Cut to the News
Cut through the clutter to today's top news
June 5, 2020
Good morning
Welcome to today's top news. Sorry for the late send, I decided to wait for the unemployment report releases at 8:30 am ET. You can find it in the Money section below
Leading the News . . .
New York Times disavows editorial urging military intervention in cities . . . What began as an undercurrent of newsroom grumbling built into an unusual Twitter tidal wave of public outrage among journalists at the New York Times over their newspaper’s decision to publish an opinion column by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) calling for military intervention in U.S. cities wracked by protests over police violence. But after the paper’s publisher and editorial page editor strongly defended the need to showcase diverse and controversial viewpoints, the paper late Thursday abruptly announced that Cotton’s op-ed was the result of a “rushed editorial process” and “did not meet our standards.” One by one, dozens of Times reporters,
columnists and editors had rebuked the paper’s editorial page Wednesday night for publishing the op-ed, in which Cotton stated that “rioters have plunged many American cities into anarchy” and that an “overwhelming show of force” is needed to “restore order to our streets.” Several staffers tweeted a message that became a kind of rallying cry: “Running this puts Black @nytimes staffers in danger.” Washington Post
This is a major moment. The so-called "paper of record" has backed down to the mob on an issue of free speech. Cotton's piece offered a perfectly legitimate point of view. It's incredible that nobody at the Times has resigned over this.
Cotton: "A child mob" runs the New York Times . . . Sen. Tom Cotton reacted to the New York Times issuing a statement that an op-ed he wrote that the paper published didn’t meet its
standards by stating that “a child mob” is running the paper. Cotton said: “I can tell you, my op-ed doesn’t meet the New York Times’ standards. It far exceeds their standards, which are normally full of left-wing, sophomoric drivel. And I find it amazing that in the last 24 hours, the editor of the New York Times, and the publisher of the New York
Times have both defended their decision to publish this op-ed, but in the face of the woke mob of woke kids that are in their newsroom, they tucked tail and they ran. They confessed and said they were going to go into reeducation camp, and they were going to cut the number of op-eds they run. Breitbart
Saints QB Brees keeps apologizing for saying he wouldn't disrespect the flag . . . New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees took to Instagram on Thursday night to expound on his apology from earlier in the day for his comments on protesting during the national
anthem. Said Brees in the video apology he posted: "I know there's not much I can say that would make things any better right now, but I just want you to see in my eyes how sorry I am for the comments that I made yesterday. I am sorry. And I will do better. Breeze had said: “I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country. Is everything right with our country right now? No, it is not. But I think what you do by
standing there and showing respect to the flag with your hand over your heart, is it shows unity. It shows that we are all in this together, we can all do better and that we are all part of the solution.” USA Today
Enjoy your First Amendment while you still can. Because now you cannot says it's bad to disrespect the flag.
Democratic senators bow to the Left — literally . . . The Senate Democratic caucus stood together in silence Thursday in honor of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the amount of time policeman Derek Chauvin had his knee on Floyd’s neck. Well, not all of them stood. Sens. Michael Bennet of Colorado, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Tim Kaine of Virginia, and Chris Van Hollen
Maryland all took a knee, or two knees. Look at these pathetic sycophants. White House Dossier
Scientists pull study saying Hydroxychloroquine harmful . . . An influential study that found hydroxychloroquine increased the risk of death in COVID-19 patients has been withdrawn a week after it led to major trials being halted, adding to confusion about a malaria drug championed by U.S. President Donald Trump. The Lancet medical journal pulled the study after three of its authors retracted it, citing concerns about the
quality and veracity of data in it. The World Health Organization (WHO) will resume its hydroxychloroquine trials after pausing them in the wake of the study. Dozens of other trials have resumed or are in process. The three authors said Surgisphere, the company that provided the data, would not transfer the dataset for an independent review and they “can no longer vouch for the veracity of the primary data sources.” Reuters
Fauci says at least some schools can reopen in the fall . . . Schools in the United States will be able to reopen in the fall as long as students and staff follow social distancing protocols, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert. Fauci said Thursday that some schools may have “no problem” welcoming students back in the fall, but the decision to reopen depends on the rate of infection in specific areas. He
added, though, that it won’t be necessary to keep schools closed next year. “Children can get infected, so, yes, so you've got to be careful,” Fauci said. “You got to be careful for them, and you got to be careful that they may not spread it. Now, to make an extrapolation that you shouldn't open schools, I think is a bit of a reach.” Washington Examiner
Pittsburgh doctors: Coronavirus may be weakening . . . Doctors at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center say the coronavirus appears to be becoming less potent. Dr Donald Yealy, chair of emergency medicine at UPMC, explained at a press conference on Thursday that
people seem to be contracting the virus less easily and cases appear to be less severe then when the pandemic first took hold in the US early this year. 'The virus may be changing,' Yealy said. 'Some patterns suggest the potency is diminished.' Daily Mail
New York City reports no new coronavirus deaths for first time since March
COVID can affect taste and smell for months, possibly even permanently . . . Clinicians racing to understand the novel disease are starting to discern an unusual trend: one common symptom—the loss of smell and taste—can linger months after recovery. Doctors say it is
possible some survivors may never taste or smell again. Out of 417 patients who suffered mild to moderate forms of Covid-19 in Europe, 88% and 86% reported taste and smell dysfunctions, respectively, according to a study published in April. Most patients said they couldn’t taste or smell even after other symptoms were gone. Preliminary data showed at least a quarter of people regained their ability to taste and smell within two weeks of other symptoms dissipating. The study said
long-term data are needed to assess how long this can last in people who didn’t report an improvement. Wall Street Journal
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Biden says 10 to 15 percent of Americans "just not very good people" . . . Former Vice President Joe Biden claimed Thursday that "10 to 15 percent" of Americans are "just not very good people." Biden held a virtual town hall on Thursday evening with black supporters where he knocked President Trump's divisiveness and weak leadership.
