(NEW YORK) — Norwegian Cruise Lines is suing Florida after the state banned vaccine passports, saying it cannot safely resume sailings without ensuring its passengers and crew are vaccinated against COVID-19.
In a complaint filed Tuesday, the company called the move a “last resort.”
“The State of Florida has indicated that it is otherwise preventing (Norwegian) from safely and soundly resuming passenger cruise operations from Miami, Florida, … in the way that this cruise line has determined will be best for all concerned — with the benefit of documentation confirming that all of its passengers and crew have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19,” the complaint said.
Florida’s law threatens to fine companies $5,000 each time they ask a customer to provide proof that they’ve been vaccinated. Gov. Ron DeSantis’ press secretary called the lawsuit “disappointing” saying Norwegian is “discriminating against children and other individuals who cannot be vaccinated or who have opted not to be vaccinated for reasons of health, religion, or conscience.”
“This Administration will not tolerate such widespread discrimination. Therefore, Norwegian faces a $5,000 fine from whom they demand a vaccination status,” Christina Pushaw, the governor’s press secretary, said in a statement to ABC News.
Company CEO Frank Del Rio previously threatened to move the company’s ships out of Florida if they were not allowed to mandate vaccines.
“At the end of the day, cruise ships have motors, propellers and rudders, and God forbid we can’t operate in the state of Florida for whatever reason, then there are other states that we do operate from, and we can operate from the Caribbean for a ship that otherwise would have gone to Florida,” Del Rio said during an earnings call in May.
Norwegian’s first cruise from Miami is scheduled to sail on Aug. 15, but the company said the ban on vaccine passports puts it in an “impossible dilemma.”
“NCLH will find itself either on the wrong side of health and safety and the operative federal legal framework, or else on the wrong side of Florida law,” the complaint said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has banned most cruising from U.S. waters since March 2020. Companies have been working with the CDC to resume sailings under its conditional sail order — a set of guidelines for cruise companies wishing to resume sailing in the U.S., including test cruises and vaccine requirements.
DeSantis recently won a lawsuit against the CDC, in which a judge ruled the agency overstepped in its authority regarding the conditional sail order.
Some companies have already resumed sailings from Florida, with the Celebrity Edge departing Port Everglades on June 26.
The Florida Department of Health did not immediately respond to request for comment.
(NEW YORK) — Peppa Pig super fans, brace yourselves.
Reebok and Hasbro have partnered to release an all-new kids-only collection.
Officially releasing on July 19, the collection will include five unique Peppa Pig-inspired sneakers featuring everything from the beloved Peppa character to special designs mirrored after her friends Suzy Sheep and Candy Cat.
Reebok’s latest collaboration with Hasbro was inspired by the success of both brands’ first capsule collections, which launched together in February.
Each sneaker has been designed to encourage children to explore and allow their imaginations to run wild.
One standout from the Reebok x Peppa Pig collection is the Club C sneaker, which is inspired by one of the athletic brand’s classic models. It features Peppa and her friends peeking out of the plant and flower illustrations on each side of the shoe. There are also hidden graphics on the outer soles and heel tabs.
Another great pick from the latest line was inspired by one of Peppa’s go-to summertime activities, which is to blow bubbles. The sneaker is bright pink and also includes fun whimsical glitter-filled graphics along each side as well as the heel of the shoe.
Except for the preschool Classic Leather and preschool Club C sneakers, parents and kids alike will be happy to see that most of the shoes have easy-to-access stretch lace or velcro straps.
In case you are planning ahead for back-to-school shopping, these might be a great addition to your shopping lists.
(SPRINGFIELD, Mo.) — The city of Springfield, Missouri, announced Monday that it was canceling a major summer festival as COVID-19 surges in the region.
The Birthplace of Route 66 Festival, which was scheduled for Aug. 13-14 and typically includes live music and a classic car parade, has been called off for the second year in a row due to COVID-19. In 2019, the last year the festival was held, it drew 65,000 attendees over two days, and it was expected to host 75,000 this year, according to the city.
