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Top U.S. health officials said China’s zero Covid strategy is not an effective way to control the virus, and Beijing should focus on vaccinating the elderly.
The White House, in a statement, said the Chinese people have the right to protest peacefully.
Rare protests broke out against Covid lockdowns in Beijing, Shanghai, Urumqi and other cities over the weekend.

People hold white sheets of paper and flowers in a row as police check their IDs during a protest over coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions in mainland China, during a commemoration of the victims of a fire in Urumqi, in Hong Kong, China November 28, 2022. 
Tyrone Siu | Reuters

The White House on Monday criticized Beijing’s zero Covid strategy as ineffective and said the Chinese people have a right to peacefully protest.
“We’ve long said everyone has the right to peacefully protest, here in the United States and around the world. This includes in the PRC,” a spokesperson for President Joe Biden’s National Security Council said in a statement.

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Rare protests broke out against Covid lockdowns in Beijing, Shanghai, Urumqi and other cities over the weekend. Nearly three years after the virus first emerged in Wuhan, China is still imposing strict social controls to quash Covid outbreaks, while countries such as the U.S. have largely returned to normal life.
“We’ve said that zero COVID is not a policy we pursuing here in the United States,” the NSC spokesperson said. “And as we’ve said, we think it’s going to be very difficult for the People’s Republic of China to be able to contain this virus through their zero COVID strategy.”

The U.S. Covid response is focused on increasing vaccination rates and making testing and treatment more accessible, the spokesperson said.
China’s stringent Covid controls have kept deaths very low compared to the U.S., but the measures have also deeply disrupted economic and social life. In China, more than 30,000 people have died from Covid since the pandemic began, according to the World Health Organization. In the U.S., more than 1 million people have died.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the U.S., said China’s approach to Covid “doesn’t make public health sense.” Vaccination rates among the elderly, one of the groups most vulnerable to Covid, are low in China compared to other countries. The vaccination campaign in China focused on people in critical positions first, those ages 18 to 59 next, and only then people ages 60 and over.

“If you look at the prevalence of vaccinations among the elderly, that it was almost counterproductive, the people you really needed to protect were not getting protected,” Fauci told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday.  A temporary lockdown might make sense if the goal was to buy time to boost vaccination rates but China doesn’t seem to be doing that, he said.
“It seems that in China, it was just a very, very strict extraordinary lockdown where you lock people in the house but without any seemingly endgame to it,” Fauci said.
As of August, about 86% of people ages 60 and older in China were fully vaccinated and 68% had received a booster, according to a September report from China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention. By comparison, 92% of older Americans were fully vaccinated and 70% had received a booster during that same period.
Fauci said China’s domestically developed vaccines are also not very effective.
The authors of the China CDC report said older people are more skeptical of the vaccine. The clinical trials didn’t enroll enough older people and as a consequence there wasn’t sufficient data on the vaccine’s safety and efficacy for this age group when the immunization campaign started, they wrote.
Dr. Ashish Jha, head of the White House Covid task force, said China should focus on making sure the elderly get vaccinated.
“That I think is the path out of this virus. Lockdowns and zero COVID is going to be very difficult to sustain,” Jha told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.

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Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Monday told investors that a key labor report could help drive the Federal Reserve’s inflation strategy.
“We need to see the unemployment rate go higher, while wages remain stable and we get meaningful layoffs in some industries,” he said.

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Monday told investors that a key labor report could help drive the Federal Reserve’s inflation strategy.
“We need to see the unemployment rate go higher, while wages remain stable and we get meaningful layoffs in some industries. If that doesn’t happen, if the numbers are truly strong, then the Fed heads will come out of the woodwork and start talking about how we need more enormous rate hikes,” he said.

