The Wall Street Journal - 22 10 2020

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Pope Backs Civil Unions for Gay Couples Purdue Agrees
What’s
News
To Guilty Plea
Business&Finance In Opioid Case
PurduePharmaagreedto
pleadguiltytothreefelo-
niesrelatedtoitsmarketing
anddistributionofOxyCon- BYSARARANDAZZO TheSacklers,meanwhile,re-
tin,aspartofan$8.34bil- solvedcivilchargesforasepa-
lionsettlementthatcaps PurduePharmaLPagreedto rate$225million,butprosecu-
federalprobesintotactics pleadguiltytothreefeloniesre- tors made clear criminal
thegovernmentsaidhelped latedtoitsmarketinganddistri- investigations into the family
fueltheopioidcrisis.A1 bution of powerful painkiller continue.
OxyContin,aspartofan$8.34 Thegovernmentframedthe
(cid:2)QuibiHoldingsisshut-
billion settlement that caps dealsasthelatestinacrusade
tingdownameresixmonths
yearslongfederalinvestigations to crack down on drug abuse
afterlaunchingitsstreaming
intotacticsthegovernmentsaid by targeting what Deputy At-
service,acrashlandingfor
helpedfueltheopioidcrisis. torney General Jeffrey Rosen
ahighlytoutedstartup.A1
The Justice Department called“unlawfulactivityinvolv-
(cid:2)Ex-GoogleCEOSchmidt made public the settlement ingopioidsateverylevelofthe
criticizedtheantitrustlaw- Wednesday, alongside a deal supplychain.”
suitagainstthesearchgiant withPurdue’sowners,members Thousandsoflawsuitshave
asmisguidedandundulyin- oftheSacklerfamily.Theprice been filed by state and local
fluencedbypolitics.A1,A6 tag for Purdue, however, is governments against Purdue
largelysymbolic:Thebankrupt and other major drugmakers
(cid:2)Boeingisgaugingin-
company’sassetsfallwellshort anddistributorsoveranopioid
terestagaininanewcom-
of$8billion.Itwillpaythefed- crisis that has killed at least
mercialaircraft,amovethat
eral government $225 million, 450,000peopleintheU.S.since
couldhelpitmakeuplost
andmuchoftherestofthefines 1999. The companies have
groundtorivalAirbus.B1
will be waived to allow more pushedback,sayingdeathsby
(cid:2)Teslaextendeditsprof- moneytoflowtostates,coun- illegal opioids like fentanyl
itabilitystreakinthethird tiesandtribesthataccusePur- can’t be pegged on the legal
quarter.Thecompanyfore- dueofsparkingwidespreadopi- prescriptionmarket.
castsignificantproduc- oidaddictionanddeaths. PleaseturntopageA9
tiongrowthnextyear.B1 RESS
P
(cid:2)U.S.stocksfell,withthe MA Quibi Shuts Down
U
DowandNasdaqbothclos- Z
A/
i5n0g00s.h3e%dldoiwnger0a.2n%d.tBh1e1S&P ULIANI/IP Months After Launch
(cid:2)Antsaidinvestorsinmain- GI
A
landChinahavecommittedto SSI
buyingmorethanathirdof ALE
thesharesitplanstosellina SHIFT:PopeFrancis,inadocumentaryreleasedWednesday,endorsedcivilunionsforsame-
pairoflong-awaitedIPOs.B1 sexcouples.Sincehisremarksweren’tdeliveredinasermonoraVaticandocument,they QuibiHoldingsLLCisshut- investors. “We’ve considered
don’tconstituteofficialpapalteaching,butmarkasharpbreakfromhispredecessors.A10 ting down a mere six months and exhausted every option
(cid:2)CathayPacificwillcutits
after launching its streaming availabletous.”
workforcebyaquarterand
service, a crash landing for a Mr. Katzenberg and Ms.
closeasubsidiaryairline,
startupthatattractedsomeof Whitman decided to shut
aimingtostemlosses.B2 Google Ex-CEO Raps DOJ thebiggestnamesinHollywood downQuibiinanefforttore-
turnasmuchcapitaltoinves-
World-Wide
ByBenjaminMullin, torsaspossibleinsteadoftry-
JoeFlint ing to prolong the life of the
As Antitrust Battle Looms
andMaureenFarrell companyandrisklosingmore
(cid:2)WhiteHouseofficials money,accordingtopeoplefa-
andPelosiopenedthedoorto andhadlookedtorevolutionize miliarwiththematter.
passingacoronavirusrelief howpeopleconsumeentertain- Employees will be laid off
packageaftertheelection,a ment. andpaidaseverance,thepeo-
signalthattimeandpolitical BYBRENTKENDALL aheadcameintofocusWednes- netsearchandexplainingwhy Theservice,whichservedup plesaid,andQuibiwillexplore
willhavelikelyrunouttoen- daywhenMr.Schmidtoffered Google’s alleged conduct is showsin5-to10-minute“chap- selling the rights to some of
actlegislationbeforethen.A3 FormerGoogleChiefExecu- a full-throated defense of harmfulwhenitgivesawayits ters”formattedtofitasmart- itscontenttoothermediaand
(cid:2)PopeFrancisendorsed tiveEricSchmidtcriticizedthe Google. services free. The department, phone screen, was plagued technologycompanies.
civilunionsforsame-sex government’santitrustlawsuit “There’s a difference be- theysaid,alsofaceshard-to-an- with problems since its April Thedecisionmarksadisap-
couples,amovelikelytoin- against the search giant as tween dominance and excel- swer questions about what a debut, facing lower-than-ex- pointingturnofeventsforMr.
tensifythecontroversyover misguided and unduly influ- lence,”Mr.Schmidtsaid. courtcoulddotoremedyanan- pectedviewershipandapatent Katzenberg,aformerWaltDis-
theCatholicChurch’steach- encedbypolitics,asantitrust Antitrustobserverssaidthe ticompetitivemarketplace,ifthe andtrade-secretlawsuit. neyCo.executiveandDream-
ingonhomosexuality.A10 experts said the Justice De- Justice Department could face governmentprovesoneexists. “Our failure was not for Worksco-founderwhopitched
partment and the company several challenges as it heads PleaseturntopageA6 lackoftrying,”founderJeffrey thestreamingserviceasarev-
(cid:2)Iranisresponsiblefor eachfacepitfallsastheyhead into a court fight, including Katzenberg and Chief Execu- olutionarynewentranttothe
abarrageofemailssentto towardlitigation. buildingalandmarkcasearound (cid:2)Europe’santitrustcasehad tiveMegWhitmanwroteinan video-streamingwars.
Americansthatpurportedto Thefiercenessofthebattle anintangibleproductlikeinter- littlelastingeffect..................A6 openlettertoemployeesand PleaseturntopageA2
befromafar-rightgroupand
wereintendedtointimidate
voters,U.S.officialssaid.A5 Big Money, Egos Lenders Fear Change at Consumer Watchdog
(cid:2)Obamareturnedtothe
campaigntrailonBiden’s ChangeincomplaintstotheCFPBbetween2018and2019 Mortgagelenders
behalf,blastingTrumpduring Shaped Oxford’s andfinancial-
aPhiladelphiavisit,while Prepaidcard 59% technologyfirms
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ArtsinReview...A15 PersonalJournalA13-14 weretoutingprogressinthe encouragingvaccinecandi- Big-haired rock returns with a corporate sponsor and odes to 5G
BusinessNews......B3 Sports........................A16
CapitalAccount....A2 Technology...............B4 laboratory.Butbehindthe date.Butfeatsofscience
Crossword..............A16 U.S.News.............A2-9 scenes,tworenownedvacci- werejustpartofthebattle. BYELIZABETHKOH your hand and your pocket,” Stallion,afictional1980shair-
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werefightingaproposed neededtocombineitshigh- SEOUL—The lead singer, “I’m premium tech—and you IsSpinalTap,” withacorpo-
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techcompany—aspinout guitar riff. But instead of Co.,theworld’slargestsmart- beenfallingforyears,anddes-
partiallyfundedbyOxford— (cid:2)CDClookstoshorten crowing about groupies or phonemaker,hasathrowback peratetimescallfordesperate
wasrefusingtohandoverin- quarantineforchildren........A8 partyingallnight,heissing- plan to generate excitement measures.
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A2|Thursday,October22,2020 THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL.
*****
U.S. NEWS
CAPITAL ACCOUNT | ByGregIp
U.S. Bypasses WTO in Reset of Trade Policy
AfterPresi- stitutionsliketheWTOthat ilycircumventedandthusthe zeracted:TheU.S.began dominateChina’seconomy. panies’abilitytocompete.
dentTrump applyequallytoeveryone. WTOincludedanappellate blockingappointmentstothe ConvincedtheWTO, Democraticpresidential
imposedsteep UnderMr.Trump,theU.S. body—asortof“supreme seven-memberappellatebody, whichdecidesbyconsensus, nomineeJoeBidenhasbeen
tariffsonChi- nowcraftsitsownrules,as court”—towhichlowerpanel withtheresultitnowhastoo wasstructurallyincapableof particularlycriticalofMr.
neseimports ithaswithChina,according decisionscouldbeappealed. fewmemberstohearappeals changingChina,theU.S. Trump’sfailuretoworkwith
in2018,Bei- towhatitconsidersitsown Appealsweresupposedto oflowerpaneldecisions. actedunilaterally,dustingoff alliesonChina,andhisad-
jingdidwhataggrievedtrad- bestinterest. berare,buttheyarenow TheWTO’snextmajorflaw, apieceofU.S.legislation, visershavesignaledthathe
ingpartnerstypicallydo:It Theapproachhasat- commonplace,andtheAppel- inMr.Lighthizer’sview,was Section301oftheTradeAct willunblockappointmentsto
complainedtotheWorld tractedcriticismascontrary lateBody,backedbyalarge admittingChinaasamember of1974,tohitChinawith theWTO’sAppellateBody.
TradeOrganization.Last tohistoricU.S.supportfor professionalstaff,hasin- in2001.TheGATTworked steeptariffsuntilitchanged Y
month,aWTOpanelruledin freetradeandmultilateral- creasinglygonebeyondrul- becauseitwasbetweencoun- itsways. etagrowingnumberof
itsfavor,declaringmostof ism.Yetitishardtodeny ingonthecaseathandto trieswithsimilarpoliticaland Thesuccessanddurability lawmakers,including
theU.S.tariffsviolatedthe thatithasanunderlying creatingabodyofjurispru- economicsystems.China’sau- ofthenewU.S.-centricsys- Democrats,andtrade
organization’srules. logic.Thatisinlargepart dencetogovernfuturecases. thoritarianstate-directed temoftradearrangements experts,concedetheprior
Thevictoryishollow.The thankstothepersonmost Inareportissuedthisyear, remainstobeseen.Jennifer policyoftryingtochange
rulingissubjecttoappealto responsibleforit,U.S.Trade Mr.Lighthizerarguedthat Hillman,aformerWTOAp- Chinathroughengagement
theWTO’stopcourt,theAp- RepresentativeRobertLight- theAppellateBody’sen- TheU.S.craftsits pellateBodymemberwhois didn’twork.Mr.Trump’sac-
pellateBody,butthatbody hizer.Throughouthislong hancedrolehadturnedthe nowattheCouncilonFor- tionsmaymakeU.S.allies
ownrulesaccording
isn’tfunctioningbecausethe careeradvisingRepublican WTOfromanegotiationfo- eignRelations,saidthe more,notless,willingtowork
U.S.hasblockedtheappoint- politiciansandrepresenting rumtoalitigationforum. towhatitconsiders phase-onedealfocusedtoo withitonChina.Perhapsthe
mentofnewmembers.Thus, U.S.steelcompanieshurtby Ratherthanachieveaccessto muchonreducingtheU.S. strongestdefenseofMr.Ligh-
itsownbestinterest.
the“phaseone”tradedealthe imports,Mr.Lighthizerde- theU.S.marketthroughthe tradedeficitbyforcingChina thizer’sapproachtomanaging
U.S.andChinareachedinJan- velopedstrongviewsabout painstakinggive-and-takeof tobuymoregoodswithout Chinaisthatitbeatsthesta-
uarywill,fortheforeseeable themanyflawsinU.S.trade tradenegotiations,countries addressingthemostproblem- tusquo.Hesaid:“Thefact
future,governtheirbilateral policy,andhowtofixthem insteadasktheWTOtoover- aticaspectsofChinesebehav- thatit’scomplicatedisnota
relationship,nottheWTO. ifhegotthechance. turnanadverseU.S.trade economydidn’tfitthatmold, ior,suchasforcingWestern reasonnottotrytodoit.And
T Someofthemostimpor- lawormeasure. andWTOrulescouldn’tade- companiestotransfertheir evenifyouhavealittleextra
heoutcomeformalizes tantinvolvetheWTO,which “We’vehadtomake quatelyaddressmanyofits technologytoChinesecom- inefficiencyinthesystem,it’s
theresetinU.S.trade in1995succeededtheGen- changesinourlaws,which practices,fromcurrencyma- petitors,orsubsidies.Andby stillworthitbecausetheway
policytheTrumpad- eralAgreementonTariffs werenevernegotiated,never nipulationtoforcedtechnol- actingaloneratherthanwith we[had]itisabsolutely
ministrationhaspursued andTrade(GATT),setupin concededandwerenever ogytransfer.TheWTO’sAp- allies,criticssays,thephase- crazy.It’sdestinedtofail.”
sincetakingofficein2017. theaftermathofWorldWar paidfor,”Mr.Lighthizersaid pellateBodytiltedtherules onedeal,itsbanonHuawei Headded:“Andtheonly
Mr.Trumphasn’tdestroyed IItopreventareturntothe inaninterview.“Andthe furtherinChina’sfavor—for Technologiesequipmentand personwhostartedthinking
theglobal-tradingsystemas tradewarsofthe1930s.Par- consequenceshavebeen,we example,bymakingitdiffi- similaractionsarefragment- aboutthisisPresidentTrump,
somehadfeared,buthehas ticipantshadworriedthat havefewerpeopleworking culttopunishanticompetitive ingtheglobalmarketfor whodoesn’tmindbreakinga
fragmentedit.Historically theGATT’sdispute-settle- ingoodjobs.” subsidiesthatcomeviastate- technology,whichwillslow littlecrystalifit’sgoingtoget
theU.S.soughtrulesandin- mentdecisionsweretooeas- Onceinoffice,Mr.Lighthi- ownedenterprises,which innovationandhurtU.S.com- ustoabetterplace.”
U.S.WATCH
Quibi Shuts
vestorsearlierWednesday,Mr.
