CDC tells states to prepare for vaccine by Election Day . . . The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has told states to prepare for a Covid-19 vaccine to be ready by Nov. 1 and asked them to remove obstacles that would prevent distribution sites from opening. The date suggests the federal government anticipates a vaccine will become available just days before President Donald Trump stands for reelection Nov. 3, an aggressive goal that would depend on shots being tested and reviewed by then. Trump’s political future hinges on the response to the virus that has killed almost 185,000 Americans. Bloomberg

 

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson suffers a brutal bout of Covid . . . Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson took to Instagram on Wednesday for a candid announcement: He, his wife and two young daughters all tested positive for COVID-19. "My wife Lauren, as well as my two baby girls and myself – we have all tested positive for COVID-19," the actor shared in a video. "I can tell you that this has been one of the most challenging and difficult things that we have ever had to endure as a family and for me personally ... And I've gone through some doozies in the past." USA Today

 

 

Salon owner denies it . . . The owner of a San Francisco hair salon where Nancy Pelosi was spotted on camera without a mask denied on Wednesday night that she set up the House speaker. “There was no way I could’ve set that up,” Erica Kious, owner of eSalon, told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson of Pelosi’s indoor Monday appointment. “I’ve had a camera system in there for five years. I mean, I didn’t go in there and turn cameras on as soon as she walked in and set her up. So that is absolutely false,” Kious told the host. New York Post

 

 

Trump pulls even with Biden on betting sites . . . President Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden are just about dead even on top political betting sites, with several large-stake bets placed on the president's victory since the Republican convention ended. Three bets on Betfair Exchange over $13,362 were placed on Trump overnight, while the biggest stake of the campaign so far, $65,500, was placed on Trump over the weekend. Trump's odds reflect wagers placed on Betfair Exchange. Biden was heavily favored going into the Democratic Party's convention. Washington Examiner

 

 

 

But if I had to guess, I'd say all will be voting for Biden.

 

Trump suggests North Carolina residents try to vote twice . . . President Donald Trump encouraged North Carolina residents to attempt to vote both via the mail and in person, seemingly urging them to commit voter fraud as a test of mail-in voting systems in a trip to the state on Wednesday. “They are going to have to check their vote by going to the poll and voting that way because if it tabulates, then they won’t be able to do that,” he said. “So let them send it in, and let them go vote. And if their system is as good as they say it is, then obviously they won’t be able to vote. If it isn’t tabulated, they will be able to vote.” Politico

 

 

Biden to meet with family of Jacob Blake in Kenosha . . . Joe Biden will meet with the father of Jacob Blake, the Black man shot by police multiple times in Kenosha, Wis., late last month, when the former vice president travels to the city on Thursday. The meeting comes after President Trump said he refused to meet with the Blake family during a trip earlier this week due to their request that a family attorney be present for the conversation. The Hill

 

Video || Trump nearly kills himself walking up the stairs 

 

 

Trump marks WW II anniversary with vow not to let mobs trample freedoms . . . President Trump marked the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II by paying tribute to veterans and delivering a speech laden with campaign issues, from protecting statues and law enforcement to questioning his opponent's mental sharpness.

With the backdrop of the retired battleship USS North Carolina looming above him, he paid tribute to the nearly 2 million servicemen who trained in North Carolina. "They battled on the cliffs of Normandy, over the skies of Africa, and in the deep waters of the Pacific," he said. Washington Examiner

 

Calls grow for Germany to rethink pipeline from Russia . . . German Chancellor Angela Merkel faced growing pressure on Thursday to reconsider the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which will take gas from Russia to Germany, after she said Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a Soviet-style nerve agent. Merkel said on Wednesday that Navalny, who is being treated in a Berlin hospital, was the victim of a murder attempt using the nerve agent Novichok, and demanded an explanation by Russia. Reuters

 

 

