Cut to the News
Cut through the clutter to today's top news
December 15, 2020
Good morning
Welcome to today's top news.
Leading the News . . .
Biden claims victory, slams Trump . . . President-elect Joe Biden delivered a forceful rebuke on Monday to President Donald Trump’s attacks on the legitimacy of his victory, hours after winning the state-by-state Electoral College vote that officially determines the U.S. presidency. “In this battle for the soul of America, democracy prevailed,” Biden said in a prime-time speech from his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. “Now it’s time to turn the
page, as we’ve done throughout our history – to unite, to heal.” Monday’s vote, typically a formality, assumed outsized significance. Reuters
Biden claims he has a "bit of a cold" . . . President-elect Joe Biden confirmed that he is battling a slight cold following a speech on Monday night in which he stopped several times to clear his throat while addressing the nation on the Electoral College’s vote to
formally confirm his victory. Biden’s voice was slightly hoarse during the address, which took place shortly after he surpassed the 270-vote threshold required to win the White House. “Thank you, I have a little bit of a cold, I'm sorry, but look, you know, you did it, you did it, not a joke,” Biden said during the live stream. The Biden-Harris team has undergone frequent tests for COVID-19 in recent weeks. Biden was most recently tested for the virus last Friday, according
to White House pool reports. That test came back negative. Fox News
Uh, last test Friday? Pray for Joe Biden's health. And you know why.
Nurse is first in US to get the vaccine . . . The front-line worker widely believed to be the first pe rson to get the COVID-19 vaccine in the United States says she felt reassured after getting her shot. "I felt a huge sense of relief, hope for everyone around the world that healing is coming, that we took a step in the right direction to finally put an end to this COVID-19 pandemic," Sandra Lindsay, an ICU nurse
at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, New York, said Monday. Washington Examiner
See, now that the election is over, we can say these things.
New mutation in UK may cause more spreading . . . British scientists are trying to establish whether the rapid spread in southern England of a new variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 is linked to key mutations they have detected in the strain, they said on Tuesday. The mutations include changes to the important “spike” protein that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus uses to infect human cells, a group of scientists tracking the genetics of the virus
said, but it is not yet clear whether these are making it more infectious. Reuters
Moderna vaccine on the way . . . Moderna Inc.’s vaccine is safe and effective for preventing Covid-19, U.S. regulators said, clearing the way for a second shot to quickly gain emergency authorization and add to the country’s sprawling immunization effort. The Food and Drug Administration’s staff said in a report on Tuesday that the experimental vaccine is 94.1% effective at preventing symptomatic Covid-19, confirming earlier results
released by the company. Bloomberg
Veterans Affairs to prioritize minority veterans for vaccine . . .
The Department of Veterans Affairs will prioritize black, Hispanic, and Native American veterans for receiving COVID-19 vaccines.
“We’re … considering the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on racial and ethnicity minority groups as we plan for how to offer COVID-19 vaccines to veterans,” the VA said in a document released last week. Black veterans have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19, accounting for 16% of cases and 22% of deaths in the VA
system while only accounting for 12% of the veteran population in the country, according to Stars and Stripes. Washington Examiner
Fauci: US to achieve herd immunity be second quarter 2021 . . . Dr. Anthony Fauci said the US could achieve “herd immunity” by late spring or early summer, now that a COVID-19 vaccine is finally rolling out. “The real bottom line is when do you get the overwhelming majority of the population vaccinated so that you can get that umbrella of herd immunity?” Fauci said Monday. “I believe if we’re efficient about it and we convince people to get vaccinated, we can accomplish that by the end of the second quarter of early 2021, namely by the end of the late spring [or] early summer.” New York Post
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Hunter Biden failed to report $400K in income from Burisma . . . This is going to be the laptop that keeps on giving. Assuming that’s where the email is coming from. According to Fox News: Hunter Biden did not report “approximately $400,000” in income he collected from his position on the board of Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings when he joined in 2014, according to an attorney for his firm who noted that his tax returns needed
to be amended, a new email obtained by Fox News shows. White House Dossier
I mean, come one, we've all done it. You've got $400,000 laying around and you're like, "Where did that come from?" And so you don't report it.
