when there is a crisis, the Hispanic rate always spikes higher.”Economic crises generally do this: They take pre-existing inequalities — and make them even more unequal,” Yellen said.”If someone tried to design an economic crisis that would unduly target the Hispanic community, they’d probably come up with something that looks a lot like Covid-19,” she said.”One-in-five Latino households still say they don’t have enough food to eat,” Yellen noted.She said that the American Rescue Plan and the Paycheck Protection Program were meant to help Americans who have been hit hard by the pandemic.”PPP was supposed to be an early lifeline, but because of issues with the program’s design, the first rounds often didn’t reach the smallest businesses, which are disproportionately Hispanic-owned,” Yellen said.Latino-owned businesses often drive a large portion of the country’s recovery after an economic crisis, the Treasury Secretary said.She noted that from 2007 to 2012 the number of these businesses grew by 3.3%. In comparison, businesses with non-Hispanic owners declined by 3.6% in that period.”And after 2012, the number of new Latino-owned business grew at more than twice the national average,” Yellen said.A Stanford University study found that the odds of loan approval from national banks were 60% lower for Latino-owned businesses than white-owned businesses.The Secretary said that the Treasury gearing up to inject $12 billion dollars into Community Development Financial Institutions and Minority Depository Institutions. It’s more money than has flowed through these programs since they were created in the 90s, Yellen said.She said thinks the money will make a “meaningful difference” in Latino-owned firms’ ability to access capital, but explained that it is only just a start.”If [we] work together, then I am confident that when someone looks back at the economic data around the pandemic, they won’t simply conclude that Hispanic workers and businesses were the victims of the 2020 economy. They’ll see that they were builders of a better one in 2021 and beyond.” Yellen said. More

In this articleKOBLKDALMRKAXPCOKEJames Quincey, President and CEO of Coca-Cola Co.The Coca-Cola Company President and Chief Operating Officer James Quincey.Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey said the company has always been against legislation in Georgia that restricts voter access, but is choosing to speak up publicly about it after the bill passed.”We always opposed this legislation,” Quincey told CNBC’s Sara Eisen on Wednesday’s “Power Lunch.”He added that the company has a long track record in Georgia, where it is based, of working with legislators and lobbying for itself or with alliances and achieving what it wants while working in private.Coke is among the many companies that are now publicly taking a stance after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill into law that overhauls the state’s elections, which opponents say disproportionately disenfranchises people of color. Civil rights groups have been critical of the beverage giant for not vocally opposing the law and have asked consumers to boycott the company’s products until it speaks up more forcefully.”Now that it’s passed, we’re coming out more publicly,” Quincey said.He said that the company had paused political donations through its political action committee before the bill was proposed. In the past, the company has given political donations to some of the bill’s sponsors.In the interview, Quincey used stronger language than a previous statement from Coke to oppose the law, calling it “wrong” and saying it needs to change. On Monday, Alfredo Rivera, president of Cokes North American operating unit, said in a statement that the company is disappointed in the outcome but doesn’t see this as the final chapter. Rivera also said that Coke had joined with other Georgia businesses earlier this year to let state legislators know that they opposed measures to restrict voter access. Last year, Coke introduced its first-ever company holiday for Election Day.Merck CEO Ken Frazier and former American Express CEO Ken Chenault, both of whom are Black, are asking corporate leaders to oppose the law. Other companies that have released statements about the law include Delta Air Lines, which was also facing calls for a boycott, and BlackRock. More

In this articleDALALKLUVJBLUUALAALThe passenger cabin on a Delta Boeing 737-900ER is shown while landing in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S., January 10, 2018.Mike Blake | ReutersDelta Air Lines said Wednesday it will stop blocking seats on its planes starting May 1, the last U.S. airline to end the Covid-19-era policy as more travelers return to the skies.Delta first started blocking middle seats and limiting capacity on smaller planes in April near the start of the pandemic. Other airlines had similar policies, including Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airways and Alaska Airlines, but they have since gone back to selling all seats.Southwest in January estimated it had an $80 million revenue boost from opening up all seats a month earlier.Physically distancing from other passengers is extremely difficult on an airplane. Delta and other carriers have repeatedly said filtration systems and intense cleaning make it unlikely that travelers will catch Covid-19 on a plane. But Delta said many travelers choose Delta over other airlines because it kept its policy in place.CEO Ed Bastian said in announcement that 65% of customers who flew Delta in 2019 said they expect to have at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine by May 1 and that that is “giving us the assurance to offer customers the ability to choose any seat on our aircraft, while also introducing new services, products and rewards to support the journey.”The change comes as what is shaping up to be a better summer travel season than last year