Cut to the News
Cut through the clutter to today's top news
September 2, 2020
Good morning
Welcome to today's top news.
Leading the News . . .
White House rejects DC proposal to remove the Washington Monument . . . The White House flatly rejected calls Tuesday by a Washington D.C. city committee to “remove, relocate or contextualize” historical statues and memorials, including some of the city's best-known tourist attractions. A working group tasked by Mayor Muriel Bowser identified dozens of schools, parks, monuments, statues and buildings named after historical
figures that they believe represent an oppressive or racist history. The list of historical figures they identified included former presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor and Woodrow Wilson. The list also included other key American figures like Founding Fathers Benjamin Franklin and George Mason, inventor of the telephone Alexander Graham Bell and composer of the national anthem Francis Scott
Key. “By publishing a plan that recommends potentially removing the Washington Monument, Christopher Columbus Statue, Andrew Jackson Statue, and Jefferson Memorial—among many other ludicrous recommendations—the radically liberal mayor of Washington, D.C., is repeating the same left-wing narrative used to incite dangerous riots: demolishing our history and destroying our great heritage,” White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement Tuesday. Fox News
Here we go. You knew this was coming.
Coronavirus antibodies do not fade quickly . . . Antibodies that people make to fight the new coronavirus last for at least four months after diagnosis and do not fade quickly as some earlier reports suggested, scientists have found. Tuesday’s report, from tests on more than 30,000 people in Iceland, is the most extensive work yet on the immune system’s response to the virus over time, and is good news
for efforts to develop vaccines. Fox News
Divorce rate spikes during pandemic . . . Divorce rates have spiked in the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic as couples have been stuck at home for months. The number of people looking for divorces was 34 percent higher from March through June compared to 2019, according to new data collected Legal Templates, a company that provides legal documents. The combination of stress, unemployment, financial strain, death of
loved ones, illness, homeschooling children, mental illnesses, and more has put a significant strain on relationships. Fox News
"Until death do us part, or until we have to spend too much time together."
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How Trump could lead on Election Night but still lose . . . The electoral map could show a victory for President Donald Trump on Nov. 3, even if he ultimately loses the election, according to Hawkfish, a Democratic analytics firm. The twist could occur as millions of voters, the majority of whom are Democratic, will likely choose to vote by mail due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to
Hawkfish’s research. These votes, the firm says, may not be counted by Nov. 3, likely giving Trump an early lead over Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Daily Caller
Pelosi breaks Covid rules to get a wash and a blow-out . . . House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited a San Francisco hair salon on Monday afternoon for a wash and blow-out, despite local ordinances keeping salons closed amid the coronavirus pandemic. In security footage obtained by Fox News, and timestamped Monday at 3:08 p.m. Pacific Time, the California powerhouse is seen walking through eSalon in San Francisco with wet
hair, and without a mask over her mouth or nose. The stylist doing her hair can be seen following her wearing a black face mask. Salons in San Francisco had been closed since March and were only notified they could reopen on Sept. 1 for outdoor hairstyling services only. Fox News
From Julius Caesar, to Napoleon, to Winston Churchill, great leaders have always been able to get a wash and a blowout, no matter what. Why should Pelosi be denied the same right?
Hunter Biden holds stake in Chinese company sanctioned for human rights abuses . . . Hunter Biden holds a stake in a Chinese surveillance company that is under U.S. sanctions for human-rights violations, complicating his father Joe Biden’s campaign promise to crack down on American businesses with financial ties to China’s humanitarian abuses. Bohai Harvest RST Shanghai Equity, an investment firm that Hunter Biden owns a stake in,
initially invested in Megvii, a sanctioned Chinese tech company that specializes in facial recognition software, in 2017, according to the company’s website. The firm holds a nearly 2 percent stake in Megvii through two holding companies, according to a prospectus filed by Megvii as part of its application for a listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange last year. Washington Free Beacon
Trump comes to Kenosha bearing gifts . . . Despite being asked to stay away by local officials, President Trump Tuesday traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin, the latest city being torn apart by rioters.