“The words a president says matter, so when a president stands up and divides people all the time, you’re gonna the worst of us to come out,” Biden told actor Don Cheadle, who was moderating the virtual town hall. Fox News
So lets see, Trump has the support of about 45 percent of Americans, so that gets us to a third of Trump backers are . . . deplorable!
Former Hillary Clinton spokesman Fallon calls for defunding the police . . . Hillary Clinton 2016 press secretary Brian Fallon says he wants to defund the police! And he states it so succinctly! No ambiguity or messing around here. Brian doesn’t want to defund the police. He’s just virtue signalling. None of these Democrats want to defund the police, except the truly hardcore types. I mean, who would help them if someone stole
their bags coming out of Whole Foods? The scarier thing is that mainstream Democrats are now kowtowing to the extreme Left. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is one of the most powerful people in the country. Things are becoming pretty damn Orwellian. White House Dossier
Trump vows to campaign against Murkowski since she may not back him . . . Amid widespread protests and outrage over President Donald Trump's response, one Republican senator said she is struggling over whether she can support the president in November. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, in an extraordinary back-and-forth with reporters at the U.S. Capitol Thursday, backed the public condemnation of the president offered by his
former Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, who said Trump was a threat to American democracy and aimed only to divide the country. Murkowski called Mattis' comments "true, and honest, and necessary and overdue." USA Today
Former Trump chief of staff Kelly defends Mattis . . . General John Kelly could be the next retired general to rebuke Donald Trump for calling in active duty military in the midst of George Floyd protests – as the former chief of staff called the president 'nasty' for his comments about General Jim Mattis. Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general, defended Trump's former Defense secretary on Thursday after Mattis publicly criticized the
president's handling of the nationwide protests. He also shot down Trump's claim that he fired Mattis in 2018. 'The president did not fire him. He did not ask for his resignation,' Kelly asserted in a Washington Post interview Thursday afternoon. 'The president has clearly forgotten how it actually happened or is confused.' Daily Mail
Crowd boos de Blasio during appearance at George Floyd memorial . . . The crowd booed New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) during his appearance at Thursdays’s vigil for George Floyd, with some hurling expletives, demanding the Democrat politician to “get the fuck out of here!” While Rev. Kevin McCall urged the crowd to treat de Blasio with respect, the mayor did not receive an overwhelmingly warm welcome, as the
audience inundated his appearance with boos and shouts of “get the fuck out of here,” “fuck the mayor’s curfew,” and “shut the fuck up.” Some reportedly turned their backs to the mayor. Breitbart
Barr defends clearing protestors near White House . . . Attorney General William Barr is firmly defending his controversial decision to use force to clear largely peaceful protesters from streets near the White House on Monday, saying it was a necessary move to gain control following “very serious rioting” over the weekend that resulted in injuries to law enforcement personnel and damage to structures in the area. At a Justice Department
news conference on Thursday, Barr said that more than 100 security officials were injured in Washington over the weekend amid demonstrations protesting the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Politico
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Presidential campaigns targeted by Iran and China . . . Campaign staffers working on the presidential campaigns of Donald Trump and Joe Biden have been targeted with online attacks coming from Iran and China respectively, Google said, in a sign that the meddling four years ago in the U.S. presidential election by Russia could be pursued more widely this time. Google said Thursday that the staffers were targeted with so-called
phishing attacks that often are an attempt to gain access to online email accounts. They raise the specter of a repeat of the 2016 campaign, during which Russian hackers stole information from Democratic staffers and posted them online. Wall Street Journal
Defense Secretary Esper may be on the way out . . . President Donald Trump is unhappy with Pentagon chief Mark Esper. Aides are gossiping about who could replace him. Yet the embattled Defense secretary may be on his way to a more Trumpian punishment: sidelined within the administration. Esper’s future is in question after he opposed Trump on Wednesday over the president’s call to deploy active-duty troops to quash protests taking part throughout
the U.S. In the 24 hours since Esper spoke out, he has met with the president at the White House and has received tepid-at-best endorsements from Trump’s team. Politico
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Singapore to give virus-tracing device to all . . . Singapore plans to give a wearable device that will identify people who had interacted with carriers of coronavirus to each of its 5.7 million residents, in what could become one of the most comprehensive contact-tracing efforts globally. Testing of the small devices, which can be worn on the end of a lanyard or carried in a handbag, follows limited take-up of an earlier
smartphone-based system and has further fuelled privacy concerns about contact tracing technology. Reuters
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Surprise: Unemployment fell in May to 13% . . . The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said Friday, an unexpected improvement in the nation’s job market. Economists had expected the rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II.