“With our region’s low vaccination rate against COVID-19, the resulting surge of infections are overwhelming our hospitals and making our community sick,” Cora Scott, director of public information and civic engagement for the city, said in a statement. “We feel it is just not safe to bring tens of thousands of people from all over the world to this community for any reason.”
Missouri’s vaccination rate trails the national average. As of Monday, 46% of residents had received at least one dose, and 40% were fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, compared with 56% of all Americans who’ve gotten at least one shot and 48% who are fully vaccinated.
In Greene County, where Springfield is located, vaccination rates are even lower than the statewide average. Just 39% of Greene County residents have received one dose of the vaccine, and 34% are fully vaccinated, according to state health department data.
Missouri is among a growing list of states that have seen rising infections, with new cases increasing 64% over the last two weeks, from 796 to 1,304, with a total of 9,100 cases per week, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services. Missouri, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana and Nevada lead the nation with the highest weekly case rates per capita, which translates into more than 100 infections per 100,000 residents. New COVID-19 hospital admissions also rose 40% over the same two-week span.
In Springfield, which is in the southwest part of the state, the surge is straining hospitals and front-line workers say patients are becoming sicker more quickly.
Erin Baker, a nurse at Mercy Hospital in Springfield, told ABC News that the hospital has had seen an uptick in patients who needed to be intubated.
“A lot of healthier people, younger people in their 20s, 30s, 40s are getting this delta variant or COVID a lot quicker,” Baker said. “Their health deteriorates very quickly.”
Last month, the state health department warned that the delta variant, which is more transmissible than the original form of the virus and is especially dangerous to unvaccinated and partially vaccinated people, had “become prevalent in communities throughout Missouri.”
(WASHINGTON) — Senate Democrats said they have reached a $3.5 trillion budget agreement. This is the first step in unlocking a process that Democrats plan to use to pass many of President Joe Biden’s American Families Plan priorities with a simple majority of votes.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said this budget package, coupled with the bipartisan infrastructure bill currently being negotiated amongst members, comes “very, very close” to what Biden asked for when he laid out his families plan.
“Every major program that President Biden asked us for is funded in a robust way,” Schumer said. “In addition we are making some additions to that.”
On the heels of this announcement, Schumer said the president will join Senate Democrats for their caucus lunch Wednesday to discuss the plan with lawmakers.
Schumer announced the package alongside members of the Budget Committee, though it’s still not certain that all Democrats will support the measure. Unanimous support will be necessary to pass the bill.
The package will be, according to Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., fully paid for. He did not give details on how the reconciliation bill will be funded, but Democrats have favored a hike in corporate tax rates, not unlike the one Biden originally proposed.
“There are times for really big things, this is one of those times,” Warner said. “The plan we’ve put together, which is fully paid for, will make the investments in American families, will take on the existential threat of climate change in a way that will meet the needs, leading the world on this critical issue.”
The $3.5 trillion topline still falls short of the $6 trillion that Budget Chairman Bernie Sanders had been hoping for, but Schumer announced Tuesday night that the reconciliation instructions include a “robust expansion” of Medicare, something that has been a longstanding priority for Sanders.
“This is in our a view a pivotal moment in American history,” Sanders said. “For a very long time the American people have seen the very rich getting richer and government developing policies which allow them to pay in some cases not a nickel. What this legislation says among many many other things is that those days are gone. The wealthy and large corporations are going to start paying their fair share of taxes so we can protect the working families of this country.”
Senate Democrats have long said they intend to use a process called reconciliation, which allows them to sidestep the usual 60-vote threshold and pass legislation with a simple majority, to pass parts of Biden’s infrastructure agenda that are not addressed in the separate bipartisan infrastructure deal.
The bipartisan infrastructure plan is also at a critical juncture as that group of senators works to publish the text of their $1.2 trillion legislation — something negotiators do not expect will happen this week. But once that bill is made public, there’s a serious potential obstacle — whether the proposed revenue will actually cover the $600 billion in new spending.