Stocks slid on Monday to start the week, weighed down by protests against Covid restrictions in China that erupted over the weekend. 
The Labor Department is set to release the November nonfarm payrolls report on Friday and could cap off what could be a tough week for the market, according to Cramer. “Seasonally, it tends to be a little bit weaker, before things really take off again come December,” he said.
He also previewed next week’s slate of earnings. All earnings and revenue estimates are courtesy of FactSet.
Tuesday: Workday, CrowdStrike
Workday

Q3 2023 earnings release at 4 p.m. ET; conference call at 4:30 p.m. ET
Projected EPS: 84 cents
Projected revenue: $1.59 billion

Cramer predicted it’ll be difficult for the company to top its last “spectacular” quarter.
CrowdStrike

Q3 2023 earnings release at 4:05 p.m. ET; conference call at 5 p.m. ET
Projected EPS: 48 cents
Projected revenue: $788 million

He said he’s interested in seeing if the company can change from a pure growth play to a profitable growth name.
Wednesday: Hormel Foods, Petco, Salesforce, Okta
Hormel Foods

Q4 2022 earnings release at 6:30 a.m. ET; conference call at 9 a.m. ET
Projected EPS: 50 cents
Projected revenue: $3.38 billion

Hormel might follow other food stocks that have stopped going down, Cramer said.
Petco

Q3 2022 earnings release at 7:30 a.m. ET; conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET
Projected EPS: 16 cents
Projected revenue: $1.49 billion

He said he’s worried the company will report disappointing results.
Salesforce

Q3 2023 earnings release at 4:05 p.m. ET; conference call at 5 p.m. ET
Projected EPS: $1.22
Projected revenue: $7.83 billion

Cramer said he doesn’t expect co-CEO Marc Benioff to “tolerate” the fact that the stock is one of the worst performers in the Dow Jones Industrial Index.
Okta

Q3 2023 earnings release at 4:05 p.m. ET; conference call at 5 p.m. ET
Projected loss: loss of 8 cents per share
Projected revenue: $591 million

“Like so many companies in Silicon Valley, I think Okta’s going to have to learn to live with less [workers],” he said.
Thursday: Dollar General, Kroger, Ulta Beauty, Marvell Technology
Dollar General

Q3 2022 earnings release at 6:55 a.m. ET; conference call at 10 a.m. ET
Projected EPS: $2.54
Projected revenue: $9.42 billion

Cramer pointed out that while analysts love the stock, products at the company’s stores are more expensive than they used to be.
Kroger

Q3 2022 earnings release at 8 a.m. ET; conference call at 9 a.m. ET
Projected EPS: 82 cents
Projected revenue: $33.99 billion

While the company will likely deliver a good quarter, people will only care about the status of the company’s planned merger with Albertsons, he said.
Ulta Beauty

Q3 2022 earnings release at 4 p.m. ET; conference call at 4:30 p.m. ET
Projected EPS: $4.13
Projected revenue: $2.21 billion

Cramer said he expects a huge earnings beat from the company.
Marvell Technology

Q3 2023 earnings release at 4:05 p.m. ET; conference call at 4:45 p.m. ET
Projected EPS: 71 cents
Projected revenue: $1.80 billion

While he’s a believer in the stock, it likely won’t soar until the industry-wide chip glut becomes resolved, he said.
Disclaimer: Cramer’s Charitable Trust owns shares of Salesforce.

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More than 11,200 people were hospitalized with the flu during the week ending Nov. 19, compared to about 8,700 patients admitted the week prior, according to CDC data.
Flu has hit unusually hard and early this season, putting pressure on emergency departments across the nation.
Scientists and public health experts are worried flu hospitalizations will surge even more with the holiday season underway.
The H3N2 variant that’s more severe for the elderly is dominant right now, which means the U.S. could be in for a tough season.

Susana Sanchez, a Nurse Practitioner, administers a flu vaccination to Loisy Barrera at a CVS pharmacy and MinuteClinic in Miami, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images

Flu hospitalizations have increased nearly 30% in a week as the spread of respiratory illnesses remains high across most of the U.S.
More than 11,200 people were hospitalized with the flu during the week ending Nov. 19, compared to about 8,700 patients admitted during the prior week, according to data from the Health and Human Services Department.