Katzenberg said the company
Down After decidedtoreturn$350million
incapitalratherthanpursuea
newstrategythatcouldhaveat-
Months tracted subscribers but would
have required a hefty invest-
ment,accordingtoapersonfa-
miliarwiththecall.Theearliest
investors,includingseveralma-
ContinuedfromPageOne jor Hollywood studios and
Quibiwasdesignedforpeo- China’sAlibabaGroup,willfare
ple to consume entertainment much better than the later-
inshortincrementsonsmart- stageinvestors,peoplefamiliar
phones, but the pandemic withthesituationsaid.
forced would-be subscribers Thecompanyspentaggres-
awayfromtheon-the-gositua- sivelytodevelopitscontent.Its
SS tions Quibi executives envi- star-studdedlineupincludeda
RE sionedforitsusers.Iteventu- court show featuring Chrissy
P
OCIATED ashlloywlsetonsutbhsecirritbeelresviswioantcsh. its TAeningaenK,aenrodmricakntiacncdomanedaycwtiiotnh
SS EvenbeforetheCovid-19cri- thriller starring Christoph
A
D/ sis,Quibihaditsshareofskep- WaltzandLiamHemsworth.
ORL ticsbecauseconsumersalready QuibidrewontheHollywood
W
A hadfreeoptionsforshort-form connectionsofMr.Katzenberg,
S
UL video, such as Alphabet Inc.’s who ran Disney’s movie busi-
S/T YouTube.Quibi’sbetwasthatit ness,co-foundedDreamWorks
N
MO could charge subscriptions by SKGandleditsspinoffDream-
SI creating higher-end content, WorksAnimationSKGInc.
MIKE anditpaidhandsomelytode- “Quibimadetheclassicmis-
Anunmarkedgravewithatleast10bodieswasuncoveredinOklahomaWednesdayinasearchforvictimsofthe1921TulsaRaceMassacre. velopthatprogramming. takeofgettingtoowrappedup
Some Quibi executives be- inaproductvision—videoson
FEDERALRESERVE Butshewarnedthatthecur- cation.Thisconstitutesamass WalshandSuperintendentBrenda lievedtheventurecouldhave the phone—and forgetting
rent“K-shapedrecovery”would grave,”statearchaeologistKary CasselliussaidWednesday. been a success, if not for the aboutthecustomer,”saidTien
Economy Needs More
furtherexacerbatelongstanding Stackelbecksaid. Theswitchtoremote-only pandemic, with better execu- Tzuo,CEOofZuora,asubscrip-
Help, Brainard Says disparitiesintheeconomyand Investigatorsfound10 learningstartsThursday. tion, pointing to the rise of tion-managementcompany.
labormarketwithoutmoretar- woodencoffinscontainingwhat Thecity’sseven-dayaverage TikTok, people close to the The service attracted blue-
AtopFederalReserveofficial getedgovernmentspending,in- wasinitiallypresumedtobeone Covid-19positivetestrateiscur- company said. Some of them chipadvertisersincludingPep-
warnedthattheeconomywould cludingforunemployedAmeri- personineach,Ms.Stackelbeck rently5.7%,anincreasefromlast believed Quibi could pivot to siCoInc.,WalmartInc.andAn-
faceasubstandardanduneven cansandhard-hitbusinesses, said.Combinedwithonesetof week’srateof4.5%.Therehave whatisknownasafreemium heuser-Busch InBev SA,
recoverywithoutadditionalgov- citiesandstates. remainsfoundnearbyonTues- beentwoweeksofincreasedcon- model,offeringsomefreecon- securingabout$150millionin
ernmentspendingtoshoreup —NickTimiraos day,therehavenowbeenat firmedpositivecasesacrossthe tent while making customers
thehardest-hitsectorsfromthe least11bodiesdiscovered,ac- city.Studentswillremaininre- payforthetopprogramming.
coronaviruspandemic. OKLAHOMA cordingtoMs.Stackelbeck. motelearninguntiltherearetwo Quibi, which cost $4.99 a Mr.Katzenbergsaid
“Apartfromthecourseofthe Theviolencetookplaceon fullweeksoffallinginfectionrates. month,hadtocompetewitha
Search for Massacre thecompanydecided
virusitself,themostsignificant May31andJune1,1921,whena “Wehavesaidallalongthat growing number of competi-
downsiderisktomyoutlook Victims Finds Bodies whitemobattackedTulsa’sBlack wewillonlyprovidein-person tors,withlaunchesofWaltDis- toreturn$350
wouldbethefailureofaddi- WallStreet,killinganestimated learningforstudentsifthedata ney’sDisney+,AppleInc.’sAp-
millionincapital.
tionalfiscalsupporttomaterial- Atleast10bodieswerefound 300mostlyBlackpeopleand andpublic-healthguidancesup- pleTV+,AT&TInc.’sHBOMax
ize,”saidFedgovernorLaelBrai- Wednesdayinanunmarked wounding800more,whilerob- portsit,andthisnewdatashows andComcastCorp.’sPeacockall
nardinremarksdeliveredinan massgraveataTulsacemetery bingandburningbusinesses, thatwearetrendinginthe inthepastyear.
onlinediscussionWednesday. whereinvestigatorsaresearching homesandchurches. wrongdirection,”Mr.Walshsaid. In Wednesday’s letter, Mr.
Ms.Brainardsaidrobustrelief fortheremainsofvictimsofthe —AssociatedPress Althoughthecitystartedre- KatzenbergandMs.Whitman adrevenueintherun-uptoits
effortsthisspringandsummer 1921TulsaRaceMassacre,Okla- motelearningSept.21,students wrotetherewere“oneortwo launch.Thosedealscameunder
toprovidemoregenerousunem- homa’sstatearchaeologistsaid. SUPREMECOURT consideredhigh-need,including reasons” for Quibi’s failure: strain earlier this year amid
ploymentbenefitsandgrantsto “Whatwewerefindingwas thosewithspecialneeds,English The idea behind Quibi either lower-than-expectedviewership
Curbside-Voting Ban
smallbusinesseshadlikelycon- anindicationthatwewereinside learners,thehomeless,andthose “wasn’tstrongenoughtojus- for Quibi’s shows, prompting
tributedtoastronger-than-an- alargearea...alargeholethat By Alabama Upheld instatecarehadbeenallowedto tify a standalone streaming advertiserstodeferpayments.
ticipatedreboundafterthepan- hadbeenexcavatedandinto resumein-personclasses. service”ortheservice’slaunch Quibi recently hired a re-
demicfrozeeconomicactivityin whichseveralindividualshad TheSupremeCourtrein- —AssociatedPress duringapandemicwaspartic- structuringfirm,AlixPartners
MarchandApril. beenplacedandburiedinthatlo- statedAlabama’sbanoncurb- ularly ill-timed. “Unfortu- LLP, to evaluate its options,
sidevotingWednesday,blocking CALIFORNIA nately,wewillneverknowbut the people said. It recom-
CORRECTIONS (cid:2)AMPLIFICATIONS alowercourtorderthatallowed San Quentin Must Cut wesuspectit’sbeenacombi- mended the options to the
countyofficialstousetheac- nationofthetwo,”theywrote. boardthisweekthatincluded
commodationsothatdisabled Inmate Population Much of Hollywood was shuttingQuibidown.AlixPart-
citizenscouldcastballotsmore doubtful Quibi would succeed, ners didn’t respond to a re-
Notice to readers foreseeablefuture,pleasesend safelyduringthepandemic. ACaliforniaappealscourtor- but was willing to sell it con- questtocomment.
Wall Street Journal staff reader comments only by Theeight-membercourt’s deredstatecorrectionsofficials tent.Somelargemediacompa- The decision to hire Alix-
membersareworkingremotely emailorphone,usingthecon- conservativemajorityissuedthe tocutthepopulationofSan nies—includingAT&T’sWarner- Partnerscameafterstartinga
during the pandemic. For the tactsbelow,notviaU.S.Mail. orderwithoutanopinionex- QuentinStatePrisontoless Media and ViacomCBS Inc.— process to sell the company,
plainingitsrationale;thecourt’s thanhalfofitsdesignedcapac- agreedtoinvestintheplatform. The Wall Street Journal re-
threeliberalsdissented. ity,citingofficials’“deliberatein- Overall,Quibiraisedabout$1.75 ported. Quibi pitched suitors
ReaderscanalertTheWallStreetJournaltoanyerrorsinnewsarticlesby
[email protected]. The5-3decisionwasthelat- difference”totheplightofin- billionfromhigh-profileinves- including NBCUniversal on a
estinawaveofCovid-related matesduringthepandemic. tors,whichincludedDisneyand sale, according to people fa-
electioncasesamidapandemic Stateprisonofficialssaid Comcast’sNBCUniversal. miliar with the matter, but
THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL thatspreadsthroughclosecon- Wednesdaythattheyaredecid- Inaconferencecallwithin- would-bebuyerswereputoff
(USPS664-880)(EasternEditionISSN0099-9660) tact,likethatwhichtraditionally ingwhethertoappealtheorder, bythefactthatQuibidoesn’t
(CentralEditionISSN1092-0935)(WesternEditionISSN0193-2241)
occursatpollingstations. whichotherwisewillforcethem ownmanyoftheshowsitputs
Editorialandpublicationheadquarters:1211AvenueoftheAmericas,NewYork,N.Y.10036 InAlabama,agroupofelderly toparoleortransferabout1,100 onitsplatform.NBCUniversal
PublisheddailyexceptSundaysandgenerallegalholidays. anddisabledvotersandfourad- inmatesservingtimeinthe declinedtocomment.
PeriodicalspostagepaidatNewYork,N.Y.,andothermailingoffices.
vocacygroupsfiledsuitinfed- prisonnorthofSanFrancisco. Quibiisalsofightingalegal
Postmaster:SendaddresschangestoTheWallStreetJournal,
eralcourtseekingaccommoda- SanQuentinwasthesiteof battle with interactive-video
200BurnettRd.,Chicopee,MA01020.
tionsinrelationtothepandemic. oneofthenation’sworstcoro- company Eko, which claims
AllAdvertisingpublishedinTheWallStreetJournalissubjecttotheapplicableratecard,
copiesofwhichareavailablefromtheAdvertisingServicesDepartment,DowJones&Co.Inc., Whenthoseaccommodations navirusoutbreaks,with28in- Quibi is violating its patents
1211AvenueoftheAmericas,NewYork,N.Y.10036.TheJournalreservestherightnotto weregrantedbyafederaljudge, matedeathsand2,200infec- SS and has stolen trade secrets.
aacccceeppttaannceadovfetrhteiseard’sveorrtdiseer.r’sOnolrydepru.blicationofanadvertisementshallconstitutefinal stateofficialsappealed. tionsatitspeak—about75%of DPRE HedgefundElliottManagement
LetterstotheEditor:Fax:[phone];email:[email protected] —JessBravin theinmatepopulation.Nearly ATE Corp. is financing the patent
Needassistancewithyoursubscription? 300employeesweresickened OCI lawsuit.Thefightcentersona
Byweb:customercenter.wsj.com;Byemail:[email protected] BOSTON andonedied. ASS keyfeatureofQuibi’sappthat
Byphone:1-800-JOURNAL(1-800-568-7625) Thethree-justicecourtsaid N/ playsdifferentvideosforusers
Schools All-Virtual O
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casesinthecity,MayorMarty —AssociatedPress JeffreyKatzenberg contributedtothisarticle.
THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL. Thursday,October22,2020|A3
**
U.S. NEWS
Stimulus Deal
NASA Captures a Scene From a World 200 Million Miles Away
Seen Unlikely
Before Election
BYKRISTINAPETERSON hurdles to becoming law be-
fore the election. Once an
WASHINGTON—White agreement is struck, it must
House officials and House bewrittenintolegislativelan-
Speaker Nancy Pelosi opened guage,notaspeedytaskwith
thedoortopassingacoronavi- a package expected to cost
rus relief package after the closeto$2trillionandextend
election,asignalthattimeand over thousands of pages.
politicalwillhavelikelyrunout While a vote in the House
toenactlegislationbeforethen. wouldbespeedy,anyopposed
“I’m optimistic that there lawmakers could stretch out
willbeabill.It’saquestionof, the process of considering it
is it [in] time to pay the No- intheSenate.
vemberrent,whichismygoal, The agreement under dis-
or is it going to be shortly cussion faces an even bigger
thereafter and retroactive?” hurdle than the calendar in
Mrs.Pelosi,aCaliforniaDemo- opposition from Senate Re-
crat, said Wednesday on publicans.Mr.McConnelltold
MSNBC. Senate Republicans on Tues-
LarryKudlow,atopWhite day that he had warned the
Houseeconomicadviser,said WhiteHouseagainstdividing
Wednesday that there might his caucus right before the
notbeenoughtimelefttoexe- electionwithasweepingstim-
cute a sweeping package and ulusdeal,accordingtopeople
said negotiators were “run- familiarwiththecomments.
ning out of time, at least be- Mrs.PelosisaidWednesday
tweennowandtheelection.” it would be up to President
Wrappingupworkonarelief Trump to convince Mr.
package in a lame-duck ses- McConnellandSenateRepub-
sion,aftertheelectionbutbe- licanstosupportadeal,ifone
fore the next administration isreached.
begins, “could be a possibil- AttherootofRepublicans’
ity,”hesaidonCNBC. resistance are their concerns (2)
Puntingareliefbilluntilaf- thatMr.Mnuchiniscedingtoo NA
O
ter the presidential election muchtoMrs.Pelosiandthata Z
RI
would likely imperil its pas- potential deal would contain A
sage for months, since the fewGOPpolicyvictorieswhile Afteradelicatesnatch-and-grabasteroidencounter200millionmilesfrom YOF
Nov. 3 election could change requiringtrillionsinnewdefi- Earth,NASAmissionengineersworkedWednesdaytoensuretheirOsiris-REx SIT
R
thepoliticalcalculus.IfDemo- citspending,Republicanaides spaceprobebringshomeafullmeasureofinsightsintotheoriginsofthesolar VE
NI
craticnomineeJoeBidenwins said. systemfromthesurfaceofanasteroidnamedBennu.Thefirstfewimagesof D/U
the White House, Democrats White House chief of staff theencountershowedtheroboticarmbrushingtheasteroid’ssurfaceforabout AR
D
would have an incentive to MarkMeadowswasonCapitol sixsecondsorsoonTuesday. OD
G
wait until he is in office, HillWednesday,speakingwith —RobertLeeHotz A/
S
where then they would have Senate Republicans about NA
increasedleveragetopushfor their concerns with the bill,
alargerbill,withmoreDemo- includingitsexpansionofAf-
craticpolicyprovisions. fordableCareActsubsidiesfor
Lenders Fear a Biden Win Would
“The lame duck is a really peoplewholosttheirjoband
hardtimetogetmuchdone— employer-sponsored health
in any lame duck,” Sen. Roy careduringthepandemic.