approaches. Generally the most lucrative time of year, airlines suffered last summer as many potential customers stayed home.Delta’s President Glen Hauenstein told attendees at a JP Morgan conference this month opening up middle seats would be “an incredibly strong lever for us with very minimal cost to open those seats up.”CNBC Health & ScienceRead CNBC’s latest coverage of the Covid pandemic:Pfizer says Covid vaccine is 100% effective in kids ages 12 to 15 CDC director says Covid variant from U.K. is becoming the predominant strain in many parts of the U.S. Covid was the third leading cause of death among Americans in 2020, behind heart disease and cancer, CDC says U.S. begins testing Moderna’s Covid vaccine booster shots for variant from South Africa With vaccines rolling out across the country, airline executives are upbeat about an increase in bookings for late-spring and summer trips, though business and international travel continues to suffer.United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby on Wednesday told a U.S. Chamber of Commerce aviation conference that domestic leisure demand has “almost entirely recovered.” American Airlines on Monday said bookings were back to 90% of 2019 levels in the week ended March 26 and that it plans to take most of its planes out of storage to meet demand in the second quarter.Delta announced a host of other changes aimed to drum up revenue. Customers with reservations that had been valid until the end of 2021 or who bought tickets this year will be able to use them until the end of 2022.Delta also said its customers can earn as much as 75% more to get to Medallion status. The carrier and its rivals’ frequent flyer programs have become more important during the pandemic. These programs make money by selling miles to banks, which customers earn when they use rewards credit cards. Delta last year raised a then-record $9 billion in debt backed by its SkyMiles program.The carrier also said that in early June it will offer hot meals in its Delta One or first-class cabins on some transcontinental flights. Boxed meals will be offered on some other domestic routes for first class in July. More

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky speaks to the press after visiting the Hynes Convention Center FEMA Mass Vaccination Site on March 30, 2021 in Boston, Massachusetts.Erin Clark | Pool | Getty ImagesThe highly contagious coronavirus variant first identified in the U.K. is starting to become the predominant strain in many regions of the U.S., the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.The variant, known as B.1.1.7, now accounts for 26% of Covid-19 cases circulating across the nation, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told reporters during a White House news briefing on the pandemic. It is the predominant strain in at least five regions, she added.The U.K. identified B.1.1.7, which appears to be more deadly and spread more easily than other strains, last fall. It has since spread to other parts of the globe, including the U.S., which has identified 11,569 cases across 51 jurisdictions as of Tuesday, according to the CDC.Florida has the most confirmed cases of the new variant, according to a map of the CDC data, followed closely by Michigan, Wisconsin and California. Public health officials say they are working as quickly as possible to identify more cases.Walensky said Wednesday she expects to see more infections in the U.S. due to the transmissibility of the B.1.1.7 variant. She urged the public to continue pandemic safety measures, such as washing hands, wearing masks and practicing social distancing.CNBC Health & ScienceRead CNBC’s latest coverage of the Covid pandemic:Pfizer says Covid vaccine is 100% effective in kids ages 12 to 15 CDC director says Covid variant from U.K. is becoming the predominant strain in many parts of the U.S. Covid was the third leading cause of death among Americans in 2020, behind heart disease and cancer, CDC says U.S. begins testing Moderna’s Covid vaccine booster shots for variant from South Africa Walensky’s comments come two days after she issued a dire warning to reporters. She said Monday that she worried the nation is facing “impending doom” as variants spread and daily Covid-19 cases begin to rebound once again, threatening to send more people to the hospital.”I’m going to pause here, I’m going to lose the script, and I’m going to reflect on the recurring feeling I have of impending doom,” Walensky said. “We have so much to look forward to, so much promise and potential of where we are and so much reason for hope, but right now I’m scared.”An average of more than 63,000 daily new Covid-19 cases were reported in the United States over the last seven days, according to Johns Hopkins University data. That figure is up 16% from one week ago.The White House’s chief medical advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said Sunday that the latest rise in cases is not being caused solely by new variants of the virus, adding that travel and easing of business restrictions are also a factor in the increase in infections.”This is a critical moment in our fight against the pandemic,” Walensky said Wednesday. “We can’t afford to let our guard down.”– CNBC’s Nate Rattner contributed to this report. More

