Cut to the News
Cut through the clutter to today's top news
June 10, 2020
Good morning
Welcome to today's top news.
Leading the News . . .
Final-stage coronavirus vaccine testing to begin . . . The federal government plans to fund and conduct the decisive studies of three experimental coronavirus vaccines starting this summer, according to a lead government vaccine researcher. These phase 3 trials are expected to involve tens of thousands of subjects at dozens of sites around the U.S., John Mascola, director of the vaccine research center at the National Institute of
Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said. Meant to determine a vaccine’s safety and effectiveness, they would mark the final stage of testing. The timetable suggests researchers are making relatively rapid progress advancing their vaccines through earlier stages of testing—focused on whether they are safe and induce the desired immune response—to at least merit the planning. Wall Street Journal
DC National Guard members test positive . . . Members of the D.C. National Guard who were responding to protests in the nation’s capital over the death of George Floyd have tested positive for COVID-19, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday. The service members were part of the 1,300 D.C. National Guard members called up to help law enforcement respond initially to rioting on May 31, that was followed by days of peaceful
protests. The news raises the specter of widespread outbreaks due to the protests. McClatchy
Fauci: Coronavirus is "my worst nightmare" . . . President Trump’s infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci on Tuesday called the coronavirus his “worst nightmare” and warned that the fight against its spread is far from over. “In a period of four months, it has devastated the whole world,” Fauci said. “And it isn’t over yet.” Fauci added that there is still a world of uncertainty around the virus and how it spreads
and impacts the body. He said COVID-19 is much more complex that HIV, a virus he spent his career studying, because of the varying levels of seriousness in infections — from asymptomatic carriers to patients who develop fatal conditions. Fox News
WHO backs off claim people without symptoms have very low transmission risk . . . The World Health Organization has walked back a top official’s claim that asymptomatic spread of coronavirus is “very rare” after it sparked controversy and confusion worldwide. The remarks Monday by epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove — the WHO’s technical lead on the pandemic — contradicted advice given by health experts and policymakers in
most countries, who have based calls for social distancing and mask wearing on the idea that people without symptoms can unwittingly spread infection. Van Kerkhove said Tuesday that she had been misunderstood and her remarks were based on just two to three preliminary scientific studies. Politico
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Barr: FBI was "spring-loaded to investigate Trump campaign . . . Attorney General William Barr said the FBI intentionally targeted the Trump campaign without much evidence of wrongdoing and continued probing it even after evidence failed to materialize. Barr spoke during an interview with Fox News’ Brett Baier: "I think before the election, I think we were concerned about the motive force behind the very aggressive
investigation that was launched into the Trump campaign without — you know, with a very thin, slender reed as a basis for it. It seemed that the bureau was sort of spring-loaded at the end of July to drive in there and investigate a campaign." White House Dossier
Such a dangerous abuse of power by the Obama administration. I can't believe Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo aren't talking about this every night!
Senate GOP now open to police reform . . . Senate Republicans are signaling a sharp shift on police reform, raising the chances that federal legislation could actually clear Congress and reach President Trump’s desk. Just a week ago, it seemed likely that a
legislative package would pass the House but run into a dam in the Senate, where Republicans seemed more focused on retaining their majority and bolstering an economy tanked by the coronavirus pandemic.