Blunt of Missouri, a member “I’m more working with
Embolden Consumer Watchdog
ofSenateGOPleadership,said SpeakerPelosirightnowtry-
Wednesday. “I don’t see why ing to get her to be reason-
thisonewouldbedifferent.” able,” Mr. Meadows said.
TheWhiteHouse’smostre- “Once we get a deal there,
cent $1.88 trillion proposal hopefullywe’llbeabletodis-
narrowed the distance with cussthemeritswithourSen- BYORLAMCCAFFREY seea180-degreeturn.” norityborrowershaveaccess heads-up that they were
Democrats’ last $2.2 trillion atecolleagues.” ANDANNAMARIAANDRIOTIS TheBidenteamexpectsthe toaffordablecredit,according breakingtherulesandgiving
relief bill, though the overall Lawmakers acknowledged agency would issue more to some of the people. But it themafairchancetocomply.
spending level and several theproximitytotheelection, Lenders are worried the fines, try to recover more would also expand the CFPB Newrules,thecompaniesalso
thorny policy issues remain inwhichcontroloftheSenate days of a business-friendly money for consumers, and beyonditsearlyscope.Forex- argued,createdneedlesscosts
unresolved. isupforgrabsandMr.Biden ConsumerFinancialProtection give priority to protecting ample,theBidenteamwants that made financial products
Thetwosideswerestillne- is leading in the polls, was Bureauarenumbered. people hurt by the coronavi- toestablishapubliccredit-re- ultimatelymoreexpensivefor
gotiatinghowmuchfundingto makingithardertoreachabi- Mortgage lenders and fi- rus recession, according to portingagencyasanalterna- customers.
provide state and local gov- partisan agreement in the nancial-technology firms ne- peoplefamiliarwiththemat- tive to the companies that Mr. Trump ran for presi-
ernments,aswellaslegalpro- waningdaysofthecampaign. gotiatingwiththeagencyover ter.Forexample,Biden’steam createcreditreports. dentonpromisestoeasereg-
tectionssoughtbySenateMa- SenateMajorityWhipJohn potential settlements are wants to make sure lenders The CFPB was launched in ulationandtorollbackDodd-
jorityLeaderMitchMcConnell Thune(R.,S.D.)said“thefog pushingtoresolvetheircases who have let borrowers tem- 2011inthewakeofthefinan- Frank,thepostcrisisfinancial
(R., Ky.) for businesses, of the election” had prodded quickly, according to people porarily skip mortgage pay- cialcrisis,whenMr.Bidenwas lawthatcreatedtheCFPB.Af-
schoolsandotherentitiesop- lawmakerstogo“totheirbat- with knowledge of the cases. mentsdon’trushtoforeclose vicepresident.Thebrainchild ter Mr. Cordray resigned in
eratingduringthepandemic. tlestations”ontheissue. Their thinking, these people onthemnextyear. of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, it late2017,theTrumpadminis-
Even a deal reached this —AndrewRestuccia said,isthatpenaltiesanden- ABidenspokesmansaidthe holdsauniquemissionamong trationappointedMickMulva-
week with broad, bipartisan andCatherineLucey forcement would be much former vice president “be- federal financial regulators: ney to run the bureau on an
support would face logistical contributedtothisarticle. harsherifJoeBidenbecomes lievesweneedtoreversethe protectingconsumers.Regula- interimbasis.
presidentinJanuary. Trumpadministration’sefforts torssuchastheOfficeofthe Mr.Mulvaney,aRepublican,
A Biden administration is to weaken the CFPB” and had proposed abolishing the
expected to embrace a more wantsto“holdfinancialinsti- agency when he was a con-
aggressive role for the CFPB, tutions accountable for dis- ‘It’soneofthevery gressmanandcalledit“asad,
which in many ways has criminatorypractices.” sick joke.” He quickly put all
fewplaceswhere
grown less forceful during ACFPBspokeswomansaid existing enforcement actions
PresidentTrump’stimeinof- theagency’scurrentdirector, youcouldeasilysee underreviewandrequesteda
fice.Forthefinancialsector,a KathyKraninger,whowasin- budgetofzerodollarsforone
a180-degreeturn.’
reinvigorated CFPB could be stalledbytheTrumpadminis- quarter, saying the bureau
one of the most immediate tration, “continues to carry could operate on existing
impactsofaBidenpresidency. out the Bureau’s mission of funds.
Under a new CFPB direc- protectingconsumersthrough Mr. Mulvaney said this
tor,“youwillseesomepretty regulation, supervision, en- Comptroller of the Currency week that he had wanted to
big changes pretty quickly, forcementandeducation.” andtheFederalDepositInsur- focusoncompaniesthatwere
bothontheenforcementand A Biden administration ance Corp. ensure the safety acting in ways the CFPB had
rule-making side,” said Den- wouldexpecttheCFPBtore- andsoundnessoflenders. already established as viola-
S
REUTER natisBKeettlleerheMra,rckheitesf,eaxnecaudtvivoe- nweewreitcsenfotrcauls toon iatrseaesartlhieart chiTehf,eRbiucrheaarudunCdoerdrraitys, ffirrest- tlaiownss.o“fWceondsuidmenro-tprwotaencttiotno
O/ cacy group that lobbies for years. That would include quently bumped heads with wastetimeonharassingpeo-
G
RA tighterfinancialregulations. scrutiny of payday lenders, businesses. Companies ac- plethatwereundertakingle-
D
AL “It’s one of the very few monitoring student-loan ser- cusedtheCFPBofpenalizing galactivitiesthatsomepeople
LarryKudlowsaidstimulusnegotiatorswererunningoutoftime. placeswhereyoucouldeasily vicers and ensuring that mi- them without providing a justdidn’tlike,”hesaid.
Lawyers Push to Reunite Separated Families Economic Recovery
Is Slowing, Fed Says
BYALICIAA.CALDWELL secretary Brian Morgenstern andhousedinmigrantshelters of policy a few days after Mr.
disputed the characterization aroundtheU.S.TheTrumpad- Trump ordered an end to the
Lawyersforimmigrantfami- of the claim, saying many of ministrationhaslongsaidpar- practice.Thejudgealsodirected BYDAVIDHARRISON space now that employees
liesseparatedattheU.S.-Mex- the parents “have declined to entsweregiventheoptionof thegovernmenttoreunitepar- have been working success-
icobordersaytheycan’tfind accept their children back.” beingdeportedwiththeirchil- entswiththeirchildren. TheU.S.economygrewata fullyfromhome.
theparentsof545children,a ChaseJennings,aDepartment dren. Some parents said they Last year, the government “slighttomodest”paceinthe The report, known as the
new claim made as part of a ofHomelandSecurityspokes- were misled or coerced into acknowledgedthatasmanyas earlyfall,thelatestindication beigebook,isacollectionofan-
lawsuitchallengingtheTrump man,said“DHShastakenev- signing documents that al- 1,500otherchildrenhadbeen that the economic recovery ecdotesfrombusinesscontacts
administration’spolicyofsepa- erysteptofacilitatethereuni- lowed them to be deported separated from their parents fromthepandemicisslowing, aroundthecountry.TheFedcol-
ratingfamiliesdetainedatthe ficationofthesefamilieswhere withouttheirchildren,accord- beforetheMay2018policywas aFederalReservereportsaid lectedcommentsthroughOct.9.
southernborder. theparentswantedsuchreuni- ing to court filings from the putinplaceborder-wide.Many Wednesday. Companies said they were
As many as two-thirds of ficationtooccur.” ACLUandothergroups. ofthosechildrenwerethought The report found that the “generallyoptimisticorposi-
theparents,mostlyfromCen- Separatingimmigrantfami- Theadministration’sinitia- tohavebeenseparatedduring recovery was proceeding on tive” about the future but
tral America, are thought to lieswhotriedenteringtheU.S. tive separating parents and atrialrunbytheBorderPatrol separatetracks,withtheman- notedthattherewasstillalot
havebeendeportedbyU.S.au- without permission, in many childrenwaspartofitsbroader in New Mexico and the far ufacturing,residentialhousing ofuncertaintyintheiroutlook,
thorities, according to the fil- cases to request asylum, was efforttodetermigrantfamilies westernedgeofTexas. andbankingindustriesreport- inparticularinregardstoNo-
ingmadeinfederalcourtTues- made a border-wide policy in from crossing the border and Afterthepolicywasended, ingsteadygrowth,whilecon- vember’selection.
day by lawyers from the May 2018. As many as 2,800 asking for asylum in the U.S. theadministrationsaidithad sumerspendingandcommer- Thereportpaintedapicture
AmericanCivilLibertiesUnion. childrenwerekeptfromtheir Duringthegovernment’s2019 no system to track separated cialrealestateremainedweak. of a disjointed employment
“These are children who parents before President budgetyear,borderagentsar- families.Atthetime,aHealth Forinstance,homebuilders situation,wheremanycompa-
havebeenseparatedforyears, Trumpissuedanexecutiveor- restedmorethan473,000peo- andHumanServicesofficialin intheDallasregionsaidhigh niescontinuedtolayoffsome
someofwhomwerejustbabies der scrapping the policy the pletravelingasfamilies.Under charge of family reunification demand had produced back- workers, while struggling to
when taken from their par- followingmonth,followingout- immigration law, almost any- saidtheagencywastryingto logsofworkandraisedprices. recruit others. Employers
ents,” said Lee Gelernt, an cryoverthepractice. one is permitted to apply for buildone.Sincethen,agroup Workersandsupplieswerein blamedthelaborsituationon
ACLUlawyerleadingthelaw- Children separated from asylum once on U.S. soil, re- oflawyersandimmigrantad- shortsupply. workerhealthconcernsandon
suit. “These families must be parentswereplacedinthecus- gardlessofhowtheyarrived. vocates have worked to track Thepicturewaslessrosyin alackofaccesstochildcare.
reunited, and the administra- todyoftheU.S.Departmentof AfederaljudgeinSanDiego downthousandsofparentsin commercialrealestate.Atoy Many companies have raised
tionmustbeheldaccountable.” Health and Humans Services’ barred the government from Central America, using bill- makerintheBostonareawas wagesorofferedflexiblework
White House deputy press OfficeofRefugeeResettlement separatingfamiliesasamatter boardsandradioads. rethinking its need for office arrangementsinresponse.
A4|Thursday,October22,2020 THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL.
P W L C 10 11 12 H T G K R F A M 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 O I X X *****
U.S. NEWS
Obama Hits
Trail for His
Former VP
BYKENTHOMAS people’slivesbetter.You’vegot
ANDCATHERINELUCEY tohaveaplan.”
Referencing Mr. Trump’s
WASHINGTON—Former contractionofthecoronavirus
President Obama returned to earlierthismonth,Mr.Obama
thecampaigntrailWednesday said:“DonaldTrumpisn’tsud-
with a blistering critique of denlygoingtoprotectallofus.
PresidentTrump’shandlingof He can’t even take the basic
thecoronaviruspandemic,while stepstoprotecthimself.”
thepresidentbarnstormedthe Mr.Trump,whohasrepeat-
battlegroundstateofNorthCar- edlycriticizedhispredecessor
olinaasheseeksaboostinthe and sought to undo his major
closingdaysoftherace. policies,dismissedMr.Obama’s
Mr. Obama made his first criticism during an evening SS
fall campaign appearances in rallyinNorthCarolina,oneof PRE
D
Philadelphia,inoneofthena- aboutadozenkeycompetitive ATE
tion’stopbattlegroundstates, statesforbothcampaigns. OCI
whereheurgedvoterstosup- Before a large outdoor SS
A
port Democratic nominee Joe crowdinGastonia,Mr.Trump M/
U
Biden, his former vice presi- said, “There was nobody that OC
ddeenntt.Mhard.Ofbaailmedastaoiddtehlieveprreosin- HcaimllaprayigCnliendtohna,r”dreertfuorrncinrogotkoeda MATTSL
themostbasicresponsibilities nickname he frequently used FormerPresidentObama,campaigninginPhiladelphiaforJoeBiden,saidthepresident.‘can’teventakethebasicstepstoprotecthimself.’
of the presidency: the health forhis2016rival.
andsafetyofthenation. “Hesaid,‘Hewillnotbeour Duringhismorethanhour- otersandMS-13killers”would current and former White PollsshowMr.Bidenwithan
“I get that this president president,’ but before that he long remarks, he framed the roam free, referring to the Houseoccupantscameonthe edgeoverthepresidentnation-
wantsfullcreditfortheecon- said, ‘He will not run.’ Then I race as a choice “between a criminalgang. eveofThursday’sfinaldebate allyandinseveralbattleground
omy he inherited and zero ran,”Mr.Trumpsaid.“Andhe TrumpsuperrecoveryoraBi- Mr. Trump also continued and with less than two weeks states,butMr.Biden’scampaign
blameforthepandemicthathe said,‘Hewillnotgetthenomi- den super depression. It’s be- hisattacksonMr.Biden’sson remainingbeforetheelection. has warned against compla-
ignored. But you know what, nation.’ I got the nomination. tweenaTrumpboomandaBi- Hunter and his international Mr.Bidenwasoffthecampaign cencyandsoughttogalvanizea
thejobdoesn’tworkthatway,” Andhesaid,‘Hewillnotbeour denlockdown.” business dealings. Seeking to trailforathirdstraightdayat largeturnoutofearlyvoters.
theformerpresidentsaidata president’andIwon. Mr.Trumpdeclaredthecor- win support from women, he hisDelawarehome,preparing During an earlier appear-
drive-in rally outside Citizens “Theonlyonemoreunhappy onaviruspandemicwas“round- appealedto“America’sincredi- for the debate. His running ance, Mr. Obama stressed the
Bank Park. “Tweeting at the thanCrookedHillarythatnight ingacorner,”asnewcasesare blemoms,”promisingtoopen mate,Sen.KamalaHarris,was needtovotetoagroupofBlack
television doesn’t fix things. was Barack Hussein Obama,” risingintheUnitedStates.He schools. also in North Carolina on lawmakers and community
Makingstuffupdoesn’tmake Mr.Trumpsaid. saidthatunderMr.Biden,“ri- Theduelingappearancesby Wednesday. leaders.