The economy added 2.5 million jobs after a record loss of 20.7 million in April. “These improvements in the labor market reflected a limited resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed in March and April,” the Labor Department said in its release. New York Times
Elon Musk calls for breakup of Amazon . . . Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk on Thursday called for Amazon.com Inc to be broken up, after an author complained on social media about being unable to self-publish a book via the world’s largest online retailer. “This is insane @JeffBezos,” Musk tweeted at Amazon’s chief. Both men are billionaires and oversee competing space exploration companies on top of their duties at Tesla and Amazon. “Time to
break up Amazon. Monopolies are wrong!” Musk added in a second tweet. The retailer said the book in question, by author Alex Berenson, had been blocked in error and was now available for sale via its Kindle e-reading service. The decision to greenlight the book’s sale was not due to Musk, Amazon said. Reuters
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New York police finally enforce curfew . . . Police finally enforced an 8 p.m. curfew Thursday evening by busting up protests across the city — making dozens of arrests. Thousands of protesters had continued to march in defiance of the deadline, including in Upper Manhattan, in the Bronx and in Brooklyn, on the eighth day of citywide demonstrations against police brutality. An approximately 100-person demonstration in the Bronx organized by
activist group DecolonizeThisPlace, devolved into chaos when NYPD cops in riot gear blocked off the march near East 136th Street and Brook Avenue. The marchers chanted “let us go,” but their pleas fell on deaf ears. New York Post
Two officers accused in Floyd death were rookies on the job four days . . . Two of the three police officers accused of doing nothing as George Floyd died under the knee of Derek Chauvin were rookies who had only been on the job four days, their defense attorneys said at a hearing Thursday where bail was set at $1million each for the trio. J Alexander Kueng, 26, of Plymouth, Thomas Lane, 37, of St Paul and Tou Thao, 34, of Coon Rapids, made their
first appearances in Hennepin County District Court. They have been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder – unintentional – while committing a felony and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. Attorneys for both Lane and Kueng noted that their clients were barely off probation and suggested they could do little to sway the much more senior Chauvin. Daily Mail
Two Buffalo police officers suspended for shoving elderly man to the ground . . . Two Buffalo, New York, police officers have been suspended without pay after a video showed them shoving a 75-year-old man to the ground, causing him to crack his head on the sidewalk. The shocking footage, which was taken by a reporter from local radio station WBFO, shows a white-haired man approaching a line of officers in riot gear outside of Buffalo City Hall
after the city's 8pm curfew on Thursday. As the man tries to speak to the officers, they immediately begin shouting at him to move along, before one of them pushes him with a baton and a second cop shoves him with his hand. Daily Mail
Kanye to pay college tuition of George Floyd's daughter . . . Kanye West's giving a huge assist to the families and legal teams fighting for Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd ... and helping in other ways too. Kanye's donated $2 million, so far, to the cause and set up a 529 college savings fund to fully cover tuition for Floyd's 6-year-old daughter, Gianna. He's also made a separate donation to cover
the legal costs for the Arbery and Taylor families.
Along with that, a rep confirms Kanye's donating to several black-owned businesses in his hometown of Chicago and nationwide that have been in crisis and impacted by the unrest in the U.S. TMZ
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Florida woman arrested for attacking boyfriend with a hamburger . . . She was booked for burger-y. A Florida woman who reportedly spent three months in jail for battering her boyfriend in October attacked the man with a hamburger Monday night, according to a Pinellas County arrest affidavit. Tanya Cordero, 47, denied that she’d “smashed hamburger” into the alleged victim’s face, but police say that when they arrived at the couple’s
trailer park, the 39-year-old man “had hamburger in his ear.” The conflict began when the pair argued about whether a window in their mobile home that they share with the victim’s mother, should be open or closed. New York Daily News
This depends a lot on what was used. A Burger King Double Whopper with Cheese could be classified as a lethal weapon.
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Keith
Keith Koffler
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