Flu has hit unusually hard and early this season, putting pressure on emergency departments across the nation. Flu activity normally picks up after Thanksgiving, but hospitalizations were already at a decade high in early November.
Scientists and public health experts are worried flu hospitalizations will surge even more after millions traveled to see family and friends for Thanksgiving. Christmas is also just weeks away, giving the flu with another opportunity to spread widely.
About 11 people out of every 100,000 have been hospitalized with the flu since early October, the highest level in a decade. More than 6.2 million people have fallen ill, 53,000 have been hospitalized, and 2,900 have died this season, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The fact that we’re already at this high level going into the holiday season makes me nervous,” said Scott Hensley, a microbiologist and flu expert at the Penn Institute for Immunology.
Hensley said flu is hitting harder earlier this year because population immunity is probably at its lowest level in recent history. Flu basically didn’t circulate for two years due to the masking and social distancing measures put in place during Covid, he said. As a result, large swaths of the population didn’t get an immunity boost from infection so they may be more vulnerable to flu this year than in past seasons.

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Seniors and children under age five are the most vulnerable, with hospitalization rates about double the national average. A flu variant that’s more severe for the elderly is also dominant right now, which means the U.S. could be in for a tough season. More than 60% of flu samples tested by public health labs were positive for the influenza A(H3N2) strain, according to CDC.
“It is a well described phenomenon. H3N2 has a more severe impact on older persons so more hospitalization, ICU admissions and deaths,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University.
Flu vaccines typically aren’t as effective against H3N2, though there’s hope that this season might prove different. The majority of flu viruses tested are similar to the strains included in this year’s vaccine, according to the CDC.
Vaccine efficacy data hasn’t been published yet, but the shots normally perform better when they are matched well to the circulating variants. Flu vaccine efficacy has ranged widely from 19% to 60% in past seasons depending on how well the shots were matched to the strains circulating.
“From what we can see, it looks like the vaccines are pretty darn good matches to what’s circulating,” Hensley said. “If there’s ever a time to get vaccinated, this is the year to do it,” he said.
Flu activity was highest in the Southeast in past weeks, but most of the country is now seeing high levels of illness, according to CDC.
Flu activity is moderate or low in Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, South Dakota and Wyoming.

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The holiday shopping season got off to a solid start over the weekend, as Black Friday’s online sales beat expectations and started to build some much-needed momentum for the retail sector. According to Adobe’s online sales tracker, consumers shelled out a record $9.12 billion shopping online on Black Friday. That’s up 2.3% over last year and well above expectations of a 1% increase. But that’s only one piece of the puzzle. In another early look report, traffic on Black Friday at brick-and-mortar retail stores rose about 3% over 2021, according to retail tracker Sensormatic, which attributed the rise to increased promotional activity and “favorable in-store experiences.” While inflation has squeezed consumers this year, more than 166 million people planned to shop from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey . That’s 8 million more than last year and the highest estimate since 2017. The final NRF numbers are due out Tuesday. KeyBanc cited Sensormatic data in a research note Sunday — saying, if accurate, the numbers would be higher than what its analysts are seeing. In recent channel checks, KeyBanc sees traffic at physical retailers was “down to flat” year over year. The analysts point out that this year’s holiday shopping calendar is one day longer than in 2021. Many struggling retailers benefited from this seemingly strong start to holiday shopping. Goldman Sachs said retailers like Target (TGT) and Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) attracted more consumers through deep discounts on products. In a separate note, Deutsche Bank noted “strong demand for beauty” at retailers like Ulta Beauty (ULTA), Kohl’s (KSS), Victoria’s Secret (VSCO) and Bath & Body Works (BBWI). Apparel retail traffic was also solid. Deutsche Bank analysts said American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) was a leader among teens. Other standout performers included Gap ‘s (GPS) Old Navy brand as well as Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) and its Hollister brand. Bottom line With holiday shopping underway, we continue to like off-price retailers in these trying times. We’re most bullish on Club holding TJX Companies (TJX), which operates T.J. Maxx, HomeGoods and Marshalls. Major full-price retailers have been dealing with inventory gluts, which serve as a bumper crop of cheap merchandise that discounters like TJX, Ross Stores (ROST) and Burlington Stores (BURL) can turn around for a good profit but also a good bargain for customers. Many of the big box retailers, meanwhile, are still working through inventory gluts as well. They ordered too much this year, expecting a repeat of the pandemic buying spree during 2020 and 2021. But consumer spending shifted from buying things to experiences like eating out and going on vacation, leaving many retailers with too much stuff. Bad news for those stores has been good for TJX, which has outperformed the broader market this year. We see more strong performance ahead. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long TJX. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