Week of Illness and Setbacks Shook Trump Campaign
BYMICHAELC.BENDER cording to Mr. Trump’s per-
ANDREBECCABALLHAUS sonalattorneyRudyGiuliani.
Advisers including Messrs.
WASHINGTON—Inthedays ChristieandGiulianicautioned
afterthefirstdebateSept.29 the president that Mr. Biden
betweenPresidentTrumpand mighttrytointerrupthim.
Democratic challenger Joe Bi- Messrs. Stepien and Miller
den, the president faced two urged the president to pivot
problems. away from himself and go on
One was his debate perfor- offense.Theentiregroupurged
mance.Ontheflighthomefrom Mr. Trump to give Mr. Biden,
the debate, he described it as who they see as prone to
superbtofamilyandstaff,who gaffes,roomtospeak.
saidlittletodissuadehim.But Once on the debate stage,
bythenextday,JaredKushner, Mr. Trump ended up tangling
Mr.Trump’ssenioradviserand withmoderatorChrisWallace
S
son-in-law, was imploring GEandinterruptinghisopponent
A
M
friendlymediapersonalitiesand Iso manytimesthatMr.Biden
Y
otahgtehgrer-reinsa-sllilaviweesdatbeoobluaettveethlsewtyailtnehghrheyishafnaadd- RESSE/GETTutaetpr.ow”naMerpdr.osiTntrthuaamtskpheedtohbldilmaamtidoeed“ssMhaufrt-.
fdaimspillaiayredw,aitchcotrhdeingcatlols.pePoopllles NCE-PtWioanllsa.cHeisfoprerhfoisrmowannceinstteurnrnuepd-
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would show the performance FRadvisers,oneofwhomlaterde-
hadcostthepresidentsupport. NCEscribedthepresident’sperfor-
The other was the fallout AGEmanceas“oneofthemostin-
fromtheSupremeCourtnomi- OEB/credible self-inflicted wounds
nation ceremony he had held Lofalltime.”
UL
the previous weekend at the A Twodayslater,adviserHope
S
White House, which Anthony PresidentTrump,seenWednesdayatarallyinGastonia,N.C.,hasaskedsomeadvisersaboutshakinguphisre-electionteam. Hicks,whohadn’tattendedthe
Fauci, the nation’s top infec- Barrettceremony,testedposi-
tious disease expert, would heads to Nashville, Tenn., for Wednesday,Mr.Trumphadn’t messaging that the pandemic photosessiondrewsomeunin- tive for Covid, said people fa-
soon describe as a “super- the second and final debate attendedanyprepsessionsfor wasalmostover.Thepresident vitedguests,includingAttorney miliarwiththematter.
spreader” of Covid-19. Within withMr.Biden. Thursday’s debate, people fa- went from being tested daily GeneralWilliamBarrandWhite DespiteMs.Hicks’spositive
days, Mr. Trump would test Some advisers have urged miliarwiththemattersaid. early in the year to saying in House chief of staff Mark result,Mr.Trumptraveledthat
positiveforthedisease. himtorethinkhisdebate-prep- More than a dozen White Julyhewasbeingtestedevery Meadows, who invited others afternoontoNewJersey,where
On Thursday Mr. Trump aration strategy, but, as of Houseofficials,campaignstaff twoorthreedays. along. he held an indoor event with
and Republican advisers say Since the diagnosis of the In all, 10 people who at- supporters and a partly out-
Mr.Trumpwashurtbyhisown president and more than a tendedtheWhiteHouseevent door fundraiser with a larger
decisionsonhowtoapproach dozen advisers, White House that day later tested positive group.At12:54a.m.Friday,he
the debate and how to block officialshavelaidoutanarray for coronavirus, six of whom tweeted he and the first lady
the spread of coronavirus oftheoriesonthesourceofthe spent time in the Diplomatic hadthemselvestestedpositive.
withintheWhiteHouse. outbreak.Mosthavesaidthey Room, including former New Overthenext24hours,three
Mr.Trumpispubliclyopti- believe the infection can be JerseyGov.ChrisChristieand members of the debate-prep
mistic, but privately appears formerWhiteHousecounselor team—Messrs. Christie and
awarethatheistrailinginthe KellyanneConway.Mr.Christie StepienandMs.Conway—said
race, people familiar with the Afterthedebate,he and Ms. Conway were part of they too had tested positive.
mattersaid.Hehasaskedsome theteamthatspenttimethat The White House hadn’t con-
toldaidesheblamed
advisers about shaking up his weekend preparing the presi- tacted any of them after Ms.
re-electionteam,seekingopin- themoderatorforhis dentforthedebate. Hicks,whoalsoparticipatedin
ionsoncampaignmanagerBill Tuesdaybroughtthefirstde- thedebateprep,testedpositive.
owninterruptions.
Stepien and adviser Jason bate.Mr.Trumpeschewedtra- StayingatWalterReedNa-
Miller. ditionalpracticesessionsinfa- tionalMilitaryMedicalCenter
WhiteHousespokesmanJudd vorofinformaldiscussionswith onOct.3,Mr.Trumpnoticeda
Deere said the president was histeam,adviserssaid.Atone long gap after 1 p.m. on Fox
“focused on delivering results traced back to the president’s pointduringpractice,heasked News, when none of his sup-
fortheAmericanpeople,includ- announcement on Sept. 26 of thegroup,“Whyareyouguysin porterswereontheair.Hedic-
ingdevelopingasafe,effective JudgeAmyConeyBarrettashis here?Whyaren’tyououtthere tated a statement to Mr. Giu-
vaccine,reachingastimulusdeal nomineetotheSupremeCourt. defendingmeonTV?” liani,declaringhimselfreadyto
with Congress, and rebuilding After a Rose Garden cere- Members of the group at leavethehospital.
theAmericaneconomy.” mony with Judge Barrett on timeshurledtoughquestionsat That evening, an adviser
Some administration offi- that Saturday afternoon, Mr. the president to see how he said,Mr.Trumpinphonecalls
cialssaidtheyfelttheCovid-19 Trump moved inside to the wouldrespond.“Youmessedup complainedhedidn’tfeelwell.
outbreak in the White House DiplomaticReceptionRoomto Covid. You killed people,” Mr. Hequizzedsomeofhisadvis-
had been inevitable since the take a few photos with Judge Christie, who at times played ers who had tested positive:
spring,whenMr.Trumpbegan Barrett and her family. The Mr.Biden,saidatonepoint,ac- “DoyouthinkIgaveittoyou?”
RATESVALIDTHROUGH Democrats to Boycott Panel Vote on Barrett
NOVEMBER30,2020
BYLINDSAYWISE andsheisexpectedtosolidify day with the minority leader, 10 Democrats serving on the
aconservativemajorityonthe Sen.ChuckSchumer(D.,N.Y.). Judiciary Committee and 12
WASHINGTON—Democrats courtifconfirmedbythefull TheJudiciarypanel’schair- Republicans.Butthechairman
ontheSenateJudiciaryCom- Senate in the coming days. man,Sen.LindseyGraham(R., could override the rules if he
mittee plan to boycott the Democratssaythatfillingthe S.C.),toldreportersonCapitol wanted.
panel’sThursdayvoteonJudge seat should have been left to Hill Wednesday night that Senate Majority Leader
Amy Coney Barrett’s nomina- thewinnerofthepresidential therewouldbeavoteThurs- MitchMcConnell(R.,Ky.)has
tiontotheSupremeCourt,in election,butcoulddolittleto day without Democrats, even indicatedhewillfileforare-
protestofRepublicans’pushto stop Republicans after they if that meant breaking com- quiredproceduralvoteonFri-
get President Trump’s pick decided to move ahead with mitteerules. day,withavotetoadvancethe
confirmedbeforeElectionDay. thepick. Committeerulesrequirethe nominationpossibleasearlyas
Judge Barrett was nomi- “Republicanshavemovedat presence of two members of Sunday. A final confirmation
natedlastmonthbyPresident breakneck speed to jam theminoritypartytoconduct vote by the full Senate is ex-
Trumptofillthevacancycre- through this nominee,” said businessandamajoritytobe pectednextweek.
ated by the death of liberal thecommittee’sDemocratsina “actuallypresent”inorderto —SiobhanHughes
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, statement issued on Wednes- vote on a nominee. There are contributedtothisarticle.
THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL. Thursday,October22,2020|A5
******
U.S. NEWS
State Scrambles on Mail-In Ballots
Officials
Say Iran
Pennsylvaniaelection
Attempts “I have never felt such an
workersfieldfloodof apprehension,” said Ms.
Barnes, 70, a retired union
questionsfromvoters
To Scare pipefitter.
unfamiliarwithprocess A lifelong Democrat, she
saidsheisbackingformerVice
U.S. Voters BYKRISMAHER President Joe Biden. She de-
ANDALEXACORSE scribedPresidentTrumpas“a
disaster” and worries about
WASHINGTON,Pa.—Melanie potential disruptions caused
BYDUSTINVOLZ Ostranderhasbeenworking12 by his supporters. “I wasn’t
ANDSADIEGURMAN hours a day, seven days a going to let anything happen
week,sincetheendofSeptem- tomyballot.”
WASHINGTON—Iran is re- ber. The director of the elec- ColleenToe,78,saidsheis
sponsible for a barrage of tions office in Washington alsoconcernedaboutunrest—
emailssenttoAmericansthat County said she is seeing a butcomingfromtheleft—and
purported to be from a far- flood of mail-in ballots and thatsheisbackingMr.Trump
rightgroupandwereintended nervous voters calling to in- forasecondtime.
tointimidatevotersandincite quireaboutthem. “I’mveryworriedaboutthe
social unrest ahead of the The county south of Pitts- whole country, the hatred,
presidentialelection,U.S.offi- burghhasroughly152,000reg- whereeveryoneisjustsovio-
cialssaid. istered voters, and officials lentwitheachother,”saidMs.
The emails were sent to havesofarsentoutmorethan Toe, who taught elementary
Democratic voters in several 40,000 mail-in and absentee schoolfor36years.“Allthings
battleground states such as ballots, compared with just considered, I didn’t want to
FloridaandPennsylvaniaand 5,000fouryearsago. takeachanceonmynotbeing
were intended to appear as Ms. Ostrander said she ex- abletovote.”
thoughtheywereauthoredby pectstobeabletotallyallof GES Therealsohavebeentech-
thefar-rightgroup,theProud thereturnedballotsovertwo MA nology changes in Pennsylva-
I
Bmoilyisa,rawccitohrdtihnegmtoatpteero.plefa- dEaleycst,iosntaDrtaiyn.gHaetr 7offaic.me.woilnl GETTY nplieam. Aenllte6d7 cvooutnintigesmhaavcehinimes-
genDciereJcotohrnoRfaNtcaltiifofenaslaIindtealtlia- hloapvees52anpdeopscleanonpienngingbaelnlovtes-, AKELA/ tbhaalltoptsrofdourceimpparpoevrebdacskeucuprsitoyf
M
Wednesday night announce- comparedwithfivein2016. K against hacking or glitches.
R
mentatFBIheadquartersthat “It’sanelectionthatwewill MA Thosemachinesfacetheirfirst
Iran and Russia have both neverforget,”shesaid. Voterscasttheirearly-votingballotsinPhiladelphiaonSaturday.Manyvoterssaytheyareanxious presidentialelection,afterbe-
takenspecificactionsinanat- Forthefirsttimeinapresi- thattheirballotscouldgoastray,andsomeworrythattheU.S.PostalServicecouldbeoverwhelmed. ing used in the state’s June
tempt to influence public dentialelection,Pennsylvania primaryandotherrecentelec-
opinion in the presidential voterscanvotebymailwith- couldgoastray.Someworried tionsinthestate.
election. He accused Iran of out providing a reason this PartiesPlantoKeep andvotersacrossthecountry that the U.S. Postal Service Washington County, which
being behind the deceptive yearasaresultofa2019law. toexercisetheirconstitutional could be overwhelmed, and includessuburbsofPittsburgh,
CloseEyeonVoting
emails meant to intimidate Useoftheballotshasskyrock- righttovoteinthemosteasy others wanted to avoid is one of a ring of southwest
voters, though he didn’t de- etedamidthecoronaviruspan- andconvenientwayforthem.” crowdedpollingstationsdur- PennsylvaniacountiesthatMr.
scribethemindetailormen- demic, and election officials TheTrumpcampaignsays ingthepandemic. Trump carried by wide mar-
tion the Proud Boys. He also saytheyarebeingbombarded Bothpartiesandpresiden- theexplosionofmail-inballots TheU.S.PostalServicesays ginsfouryearsago.
saidthatIranwascirculating byquestionsfromvotersunfa- tialcampaignshavevowedto raisestheriskofadministrative it has ample capacity to de- LisaCrosby,adischargeco-
a video that is promoting a miliarwiththeprocess. signuprecordnumbersofvol- errors.“AsPresidentTrumphas liverballotsanddeployedad- ordinator at the Allegheny
false narrative about fraudu- OnMonday,thelastdayto unteersandlawyerstomoni- saidallyear,theDemocrats’ ditionalresourcestogivepri- CountyJail,saidshelikesMr.
lent ballots being cast from register to vote in the state, torvotingandconductother rushedrulechangesandcon- ority to election mail this Trump’s support for law en-
abroad. workers in the Washington get-out-the-voteefforts. stantattemptstoscarevoters month. forcementwhileshefilledout
Alireza Miryousefi, a County Elections Office han- InPennsylvaniaalone,the awayfromthepolls—onlynow Other voters here said the an application for a mail-in
spokesman for the Iranian dled between 500 and 600 Bidencampaignhasmorethan toscrambletochangetheir riskofElectionDaychaos,in- ballot. “I think that we need
missiontotheUnitedNations, calls from voters, far more athousandlawyersandvolun- tuneandencouragein-person cluding violence, is making fourmoreyearsofhiswork,”
denied the allegations and thananyotherday,theysaid. teersandapoll-watcherpro- votingwhentheyrealizedtheir themcasttheirmail-inballots shesaid.
said Iran doesn’t interfere in Mostcallswereaboutmail-in gram,Bidencampaignspokes- mathwasn’taddingup,”Trump earlyandinperson. Carl Zawicki, 63, a retired
theelectionsofothernations. ballots. manT.J.Ducklosaid.“Weare campaignspokeswomanThea Barbara Barnes visited her electrician; his wife, Leanne
“Iranhasnointerestinin- Ms.Ostranderhas18people encouragingPennsylvanians McDonaldsaid. post office Tuesday and had Zawicki, 60, a retired nurse,
terfering in the U.S. election sendingoutballots,receiving hermail-inballotinherpurse, andtheirdaughter,Kaylin,30,
andnopreferencefortheout- themandfieldingphonecalls. butshedecidedtodrivetothe who works in marketing, all
come,”hesaid. That’supfrom12peoplefour will accept ballots mailed by deadline,“unlessapreponder- Washington County Elections droppedoffballotsforMr.Bi-
Russia has previously de- yearsago. Election Day as long as they ance of the evidence demon- Officeanddropitdirectlyinto den,ratherthanvoteinperson
nied interfering in U.S. elec- Under a state Supreme arrive up to three days after stratesthatitwasmailedafter asteelballotbox. afewblocksfromtheirhome
tions. CourtrulingthattheU.S.Su- Election Day and allow those ElectionDay.” Othervotersstreamedinto onElectionDay.
