It’s Monday, September 14th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - Two of Florida's most populated counties, Miami-Dade and Broward, will join the rest of the state in the second phase of reopening Monday, loosening some stringent regulations on businesses.
By moving to phase 2, both counties will be able to allow more indoor entertainment centers such as concert halls and theaters to open at 50% capacity with mandatory masks. However, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said at a press conference with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday, that not all venues will reopen immediately as they need to make preparations to do it safely. He said the county still will not permit bars and nightclubs to reopen, unlike most of the state. At a news conference on Friday, Broward Mayor Dale Holness said more openings would be announced in coming weeks, but said bars in the county would also remain closed.
No. 2 - Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is committing at least $100 million to help Joe Biden’s presidential campaign in the crucial battleground state of Florida.
Bloomberg’s late-stage infusion of cash reflects Democrats’ concerns about the tight race in a state that is a priority for President Donald Trump. A victory for Biden in Florida, the largest of the perennial battleground states, would significantly complicate Trump’s path to reaching the 270 Electoral College votes needed to secure a second term. The billionaire Bloomberg launched his own campaign for the Democratic nomination late last year amid worries about Biden’s strengths. Despite spending $1 billion on his campaign, Bloomberg struggled and dropped out in March, quickly endorsing Biden.
No. 3 - With crews battling wildfires that have killed at least 35 people, destroyed neighborhoods and enveloped the West Coast in smoke, another fight has emerged: leaders in the Democratic-led states and President Donald Trump have clashed over the role of climate change ahead of his visit Monday to California.
Trump is headed to McClellan Park, a former air base just outside Sacramento, California, White House spokesman Judd Deere said. California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office said he would be meeting with Trump. The Democratic governors say the fires are a consequence of climate change, while the Trump administration has blamed poor forest management for the flames that have raced through the region and made the air in places like Portland, Oregon, Seattle and San Francisco some of the worst in the world.
Local
No. 4 - The owner of TikTok has chosen Oracle over Microsoft as the American tech partner that could help keep the popular video-sharing app running in the U.S., according to a source familiar with the deal who was not authorized to speak publicly about it.
Microsoft announced Sunday that its bid to acquire TikTok's U.S. operations was rejected, removing the tech giant from the running a week before President Donald Trump promises to follow through with a plan to ban the Chinese-owned app in the U.S. over spying concerns. TikTok and the White House declined to comment Sunday. Oracle didn’t return a request for comment but has previously declined comment.
No. 5 - Storm-weary Gulf Coast residents prepared for a new weather onslaught Monday as Tropical Storm Sally churned northward.
Forecasters from the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Sally is expected to become a hurricane on Monday and reach shore by early Tuesday, bringing dangerous weather conditions, including risk of flooding, to a region stretching from the western Florida Panhandle to southeast Louisiana. Pensacola, on Florida’s Panhandle, was bracing for 10 to 15 inches of rain. Sally could produce rain totals up to 24 inches by the middle of the week, forecasters said.
No. 6 - With local weather, rain chances drop across South Florida to start the work week with scattered storms clearing out by the afternoon. Keep your NBC 6 app handy for push alerts on any severe weather as well as First Alert Doppler 6000.