Yet the dark political clouds hovering over the White House and the Senate’s GOP majority coupled with a dramatic swing in polling showing a majority of Americans believe African Americans are the victims of excessive force by police have changed the political winds. The Hill
Summertime, and Cotton is high: Arkansas senator's fortunes soar . . . Republican Sen. Tom Cotton provided an early boost to his 2024 presidential aspirations when he sparked a staff insurrection inside the New York Times, surely to the enjoyment of Republican primary voters. In causing humiliation and upheaval for the New York Times, Cotton perhaps did more to burnish his political
ambitions than any legislative achievement he might claim over seven-and-a-half years in Congress. “More than just about anything in this world, Republicans want leaders who will stick it to the media and drive them crazy," said Scott Jennings, a Republican strategist in Louisville, Kentucky. "Trump had this going for him in 2016, and Cotton has certainly done it to the New York Times, the liberal mothership to the average Republican.” Washington Examiner
Trump says elderly protestor injured by police might have been Antifa . . . President Trump Tuesday suggested a 75-year-old man who was pushed by police and injured his head in the fall could be an Antifa plant. He tweeted: "Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur. 75 year old Martin Gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment. @OANN I watched, he fell
harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?" Kelly Zarcone, Gugino’s lawyer, called Trump’s claims “dark, dangerous, and untrue.” White House Dossier
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Trump wanted to fire Defense Secretary Esper over troops dispute . . . President Trump last week was on the brink of firing Defense Secretary Mark Esper over their differing views of domestic use of active-duty military, before advisers and allies on Capitol Hill talked him out of it, according to several officials. The officials said Mr. Trump was furious with Mr. Esper for not supporting his inclination to use
active-duty troops to quell protests in Washington, D.C., Minneapolis and elsewhere following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. Mr. Trump consulted several advisers to ask their opinion of the disagreement, intent that day on removing Mr. Esper. After talks with the advisers, who cautioned against the move, Mr. Trump set aside the plans to immediately fire Mr. Esper. Wall Street Journal
Dead man walking
Decades of lax oversight have allowed Chinese telecoms to spy on US . . . Chinese state-owned telecommunications firms are operating with little U.S. oversight and using their access in America to conduct espionage operations on behalf of the Communist Party, putting the personal information of millions of Americans at risk, according to a new congressional report. Multiple Chinese telecom firms have operated in the United States with
"little-to-no oversight" from government agencies for the past 20 years. These companies are permitted near-total penetration of American communications networks and have used this access to collect data on millions of Americans, including military members and those working in sensitive government posts. Washington Free Beacon
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Sweden solves 34-year mystery of Olof Palme assassination . . . A Swedish prosecutor closed the case of the 1986 assassination of Prime Minister Olof Palme on Wednesday, accusing an insurance company graphic designer who died 20 years ago. Palme, who led Sweden’s Social Democrats for decades and served two periods as prime minister, was one of the architects of Scandinavia’s model of a strong welfare state. He was shot dead in
central Stockholm in 1986 after a visit to the cinema with his wife and son. Prosecutor Krister Petersson said the killer was Stig Engstrom, a suspect long known to Swedes as “Skandia man” after the company where he worked, with offices near the scene of the shooting. Reuters
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OECD sees huge virus economic damage and warns of second wave . . . The coronavirus pandemic is splintering the world economy, and policy makers can’t risk a premature withdrawal of lifelines to businesses and the most vulnerable people, the OECD warned. It made the grim assessment as it forecast a global slump of 6% this year, more than the World Bank earlier this week. That’s based on a scenario of the virus continuing to
recede. A second wave, which the OECD said is an equally likely scenario, could mean a 7.6% contraction. Bloomberg
No more coronavirus relief bills until at least late July . . . Republican senators are leaning into their go-slow approach on the next coronavirus bill. Bolstered by last week’s unexpectedly positive jobs report, Senate Republicans are signaling they will not pass another bill before late July. They have also flatly rejected the $3 trillion price tag of the bill passed last month by House Democrats.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) indicated to GOP colleagues during a closed-door policy lunch on Tuesday that he does not anticipate the chamber will take up another coronavirus relief package before leaving for a two-week July 4 recess, according to senators in the meeting. The Hill
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De Blasio says daughter confronted him over his "white privilege" . . . Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday his biracial daughter has previously confronted him about his “white privilege.” “She would talk to me about my own white privilege … she’s usually right,” de Blasio said of his 25-year-old daughter, Chiara, during a TIME 100 Talks virtual event focusing on how leaders are responding to the overlapping global crises of social
injustice and coronavirus. “Usually her underlying impulse with me having to come to grips with something over many, many years has usually been right,” said the mayor, explaining that he has “started to be open to my own privilege.” New York Post