—RachaelLevy preme Court declined to dis- withillegiblepostmarkstobe Many voters here say they the office all day with their “I just want to get it over
contributedtothisarticle. turb, county election offices counted if received by the are anxious that their ballots ownballots. with,”Mr.Zawickisaid.
A6|Thursday,October22,2020 **** THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL.
U.S. NEWS
Europe’s Antitrust Case
The Businesses Where
Google Is the Biggest
Had Little Lasting Effect (And Where It Isn’t)
ByKatherineRiley
TheJusticeDepartmentfiledanantitrustlawsuit
BYSAMSCHECHNER “Withsizecomesresponsi- TuesdayagainstAlphabetInc.’sGoogle,allegingthe
ANDVALENTINAPOP bility,” said Margrethe Ve-
companyactedwronglytomaintainitsposition
stager, the EU’s competition
atopthesearchandsearch-advertisingindustries.
Europe’saggressivepursuit and digital-policy czar, in a
of antitrust cases against Al- newsconferenceSept.18.“It’s Googlehascalledthelawsuitdeeplyflawed,and
phabetInc.’sGooglewaslonga importantwedon’tletahand- warnedthatifsuccessful,itcouldresultinhigher
beacon for detractors of the ful of companies define the
pricesforconsumers.
search giant world-wide. Now rulesofthegame.”
theyseeitasacautionarytale. The Google blog post says Hereisalookatthecompany’sfootprintacross
European Union regulators the company supports
severalareasoftechnology:
havededicatedmorethanade- “thoughtfulregulation”anden-
cade to curbing Google’s al- gages with governments “on
Search Other Googlecaptures
legedquashingofcompetitors, ways to promote good out-
morethan
imposing$9billioninfinesand comes, encourage innovation 92%
orderstochangebusinessprac- S andprotectconsumers.”
tices. But mechanisms Google AGE The EU’s disputes with Bing ofworld-wide
introducedtocomplywithEU IM Googledatebackmorethana Yahoo Baidu searchtraffic
Y
decisions have done little to GETT decade. The commission ini- Googleistheworld’smostwidelyusedsearchengine.The
pthaerefiirtsstmofatrhkeetEpUo’ssitthiornee.Sdienccie- RESSE/ toifalGlyootrgileedmtoissceotntdleuacltl.eBgauttiopnos- JtouscthiacelleDnegpeatrhtmeceonmtspuaintyis’stbhueslainteessstaptrtaecmticpetsbiynasegaorvcehr.nment
psiaonnys’slarnevdeenduiena2n0d17s,tothcekpcorimce- NCE-P lfirtoicmal oFprapnocseitioann,dpaGrteircmulaanrlyy, TheEuropeanUnionhasfinedthecompanyabout$9billion
A
haverisenbyabouthalf. FR scuttled three successive at- forantitrustviolations,suchasfavoringitsownshoppingads
Some of Google’s competi- NCE tempts. When Ms. Vestager insearchresults.Googlehasappealedthoserulings,saying
tors say the EU’s decisions AGE tookover,shereversedcourse thatself-preferencingisanewlegalprincipleandnotasound
were too late and too weakly YS/ and began filing formal basisforthepenalties.
H
enforcedtohavearealimpact. NT charges.
H
NowtheyhopetheU.S.Justice O In June 2017, the commis-
J DigitalAds Anestimated
Departmentwillstrikeamore EUcompetitionanddigital-policyczarMargretheVestager sion ruled on its first case,
40%
significantblowwithitslawsuit inMarch2019,afteranewfinewasimposedonGoogle. findingthatGooglehadabused
Other
filed Tuesday alleging Google thedominanceofitssearchen- ofdigitalads
usedanticompetitivetacticsto Competition officials can’t Techlobbyistssay,however, ginebyputtingitsownprod- arepurchasedon
maintainthedominanceofits “guarantee a specific market thattheU.S.caseisamisuseof uct advertisements—dubbed aGoogleplatform*
*EstimatescomefromaU.K.studyoftheU.K.market.
searchengine. outcome,andIdon’tthinkwe antitrust law, brandished in GoogleShopping—atthetopof
Anestimated
Googlesaysitfacesintense shouldeventryto,”saidOlivier part to score political points, many search-results pages,
50%
competitionandthatitsprod- Guersent,atopEUantitrustof- similar to their objections to pushing down other websites Other
ucts benefit consumers. “Our ficial,atarecentconference.He theEUcases.TheComputer& thatofferproductcomparisons ofdigitaladsaresold
success is based on providing addedthat“it’snotthetaskof CommunicationsIndustryAsso- andadsfromonlinemerchants. Xandr onaGoogleplatform*
the best results, and if we’re remediespolicytoprovidecom- ciation said in response to Another decision in July
Googleownsthemostpopulartoolsusedtoplaceandbuydigital
not,userscanquicklyandeas- pensationforthedamagessuf- Tuesday’slawsuitthattheU.S. 2018 presages in some ways
ads.Atleast40%ofdigitaladsintheU.K.arepurchasedona
ily switch to rivals,” the com- feredbyindividualcompanies.” tech sector has boomed until theU.S.complaintfiledTues-
Google-ownedplatform,accordingtoareportfromtheU.K.’s
panysaidinablogpostnoted Thathasn’tstoppedcompet- nowbecauseitsantitrustpolicy day. In it, the EU argued
CompetitionandMarketsAuthority.
byaspokeswoman.Googlehas itorsfromaskingformorein- “encourages dynamic markets Googlehadillegallymuscledits
appealed the EU’s decisions vasiveremedies. thatrewardinnovatorsanddis- searchengineandChromeweb IntheU.S.,stateattorneysgeneralarelookingintothecompany’s
even as it has implemented “Europe’s lesson for Wash- ruptsluggishcompetitors.” browserontomobilephonesby controlofthedigital-advertisingmarket.Googledeclined
remediestocomplywiththem. ingtonistogoforthejugular— WhiletheEUhasdefended abusing its control of its An- tocommentonapossiblelawsuitfromthestates,butsaid
Atissueisahard-foughtde- torequirechangestoGoogle’s its decisions, the European droidmobile-operatingsystem. inarecentblogpostthatitsproducts‘leveltheplayingfield
bate about whether competi- business that make a real dif- Commission,thebloc’sexecu- The commission ruled that it forsmallbusinesseseverywhere.’
tion enforcement can—or ference in the market,” said tivearm,isalsoproposingnew was illegal for Google to re-
should—gobeyondanarrowfo- ThomasVinje,apartneratlaw legislationthatwouldallowit quire phone makers to install
cusonconsumerwelfare,orat- firmCliffordChancewhorepre- toactmorequicklyincasesin- thesearchengineandbrowser Smartphones Androidrunsaround
tempt more radical interven- sented FairSearch, a lobby volving so-called gatekeeper if they wanted to include 75%
tionstoredrawthebalanceof group led by Oracle Corp. in companies like big internet Google’sPlayStore,thedomi- iOS
marketpowerincasesofabuse. theEU’scaseagainstGoogle. firms. nantwaytogetAndroidapps. ofsmartphones
Other world-wide
Apple’siOSpowersalmost60%ofU.S.smartphones.Elsewhere
Google
intheworld,mostsmartphonesrunonGoogle’sAndroid
operatingsystem.ThatispartlybecauseGoogleallowsany
smartphonemanufacturertouse—andcustomize—Android
Ex-CEO
foritsdevices.
Hits DOJ Maps
GoogleMaps
GoogleMaps
70%
isusedby
Waze 70%
ContinuedfromPageOne
17%
“Allantitrustcasesarediffi-
AppleMaps ofmonthlynavigation
cult to win,” said Gene Kim- andmapappusers*
16%
melman,aformerJusticeDe-
partmentantitrustofficialand GoogleEarth
2%
now senior adviser to Public
Knowledge, a public-interest GES MapQuest *Figuresdon’taddupto100because
group that has advocated for MA 1% userscanusemorethanonetool.
I
sintrothneg taencthitrsuescttoern.f“oHrceeremeitn’st GETTY In2013,GooglepurchasedWaze,anIsraelistartupthatwasthen
particularlytrickybecauseyou ATT/ GoogleMaps’biggestcompetitor.AppleMaps,thenext-biggest
don’thaveaclassicpricefight PL playerinnavigation,comespre-installedonAppledevices,but
R
or market control of physical NCE accordingtoComscore,GoogleMapsloggedover37million
assetsthatpeoplecanseeand PE monthlyU.S.iPhoneusersin2018,over6millionmorethan
S
touch.” Googlehaslongarguedthatconsumerscanreadilychooseotherservices. AppleMaps.
Butheandotherobservers
said Google has challenges of Video YouTubecaptures
its own, including explaining JudgePresidedOver Foods. culationspresentedbythe anestimated
why,eventhoughitalreadyhas BigAntitrustCase Thatsummer,thejudgeis- commission. Vimeo 73%
adominantmarketposition,it suedaninjunctionblockingthe Morerecently,Judge
haspaidlargesumsofmoney deal,sayingina128-pagerul- Mehtaissuedahigh-profile oftheonlinevideo
Other platformmarket
tobusinesspartners,including ingthatthetie-upwasthe rulinglastyearthatsaidPresi-
AppleInc.,soitssearchengine WASHINGTON—TheJustice typeoflargecombinationthat dentTrumpcouldn’tblocka GooglepurchasedYouTubefor$1.65billionin2006.Sincethen,
will be the default option on Department’slawsuitagainst spurredCongress,decadesear- subpoenafromaHousecom- thevideositehasplayedanincreasinglyimportantroleinthe
mobile phones and internet Googlehasbeenassignedto lier,togivethegovernment mitteeseekingfinancialre- company’ssearchanddigital-advertisingbusiness.
browsers. U.S.DistrictJudgeAmit thepowertohaltmergers. cordsfromhislongtimeac-
Datafrommarket-researchfirmDatanyzesuggestthatYouTube
Thosebusinessdealsarethe Mehta,anObamaappointee Syscoabandonedthe countingfirm.
isfourtimesthesizeofthenext-largestplatformthatallows
central focus of the govern- whohaspresidedoveramajor transactiondayslater. Thatcaseremainsinlitiga-
userstoupload,convert,storeandplayvideosonline.
ment’scase. antitrustcase. Becauseantitrustcases tionaftermakingatriptothe
On Wednesday, shares of JudgeMehtajoinedthe rarelygotocourt,many SupremeCourt.
Google’sparent,AlphabetInc., benchinearly2015anda judgeshavelittleexperience TheJusticeDepartment’s Browsers SamsungInternet Opera Chromecaptures
rose $34.91, or 2.3%, to shorttimelaterdrewacasein withthem,whichcanpresent lawsuitagainstGooglemarks morethan
$1,585.99. whichtheFederalTradeCom- challengesforlitigants. thegovernment’smostaggres- Safari 66%
Googlehaslongarguedthat missionsoughttoblockthe ThoughJudgeMehtaruled siveantitrustcaseinthetech
ofallbrowser
consumerscanreadilychoose proposedmergerofthena- fortheFTC,hegrilledthegov- sectorinmorethantwode- Firefox Other usageworld-
other services, but “the first tion’stwolargestfooddistrib- ernmentduringtheproceed- cades. Edge wide
thing Google has to deal with utors,SyscoCorp.andUS ings,questioningeconomiccal- —BrentKendall
GoogleChromeisthemostwidelyusedinternetbrowser
is,ifit’ssoeasytoswitch,why
intheworld,anditssuccessbothreinforcesandisreinforced
isitpayingbillionsofdollarsto
byGoogle’sstrongpositioninothersectors.Forinstance,
Apple?” said University of asupermarket. allegationsthesoftwaregiant freeproductbearelevantmar-
GoogleisthedefaultsearchengineonChrome,andChrome
Pennsylvania law professor Mr.Schmidt,inakeynotein- engagedinunlawfulmonopoli- ket?”
isthedefaultbrowseronAndroid.
HerbertHovenkamp. terviewatTheWallStreetJour- zation. Mr.Hovenkamp,theUniver-
The Justice Department’s nal’s Tech Live conference on Inmanyways,thenewlaw- sityofPennsylvaniaprofessor,
lawsuitallegesGooglehaslong Wednesday,describedGoogleas suit“isalmostacarboncopyof saidthedepartmenthasagood SmartSpeakers Apple Googlecontrols
usedaninterlockingwebofex- having“ruthless”competition, the Microsoft case,” Mr. Kim- shot of winning if it stays fo- 40%
clusionary arrangements and particularly from Microsoft melman said, adding that nei- cused on narrow and specific Amazon
businessdealstolockinitssta- Corp.,whoseBingsearchengine thercasewasfocusedonprice, legal claims, such as its argu- oftheU.S.
smart-speaker
tusasthepreferredsearchpro- runsadistantsecondtoGoogle butonallegedharmstoinnova- ments against Google’s busi- Facebook Other market
vider and lock out any poten- insearchvolume.Heobserved tion and product quality. The nessdealwithApple.
tial competitor. The that while he was CEO, until government, he said, has pre- The department, he said, Googleisfastgaininggroundinsmartspeakers,abusiness
department said this lack of 2011,hestudiedcloselythegov- sentedalegitimatelegaltheory couldhavebroughtclaimsun- thatAmazon.comInc.haslongled.Atthebeginningof2017,
competitionmeansthereislit- ernment’s prior antitrust case andcanattackyearsofconduct derapartofthelawthatpro- Googlecontrolled24%ofthemarket,accordingtoindustry
tle room for other companies againstMicrosoft,andwascare- by Google as it has enjoyed hibits contracts that restrain research.Lastquarter,40%ofthe7.4millionsmartspeakers
to become the Google of to- fultoavoidtrippinganywires. overwhelming dominance in tradeandcommerce. purchasedintheU.S.wereGoogledevices.
morrow,whichmeansconsum- Mr. Schmidt described the search—and the advertising it Fornowatleast,thegovern-
ers have few choices and are suit as “largely driven by Re- sells with its search results. ment has focused on another
forcedtoacceptGoogle’spoli- publicans,attheendofaterm “What we don’t know yet is part of the law that bars the CloudComputing GoogleCloudcaptures
cies,privacypracticesanduse ofapresidentwhosepollingin- howstrongthefactsareinthe unlawfulmaintenanceofamo-
Amazon 6%
oftheirpersonaldata. dicatesthathe’sunlikelytobe case,”hesaid. nopoly,whichMr.Hovenkamp WebServices Other
Google said it achieved its re-elected.” Chris Sagers, a law profes- saidpresentshigherlegalhur- oftheglobalcloud
positionbyskillandingenuity, TheJusticeDepartmenthas soratClevelandStateUniver- dlesbutcouldgivethedepart- MicrosoftAzure AlibabaCloud infrastructuremarket
andthatitremainsthemarket deniedthatpoliticsplayedany sity,saidthegovernmentinthe mentmoreroomtoseekbroad
leaderbecauseitoffersquality role.Aspokeswomandeclined typicalcasehastoshowthata business changes at Google, Inthe$34.6billioncloud-computingmarket,GoogleCloudlags
productsandservicesthatpeo- to comment on Mr. Schmidt’s company is causing anticom- such as breaking up parts of behindAmazonWebServicesandMicrosoftCorp.’sAzure.
ple want to use—which often remarks. petitiveharminawell-defined thebusiness,ifitwins. GoogleCloudrevenueincreased8%tojustover$3billion
costnothing.Thecompanylik- Thenewlawsuitisthemost market. “The government’s “I believe they’re going for inthesecondquarter,fromfirstquarter..
enedsomeofitsagreementsto aggressiveagainstatechsector challengecouldbemarketdefi- somethingbigger,”hesaid.
