Cut to the News
Cut through the clutter to today's top news
August 21, 2020
Good morning
Welcome to today's top news.
Leading the News . . .
Biden pledges to restore nation's "soul" . . . Joseph R. Biden on Thursday formally accepted the Democrats’ presidential nomination, vowing to take the country in a different direction from what he has described as a scorched-earth approach from President Trump and securing the party’s nod more than three decades after his first bid for the White House. Mr. Biden has been running on a theme to restore the “soul” of
America, frequently invoking the 2017 white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Virginia — and Mr. Trump’s response — as a tipping point that helped persuade him to take the plunge again. He is now confronted with uniting a Democratic Party in which the energy is dominated by a harsher, take-no-prisoners approach championed by people such as far-left freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York rather than the back-slapping, deal-making bipartisan philosophy he has waxed on about on
the campaign trail. Washington Times
We sold it to the devil and good 'ole Joe is going to buy it back! With trillions in new domestic spending, BTW.
Trump swipes at Biden during speech . . . President Trump on Thursday wasted no time weighing in on Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's acceptance speech. Trump had said earlier in the night that he planned to watch Biden's speech on the final night of the Democratic National Convention, and he chimed in on Twitter as the former vice president drew to a close. "In 47 years, Joe did none of the things of which he now
speaks. He will never change, just words!" Trump tweeted. The Hill
A shorter video would have been the most normal and comforting moments of the convention
Convention rapper has ties to Farrakhan . . . The Democratic National Convention’s final night featured a performance from the rapper Common, who has long-standing ties to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Common, whose real name is Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr., has appeared in photos with Farrakhan and promoted Farrakhan on social media. He was one of several rappers featured on a music compilation project that
Farrakhan released in February 2018. Daily Mail
Where's the press on this? Imagine if the Republicans presented a country singer with ties to white supremacists.
Tulsi Gabbard was not invited . . . Democratic Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard confirmed Thursday that she had not been invited to participate in her own party’s convention. The former presidential candidate — who endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden when she formally dropped out of the race — responded to someone who noted her absence on Twitter. “You’re correct – I was not invited to participate in any way,” Gabbard replied. Daily Caller
Illegal immigrant featured at convention was put on path to deportation by Obama . . . The illegal immigrant mother whom Democrats used at their convention this week as a case study of cruelty in President Trump’s policies was deported under the Clinton administration and flagged for deportation under the Obama-Biden administration. Alejandra Juarez first sneaked into the U.S. in 1998. She was caught at the border and deported back
to Mexico.
She quickly sneaked back into the U.S. — a “felony act” — and remained in the shadows until a traffic stop in 2013 At that point, the Obama Homeland Security Department could have shown leniency but instead reinstated her deportation order from 1998, putting her on the path to deportation that the Trump Homeland Security
Department carried out in 2018. Washington Times
Video || Convention Muslim and LGBT caucuses omit God from Pledge of Allegiance . . . I guess maybe God is a Republican after all. Or perhaps a Trump supporter. I mean, I think even Democrats would say that Trump making it all the way to the presidency was a miracle. White House Dossier
Pfizer vaccine on track for regulatory review in October . . . Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE said the Covid-19 vaccine they are jointly developing is on track to be submitted for regulatory review as early as October, as they released additional data from an early-stage study. The companies said the vaccine was well tolerated with mild to moderate fever in fewer than 20% of the participants. The companies
are continuing to analyze data from the Phase 1 trials in the U.S. and Germany. Bloomberg
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Steve Bannon arrested and charged with fraud . . .