Customers line up at the cashier area at a Macy’s store during Black Friday sales on November 25, 2022 in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Kena Betancur | Getty Images

The holiday shopping season got off to a solid start over the weekend, as Black Friday’s online sales beat expectations and started to build some much-needed momentum for the retail sector. More

The United States Soccer Federation, in its social media posts over the weekend, featured the flags of the countries competing in Group B, which includes a match between the U.S. and Iran on Tuesday.
In the posts, the Iranian flag icon was missing its Islamic Republic emblem, and only showed its red, white and green stripes.
The flag change was made to show support for Iran’s female-led protest movement, the U.S. Soccer Federation said.

Ahmad Nourollahi of Iran in action during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group B match between England and IR Iran at Khalifa International Stadium on November 21, 2022 in Doha, Qatar.
Richard Sellers | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

Iranian state media is calling for the U.S. World Cup soccer team to be thrown out of the 2022 tournament in Qatar after it briefly changed the icon of the Iranian flag on its social media accounts in support of protests taking place in the country.
The United States Soccer Federation, in its social media posts over the weekend, featured the flags of the countries competing in Group B, which includes a match between the U.S. and Iran on Tuesday. In the posts, the Iranian flag icon was missing its Islamic Republic emblem, and only showed its red, white and green stripes.

Tuesday’s match is a crucial one that already has drawn political undertones. Whoever wins will proceed to the knockout stages.
Iranian media reacted swiftly, with state media agency Tasnim calling for the U.S. team to be booted from the tournament.
“By posting a distorted image of the flag of the Islamic Republic of #Iran on its official account, the #US football team breached the FIFAcom charter, for which a 10-game suspension is the appropriate penalty. Team should be kicked out of the #WorldCup2022,” Tasnim News Agency wrote in a post on its official Twitter account.
In a follow-up tweet, it added: “The legal advisor of the Iranian Football Federation says the sports association will file a complaint against the US Soccer Team to FIFA’s Ethics Committee after the US Men’s National Soccer Team disrespected the national flag of Islamic Republic of Iran.”
The U.S. Soccer Federation, in a comment to CNN, said it changed the flag for 24 hours to show “support for the women in Iran fighting for basic human rights,” but added that it always intended on changing it back.

In an Instagram post from the U.S. Soccer men’s national team on Sunday promoting the Iran-U.S. match, the official Iranian flag was featured along with the designation “IR Iran,” which stands for Islamic Republic.
U.S.-based Iranian activist Elica Le Bon commented on the U.S. team’s move in an Instagram post, saying, “The U.S. took a huge stand here by removing the emblem from the fraudulent Islamic Republic’s flag that has become for Iranians a symbol of torture, suffering, and oppression. This is NOT our flag. Thank you thank you thank you.”

