Cut to the News
Cut through the clutter to today's top news
October 14, 2020
Good morning
Welcome to today's top news.
Leading the News . . .
Hunter Biden introduced Ukrainian businessman to his dad . . . Hunter Biden introduced his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, to a top executive at a Ukrainian energy firm less than a year before the elder Biden pressured government officials in Ukraine into firing a prosecutor who was investigating the company, according to e-mails obtained by The Post. The never-before-revealed meeting is mentioned in a message of appreciation that
Vadym Pozharskyi, an adviser to the board of Burisma, allegedly sent Hunter Biden on April 17, 2015, about a year after Hunter joined the Burisma board at a reported salary of up to $50,000 a month. “Dear Hunter, thank you for inviting me to DC and giving an opportunity to meet your father and spent [sic] some time together. It’s realty [sic] an honor and pleasure,” the e-mail reads. New York Post
Impeach!
Emails show Hunter leveraged connections with dad to boost pay from Burisma . . . Hunter Biden discussed leveraging his connection to his father in a bid to boost his pay from a Ukrainian natural-gas company, according to an e-mail he sent around the time he joined the firm’s corporate board. In a lengthy memo to his then-business partner, Devon Archer, who already sat on the Burisma board, Biden repeatedly mentioned “my guy” while
apparently referring to then-Vice President Joe Biden. Under President Barack Obama, the elder Biden was the point person for US policy toward Ukraine, and he held a press conference there with Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk on April 22, 2014. New York Post
Vaccine expert: No return to normal until next summer . . . Facemasks and social distancing will be needed until next summer, the head of Oxford's vaccine trial team said last night. Andrew Pollard warned strict rules would have to be followed even if global tests proved successful. He said the first jabs would probably not be available until next year – and then only for key groups such as frontline health
workers. Professor Pollard said that he hoped the final trials could be completed by the end of this year but added: 'Life won't be back to normal until summer at the earliest. We may need masks until July. Daily Mail
Computer shows threat of winter contagion . . . A Japanese supercomputer showed that humidity can have a large effect on the dispersion of virus particles, pointing to heightened coronavirus contagion risks in dry, indoor conditions during the winter months. The finding suggests that the use of humidifiers may help limit infections during times when window ventilation is not possible, according to a study released on Tuesday by research giant Riken
and Kobe University. Reuters
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Trump pins hopes on hectic comeback tour . . . Three weeks until Election Day, President Donald Trump is on a frenzied comeback tour meant to re-energize his base, capture the attention of swing voters and demonstrate that he’s the living embodiment of America’s ability to survive the coronavirus pandemic. Trump traveled here on Tuesday to Johnstown, a blue-collar town of fewer than 20,000, for the second night of
rallying and the start of a marathon of daily campaign events that Trump advisers say will last until Election Day. Politico
Trump to suburban women: "Would you please like me?" . . . President Donald Trump made a direct appeal to suburban women during a campaign rallyin the critical battleground of Pennsylvania Tuesday as he sought to use his Supreme Court nomination to reset the trajectory of the race. "Do me a favor, suburban women, would you please like me?" Trump said
in Johnstown, Pa., a Republican stronghold where Trump hopes to run up turnout in the Nov. 3 election. "I saved your damn neighborhood, okay?" USA Today
Faced with the alternative, they just might.
Biden strategy: Run out the clock . . . Call it the don’t-touch-anything strategy. Team Biden knows they’re ahead against President Trump, with national polls showing Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden above the 50 percent mark. And with under three weeks to go until Election Day, the campaign has been doing just enough to keep things where they are as the clock ticks down to Nov. 3. “They don’t want to break anything
in the last three weeks,” said one Democratic strategist. “If the election were held today, they would win. They know it, and more importantly, Trump knows it.” The Hill
I assume the main feature of this will be to prevent Biden from taking questions and avoid the final debate if possible.