President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, was pulled from a luxury yacht and arrested Thursday on allegations that he and three associates ripped off donors trying to fund a southern border wall. The organizers of the “We Build The Wall” group portrayed themselves as eager to help the president build a “big
beautiful” barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border, as he promised during the 2016 campaign. They raised more than $25 million from thousands of donors and pledged that 100% of the money would be used for the project. But according to the criminal charges unsealed Thursday, much of the money never made it to the wall. Instead, it was used to line the pockets of group members, including Bannon, who served in Trump’s White House and worked for his campaign. He allegedly took over $1
million, using some to secretly pay co-defendant Brian Kolfage, an Air Force veteran who lost both legs in a mortar attack in Iraq and the founder of the project, and to cover hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal expenses. Associated Press
Trump asks Supreme Court to let him block critics on Twitter . . . The Trump administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to reverse a lower court ruling that found President Trump violated the First Amendment by blocking his critics on Twitter. The lawsuit arose in 2017 after Trump’s social media account blocked seven people who had tweeted criticism of the president in comment threads linked to his @realDonaldTrump
Twitter handle. Lower federal courts found that Trump’s twitter account, where he often weighs in on official matters, constitutes a public forum and that blocking his detractors violated their constitutional free speech protections. The Hill
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Pompeo announces full sanctions on Iran . . . The U.S. is moving to reissue a full round of United Nations sanctions against Iran, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Thursday, in the Trump administration's latest move to erase the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Pompeo said the U.S. would issue the sanctions to essentially extend an arms embargo on Iran, even after the UN Security Council voted to let the arms embargo
expire this fall. Pompeo had expressed his intention to reapply sanctions Wednesday by invoking a snapback measure in the deal negotiated by the Obama administration that allows participants to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran. Politico
Hackers eye students returning to virtual classes as an easy target . . . As many students across the country are returning to school online this fall, they face a potential wave of cyber attacks from hackers seeking to take advantage of academic institutions conducting remote classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Universities and schools are scrambling to address threats such as a surge in malicious phishing emails, "Zoombombs" and other kinds of
attacks. But with weakened budgets and students learning off campus, they are facing an uphill battle. The Hill
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Russia preventing poisoned Trump critic from evacuation to Germany . . . Allies of stricken Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny accused Russian authorities of thwarting his medical evacuation to Germany on Friday, saying the decision placed his life in mortal danger because the Siberian hospital treating him was under-equipped. Navalny, a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin and his lieutenants, is in serious condition after
drinking tea on Thursday morning that his allies believe was laced with poison. Doctors treating him in Omsk, Siberia, said his condition had improved a little overnight but his life was still in danger. Reuters
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Debt passes "doomsday" mark . . . Economists and deficit hawks have warned for decades that the United States was borrowing too much money. The federal debt was ballooning so fast, they said, that economic ruin was inevitable: Interest rates would skyrocket, taxes would rise and inflation would probably run wild. The death spiral could be triggered once the debt surpassed the size of the U.S. economy — a
turning point that was probably still years in the future. It actually happened much sooner: sometime before the end of June. New York Times
Stocks hugely out of line with economy, drawing concern . . . Some of the biggest money managers are vexed by the same paradox troubling everyone else: U.S. stocks are near an all-time high, but the world still seems to be falling apart. Any number of looming threats could bring the historic rally in U.S. equities to a screeching halt, top hedge fund and mutual fund managers said. They include uncertainty over school re-openings, the November
elections, tensions with China and the effect of monetary policy on inflation. Bloomberg
Get ready for early holiday sales . . . The coronavirus pandemic is upending the way U.S. consumers shop and the holidays will be no exception as major retailers and shippers roll out their earliest-ever shopping season. Target, Best Buy, and Kohl’s, have moved winter holiday promotions up to as early as October. They also joined rival Walmart in announcing store closures on Thanksgiving and plans to bypass the midnight Black
Friday door-buster sales that traditionally mark the start of the holiday season but are incompatible with the pandemic’s social distancing recommendations. Reuters
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At least five dead in massive Calif. wildfires . . . Thousands of people remained under evacuation orders in regions around the San Francisco Bay Area on Thursday as wildfires blazed across the state amid a blistering heat wave now in its second week. In all, according to Cal Fire, more than 60,000 California residents have evacuated because of fires that are burning about 780 square miles across the state.
That's an area equal to about half the size of Rhode Island. Statewide, as of Thursday evening, officials said the fires have destroyed 175 structures, including homes, and are threatening 50,000 more. In all, 33 civilians and firefighters have been injured, and at least five people have died. USA Today
Two tropical storms to threat Gulf Coast next week . . . Two tropical storms are expected to hit the mainland of the United States at the same time next week, for the first time since the great depression. Both storms - one currently centered east of the Leeward Islands and the other in the Caribbean Sea - will eventually become storms Laura and Marco. The storms present an almost unheard of scenario where two forecast cones are both pointed
at the mainland, and expected to arrive around the same time. Daily Mail
This must be either because of global warming or Trump.
Movers turning people away as NYC residents flee . . . While the moving industry is fractured among numerous small business owners, and official statistics are tough to come by, one thing is clear: From professionals who are downsizing following a job loss, to students moving back in with their parents, to families fleeing the city for the suburbs, New Yorkers are changing their addresses in droves. New York Times
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Man steals lottery tickets, tries to cash them in at same store . . . A suspect later identified as Herbert McClellan ran off Tuesday after grabbing 13 scratch-off lottery tickets from a convenience store in Clearwater, authorities told FOX 13 of Tampa. Hours later, after realizing one of the tickets was a $30 winner, McClellan, 27, returned to the same store and tried to collect his prize. Store employees
recognized McClellan as the scratch-off thief and called 911, police told the station. Fox News
Fly repeatedly lands on Bloombergs face during his convention speech . . . A special guest buzzed its way into Mike Bloomberg's speech Thursday night as the former New York City mayor was in the middle of slamming President Trump during the Democratic National Convention. In the midst of Bloomberg attacking the president, what appeared to be a fly landed on his face -- at least once above his right eye and once
under his nose. "The star of the #DNC is the fly that keeps landing on Bloomberg’s face," tweeted reporter John Craven. Fox News
All those millions bought him five minutes at the convention and a housefly.
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Keith
Keith Koffler
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