A protester holds a portrait of Mahsa Amini during a demonstration in support of Amini, a young Iranian woman who died after being arrested in Tehran by the Islamic Republic’s morality police, on Istiklal avenue in Istanbul on September 20, 2022.
Ozan Kose | AFP | Getty Images

Soraya Beheshti, an Iranian national living in Dubai, told CNBC: “I think this is ultimately not productive in its impact on the regime, but it’s nevertheless symbolically important and appreciated by millions of Iranians.”
“It’s a nice way to show solidarity with the protesters in an appropriate way without disrespecting the players, who clearly support the revolution too but are stuck between a rock and a hard place,” she said.
Behnam Ben Taleblu, an Iran expert and senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said that “any measure of support that can be given should be given to the Iranian people, be it official or unofficial,” as they have been “bravely protesting for over two and a half months.”
The Iranian government vociferously opposes the demonstrations, and has blamed them on what it says are foreign instigators including the United States and Israel. It has not provided evidence for these claims.

Iran protests

Protests have been taking place all over Iran since mid-September, rocking the government in what many are calling the biggest challenge to the Islamic Republic in decades. Ahead of its first World Cup match on Nov. 21, which was against England, the Iranian team refused to sing their national anthem, standing in stoic silence instead.
The protests erupted over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in police custody. Amini, a Kurdish Iranian woman, was arrested for allegedly breaking Iran’s strict rules on wearing the hijab, the Islamic head covering for women. She reportedly suffered multiple blows to the head, though Iranian authorities say she died from a pre-existing condition and deny any accusations of police brutality.
Team captain Alireza Jahanbakhsh previously said that he and his teammates would make a collective decision on whether they would make any sort of statement or act during the anthem in solidarity with the the anti-government demonstrators inside their country.

After the England match, Jahanbakhsh made a public statement expressing condolences and sorrow for Iranians who had lost loved ones during the protests and said that the situation in Iran was not good. But ahead of its Nov. 25 match against Wales, the team sang the Iranian anthem. It is not clear whether external or government pressure played a role in the change.
Iran’s female-led protest movement has swelled into full-on calls from many Iranians for the downfall of the Islamic Republic. In response, Iranian authorities and police are arresting and killing demonstrators in a violent crackdown.
Videos showing women setting alight to their headscarves and crowds chanting “death to the dictator” amid burning cars, as well as security forces beating up protesters, have been shared widely on social media, despite the Iranian government’s intermittent shutdown of the country’s internet.

Iran players line up for the national anthem prior to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group B match between England and IR Iran at Khalifa International Stadium on November 21, 2022 in Doha, Qatar.
Julian Finney | Getty Images

The U.S. State Department said it had no involvement in the U.S. Soccer Federation’s decision to remove the Islamic Republic emblem from the Iranian flag in its posts.
“We look forward to a peaceful and competitive match on the field. The United States continues to find ways to support the Iranian people in the face of state-sponsored violence against women and a brutal crackdown against peaceful protestors,” a State Department spokesperson told CNBC in an emailed statement.
Tensions between Washington and Tehran have been especially high ever since the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal in 2018, which saw harsh sanctions re-imposed on the Islamic Republic. Its economy has buckled under the sanctions, which had been lifted thanks to the deal, which gave Iran economic relief in exchange for curbs to its nuclear program.
Iran is now enriching uranium at its highest levels ever, and negotiations to revive the deal under the Biden administration have been stalled for months.