The people of the city who aren’t trying to burn it down will thank him for stopping by. He said he would provide money to help rebuild the place and for public safety. Wisconsin is a key swing state. I’m willing to bet that the riots inspired by leftists will hand in the state in November. According to the Washington
Examiner: President Trump announced that he will provide $4 million to businesses devastated by unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, as well as $1 million to local law enforcement agencies and more than $42 million for public safety across the state. White House Dossier
Trump finally goes after Drudge . . . President Trump took aim at historically conservative news aggregate giant Drudge Report, saying the site opposed his bid for president in 2016. On Tuesday, the president blasted the site for linking to an article focusing on his denial that he took an emergency visit to Walter Reed Medical Center in 2019 after suffering a series of "mini-strokes," a response to claims written in a book
by New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt. However, Schmidt did not specifically write that the president suffered "mini-strokes." "Drudge didn’t support me in 2016, and I hear he doesn’t support me now. Maybe that’s why he is doing poorly. His Fake News report on Mini-Strokes is incorrect. Possibly thinking about himself, or the other party’s 'candidate,'" Trump tweeted. Washington Examiner
Latest poll has Biden up by seven . . . The political conventions over, Joe Biden now leads Donald Trump in the race for the White House by 50%-43%, the new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds. That seven-point advantage has narrowed from the 12-point edge he held in June. As Labor Day looms, launching the campaign's final sprint, the survey finds significant skepticism about whether the election itself can be trusted.
If their candidate loses, one in four voters say they aren't prepared to accept the outcome as fair and accurate – a signal of potential trouble ahead for a nation already engulfed in a deadly pandemic and riven over issues of racial justice. USA
Today
Kennedy fails to unseat Markey in Massachusetts primary . . .
For most of the 60-year history of the Kennedy dynasty, it’s been easier to imagine its last act as coming in a burst of triumph, a spasm of violence or a dream-shall-never-die promise of enduring hope. On Tuesday, however, what might be the final note of this political symphony was written not in glory or tragedy, but in numbers, the sad prose of
politics. Sen. Ed Markey 55.6 percent, U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III 44.4 percent. In a Democratic primary. In Massachusetts.
The 74-year-old Markey, who was first elected to the House in 1972, was supposed to be the type of proud, uncharismatic incumbent whom Kennedys routinely dispatch to retirement homes or ambassadorships. Politico
I never thought I'd be rooting for Ed Markey for anything. Rep. Joe Kennedy challenged a sitting senator for no good reason other than he wants to run for president one day, and he's a Kennedy.
Trump says Biden on "some kind of enhancement" . . . Truump on Tuesday reiterated his call for both candidates to take a drug test ahead of the presidential debates this month, claiming without evidence that Democratic nominee Joe Biden is "on some kind of an enhancement." "He’s on some kind of an enhancement in my opinion," Trump told Fox News. "And I say we should both — I should take a drug test, so should
he. The Hill
Pence says he doesn't recall being on standby during Trump hospital visit . . . Vice President Mike Pence has said that he doesn't recall being asked to go on standby to assume the presidency during President Donald Trump's unannounced visit to Walter Reed Medical Center in November, after reports emerged this week that Trump was suffering from mini-strokes at the time. 'I don't recall being told to be on standby,' Pence
told Fox News in an interview on Tuesday. 'I was informed that the president had a doctor's appointment, [but] I've got to tell you, part of this job is you are always on standby if you are Vice President of the United States.' Daily Mail
Trump can keep his tax returns, for now . . . A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday granted President Donald Trump’s request to delay Manhattan’s district attorney from accessing his tax returns in connection with a criminal probe of his business practices.
The unsigned order by a panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan was a victory for the president in his yearlong quest to block District Attorney Cyrus Vance from enforcing a grand jury subpoena for eight years of personal and corporate returns.