Sources:Statcounter(search,browsers,mobileoperatingsystems);U.K.CompetitionandMarkets
a soda or cereal brand that giantsincetheJusticeDepart- nition,” Mr. Sagers said. “Is —RobCopeland Authority(adtech);VertoAnalytics(maps);Canalys(smartwatches,cloud,smartspeakers);
paysforproductplacementin mentsuedMicrosoftin1998on searchanactualmarket?Cana contributedtothisarticle. Datanyze(videoplatforms)
THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL. Thursday,October22,2020|A7
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We thank all our essential
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world, Dow Jones couldn’t
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do this without .
A8|Thursday,October22,2020 THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL.
U.S. NEWS
CDC Redefines
Quarantine Length Studied
‘Close Contact’
CDClooksatwhether
childrenreallyneed14
daysathomeafter BYBRIANNAABBOTT schools,businessesandother
contactwiththevirus establishmentsbasedecisions
Federal health officials on who is allowed to enter
changed the definition of a their premises on whether
BYSARAHKROUSE close contact of a Covid-19 theyareaclosecontactofan
ANDBETSYMCKAY case, after a Vermont prison infected person. It also could
officertestedpositivefollow- haveimplicationsforcontact-
TheU.S.CentersforDisease ing several brief encounters tracingefforts,potentiallyex-
ControlandPreventionisex- withinfectedinmates. panding the number of close
ploringwaystoshortenquar- The officer, a 20-year-old contactsforanyonecasethat
antineperiodsforschoolchil- man,neverwaswithin6feet healthagencieswouldhaveto
drenwhohavebeenincontact ofanyoftheprisonersfor15 trackdown.
with people infected with ormoreconsecutiveminutes, The CDC’s updated defini-
Covid-19inanefforttospeed SS according to a report on the tion “does mean a really big
theirreturntoclassrooms,ac- RE case by the U.S. Centers for overhaul of our response,”
P
cording to people familiarD Disease Control and Preven- saidCrystalWatson,asenior
withthematter. ATE tionandtheVermontDepart- associateattheJohnsHopkins
Public-healthofficialsatthe SSOCI ment of Health posted Center for Health Security.
CDC and state health depart- H/A Wednesday. “It’s going to make contact
mentsarecollectingandana- ATC Afterpublishingthereport tracingawholelotmorediffi-
lyzingdatatostudywhetherit SP online,theCDCaltereditsdef- cult and resource intensive,
DI
ispossibletocondensethe14- S- initionofaclosecontact,say- because there will be more
W
dayperiodduringwhichchil- NE ing it is now someone who contacts.”
drenareadvisedtostayhome HE was within 6 feet of an in- Data are limited to pre-
aftercomingincontactwitha H/T fectedpersonforatotalof15 cisely define a close contact,
personwhohastestedpositive SMIT minutes or more over a 24- and public-health officials
forOCpotvioidn-s19t.he CDC and pub- KELLEY hinoiutiropnerwioads.aTnhyeopnreevwiohuoswdeafs- sehxpoousldurectoinmseidienrsectutimnguslastuivche
lic-health officials have dis- Two-weekquarantinesforchildrencanbedisruptivetoeducation.AnelementaryschoolinIndiana. within 6 feet of an infected as correctional facilities, the
cussed include allowing chil- personforatleast15minutes. reportsaid.
drenwhohavetestednegative changetocurrentrecommen- Still,public-healthofficials ofmorethan57,000child-care “In the end, you just need In addition to time, other
for the virus after a certain dations,”headded. saytheyarewaryofmakinga providersfoundthatchildren to inhale enough virus, and factorstoconsiderindefining
number of days to cut their The agency defines close changeandreleasingchildren in day-care programs don’t there wasn’t any indication close contact are “proximity,
quarantine short or paring contact with infected people from quarantine when they contributetothetransmission that they all need to be in- the duration of exposure,
backthenumberofdaysitad- as those who have spent at may still be infectious but of Covid-19 as long as those haledatthesametime,”said whether the infected person
viseschildrenremainisolated. least15minuteswithin6feet withoutsymptoms. child-care centers follow Jose-LuisJimenez,aprofessor hassymptoms,whetherthein-
Thosediscussionsareongoing of a person who has tested Like many aspects of safety guidelines like mask of chemistry and aerosol sci- fected person was likely to
and may not result in a positiveforCovid-19. Covid-19, public-health offi- wearing, operating in small entistattheUniversityofCol- generaterespiratoryaerosols,
change,thepeoplesaid. Someparentsandteachers cials’ and scientists’ under- groups and regularly wash oradoBoulder. and environmental factors
“We are actively working havetoldpublic-healthofficials standing of the virus and theirhands. The CDC also said the re- such as adequacy of ventila-
onpursuingdatathatcanhelp thattwo-weekquarantinesfor transmission risks continues A CDC study of Covid-19 port highlighted the need to tionandcrowding,”thereport
informthatdefinitionandthat schoolchildren are disruptive to evolve. Some recent re- trendsamongschoolsbetween wearamask,assomeencoun- said. Investigators weren’t
guidance,”saidaCDCspokes- to their education and their search has suggested that March and mid-September ters occurred when inmates abletodeterminethespecific
man.“Atthistime,wedonot classmates.Familiessayquar- youngerchildrenmaybeless foundahigherincidenceofthe weren’twearingfacemasks. routeoftheofficer’sinfection,
have any clear, concrete sci- antinesofthatlengthcanalso likelytospreadthevirus. virusamongstudentsages12 Thechangecouldhavesig- whetheritwasthroughdrop-
ence that would result in a causechild-carechallenges. AnewYaleUniversitystudy to17thanthoseaged5to11. nificant consequences, since lets,aerosolsorsurfaces.
Hospitals Refused
Pandemic Transfers
Due to Insurance
S
GE
A
M
SeverallargeSouthernCali- tients from hospitals without YI
fornia hospital systems im- the capacity or capability to GETT
properly refused or delayed provide necessary medical A/
M
accepting Covid-19 patients care.Hospitalsalsocan’tdelay TA
based on their insurance sta- medical care or transfers to RIO
A
tus, according to internal verify insurance for these M
emails among local and state emergencypatients,according SS;
government, hospital and to the statute. But the law PRE
D
emergency-responseofficials, largely doesn’t apply to pa- ATE
leaving severely ill patients tientswhohavebeenadmitted OCI
waiting for care and adding toahospitalseekingtotrans- SS
A
strainonhospitalsoverrunby ferthem,whichallowsreceiv- NES/
thepandemic. inghospitalstorejectorhold A
G
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uptransfersforinsurance. A
V
ByMelanieEvans, Statelawsonhospitaltrans- DO
AlexandraBerzon fers vary. California is among AN
MI
andDaniela states—including Michigan, A
D
Hernandez New York and Texas, where P:
O
surges also swamped some MT
O
Theemails,obtainedbyThe hospitals—thathavenoexplicit R
F
WallStreetJournalbyapublic requirement for hospitals to StaffatCedars-SinaiMedicalCenterinLosAngeles.Below,aCovid-19patientatSharpMemorialHospitalinSanDiego.
records request, identified taketransferswhenable.
four major hospital systems In California’s case, local it was told how overrun the
thatrefusedordelayedreceiv- governmentandhospitaloffi- hospitalswere.
ingtransferpatients.Thetotal cials exchanged more than a Cedars-SinaiinLosAngeles
could be higher because not dozenemailswithstateemer- and Sharp HealthCare in San
allhospitalsthatdeniedtrans- gency officials about insur- Diegobothdeclinedtransfers
ferswerenamedorquantified. ance-relateddenialsoftrans- for financial reasons, said
In some cases, it couldn’t be fers from two hospitals in LynneSmith-Kinniburgh,who
determined whether more Imperial County—the only rantheprivatelyownedtrans-
than one hospital in the sys- hospitals in a sprawling fercenterhiredbyCalifornia
temrefusedordelayedaccept- county between Arizona, San to relieve Imperial County
ingpatients. Diego County and Mexico. hospitals,inMay26emailsto
Thehospitalsystems,inLos Theywerecrowdedandover- stateofficials.
Angeles, San Diego, Orange runwithCovid-19patientsbe- Cedars-Sinai followed the
andSanBernardinocounties, tweenMayandJuly. law and standard practices
turneddownorhelduptrans- State officials also called when it declined transfers, a
fers based on patients being andemailedhospitalsremind- spokeswomansaid.Patientsin
uninsured, on Medicaid or ing them of the need to help need of transfers on May 26
other insurance-related rea- out,andtellingthemthatthe didn’trequirespecializedcare
sons, according to records state would cover treatment availableatCedars-SinaiMed-
from California’s Emergency costs of uninsured patients, ical Center, she said, and the
MedicalServicesAuthority.In theemailsshow. hospitalsystemsoughttore-
most cases, the hospital sys- InanemailonJune3,amid servebedsforananticipated
tems reported to the state at a surge in coronavirus cases, localsurge.
the same time that they had Hernando Garzon, a doctor Cedars-Sinai Medical Cen-
bedsavailable,thedocuments working for the state’s ter had 120 intensive-care
show. Covid-19response,saidImpe- beds available, according to
Theemailsprovideastark rialCounty’stwohospitalshad statedata.Someofthosebeds
lookintotheoften-hiddenway transferredout250patientsin areforlaboranddelivery,pe-
thathospitalssometimesdeny twoweeks. diatrics, critically ill babies
ordelaycriticalcareduetofi- Thestate’ssystem“worked andotherunitsunabletocare
nancial reasons. Health ex- inthewayitwasdesignedto ElCentroCEOAdolpheEd- HuntingtonBeachHospital tients for which El Centro for Covid-19 patients, the
pertssaidthepractice,which work, and patients received wardnotedinaJune10email refused to take her until her soughttransfershadbeensta- spokeswomansaid.
isn’tuniquetoCaliforniaorto thecaretheyneeded,”theCal- tostateofficialsthatHunting- insurerpreapprovedthepay- bilizedatElCentro.Therefore, Beddataalsoisasnapshot
the coronavirus pandemic, ifornia Department of Public tonBeachHospitalinOrange ments, according to state federal law protecting access atthetimeofreporting.Occu-
highlightsgapsinfederallaw. Health said in response to a Countysaiditwouldn’taccept emails. El Centro staff tried to emergency care no longer pancycanchangerapidly,with
Someinstancesdisclosedin request for comment on Dr. twoemergency-roompatients unsuccessfully to reach Ms. applied,shesaid. anemergency-roomrushoras
theinternalemailsmightcon- Garzon’semail. from El Centro without prior Lopez’sinsurerbyphone. Prime doesn’t delay trans- patients go home or staffing
stituteaviolationofafederal Therefusalswereakeyrea- authorization. Ms. Lopez, whose doctor fers while waiting for insur- changes.
law, the Emergency Medical son why Imperial County pa- wantedhertogettransferred anceapproval,shesaid.Hun- Cedars-Sinai ultimately
Treatment and Labor Act, tienttransferswereslowand tocontinuetogetsupplemen- tington Beach had limited didn’tbilltransferpatientsfor
while in other instances the chaotic,thedocumentsshow. ‘Itiswrongtosay tal oxygen, was brought to a occupancy at the time, state amountsthatinsurancefailed
actionsrancountertomedical Hospitalsalsograppledwitha temporary alternative-care records show, with one ICU to cover, the spokeswoman
“no”ifyouhave
ethics,theexpertssaid. lack of real-time data to find siteatalocalcommunitycol- bedandthreemedical-surgical said.Cedars-Sinaiaccepted13
“It is wrong to say ‘no’ if availablebeds. capacity,’saysone lege that had been set up to beds. Imperial County transfer pa-
you have capacity,” and an The result: Patients were handle nonserious overflow In another case, Loma tients between May 25 and
medicaldirector.
overrunhospitalcan’tprovide leftwaitinguptofourdaysfor patients,emailsviewedbythe LindaUniversityHealthinSan June 25, she said, including
propercaretothefloodofpa- transfers,accordingtodoctors Journal show. Ms. Lopez re- BernardinoCountysoughtas- fiveonMay25.
tients coming through its andadministrationatImperial covered. She said during the surancefromtransfercoordi- Sharp spokesman John
doors, said Paul Biddinger, County’s overrun El Centro five days at the care site she nators that it would be paid Cihomsky said the system
medical director for emer- RegionalMedicalCenter,forc- One of those patients: felt powerless and that she rates at 130% of Medicare doesn’t limit transfers based
gency preparedness at the ing some to fly hundreds of Norma Lopez, 56 years old, shouldbeatahospital. prices for two uninsured pa- on insurance, and didn’t on
MassGeneralBrighamhospi- milesforabed.Somepatients who arrived at El Centro’s A spokeswoman for Prime tients,theemailsshow. May 26. A transfer request
talsysteminBoston. suffered lung damage and emergencyroomwithafever, Healthcare and the nonprofit Inastatement,LomaLinda that day from El Centro was
Thefederallawsayshospi- other complications as a re- having trouble breathing and PrimeHealthcareFoundation, said it followed standard in- latercanceled,hesaid,andthe
talswithresourcesmustaccept sult,accordingtodoctorswho speaking,shesaid.Shetested which includes Huntington dustry practice and stopped patient was instead trans-
alltransfersofemergencypa- caredforthem. positiveforCovid-19. Beach Hospital, said the pa- demandingthepaymentsafter ferredelsewhere.
THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL. Thursday,October22,2020|A9
U.S. NEWS
Spread of
Tight Security Planned for Vaccines
Infection
In U.S. BYJAREDS.HOPKINS
Healthauthorities,hospitals
Grows andpharmaceuticalcompanies
arestoringCovid-19vaccinesin
secure, undisclosed locations
andtakingotherstepstopro-
BYTEDMANN tecttheshotsagainstaloom-
ANDJOSEPHDEAVILA ingthreat:theft.
Astheleadingvaccinecan-
Newcoronavirusinfections didatesadvanceclosertouse,
grew at the fastest rate in vaccinemakerssuchasPfizer
nearlythreemonthsoverthe Inc. are deploying GPS soft-
past week, with more than warefortrackingdistribution
60,000newcasesreportedon andplottingfakeshipmentsin
Tuesday and data indicating dummy trucks to confuse
that the spread has been ris- criminals.GlassmakerCorning
ingsteadilyforweeks. Inc. is equipping vials with
Tuesday’s case numbers black-lightverificationtocurb
wereupfrom58,387adaybe- counterfeiting.Andsomehos-
fore, according to data com- pitals expected to be among
piled by Johns Hopkins Uni- thefirstvaccinationsitesare
versity.Thatmarkedthethird beefing up their pharmacies’
S
snterwailgyhrtepdoarytetdhecasneusmhbaesrino-f secTuhreitygsoysatl,emisn.dustry and REUTER
creased. Federal health offi- healthofficialssay,isprotect- SE/
cials on Wednesday urged ing the shots against thieves OU
B
Americanstolimitthespread whohaveahistoryoftargeting ALI
B
of the coronavirus by main- valuable medicines, and have S
NI
taining physical distance and pilfered Covid-19 tests, masks DE
wearingfacecoverings. and other personal protective AnantibodyproductionlineatabuildinginVisp,Switzerland,wheretheModernavaccinewillbeproduced.
TheU.S.hasreportedmore equipmentduringthecoronavi-
than8.27millioninfectionsin ruspandemic. coldtemperatures,thanpossi- Annualpharmaceutical Topcountriesfor severalstatessaymanufactur-
total, accounting for more “Weareappropriatelypara- bletheft.Theyaddedthatthey counterfeiting,illegal- pharmaceuticaltheft, ersorthefederalgovernment
than a fifth of the world’s noid about anything that has plan to use standard security diversionandtheftincidents 2019 will ship the vaccine directly
nearly 40.8 million cases, to do with either cybersecu- steps,suchaslockingvaccines tohospitalsandothervaccina-
5thousand 100%
sincetheoutbreakbegan. rity or physical security and inpharmacies. tionsitestoreducethenum-
Restofworld
New research showed that wearetakinggreatprecaution “Theydon’twanttoadmit berofroadstops.
deathratesforthosehospital- toensurethatthesearesafe- it’s a problem,” said Anna PfizerwilluseGPSsoftware
4
izedwiththevirushavefallen, guarded,”PaulMango,deputy Nagurney, a University of 75 Argentina totrackthelocationandtem-
possibly because doctors un- chiefofstaffforpolicyatthe Massachusetts at Amherst peratureoftheshots,topre-
Peru
derstand better how to treat U.S.DepartmentofHealthand professorwhostudiessupply- ventunexpecteddeviations,a
it.However,thereweresignals HumanServices,said. chain logistics. “It’s another 3 U.S. spokeswomansaid.
of a new surge in infections, The department has ar- kindofexpenseforthem.” “The distribution at this
50
eveninstatesthathadprevi- rangedforU.S.marshalstoac- Leading Covid-19 vaccine Mexico scaleofsuchavaluableprod-
ously succeeded in blunting company shipments of vac- candidates from Pfizer, Mod- 2 uctwithsuchhighcareisgo-
thespread. cines, currently stored at ernaInc.andothercompanies Brazil ing to be a very significant
NewresearchfromtheCDC undisclosed locations, once are in the final stage of test- challenge for the industry,”
25
found the official death toll the shots are authorized for ing.Theshotscouldbeautho- saidShabbirDahod,chiefex-
1
fromthevirus“mightunder- distribution,Mr.Mangosaid. rizedasearlyasNovemberor ecutive of TraceLink Inc.,
estimate the total impact of Despitesuchmeasures,in- December,accordingtoPfizer whose technology is being
the pandemic on mortality.” dustry officials and logistics andModernaexecutives. usedbysomevaccinemakers
0 0
There have been nearly specialists worry the shots Though drugmakers have totracktheirproducts.
300,000“excessdeaths”inthe couldbevulnerabletotheftat been producing doses, initial 2015 ’16 ’17 ’18 ’19 Shareoftotal Relying on typical cyber
U.S. from January through weaklinksinthesupplychain, supplies are expected to be Sources:ThePharmaceuticalSecurityInstitute;BSIGroup safeguards might not be
Oct. 3, the CDC found, with such as distribution centers, limited, making any shot a enough for securing the vac-
about two-thirds of those di- truckstopsandhospitalswith covetedcommodity. “Youaregoingtohavepeo- cineneedstobeprotected.” cines, according to Kevin
rectlycausedbyCovid-19. laxsecurity. Industry officials and ex- plethatwillwanttohaveac- Over the past five years, McDonald, a cybersecurity
Theremaindermayalsobe Fivelargehospitalsystems pertsareconcernedtheycould cess to the vaccine earlier,” world-wide incidents such as consultant for MedSec. The
attributed to the pandemic, andseveralstatessaidininter- be intercepted by sophisti- said Juan Andres, chief of theft and counterfeiting of freezersandrefrigeratorsfor
the study said; they may in- views they are more focused cated criminals, foreign gov- technical operations at Mod- pharmaceuticalproductsrose storing Covid-19 vaccines are
clude some whose infections onensuringthatenoughpeo- ernmentsorindividualseager erna,whichenhancedsecurity nearly 70%, according to the especiallyvulnerabletocyber-
went undetected and others pletaketheshotsandsecuring to get vaccines before priori- atmanufacturingandstorage PharmaceuticalSecurityInsti- criminals, he said, because
who died because of disrup- capabilities to store the vac- tized groups, such as health- facilitiesforitsCovid-19vac- tute,atradegroup. suchdevicesarehookedupto
tiontothehealth-caresystem. cinesattherequiredextremely careworkers. cine.“Idothinkthatthevac- To protect Covid-19 shots, datanetworks.
Purdue Sets
JonathanSacklerresponded, opioidoverdose-andaddiction-
accordingtocourtdocuments, treatmentdrugs.
Guilty Plea that “we’ve taken a fantastic Twodozenstates,however,
amount of money out of the have opposed any future for
business.”Aboutamonthlater, Purdue other than a sale to a
On Opioids he wrote to family members privatebuyer.“Thepublicde-
thatmoneycouldstillbemade servesassurancethatnoopioid
offopioids,“butintheaggre- business is given the special
gate,it’smoreofasmartmilk- protectionofbeingplacedun-
ingprogramthanagrowthpro- derapublicumbrella,”agroup
ContinuedfromPageOne gram.” of 25 states, including Massa-
The coronavirus pandemic TheJusticeDepartmentalso chusettsandCalifornia,wrote
hasheighteneddrug-overdose allegesSacklerfamilymembers inaletterlastweektoU.S.At-
problems in some states, as approved a program in 2013 torney General William Barr.
providing treatment becomes called “Evolve to Excellence” Selling the business outright,
more complicated and social thatfocusedmarketingondoc- the letter says, “may also de-
isolationdestabilizessometry- tors writing as much as 25 livermoreupfrontmoneythat
ingtostaysober. times more OxyContin pre- cities and states can use to
Steve Miller, chairman of scriptionsthantheirpeers. abatetheopioidepidemic.”
Purdue’s board, said the com- The Sacklers said Wednes- Thedissentingstatescontin-
pany regrets and accepts re- day that the release of com- uedtodecrythesettlementon
sponsibilityforthemisconduct pany documents called for in Wednesday. “It allows billion-
citedbyprosecutors,whichin- aires to keep their billions,”
cludesillegalkickbacksandmis- saidNewYorkAttorneyGeneral
representations made to the Thecompany’s LetitiaJamesaDemocrat.
DrugEnforcementAdministra- ThecurrentvalueofPurdue’s
bankruptcyestate
tion.“Purduetodayisaverydif- bankruptcyestateisaround$5
ferent company,” he said. “We includes$3billion billion,whichincludes$3billion
havemadesignificantchanges pledgedbytheSacklers.States
theSacklerspledged.
to our leadership, operations, thatopposePurdue’sproposed
governance,andoversight.” bankruptcy plan want to see
TheSacklersdidn’tconcede moremoneypersonallycontrib-
thegovernment’saccusationsas utedbytheSacklers.
part of the deal. The family theJusticeDepartmentagree- The Sacklers have been
members who once served on ments will show family mem- shielded from litigation until
Purdue’sboardsaidtheyhadrig- bers “acted ethically and law- Marchbythejudgeoverseeing
orouspoliciestokeepthecom- fully.” The family said it has Purdue’s chapter 11 case even
panyincompliancewiththelaw compassionforthosewhosuf- though the family didn’t per-
and that all financial distribu- ferfromopioidaddiction. sonallyfileforbankruptcy.
tionstothefamilywereproper. Stamford,Conn.-basedPurdue TheJusticeDepartmenthas
Thegovernmentsaidother- filedforbankruptcymorethana penalized Purdue before. The
wise, alleging in court filings yearagotohalttheopioidlitiga- companyandthreeofitsexecu-
Wednesdaythatthefamilyille- tionandtrytocutabroadsettle- tivesin2007pleadedguiltyto Strut your Stuff
gallytransferredmoneyoutof ment.Underaplantoexitbank- criminalchargesofmisleading
thecompanytohideitfromfu- ruptcy,supportedbytheJustice thepublicaboutOxyContinand French Peacock Automaton
turecreditors. Department, Purdue has pro- paid$634.5millioningovern-
Thedocumentsciteanemail posedturningitselfintoacorpo- mentpenaltiesandcosts.
thatMortimerD.A.Sacklersent ratetrust,runforthebenefitof A week after those guilty Spellbinding design. Mechanical ingenuity. Timeless wonder.
inSeptember2014tohiscousin thepublic.TheSacklerswillre- pleas,JonathanSackleremailed
This charming peacock automaton contains a highly elaborate
andfellowboardmemberJona- linquish all ownership of the twootherSacklersandafinan-
clockworksystemhiddenwithinitsbodythatallowsthehandsome
thanSacklertosayPurduewas company,whichwouldcontinue cial adviser, saying that an in-
inadeathspiral. to sell OxyContin and develop vestmentbankeroncetoldhim, birdtocomefullytolife.Whenwound,thepeacockstrutsforward,
“yourfamilyisalreadyrich,the turnshisheadfromsidetoside,andliftshisfanoftailfeathersin
onethingyoudon’twanttodois animpressivedisplay.Circa1890.12”wx16”dx61/4”h.#31-1408
to become poor,” according to
JusticeDepartmentfilings. Viewavideoofthisincredibleautomatononlineatmsrau.com/31-1408.
DavidSackler,whowouldn’t
jointheboarduntilyearslater,
replied to his uncle’s email:
“[W]hat do you think is going
on in all of these courtrooms
rightnow?We’rerich?Forhow
long? Until which suits get
S
W
NE throughtothefamily?”
G The Sacklers for years
R
BE avoidedbeinglinkedtotheopi-
OOM oidcrisis,insteadcultivatingan 622RoyalStreet,NewOrleans,LA • 888-867-9583 • [email protected] • msrau.com
PAS/BL iBmuatgiensatsitgultoiboanlspihniclalundthinrgopNisetws. Since1912,M.S.Rauhasspecializedintheworld’sfinestart,antiquesandjewelry.
GRI York’sMetropolitanMuseumof Backedbyourunprecedented125%Guarantee,westandbehindeachandeverypiece.
RI
U Art and Columbia University
Y
DeputyAttorneyGeneralJeffreyRosenannouncedthe$8.34 havesaidtheywouldnolonger
billionsettlementwiththedrugmakeronWednesday. takemoneyfromthefamily.
A10|Thursday,October22,2020 THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL.