Biden refuses to acknowledge grandson fathered by Hunter and a stripper . . . "How many of you have been unable to hug your grandkids in the last seven months?" Biden said during a campaign event in Florida. "I got six of 'em."Biden's deceased son Beau had two children: Natalie and Robert. Biden's troubled son, Hunter, has five children: Naomi, Finnegan, and Maisy with his first wife; a son Beau with current wife Melissa Cohen; and a
son identified in Arkansas court documents as "NJR." According to the results of a DNA test, it is a "scientific certainty" that Hunter was the father of "NJR." Those results ultimately helped settle a legal dispute between Hunter and the child's mother, Lunden Alexis Roberts, who previously worked as a stripper under the stage name "Dallas." Washington Free Beacon
Imagine if Trump failed to acknowledge a grandson.
Michelle Obama teams with Lebron James on voter drive . . . Michelle Obama and LeBron James are teaming up their voter engagement organizations, with the former first lady saying making a plan to vote early is “critical” this year. Obama’s organization, When We All Vote, and the Los Angeles Lakers’ group, More Than a Vote, announced their new partnership on Tuesday. The shared goal for the voter drives is to “build momentum and
excitement around voting early,” they said in a news release. The Hill
Barrett holds her own as Dems try to tie her to Trump . . . Amy Coney Barrett emerged largely unscathed from her first full day of grilling by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, shaking off Democrats’ criticisms as they sought to make her Supreme Court nomination a referendum on President Donald Trump’s handling of health care and the coronavirus pandemic. Barrett’s performance — which was hailed by Senate Republicans and
White House officials as unflinching and derided by Democrats as evasive — further underscored the perceived inevitability surrounding her nomination to the high court with the presidential election just three weeks away. “Not a single Democrat has laid a glove on Judge Barrett, and they’ve barely tried,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said. Politico
Hirono asks Barrett is she ever sexually assaulted anyone . . . Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, asked a question pertaining to an issue that came up quite a bit during Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing but had yet to come up during Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s hearing: whether the Supreme Court nominee had ever sexually assaulted someone. Citing a statement from Chief Justice John Roberts in 2017 in which he
acknowledged that the judiciary “is not immune” from the problem of sexual misconduct, Hirono said it is her duty “to ensure the fitness of nominees” for positions that have lifetime appointments. Fox News
Mazie Hirono is officially the nation's most annoying senator.
Barrett: I don't attack people, just ideas . . . Well why does she want to work in Washington? ACB is a woman of principle. I’m sure Democrats will understand that but vote against her anyway. Because they politicized the Supreme Court long ago, during Ronald Reagan’s presidency with the nomination of Robert Bork. And it’s nice to see that she is expressing her principles rather than erring on the side of obsequiousness. White House Dossier
Unmasking probe initiatiated by Barrs concludes without charges or report . . . The federal prosecutor appointed by Attorney General William P. Barr to review whether Obama-era officials improperly requested the identities of individuals whose names were redacted in intelligence documents has completed his work without finding any substantive wrongdoing, according to people familiar with the matter. The revelation that U.S. Attorney John
Bash, who left the department last week, had concluded his review without criminal charges or any public report will rankle President Trump at a moment when he is particularly upset at the Justice Department. People familiar with his findings say they would likely disappoint conservatives who have tried to paint the “unmasking” of names as a political conspiracy. Washington Post
Young blacks question allegiance to Democrats . . . Black voters aged between 18 and 24 are beginning to question their traditional support for Democrats, it has been claimed, amid anger at the slow pace of change in their cities. Black voters from Generation Z - born between 1996 and 2015 - are being encouraged by Trump supporters such as Candace Owens - whose Twitter biography states: 'Black people don't have to be Democrats— still' - and 18-year-old CJ Pearson to reassess their expected Democrat backing. Daily Mail
Graham ahead six points in Senate race . . . Sen. Lindsey Graham has a widened lead against his Democratic opponent Jaime Harrison in what is expected to be one of the closest Senate races, according to a statewide poll released Tuesday. The Republican from South Carolina has 48% support, compared to Harrison’s 42% support, the Morning Consult poll found. The survey was conducted among 903 likely voters from Oct. 2 to Oct. 11, after President Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Graham has an outsize role in Barrett’s hearings, given that he is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Washington Examiner
Guess what? Graham is not going to lose in South Carolina. Trump is not going to lose Texas. Etc., etc.