Shawne Alston #20 of the West Virginia Mountaineers rushes for a 4-yard touchdown in the first quarter against the Clemson Tigers during the Discover Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium on January 4, 2012 in Miami Gardens, Florida.J. Meric | Getty ImagesDivision I student athletes looked poised for victory in their Supreme Court battle against the National Collegiate Athletic Association over whether the organization may impose restraints on compensation related to education.During 90 minutes of arguments held by phone Wednesday, the justices appeared skeptical of the claim made by the NCAA that payments to students for things such as musical instruments and internships will sour fans who are drawn to the amateur quality of its competitions.The case is the latest legal challenge over the NCAA’s compensation policies and comes amid a high-profile and related push by student athletes seeking to profit off their own names, images and likenesses. The NCAA’s March Madness basketball tournament will hold its championships for women and men on Sunday and Monday.Justices appointed by both Republicans and Democrats seemed persuaded by arguments made by the attorney for the student athletes, Jeffrey Kessler, that the NCAA is violating federal antitrust law with its restrictions on education-related payments.A federal district court struck down those restrictions and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the decision. The case was brought by Shawne Alston, who was a running back for the West Virginia Mountaineers, and other student athletes.”These are competitors all getting together with total market power fixing prices,” Justice Elena Kagan told Seth Waxman, the NCAA’s attorney and a former U.S. solicitor general.Elizabeth Prelogar, the acting solicitor general, argued in favor of the student athletes.Waxman centered his arguments on the contention that NCAA sports has always been defined by their amateur quality, which he said means that student athletes are not paid to play. He said that education-related benefits, “whatever their labels,” are effectively professional salaries.The last time the Supreme Court made a statement on amateur athlete compensation, in the 1984 case NCAA v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma, it said that amateurism excludes payments for athletic performance, Waxman said.Kessler, in contrast, called Waxman’s arguments “just the latest iteration of the repeatedly debunked claims that compensation will destroy demand for college sports.” Kessler said that the definition of amateurism should be more narrow: That games are played by students.Several of the court’s conservatives expressed concerns that the NCAA’s arguments are hypocritical or exploitative.Justice Brett Kavanaugh said his “overarching concern” is that the sports organization is using the cover of antitrust law to exploit students.Kavanaugh said it seems as though schools are “conspiring with competitors to pay no salaries to the workers who are making the schools billions of dollars on the theory that consumers want the schools to pay their workers nothing.”That is “somewhat disturbing,” said Kavanaugh, an appointee of former President Donald Trump.Kavanaugh added that he believes the Board of Regents case Waxman relied on “really was from a different era” and not persuasive.Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Amy Coney Barrett also seemed disturbed by some of the NCAA’s arguments. Alito was appointed by former President George W. Bush, Thomas by former President H.W. Bush, and Barrett by Trump.Thomas noted that NCAA coaches make millions of dollars, for instance, one of the key arguments made by those opposing the NCAA’s limitations on player pay.”It just strikes me as odd that the coaches’ salaries have ballooned,” he said.Barrett asked Waxman if it is really his argument that “consumers enjoy watching unpaid people play sports.””Yes, that is our line,” Waxman said.While the justices seemed to favor arguments made by the student athletes, they were concerned about the prospect of more lawsuits popping up over every restriction on compensation. Some expressed worries that they may change the character of NCAA sports for the worse.Chief Justice John Roberts, an appointee of former President George W. Bush and perhaps the justice most sympathetic to the NCAA’s arguments, likened the situation to a game of Jenga, where each block is one of the restrictions.”You pull out one log and another and everything’s fine,” Roberts said. But he suggested that if courts overturned enough of the NCAA’s policies, the competitions would no longer really be amateur.”All of sudden, the whole thing comes crashing down,” Roberts said.Thomas asked Kessler if he would be back in court if “a consumer survey that suggests tomorrow that consumers think it’s fine for amateur athletes to make $20,000 per year.”Kessler demurred. But, asked the same question, Prelogar, the Justice Department attorney, suggested that such a survey could prompt new legal challenges — and that it wouldn’t be a bad thing.Prelogar said that the NCAA is mistaken in suggesting that the analysis of what differentiates its product should be based on the NCAA’s own beliefs about what makes sports amateur. What matters, she said, is what consumers think.A decision in the case, Shawne Alston v. NCAA, No. 20-512, is expected by the end of June. More

The body of a patient who died is seen as healthcare workers treat people infected with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas, U.S., December 30, 2020.Callaghan O’Hare | ReutersThe coronavirus was the third leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2020, behind heart disease and cancer, according to a new study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.More than 3.3 million deaths were reported in the U.S. last year, a 16% increase over 2019, according to provisional data published Wednesday compiled by the National Vital Statistics System, which examines and reports annual mortality statistics based on death certificates.The deadliest weeks last year were at the beginning of the pandemic and then in the middle of the holiday surge, during the weeks ending April 11, with 78,917 fatalities, and Dec. 26, when 80,656 people died, the CDC found.According to the study released Wednesday, Covid-19 was listed as the underlying cause for 345,323 deaths, killing more Americans than unintentional injuries, strokes, chronic lower respiratory disease, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, influenza