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Bob Iger, who returned last week as CEO of Disney (DIS), told employees Monday he intends to maintain the company’s current hiring freeze. He also reiterated the need for Disney to pivot its streaming business objective away from subscriber growth at all costs and toward profitability. As shareholders for the Club, we are pleased to see Iger taking steps to fix the missteps of his predecessor. Iger’s comments, at his first townhall meeting since taking over for the fired Bob Chapek, are in line with his previously published memo to the staff of Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution last week. In that correspondence, which came less than 24 hours after his rehiring, Iger announced the departure of the group’s leader Kareem Daniel. He also wrote: “Over the coming weeks, we will begin implementing organizational and operating changes within the company. It is my intention to restructure things in a way that honors and respects creativity as the heart and soul of who we are. As you know, this is a time of enormous change and challenges in our industry, and our work will also focus on creating a more efficient and cost-effective structure.” We’re pleased to see Iger again stress this viewpoint Monday. As Club members will recall, we started calling for change at the top, following Disney’s awful fiscal fourth-quarter results on Nov. 8. Given Disney’s lack of operational focus, particularly on the streaming side of the business, we said at the time Chapek had to go. Nearly two weeks later, he was gone. While Chapek may have been a great operator on the theme park side of the operation, Iger understands that at its core, Disney is about creativity and storytelling. Moreover, Iger is clearly coming back into the role with the understanding that while subscriber growth may have been the key streaming metric in a zero-interest-rate world — in the current landscape, it’s all about profit. The previous management was simply too slow to respond to the rapidly evolving operating environment as inflation surged and the Federal Reserve raised rates as aggressively as we have ever seen in response. We look forward to learning more about how Iger plans to restructure operations in the coming months —but for now, we believe this decision to maintain the hiring freeze and stress creativity and storytelling as Disney’s primary engine for growth is a strong start. The faster Iger can show improvement in terms of streaming profitability — or at least reduce losses in the near term — the faster we will see a turn higher in Disney’s stock price. Shares were lower by roughly 3% in Monday’s down market. They’re off about 38% year to date. We have a 1 rating on Disney, meaning we see shares a buy at current levels . While it may take some time, we think the company is back on the right path — and as a result, believe the risk/reward is incredibly favorable for those willing to give Iger a few quarters to show progress as he maps out a path to streaming profitability. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long DIS. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

Bob Iger, former CEO, The Walt Disney Company
Scott Mlyn | CNBC

Bob Iger, who returned last week as CEO of Disney (DIS), told employees Monday he intends to maintain the company’s current hiring freeze. He also reiterated the need for Disney to pivot its streaming business objective away from subscriber growth at all costs and toward profitability. As shareholders for the Club, we are pleased to see Iger taking steps to fix the missteps of his predecessor. More

Federal water managers on Monday warned California cities and industrial users receiving water from the Central Valley Project to prepare for a fourth year of drought and possibly “extremely limited water supply” during 2023.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, an agency of the Interior Department, said drought conditions in California have persisted despite early storms this month and warned of looming water conservation actions.
The agency said water storage is near historic lows in the reservoirs it oversees in the state, which supply water to the vast agricultural region of the Central Valley and major urban centers in the Greater Sacramento and San Francisco Bay areas.

Houseboats on Lake Oroville during a drought in Oroville, California, U.S., on Monday, Oct. 11, 2021.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Federal water managers on Monday warned California cities and industrial users receiving water from the Central Valley Project to prepare for a fourth year of drought and possibly “extremely limited water supply” during 2023.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, an agency of the Interior Department that oversees water resource management, said drought conditions in California have persisted despite early storms this month, and warned of looming water conservation actions.

“If drought conditions extend into 2023, Reclamation will find it increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to meet all the competing needs of the Central Valley Project without beginning the implementation of additional and more severe water conservation actions,” the agency said in a statement.
The agency said water storage is near historic lows in the reservoirs it oversees in the state, which irrigate more than 3 million acres of land in central California and supply major urban centers in the Greater Sacramento and San Francisco Bay areas. The project’s water provides supplies for approximately 2.5 million people per year.