Supreme Court lets Trump wind down census early . . . The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed President Donald Trump’s administration to wind down population counting for the 2020 U.S. census earlier than planned, in a blow to civil rights groups concerned about an undercount, particularly of racial minorities. The justices blocked a lower-court ruling that had ordered the decennial population count be continued until Oct. 31. The Census
Bureau said on Aug. 3 that it would wind down data collection by Sept. 30, a month earlier than originally scheduled. Reuters
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Militiamen plotted to kill Whitmer, kidnap Virginia Gov. Northam . . . The five men charged with plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer planned to snatch her from her vacation home then put her on a boat, alone, and cast it out to the middle of a lake but 'not throw her overboard', an FBI agent claimed in court on Tuesday. On Tuesday, an FBI agent who investigated the group testified at a detention hearing. He revealed
how they'd discussed shooting Whitmer in the head and even snatching a pizza delivery person, stealing their shirt, then having one of their group dress up in it to deceive her. The men also planned to kidnap Virginia's Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, the agent said in court. Daily
Mail
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Britain resist full lockdown amid virus surge . . . British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday resisted a short lockdown for all of England but said he ruled nothing out in the face of calls to shut the country down for two weeks as a “circuit breaker” in order to save lives. With cases rapidly rising, the British government opted this week for a three-tier system of local measures. The Liverpool area became the first part
of the country in the highest category, requiring bars, gyms and other businesses to shut, perhaps for months. Johnson said he would stick to this localised approach, responding to opposition leader Keir Starmer’s demand for a temporary national lockdown. Reuters
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Carriers to give away free iPhone 12's to lure upgrades . . . Apple Inc.’s iPhone 12 5G, the most anticipated phone in years, will be given away for free by AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., showing the carriers are gearing up to fight hard for new subscribers during a potentially huge upgrade cycle. The promotions announced Tuesday coincide with Apple’s introduction of its first 5G
iPhone. Customers can begin placing orders online starting Friday, according to the companies. They’ll have to sign up for unlimited plans and trade in qualifying phones. Bloomberg
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Sean Lennon mocks Portland vandals . . . When you talk about destruction, you can count out Sean Ono Lennon. Last Sunday’s “Day of Rage” in Portland, Ore. – in which rioters toppled statues of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt – drew mockery on Twitter from Lennon, the 45-year-old son of the late ex-Beatle John Lennon and artist Yoko Ono. “Can someone explain why it appears a Lincoln statue was toppled in
Portland,” Lennon wrote Monday. “Asking for a friend.”
Lennon, a musician, songwriter and producer who has played in several bands over the years, then sarcastically suggested that rioters might not have gone far enough in trying to right humanity’s past wrongs. “The Pyramids of Giza were made under coercion from the evil Pharaohs who were not very woke,” he wrote in
another tweet. “I think we can all agree the Pyramids should be torn down immediately.” Fox News
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Eleven-year-old boy steals school bus, leads police on chase . . . An 11-year-old Louisiana boy was taken into custody by police on Sunday, after stealing a school bus and leading officers on a chase, which ended in a crash.
Around 11:30 a.m., the bus hit a gas line and then a tree before authorities surrounded it to take the boy away, according to WBRZ in Baton Rouge. Police said the bus had no keys in the ignition and only required a push-to-start button. An eyewitness reportedly managed to record the incident
on video. There was, however, no major damage or injuries initially reported at the scene. Fox News
I can only be thankful that this idea didn't occur to me when I was his age.
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Keith
Keith Koffler
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