and pneumonia and kidney disease.The agency’s early findings were published months ahead of schedule due to “improvements in timeliness and the pressing need for updated, quality data during the global COVID-19 pandemic,” researchers wrote.CNBC Health & ScienceRead CNBC’s latest coverage of the Covid pandemic:Pfizer says Covid vaccine is 100% effective in kids ages 12 to 15 CDC director says Covid variant from U.K. is becoming the predominant strain in many parts of the U.S. Covid was the third leading cause of death among Americans in 2020, behind heart disease and cancer, CDC says U.S. begins testing Moderna’s Covid vaccine booster shots for variant from South Africa Only heart disease and cancer killed more people in the U.S. than Covid-19 in 2020 — heart disease killed 690,882 people and cancer killed 598,932.Covid-19 replaced suicide among the top 10 leading causes of death in the U.S., the study found. Overall, the annual death rate increased by nearly 16% in 2020 compared with a year earlier, the first time it’s grown since 2017, the CDC said.The highest annual death rates were reported among men, people ages 85 and older, and people who are non-Hispanic Black and American Indian and Alaskan Native, the CDC said.However, when looking at Covid-19 alone, Hispanic and American Indian and Alaskan Native people, as well as those ages 85 and older, died from the disease at higher rates compared with every other group. Men died from Covid-19 at a higher rate than women.CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said following the study’s release that the findings should serve “as a catalyst” for Americans to drive down the spread of the virus and get vaccinated once it’s their turn.”I know this is not easy and so many of us are frustrated with the disruption this pandemic has had on our everyday lives, but we can do this as a nation working together,” Walensky said during a White House Covid-19 press briefing Wednesday.It typically takes researchers 11 months after the end of the calendar year to investigate “certain causes of death and to process and review data.” While the daily total Covid death figures reported by the CDC are timely, they can underestimate the actual number of deaths because of “incomplete or delayed reporting.””Provisional death estimates provide an early indication of shifts in mortality trends and can guide public health policies and interventions aimed at reducing numbers of deaths that are directly or indirectly associated with the COVID-19 pandemic,” researchers wrote.Some have tried to sow doubt about the true amount of deaths caused by Covid-19, claiming they may have been overstated. However, in a separate CDC study published Wednesday, the agency found that the death certificates accurately reflected the number of reported coronavirus fatalities.The agency examined death certificates listing Covid-19 and at least one other co-occurring condition. The CDC found that in 97% of the deaths, Covid-19 was reported alongside another condition that was possibly caused by the virus, such as pneumonia or respiratory failure, or significantly contributed to its severity, such as diabetes or hypertension.A small proportion of them — 2.5% of the certificates — documented conditions that aren’t currently associated with Covid-19, the CDC found.”These findings support the accuracy of COVID-19 mortality surveillance in the United States using official death certificates,” the researchers said. More

Michael Regan, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), wears a protective mask while being sworn in during a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, March 17, 2021.Ken Cedeno | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesEnvironmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan said Wednesday he will dismiss members of two key science advisory committees picked by former President Donald Trump, a move he said will help restore scientific integrity and trust in the agency.The decision will oust researchers with The Science Advisory Board and the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee whose work helped advance the Trump administration’s rollback of environmental regulations in favor of fossil fuel producers.The move is also part of the Biden administration’s broader effort to restore morale and scientific integrity at the EPA after Trump, who dismissed the scientific consensus that humans are causing climate change and sought to make the agency more favorable to deregulation. For instance, the agency recently re-established a webpage dedicated to climate change that Trump deleted four years ago.And in a memo to staff last week, Regan said the EPA is reviewing years of environmental policies and decisions by the Trump administration to see where scientific data might have been purposefully manipulated or suppressed.CNBC PoliticsRead more of CNBC’s politics coverage:Here are the details of Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure planHow Biden’s infrastructure plan addresses climate changeSupreme Court appears willing to side with athletes in NCAA pay case”Resetting these two scientific advisory committees will ensure the agency receives the best possible scientific insight to support our work to protect human health and the environment,” Regan said in a statement on Wednesday.”Today we return to a time-tested, fair, and transparent process for soliciting membership to these critically important advisory bodies,” he added.Many EPA experts left the agency under the Trump administration, which rolled back more than 100 environmental rules in four years.Regan has said he wouldn’t rule out the possibility for those workers to return to the agency. The agency is now seeking new applications for the two panels.The EPA plays a critical role in Biden’s agenda to decarbonize the electricity sector by 2035 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050. More