Macron defends Charlie Hebdo move to publish cartoons of Muhammad again . . . On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said it was not his place to pass judgment on the decision by Charlie Hebdo to publish a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad. Macron, speaking during a visit to Lebanon, said it was important for French citizens to be respectful to each other, and avoid a "dialogue of hate" but he would not criticize the satirical magazine's decision to republish the cartoon. DW

 

Record deficit complicates Republican path to coronavirus relief . . . A new government report projecting a record $3.3 trillion deficit this year may make it harder for Republican budget hawks to agree to another COVID-19 relief package. Wednesday’s report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) painted a gloomy outlook by projecting that the deficit for fiscal 2020 will more than double the previous high -- $1.4 trillion in 2009 during the height of the Great Recession. This year’s deficit will also account for 16 percent of gross domestic product, the highest since 1945. Overall debt is on track to surpass 100 percent of GDP next year, and break its World War II record by 2023, according to CBO. The Hill

 

DC backs off threat to remove monuments . . . D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on Wednesday scaled back her blueprint for canceling politically incorrect U.S. monuments and memorials after hitting a brick wall with the Trump administration. The mayor’s D.C. Facilities and Commemorative Expressions working group will limit its planned removal of historic figures from the public square to city properties, abandoning the original plan to target iconic federal structures like the Washington Monument. Washington Times

 

 

Seattle police chief resigns over budget cuts . . . Carmen Best, the first Black police chief in Seattle's history, left her post Wednesday, saying on her way out that the city council's police budget cuts had put her in a "position destined to fail," according to a report. Best, 55, announced her resignation Aug 10, after the council made good on its promise to approve sweeping proposals that would slash the police department budget by $4 million and cut as many as 100 officers from the force. Fox News

 

Hunger in America . . . A shadow of hunger looms over the United States. In the pandemic economy, nearly one in eight households doesn’t have enough to eat. The lockdown, with its epic lines at food banks, has revealed what was hidden in plain sight: that the struggle to make food last long enough, and to get food that’s healthful — what experts call ‘food insecurity’ — is a persistent one for millions of Americans. New York Times

 

Tom Seaver, RIP . . . Tom Seaver, one of baseball’s greatest right-handed power pitchers, a Hall of Famer who won 311 games for four major league teams, most notably the Mets, whom he led from last place to a surprise world championship in his first three seasons, died on Monday. He was 75. The cause was complications of Lewy body dementia and Covid-19, according to the Baseball Hall of Fame. At 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds, give or take a few, with a thick waist and tree-trunk legs that helped generate the velocity on his fastball and hard slider and the spin on his curveball, Seaver at work was a picture of kinetic grace. He had a smooth windup, a leg kick with his left knee raised high, and a stride so long after pushing off the mound that his right knee often grazed the dirt. New York Times

 

Kim Jong Un hit on Sarah Sanders . . . President Trump reacted with a joke after finding out North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had winked at Trump's then-press secretary, Sarah Sanders, she writes in her forthcoming memoir, according to reports. Trump told Sanders she should go to North Korea and “take one for the team,” Sanders claims in “Speaking for Myself: Faith, Freedom, and the Fight of Our Lives Inside the Trump White House,” according to The Guardian, which obtained a copy of the book. Kim had winked at Sanders during a nuclear summit in Singapore, the report said. “Kim Jong Un hit on you! He did! He f---ing hit on you!” the president laughed after Sanders relayed the 2018 incident to him and then-Chief of Staff John Kellly later in the limousine as they drove to the airport, she writes. Fox News

 

Large brown bears stroll into Lake Tahoe convenience store . . . Security camera footage has captured bears wandering into a convenience store and grocery store confronting people in the town of Kings Beach in the Lake Tahoe area of California. Gas station employee Paul Heigh told CBS Sacramento that dealing with bears in the store was not in his “job description” after he ended up coming face-to-face with the large brown bear one night while working his shift. The comments were noted by ABC 30 in a piece published Tuesday. “Not in the job description no,” Heigh shared. “Not at all… fighting off bears was not in the job description.” Daily Caller