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, raised a red flag Tuesday saying that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) — which provides lawmakers with a “score,” or price tag, for legislation based on proposed spending and revenue — cannot price out or “score” some of the ways negotiators propose to pay for the bill.
The first way that can’t be scored is the plan to raise money from beefed up IRS enforcement. The bipartisan group of 10 senators, of which Romney is a part, has estimated that for $40 billion of investment in going after those who do not pay taxes, that would net $100 billion in return.
Romney said the CBO has not traditionally issued an official “score” on such matters, which could spell danger for Republicans who are already wary of beefing up a federal agency which has proved politically controversial in the past.
“The CBO won’t score that because they say, ‘Well, the government’s entitled to all of its tax revenue, so you can’t get a score for actually getting more of it,'” Romney told reporters.
“Generally, the CBO’s assessment of tax gaps is that they do not rely on them for scoring purposes and I would presume that would be the case here. But we recognize that there were some things that we saw as a source of revenue that the CBO might not be able to score,” he said.
But Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, who is leading the bipartisan effort along with Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, told ABC News in an interview that the CBO is expected to give an estimate of revenue from the tax-gap proposal, though it would not be an official score.
“They will separately analyze it and they will give us, not the official score, but they’ll give us an analysis, which we’ve relied on in the past,” Portman said.
A group of 22 senators, including the 10 who crafted the original package and 12 other Democrats and Republicans who initially signed on to support it, huddled in the Capitol for two hours on Tuesday evening over dinner, wine and cannoli. Several lawmakers touted significant progress in negotiations toward the final bill text, but there remains disagreement among them on how to pay for the bipartisan package, especially with the CBO score hanging in the balance.
The senators have set a Thursday deadline to work out their remaining differences.
“I think that’s our next real goal is to try to get something done so we can show some positive results,” Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said of the Thursday deadline.
Still, several negotiators left Tuesday’s meeting conceding that the deadline is a “tall order.”
Republican Whip John Thune said that if the CBO returns a score that reflects a bill that is not fully paid for, it could spook some of his members.
“It makes it harder,” the senator from South Dakota said. “I think some of our members would be open to perhaps some amount of debt financing but the majority I think would have to be paid for in a critical way which is a challenge that we’ve had since the beginning of this.”
But for some Republicans, the CBO score is not a deciding factor.
“It’s less crucial for me. I’d like most of it to be paid for,” said Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., part of a separate larger group of 20 negotiators who are part of a consensus-minded group seeking compromises on a number of measures. “I’m willing to accept some things that won’t score, like how much can be done on the private investment side.”
“My test is — is it paid for in my own mind?” Romney said. “Will we be able to –to not add to the deficit? And I know there are some things that we’re relying on as pay for’s that will probably not receive a CBO score, but nonetheless are real. I think my colleagues will know that.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she agreed that the score should be considered, but is not a be-all-end-all.
“Are we all going to pass out if the score doesn’t come out exactly the way we want? No,” Murkowski said. “What we’ve been looking at is alright, is this something where we really missed or is this something where we can adjust?”
And though many Republicans support private investment in public works projects — so-called public-private partnerships — they could be concerned that the CBO is not expected to be able to put a revenue price tag on that either. It’s something the group has estimated should bring in more than $100 billion.
But for Portman, he sees Republicans understanding that — knowing that private investments provide leverage for public funding and often yield a profit down the road.
“You know there are differences between funding for social programs and funding for fixed assets into the future that are going to create more economic activity and help the economy, and that’s what this is. This is not immediate funding. This is long term funding for fixed assets,” Portman told ABC News.
Some Democrats in the bipartisan group have, throughout negotiations, said they want the infrastructure bill to be credibly paid for. Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent who caucuses with Democrats, said the CBO score presents additional challenges in striking a deal.
“It’s tough. This is — this is tough,” King said. “And part of the problem is that the CBO has some very conservative views about what they’ll score.”
Some dismissed concerns on Tuesday of a lower-than-planned estimate.
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said he still has questions about how CBO will come to its final determination.