****
WORLD NEWS
Pope Backs Civil Unions for Gay Couples
Remarksaren’t In Europe, North America At least some of the re- grounds for considering ho- that document, “respect for dismayonWednesday.
andotherWesterncountries, markswereapparentlydrawn mosexualunionstobeinany homosexual persons cannot “The Holy Father’s appar-
consideredofficialpapal
too, it is expected to have an from a 2019 television inter- waysimilarorevenremotely leadinanywaytoapprovalof ent support for the recogni-
teaching,butdraw impact on the cultural wars view with Mexico’s Grupo analogous to God’s plan for homosexualbehaviorortole- tionofcivilunionsforsame-
over sexuality within the Televisa. marriageandfamily.” galrecognitionofhomosexual sex couples needs to be
conservativerebuke
churchandbeyond. Since his remarks weren’t Earlier,whenthepopewas unions.” clarified.Thepope’sstatement
“Homosexualshavearight delivered in a sermon or a archbishopofBuenosAiresas The Holy See Press Office clearly contradicts what has
BYFRANCISX.ROCCA to be a part of the family. Vaticandocument,theydon’t Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergo- didn’trespondtoarequestto been the longstanding teach-
They’re children of God and constituteofficialteaching. glio, he described same-sex comment. ing of the Church,” said
ROME—Pope Francis en- have a right to a family. No- PopeFrancishasbeennota- marriageasan“anthropologi- “PopeFrancis’ssupportfor BishopThomasTobinofProvi-
dorsedcivilunionsforsame- bodyshouldbethrownout,or ble for his conciliatory ap- calregression.” same-sexcivilunionsisama- dence, R.I., a vocal conserva-
sexcouples,inamovelikelyto bemademiserablebecauseof proach to gay people. The But in a 2014 interview, jor step forward in the tive,inastatement.
intensify the already heated it,”PopeFrancissaidinadoc- mostfamouswordsofhispon- aboutayearafterhiselection church’s support of LGBTQ The Rev. Gerald Murray,
controversyovertheCatholic umentary film, “Francesco,” tificatearehis2013statement aspope,hesuggestedthatthe people…and sends a strong pastorofHolyFamilyChurch
Church’s teaching on homo- that had its premier at the aboutgaypriests:“WhoamI CatholicChurchcouldtolerate signaltocountrieswherethe in New York and a frequent
sexuality. Rome Film Festival on tojudge?”Hehasalsoreceived someformofcivilunionsfor church has opposed such commentatoronEWTNCatho-
The pope’s words, though Wednesday,theCatholicNews atransgendermanattheVati- same-sexcouples. laws,”tweetedtheRev.James lictelevision,saidheexpected
not part of his official teach- Agency and other outlets re- can and met with a same-sex The Vatican’s position on Martin,authorof“Buildinga other bishops and cardinals
ing,willlikelyputpressureon ported. coupleinWashington. civil unions has until now Bridge,” a book about the wouldweighinfororagainst
Catholicbishopsinthedevel- “Whatwehavetocreateis Atthesametime,thepope beensetforthina2003docu- church’srelationshipwithgay thepope’sstatement,exacer-
oping world to tolerate legal a civil-union law. That way hasrejectedthepossibilityof ment by the doctrinal office, Catholics,whowasreceivedin batingdivisionsinthechurch.
recognition of same-sex theyarelegallycovered,”the same-sexmarriage.Ina2016 then led by Cardinal Joseph aprivateaudiencebythepope “Pope Francis has over-
unionsandopposeanti-homo- pope said, according to CNA. document, he wrote that Ratzinger, the future Pope lastyear. stepped his bounds,” Father
sexualitylaws. “Istoodupforthat.” “there are absolutely no Benedict XVI. According to Conservatives expressed Murraysaid.
In China, Pandemic Widens the Wealth Gap WORLDWATCH
NIGERIA
BYSTELLAYIFANXIE IncomegrowthofChina's ternational Monetary Fund.
Twelve Protesters
migrantworkersimprovedin The top 1% of households
Fallout from the Covid-19 thethirdquarterbutisstill owned about one-third of Killed, Group Says
pandemiciswideningthegap belowpre-Covidlevels. China’swealth,whilethebot-
betweenhavesandhave-nots tom 25% had only 1%, a 2015 AmnestyInternationalsaid
8%
in China, a trend that could PekingUniversitystudysaid. Nigeria’ssecurityforcesfired
bring social tensions and un- China’s official Gini coeffi- upontwolargegatheringsof
dermine the country’s stron- cient,ameasureofincomein- peacefulprotestersTuesday
ger-than-expected economic 4 equality, has improved mod- night,killing12people.
recovery. estly since Xi Jinping took Atleast56peoplehavedied
As in the U.S., higher-in- power in 2012 and began duringtwoweeksofwidespread
come earners have for the 0 crackingdownoncorruption. demonstrationsagainstpolicevi-
mostpartheldontotheirjobsOCK Hisgovernmentalsohasspent olence,including38onTuesday,
inChinathisyear,whiletheirST billionsofdollarsonasigna- thegroupsaidWednesday.The
R
stockandpropertyassetskeptUTTE –4 ture goal of eliminating pov- Nigeriangovernmentdidn’tcom-
growinginvalue.Yet,manyofH erty by the end of this year, mentaboutAmnestyInterna-
S
thecountry’shundredsofmil-PA/ withenormousinvestmentsin tional’sallegations.
lionsoflower-incomeearnersG/E ruralmedicalcare,infrastruc- The#EndSARSprotestsbe-
continue to suffer from lostHON –8 tureandotherbasicservices. ganamidcallsforNigeria’sgov-
work or diminished wages,WU 2018 2019 2020 But analysts have long ernmenttoclosethepoliceSpe-
andoftenlackwelfarebenefits Asmorelower-incomefamiliesstrugglewiththepandemic,the questionedtheaccuracyofthe cialAnti-RobberySquad,known
Source:Wind
orassetstofallbackon. gapbetweenrichandpoorcouldthreatentheeconomicrecovery. data,whichgoesonlythrough asSARS,buthasbecomea
“LiketheU.S.,therecovery 2019, in part because China’s muchwiderdemandforbetter
in China follows a K-shaped lesspork.“It’sbeendifficultto China’s $6 trillion consumer aviciouscycle,inwhichflag- richestpeopletendtounder- governanceinNigeria.
trajectory,”saidTommyWu,a findajobelsewherethisyear market.Althoughconsumption ging demand hurts the same report real income. In May, Despitetheviolence,thepro-
HongKong-basedseniorecon- becauseofthevirus,”hesaid. hasstrengthenedinChinare- small businesses that employ PremierLiKeqiangsaidsome testersdefiedacurfewand
omist at Oxford Economics. Ontheotherendoftheso- cently, it has lagged behind manylow-incomeearners. 600 million people earn only facedoffwithsecurityforces
“It’salmostcertainthatCovid cial divide, Wu Weijue, a 32- other parts of the economy “If more small businesses about$140amonth. Wednesdayasgunfirerangout
has worsened income and year-oldfull-timeinvestorliv- sincethepandemicbegan,and remain closed as a result of Morerecentdatapointtoa andfiresburnedinLagos,aday
wealthinequalityinChina.” inginShenzhenwithhiswife couldweighongrowthifmore weak demand, it can cause reversalinthewealthgapthis aftershotswerefiredintoa
LiuRuguo,53yearsold,still and three children, has seen familiesdon’tseeincomesre- permanentdamagetoChina’s year, as more lower-income crowdofdemonstratorssinging
hasn’t returned to the Dong- littledownsidefromthepan- bound. economythatwehaven’tseen familiesstrugglewiththepan- thenationalanthem.
guan shoe factory where he demic.Hesayshemadeabout Tourismrevenueduringthe before,”Mr.Gansaid. demic’srippleeffects. Thesecurityforcesfired
workedsinceleavinginFebru- 10%ingainsfrominvestments recenteight-dayGoldenWeek China’sCommunistrevolu- Growthinaverageincomes withoutwarningontheprotest-
ary,whenthecoronaviruswas inbitcoinandstockssincethe nationalholidaywasdown30% tionwasbuiltinlargeparton for the nation’s 290 million ersTuesdaynightattheLekki
spreading fast in China. His beginningoftheyear. from 2019, Chinese govern- the idea of uplifting the poor migrantworkersinthesecond tollplaza,AmnestyInternational
family’slonebreadwinner,with Awiderincomegapmatters mentdatashow.Whilesalesof andlevelinginequality.While quarter was 6.7% below the said,citingeyewitnesses,video
sonsaged29and23,heusedto for several reasons. While luxurygoodshavedonewellin market reforms in the 1990s year-earlierperiod,indicating footageandhospitalreports.
earnasmuchas$590amonth, there are no signs of serious recent months, other catego- and2000sunleashedeconomic a“severeandlong-lastingim- —AssociatedPress
with overtime. The company unrest in China, Communist ries,suchasfurnitureorcater- growthandliftedhundredsof pact,” according to Nomura.
ownerhasn’tbeenabletopay Party leaders have long wor- ingservices,haven’t. millionsofpeopleoutofpov- Their incomes rebounded UNITEDKINGDOM
severalmonthsofsalaryowed riedthatthespectacleofsome Overall, retail sales are erty, they also resulted in a slightlyinthethirdquarter.
Court Backs Migrants
tohim,eventhoughproduction people doing very well while largely expected to contract more unequal distribution of Wei He, an analyst at
hasresumed. othersdon’tcouldthreatenso- fortheyear. wealth,addingtoBeijing’sanx- Gavekal Research, estimates In Deportation Appeal
Now Mr. Liu earns up to cialstability. Gan Li, a professor of eco- ietyaboutpossiblesocialwoes. that China’s bottom 60% of
about$295amonthchopping Moreover, despite their nomicsatTexasA&MUniver- By2013,Chinawasamong households lost about $200 Britain’sCourtofAppealruled
trees. He said his family is lower incomes, poorer resi- sity, said weak spending by the world’s most unequal billion in income during the thatagovernmentpolicythat
tryingtosavemoneybyeating dents make up a big part of poorerhouseholdscouldcreate countries,accordingtotheIn- firsthalfof2020. gavemigrantsaslittleas72
hours’noticebeforetheyarede-
Hospitals Gear Up for Europe’s Second Covid-19 Wave portedisunlawful.
Undertherule,asylumseekers
ormigrantswhoseapplications
failedweretoldtheyhadthree
daystomakefinalrepresenta-
Europe’s second wave of tionsorbeflownoutoftheU.K.
the coronavirus pandemic is atanytimeinthefollowingthree
revivingthepressureonhos- months.Thepolicy,meanttobar
pitals in the worst-hit cities, last-minutebidstoblockremov-
and forcing health-care sys- als,affectedthousandsofcases.
MedicalJustice,thegroupthat
ByNoemieBisserbe broughtthechallenge,arguedthe
inParis,EricSylvers policyposeda“seriousthreatto
inMilanandMaria theruleoflaw”becauseitwould
MartinezinMadrid beimpossibleformanymigrants
tofindalawyeronshortnotice.
temsaroundthecontinentto TheHighCourtrejectedthat
devisecontingencyplansthat claiminSeptember2019,but
draw on the lessons of this campaignerstookthecasetothe
S
spring’sdeadlyfirstwave. GE CourtofAppeal.Apanelofthree
A
HospitalsinParisarestock-M judgesunanimouslyruled
I
Y
esphqiluoinirptgmfaedllnrsuttgthosaatavnopdildagapurreoedtpeetcahtteivomefSSE/GETT Wf“uicneead,csncaeeyspidntaagybiltaesgrapisionklsicotyfthlienedteHtroofemarenencOef-
earlier this year. HospitalsPRE withtherightofaccesstocourt.”
across Spain have drawn upNCE- —AssociatedPress
A
“elasticity plans” to increaseR
F
the number of beds forNCE THAILAND
Covid-19 patients as casesAGE Protesters Continue
muIlntipLloym. bardy, the northernOULET/ To March in Bangkok
Italian region where Europe’s ARI
B
outbreakbeganinearly2020,S Student-ledprotestersinThai-
A
thehealth-caresystemispre-UC landdefiantlymarchedtothe
L
paring to move patients to Theintensive-careunitoftheLariboisièreHospitalinParis.Drugsandprotectiveequipmentarebeingstockpiledinthecity. streetsneartheprimeminister’s
placeswherethereisspacefor officeonWednesdaynight,re-
them,topreventintensive-care ward, the virus is once again by Covid-19 patients, and the tiestoimposean11p.m.cur- procedures. peatingtheirdemandthathe
unitsfrombeingoverwhelmed infectingolderpeople,andEu- hospital recently canceled fewandotherrestrictionsthat Hospital pressures could stepdownevenasheurged
as happened in coronavirus rope’snewsystemsfortesting, manynonurgentprocedures. gobeyondnationalmeasures. soon reach critical levels in themtoletParliamentdealwith
hotspotsinthespring. tracingandisolatingviruscar- Doctors at Saint-Denis say In Madrid, one of the hot Central European countries theircallsfordemocraticreforms.
Infectionsarerisingrapidly riersarestrugglingtokeepup. theyunderstandthevirusbet- spotsofEurope’ssecondwave, suchasPoland,whichavoided Theprotesterspushedthrough
in most of Europe, but the Francereported163deaths ter now than in early 2020, pressures already are visible the worst of Europe’s first linesofpolicewho,though
pandemic’ssecondwaveisn’t fromCovid-19inhospitalson but worry that they still lack inhospitals.Covid-19patients wave but are struggling with equippedwithriotgearand
so far inflicting a death toll Tuesday,thehighesttollsince thestaffandresourcestohan- occupy 20% of all hospital exponentiallyrisingcontagion. standingbehindportablemetal
that is comparable with the the country ended its lock- dle the expected surge of bedsintheMadridregion,and Polish authorities have in- barriersandbarbedwire,didnot
continent’slethaloutbreaksin downinMay.InItaly,some70 cases. “It’s frustrating, be- 39%ofintensive-carespots. structedsomehospitalstore- putupaseriousfight.Policehad
March and April. The rising people a day are now dying. cause we know how to treat The city’s Gregorio Mara- movenon-Covid-19patientsat pushedtheprotestersoutofthe
wave of infections in Europe The country had managed to patients better now, but we ñón hospital, the biggest in short notice and install the sameareajustaweekearlier.
sincethesummerhasaffected reduce daily Covid-19 deaths won’t be able to do it,” said Spainwith1,150beds,sentpa- necessary controls to safely Protestershandedgovernment
manyyoungerpeople,whoare tosinglefiguresinAugust. Dr.FrançoisLhote,whoheads tients to a nearby hotel and treatviruscases. representativeswhattheysaid
lesslikelytofallseverelyill. The French government thehospital’sCovid-19unit. fieldhospitalduringthefirst OnTuesday,asmallhospi- wasaresignationformforPrime
Thenumberspartlyreflect pledgedthissummertoboost In the Lombardy region wave.JavierMuñoz,thehospi- tal in the town of Czarnków MinisterPrayuthChan-ochato
countries’improvedabilityto investment in the national around Milan, health experts tal’smedicaldirector,saidthe was still constructing the sign,anddemandedfreedomfor
detect the virus. And more health-caresystem,aswellas this week predicted that the healthsystem is betterpre- wallsforanewCovid-19ward theircomradesarrestedincon-
Covid-19 patients are getting raisingstaffingandsalariesin number of coronavirus pa- paredforthenextonslaught. to house 15 beds, the third nectionwithearlierprotests.
earlytreatment,sofewerare hospitals.Buthospitalcapacity tients in intensive-care units Thehospitalhasstockpiled suchwardithadbuiltinmore Iftheirdemandswerenot
ending up in intensive-care hasn’t increased significantly wouldriseto600bytheend protectiveequipmentforupto than a week. Outside, ambu- met,theysaid,theywouldreturn
units.Butthosemitigatingfac- in recent months. In Saint- of October, from around 120 four months at maximum ca- lances holding 15 patients inthreedays.Theythendis-
torsarefading.Asthenumber Denis, half of the intensive- currently. That forecast pacity,hesaid.Healthworkers waitedneartheentrance,said persedpeacefully.
ofinfectedpeoplespiralsup- carebedsarealreadyoccupied promptedLombardy’sauthori- havereceivedtraininginnew DirectorBożenaSadowska. —AssociatedPress