Trump has been challenging an Aug. 20 decision by U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero to let Vance obtain the returns from the president’s longtime accounting firm Mazars USA. Reuters
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Facebook and Twitter say Russia again targeting US with disinformation . . . The Russian group that interfered in the 2016 presidential election is at it again, using a network of fake accounts and a website set up to look like a left-wing news site, Facebook and Twitter said on Tuesday. The disinformation campaign by the Kremlin-backed group, known as the Internet Research Agency, is the first public evidence that the agency is
trying to repeat its efforts from four years ago and push voters away from the Democratic presidential candidate, Joseph R. Biden Jr., to help President Trump. New York Times
Trump administration standing by to replace Portland police with federal agents . . . Looks like President Trump is fed up with night after night of riots in a U.S. city. According to the Washington Examiner: Acting Secretary of Department of Homeland Security Chad Wolf warned the mayor of Portland, Oregon, that failure to take additional actions to quell violence in his city may result in the Trump administration supplanting local and
state authorities. White House Dosser
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Japan's Suga in line to become next PM . . . Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga on Wednesday said he would run for leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), formally entering a race he is already heavily favored to win to become the next prime minister. A longtime aide to outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Suga said he decided to stand for party leader to avoid a political vacuum during the
coronavirus pandemic. Abe announced his decision to resign last week, citing poor health. Reuters
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Trump payroll tax deferral finds few takers among businesses . . . September kicks off the payroll tax deferral period initiated by President Trump last month, but few businesses are expected to participate in a plan that would likely lead to less take-home pay for workers early next year. Under guidance issued by the IRS last week, employers can stop withholding Social Security payroll taxes from paychecks
from Sept. 1 through Dec. 31 for employees who make less than $4,000 on a biweekly basis. The money would then be collected by having businesses increase the amount of taxes withheld from paychecks in the first four months of 2021. The Hill
White House says CDC will halt renter evictions using quarantine rules . . . The Trump administration said it will use its quarantine authority to keep renters in their homes during the coronavirus pandemic as a way to prevent an eviction crisis that could worsen economic strains. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to temporarily halt evictions of consumers earning no more than $99,000 a year to prevent the virus from spreading, a
senior administration official said Tuesday. The policy will take effect immediately. Bloomberg
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Hundreds of thousand of dollars in donations for Kenosha gunman Rittenhouse . . . Supporters of Kenosha gunman Kyle Rittenhouse have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to his legal defense in spite of fundraising hiccups following last Tuesday’s shooting. A fundraiser for Mr. Rittenhouse hosted on the Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo had received more than 7,500 donations totaling
over $320,000 of its $200,000 goal as of Tuesday afternoon. L. Lin Wood, a defense lawyer for the teenage murder suspect, said that more than a half-million dollars in donations had been made to his legal fund as of late Monday, meanwhile. Mr. Rittenhouse, 17, of Antioch, Ill., has been charged with homicide in connection with the shooting deaths last Tuesday of two people killed in nearby Kenosha, Wisconsin. Washington Times
Baltimore school buckles to BLM demands . . . An elite private school in Baltimore founded by Jews is revamping its curriculum in response to a pressure campaign by Black Lives Matter activists demanding an examination of the school's "wealth hoarding" and "tolerance of Zionism." BLM activists' latest academic target is Baltimore’s Park School, which was founded in 1912 by Jews who were barred entry into the city’s existing private
schools. In a letter to the school, an anonymous group identifying itself as the "Black at Park Organizing Collective" calls for "an examination of Park’s history: its inception, early exclusions, culture of whiteness and wealth hoarding, its tolerance of Zionism, and its parasitic relationship to Baltimore City." Washington Free Beacon
Youth minister, 44, who slapped reporter on butt pleads guilty to sexual battery . . . A married youth minister who slapped the behind of a female reporter on live television as she delivered a report in Georgia has pleaded guilty to a sexual battery charge. Thomas Callaway, 44, was sentenced to a year probation and fined $1,000 by a Savannah judge who accepted his plea for the misdemeanor count on Tuesday. The judge also ordered him to perform 200
hours of community service, court records show. Daily Mail
Graceland vandalized with BLM graffiti . . . The walls outside of Graceland in Memphis, Tenn., were tagged with graffiti by vandals on Sunday, with phrases like "BLM" and "No Justice No Peace." Graceland is the site where rock legend Elvis Presley formerly resided. The Levitt Shell stage, an amphitheater where Presley gave his first paid concert, was also vandalized with similar messages. Fox News
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FBI investigating report of "guy in a jetpack" flying 3,000 feet above LAX . . . The Federal Aviation Administration said two airline flight crews reported seeing what "appeared to be someone in a jetpack as they were on their final approaches to LAX around 6:35 p.m. PDT
Sunday.” Fox 11 Los Angeles obtained recordings of communications between the aircraft and the tower. "Tower, American 1997, we just passed a guy in a jetpack," a pilot said. "American 1997, OK, thank you, were they off to your left side or your right side?" the controller asked. "Off the left side at maybe 300 yards or so at our altitude," the pilot said. Another pilot also reported a sighting. "We just saw the guy pass by us in the jetpack," he said. The controller then advised another aircraft flight crew to use caution. Fox News
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Keith
Keith Koffler
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