“I don’t know what kind of math they use but it isn’t the math that I learned in high school,” Tester said.
And though Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell repeatedly over the recent two-week recess said he would be looking to see that the $1.2 trillion bipartisan plan is “credibly paid for,” Portman, with whom McConnell is close, said he thinks the senator from Kentucky will understand the sparse nature of the eventual CBO analysis.
“He realizes this is infrastructure and is different than other things,” said Portman, who added that he thinks — despite the bumpy road to floor consideration — the group will get the 10 Republicans necessary for final passage of the legislation, if every Democrat supports it.
“Ten? Oh yeah, for sure,” Portman said.
The group of 22 is still projecting a positive outcome for the bipartisan bill.
“I mean, I’m optimistic that we’re going to find a path forward,” Rounds said. “People in there really are trying hard to listen to each other’s concerns and find (a deal).”
While her sister and musical partner, Halle Bailey, just wrapped up filming Disney’s The Little Mermaid in Paris, Chloe Bailey is busy flexing at home on Instagram.
“Flex Park,” Chloe wrote in the caption of a series photos she posted Tuesday that show her posing in orange swimsuits from Beyoncé‘s latest Ivy Park collection. Chloe got all dolled up with hair and makeup to model a bustier one-piece in the bathroom mirror and a long-sleeve two-piece on a balcony.
Snoah Aalegra, Lala Anthony and more fans left dozens of heart-eye emojis and orange hearts in the post’s comments. Yet most were left drooling over Chloe’s sculpted abs, toned legs and glowing skin.
“Orange is your color queen,” wrote one fan, while another said, “My wife only allow[s] me to like Chloe, [Rihanna] and Beyoncé pics.”
Meanwhile, others were calling for Chloe to drop her highly anticipated solo single “Have Mercy.” Since her birthday earlier this month, the 23-year-old has been dropping teasers of the song, which has yet to be released. She recently approved the song’s dance challenge, which was created by Tik Tok star Charles Niko.
“Finally learned @thecharlesniko dance to ‘Have Mercy.’ How did I do?” Chloe wrote on Instagram yesterday, along with a video showing her grooving to a segment of the tune. “Tag me in your best dance videos, reposting my favs #havemercychallenge.”
It’s unclear when “Have Mercy” will be released, but the upbeat track definitely sounds like it’s worth the wait.
Guardians of the Galaxy star Karen Gillan knows a thing or two about action movies, but usually she’s surrounded by a bunch of guys. In her latest film, Netflix’s Gunpowder Milkshake, out Wednesday, she plays an assassin for hire who teams up and kicks butt with a bunch of women, which she tells ABC Audio was awesome.
“I mean, truly, that was just the best experience ever,” Gillan gushes. “I never realized how rare it is to actually have that many women in the main cast. And so we just had so much fun.”
“I mean, we were having girls nights and wine and laughing. And it was just like, oh, this is just brilliant. I want to do this all the time,” she laughs.
Angela Bassett and Carla Gugino, who kick butt alongside Gillan in the action-packed film, echoed the same sentiment.
Gugino says, “There is no doubt something about a female energy that with that many women around that was super organic and peaceful.”
“Collaborative, supportive,” Bassett adds. The actress also shares that she left filming with “a little tweak” in her ankle that serves as “a little reminder of the good time I had in Berlin.”
“To this day [it] still clicks and clicks and clacks a little bit as I walk or when I’m accelerating driving,” she reveals.
If it already wasn’t obvious by the name, Gunpowder Milkshake features a lot of gunplay but when it comes to the film glorifying guns or gun violence, Gillan says, “I certainly don’t want to be promoting that in any sense, but at the same time, like it was authentic to the characters. And it is a movie and it’s not a realistic movie.”
“It’s extremely like heightened, stylized,” she adds.
Valerie Lemercier, director and star of Celine Dion-inspired film “Aline;” Lionel Hahn/Getty Images
Aline, a new movie that just premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, is based on Celine Dion‘s life. And even though Varietydescribed it as “kooky” and predicted Celine herself would be both “flattered” and “horrified” by it, the film received a standing ovation at the legendary festival.