Merriam-Webster to redefine "racism" . . . Merriam-Webster is revising its definition of racism after a Missouri woman’s emails claimed it fell short of including the systemic oppression of certain groups of people. Kennedy Mitchum, who lives in the St. Louis suburb Florissant, said people would argue with her about the definition of racism and she realized the problem was in the Merriam-Webster’s dictionary. “It’s not just disliking someone
because of their race,” Mitchum wrote in a Facebook post. “This current fight we are in is evidence of that, lives are at stake because of the systems of oppression that go hand-in-hand with racism.” Associated Press
Polls show Americans satisfied with police . . . Calls to defund the police because of brutality and racism don’t match the experiences of most Americans when they call law enforcement for help, according to the Justice Department. The overwhelming share of U.S. residents who in the past several years initiated contact with the police to request assistance said they were satisfied with the interaction, and a clear majority said the police
improved the situation. Among the millions of people who call police for help, whether for a mental health crisis, domestic violence incident or other emergency, an estimated 83% said they were satisfied with the police response and 59% said the police improved the situation. Washington Times
HBO pulls "Gone With the Wind" . . . HBO Max pulled the Oscar-winning Civil War epic "Gone With the Wind" from its library amid heightened racial tensions following the death of George Floyd. The 1939 film takes place at an Atlanta plantation. Critics in the modern era have criticized "Gone With the Wind" for its depiction of black people. The film won eight Oscars including best picture and made history when Hattie McDaniel
became the first black American to win an Oscar for her performance. The decision to pull "Gone With the Wind" from the streaming service sparked some backlash on social media. "So when are we getting together to burn copies of To Kill A Mockingbird?" conservative commentator AG Hamilton asked. Fox News
Long-running show "Cops" is cancelled . . . The long-running reality television series Cops has been permanently pulled off the air and competitor Live PD has gone on hiatus amid protests over police brutality and the death of George Floyd. The season premier of Cops season 33 did not air as scheduled on Paramount Networks on Monday night, and now the channel says it is pulling the plug on the show for good. 'Cops is not on the Paramount
Network and we don´t have any current or future plans for it to return,' a spokesperson for the cable channel said in a statement. Daily Mail
UCLA prof under police protection after not excusing blacks from exams after protests . . . A college professor is living under police protection after rebuffing a request to exempt minority students from taking final exams in the wake of George Floyd's death. University of California Los Angeles accounting professor Gordon Klein faced threats of violence after he declined a student's request that he delay a final exam in light of national
unrest. The university suspended the professor for three weeks beginning on June 25 and launched a discrimination investigation into the incident. Washington Free Beacon
"My ward is a shit show": The top 17 quotes from leaked Chicago leaders' call . . . Leaked audio revealed Chicago aldermen and Mayor Lori Lightfoot melting down on Sunday over their inability to stop violence and looting in their city. Lightfoot held a conference call briefing all 50 aldermen on Sunday as the city descended into chaos and violence. The recording paints a raw picture of just how bad the rioting and looting became across Chicago
— and just how helpless the city’s leaders were to stop it. Daily Caller
Two man say hospital switched them 80 years ago . . . Two men say they were switched at birth at a West Virginia hospital nearly 80 years ago and sent home with each other's parents - a mistake that was only discovered recently thanks to DNA testing. John William Carr III and Jackie Lee Spencer are now suing the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, alleging negligence and breach of duty by the hospital where they were born. Both Carr and Spencer were
welcomed into the world on August 29, 1942, at St. Joseph Hospital in Buckhannon. Their joint lawsuit filed on Friday says staffers at the diocese-run hospital sent them home with the wrong families. Daily Mail
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India suspects pigeon is a Pakistani spy . . . A pigeon suspected of being trained as a Pakistani “spy” has been detained near a disputed border in India after officials discovered a coded ring attached to its foot, according to a report.
The pigeon, painted pink, was captured Sunday by villagers in Manyari, located near the international border that separates Indian and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. It is reportedly believed the bird flew from across the border in Pakistan. “The pigeon, suspected to be trained in Pakistan for spying, has a ring with alphabets
and numbers written on it,” a police source told the paper. “Though birds have no boundaries, and many fly across international borders during migration, a coded ring tagged to the captured pigeon’s body is a cause for concern as migratory birds don’t have such things.” Fox News
I'm pretty sure there's a blue jay outside recording my phone calls, but I'm still investigating.
Men enter wrong home with machetes for sexual fantasy . . . Two men snuck into a bedroom with machetes after being hired to carry out a stranger's sexual fantasy of being tied up in his underwear and stroked with a broom, only to discover they had got the wrong
address. The pair from Sydney, Australia, made their apologies and left the startled victim's bedside as soon as they realized their mistake. One of the men, Terrence Leroy, has now been acquitted of entering the home in July 2019 intending to intimidate while armed with an offensive weapon, after the New South Wales district court accepted his explanation. Fox News
What if he had asked them to stay?
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Keith
Keith Koffler
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