Cattle graze amid drought conditions on June 21, 2022 near Ojai, California. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, most of Ventura County is currently under extreme drought conditions. California is now in a third consecutive year of drought amid a climate-change fueled megadrought in the Southwestern United States.
Mario Tama | Getty Images

The Shasta Reservoir, California’s largest reservoir located about 200 miles north of the Bay Area, is currently at 31% capacity, the agency said.
California gets most its water during the winter months when storms bring snow to the mountain ranges. But record temperatures and low precipitation have forced California and other states to address a future with dwindling water supplies.
The megadrought in the U.S. West has generated the driest two decades in the region in at least 1,200 years and and conditions are likely to persist for years. Researchers have estimated that 42% of the drought’s severity is attributable to human-caused climate change.

Earlier this year, California water officials slashed State Water Project allocations from 15% to 5% of normal for water agencies serving roughly 27 million people and 750,000 acres of farmland.
The Reclamation Bureau said it will announce initial water supply allocations for the Central Valley Project in February.

A sign is posted next to an empty field on May 27, 2021 in Chowchilla, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

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Iger took questions from employees after about five minutes of introduction.
He acknowledged Disney’s focus must shift toward making its streaming business profitable, rather than concentrating on simply adding subscribers.
In a memo last week, Iger said one of his first actions will be to redo Disney’s organizational structure.

Chief executive officer and chairman of The Walt Disney Company Bob Iger and Mickey Mouse look on before ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, November 27, 2017 in New York City.
Getty Images

Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger said Monday during his first town hall since returning to the company that he won’t remove its hiring freeze as he reassesses its cost structure.
Iger kicked off the town hall by quoting a song from the musical “Hamilton” that says “There is no more status quo. But the sun comes up and the world still spins,” according to sources who heard the town hall and asked to remain anonymous because the event was private.

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It was Iger’s first town hall with staff since Disney abruptly announced last week that he would replace Bob Chapek, who had been in the job for less than three years. Under Chapek, Disney faced criticism for its treatment of employees, its response to Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” legislation and its decision to take away budgetary power from creative heads.
In a memo earlier this month, Chapek had announced plans for a hiring freeze, layoffs and cost cuts. Disney shares have fallen nearly 38% this year.
“It felt like it was a wise thing to do in terms of the challenges, and at the moment, I don’t have any plans to change it,” Iger said Monday of the hiring freeze.
Iger, 71, had repeatedly said he wouldn’t return as Disney’s CEO, but on Monday told staffers it was “an easy yes” to return to the job. He said it was the right thing for him to do because of his love for Disney and its employees. Several senior executives recently told board members they’d lost confidence in Chapek’s leadership, CNBC reported last week, prompting the company’s outreach to Iger, who previously served as Disney’s CEO for 15 years.

Iger’s Q&A

After about five minutes of introduction, Iger jumped into taking questions, including many from an in-person audience. Disney employees could submit both named and anonymous questions before the event began. Many in attendance began their questions by thanking Iger for returning the company.

Iger acknowledged Disney’s focus must shift toward making its streaming business profitable rather than concentrating on simply adding subscribers, which was the company’s priority when he gave up the CEO job in 2020. He noted Disney won’t be pursuing any major acquisitions in the near future, adding he’s comfortable with Disney’s current set of assets.
In a memo last week, Iger said one of his first actions will be to redo Disney’s organizational structure, which under Chapek centralized decision-making over content and distribution was centralized under Kareem Daniel. Iger has already fired Daniel and said at the town hall a new structure will take time to put in place. He said that will be done in conjunction with other executives including chairman of general entertainment content Dana Walden, Disney Studios head Alan Bergman, ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro, and CFO Christine McCarthy.
Iger said he wouldn’t make any dramatic proclamations about Disney’s work-from-home policies but said he felt creative businesses worked best when employees were together in-person.
Iger joked his wife, Willow Bay, told him he should run Disney again so that he wouldn’t run for U.S. president — something Iger has thought about in the past.
Toward the end of his remarks, Iger noted that he wouldn’t have come back if he didn’t believe Disney’s future is bright.
WATCH: Bob Iger will be able to bring back talent to Disney, says Jim Cramer

−CNBC’s Sarah Whitten contributed to this report.

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