Aline is directed by and stars French comedian Valerie Lemercier as a musical sensation named Aline Dieu, who’s based on Celine. Lemercier, who’s 57, plays Aline from youth to adulthood.
The outlines of Aline’s life closely follow that of Celine’s: She becomes famous, marries her manager, does a Las Vegas residency and has three children after struggles with infertility. But some details have been changed “to be more cinematic and romantic,” says Lemercier.
Throughout, Aline lip-syncs to Celine’s songs — including “My Heart Will Go On” — but they’re actually being sung by a soundalike named Victoria Sio.
According to Variety, when the film ended, the audience at the premiere gave it a standing ovation that lasted for a full five minutes; one woman in the audience told Variety, “I was actually crying.”
But is Celine herself O.K. with this movie? Lemercier tells Variety, “The first thing I did was give the script to her French manager. She read it and said it’s good for Celine; she said it doesn’t mock her. She could see how much I loved her.”
Lemercier adds, “That was the first thing I did, but Celine didn’t want to read anything. She didn’t see the movie.”
Lemercier, who’s never met Celine and has only seen her live once, then notes, “If I was Celine, I’m not sure I’d run to watch it. I hope she will recognize something [of herself in the film], but she should do what she wants.”
Tai Verdes broke through on TikTok with his viral hit “Stuck in the Middle.” Now the 25-year-old California native has tens of millions of streams, a record deal and a radio hit with “A-O-K.” Tai says it all happened because he decided to challenge himself.
“I went in knowing that I wanted to make my TikTok a promotional app — I just didn’t know for what,” explains Tai. “When I saw Curtis Waters do a dance to his song [‘Stunnin’] and it went viral, I was like, ‘I don’t want to do that dance. But I still think I can make myself go viral with a song, by just putting out content and promoting it.'”
So, after honing his vocal skills for several months, Tai posted “Stuck in the Middle” on TikTok last year, and, yes, it went viral. That led to a deal with Arista Records, and his debut album, TV.,
“[ It’s] kind of awesome that I just tried something and it worked…it all came to fruition,” says Tai.
As for “A-O-K,” it’s about keeping a positive outlook, and treating each day as though it could be your last.
“You have to be like, ‘If this is going to be the last day, I might as well think that this is a great day,’ because that’s way more fun,” he explains.
Later this month, Tai’s playing Lollapalooza; in September, he’ll tour with Chelsea Cutler and Quinn XCII, before headlining his own tour in November. But right now, Tai feels like he hasn’t seen any actual proof that he’s, y’know, famous.
“Everything that’s happened to me is imaginary — these numbers are imaginary,” he laughs. “When I go to Chipotle now, the workers smile because they know who I am. So that’s probably it!”
A casual listen to Thomas Rhett‘s “Country Again” might lead you to wonder if the former ACM Entertainer of the Year had begun to doubt his authenticity amid his massive success. But it’s quite the opposite for the second-generation country star: the title track of his latest album is more of a reflection on what he learned during the pandemic.
“For me, the word country means simple,” TR explains. “That would be my favorite synonym for the word, and I think that ‘Country Again’ is that in a nutshell.”
“With the year that we had in 2020,” he continues, “I think a lot of us were forced to not do what we do for a living and forced to slow down and really forced to recognize, like, what are your blessings in life and what are you grateful for?”
For Thomas Rhett, the answers are close to home.
“For me, that was my family, and for me, that was the outdoors: that was getting outside again, going fishing again, going hunting again, going out west and hiking with my family,” he says. “Those are the things that I used to love to do so much, and then life just kind of got in the way.”
The second single from Country Again: Side A is a reminder for us all to not lose sight of the “simple” things.
“I think a lot of us have just been grinding without realizing how hard we’re actually working,” TR points out. “And hard work is great, but I do think every now and then you can slow down and just smell the roses for a second.”
“And that’s what last year was for me,” he adds, “which is kind of where the inspiration for ‘Country Again’ kinda came from.”