Barr departs — but apparently on good terms . . . Attorney General Bill Barr is out, but confounding the predictions of many, he is apparently leaving on good terms with President Trump. “I am greatly honored that you called on me to serve your Administration and the American people once again as Attorney General,” Barr wrote in his letter of resignation. “I am proud to have played a role in the many successes and unprecedented achievements you
have delivered for the American people. Your record is all the more historic because you accomplished it in the face of relentless, implacable resistance.” White House Dossier
Georgia secretary of state orders audit of mail-in ballot signatures . . . Georgia's secretary of state announced on Monday that an audit of signatures on mail-in ballots in one country will be carried out 'to restore confidence' - although it will not change the results of the November 3 election. Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, has been under pressure for weeks to investigate what Donald Trump claims was massive voter fraud in
the state. Both Raffenspeger and the Republican governor, Brian Kemp, have insisted that there has not been widespread election malpractice, but that has not reassured Trump or his supporters. Daily Mail
Now?
Biden transition teeming with Big Tech insiders . . . Agency review teams for the Biden-Harris presidential transition have added Silicon Valley insiders in droves, an analysis shows. The teams are charged with planning for the incoming presidency, holding sway over thousands of political and staff appointments, including positions atop the Federal Trade Commission, Federal Communications Commission, and leading the Justice Department's antitrust
division.
Facebook is fending off regulatory action by the FTC, with Google fighting off the Department of Justice. Washington Examiner
Surge of illegal immigrants at border as Biden prepares to take power . . . These people understand what’s going on. They know quite well that they are going to get amnesty from Joe Biden. Expect even more people to show up at the border next month.
According to the Washington Examiner: “United States border officials encountered more than 70,000 migrants who tried to enter the U.S. from Mexico illegally in November, four times the number of people seen in April. White House Dossier
Major networks silent on Cuomo sexual harassment claim . . . Several major cable networks failed to report on sexual harassment allegations against Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the wake of the Sunday accusations, according to a media watchdog group. CBS, NBC and ABC were all
silent on Sunday night — the same day Cuomo’s former aide Lindsey Boylan tweeted out the claims against her ex-boss, according to the Media Research Center. The group said the same networks’ Monday morning news shows also failed to report on the allegations, which Cuomo has denied. Fox News, meanwhile, ran a report on the news at about 6:10 p.m. Sunday. New York Post
Me too for you, but not for An-drew?
Hillary calls for abolishing the Electoral College . . . Hillary Clinton is once again calling for the scrapping of the Electoral College to pick presidents. The 2016 Democratic presidential nominee and former secretary of state, senator and first lady, made her latest plea after casting an electoral vote for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Monday. "I
believe we should abolish the Electoral College and select our president by the winner of the popular vote, same as every other office,” Clinton tweeted. Fox News
Well, she's got a little axe to grind against the Electoral College, doesn't she?
Biden headed to Georgia to campaign for a Democratic Senate majority . . . President-elect Joe Biden is traveling to Atlanta on Tuesday, aiming to boost Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock and propel Democrats to a majority in the upper chamber.
The Senate runoffs taking place on Jan. 5 will decide the control of the Senate majority for the next two years. The Hill
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Thousands of CCP members employed by US and European companies . . . A leaked Chinese Communist Party membership roll shows thousands of party members employed by American and European companies. Employees of companies key to American national security are among the two million CCP members listed in the data leak. Two such companies—Qualcomm and Boeing—regularly receive contracts from the Department of Defense and
host a combined 516 CCP members. Other companies, such as HSBC, Volkswagen, and Hewlett-Packard, also employ thousands of CCP members. Washington Free Beacon
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Covid economic slowdown to cause massive hunger among kids . . . The global economic downturn ushered in by the COVID-19 pandemic could end up killing thousands of children around the world while leaving millions more malnourished, a new study has found. Approximately 168,000 children are “likely” to be killed by starvation before the global economy recovers, according to the new study from the Standing
Together for Nutrition Consortium. The Consortium is made up of 30 different international organizations, including the World Bank, UNICEF and USAID. Daily Caller
Poor countries face long wait for vaccine . . . With Americans, Britons and Canadians rolling up their sleeves to receive coronavirus vaccines, the route out of the pandemic now seems clear to many in the West, even if the rollout will take many months. But for poorer countries, the road will be far longer and rougher. The ambitious initiative known as COVAX created to ensure the entire world has access to COVID-19 vaccines has secured only a
fraction of the 2 billion doses it hopes to buy over the next year, has yet to confirm any actual deals to ship out vaccines and is short on cash. Associated Press
Putin congratulates Biden . . . Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday congratulated Joe Biden on his victory in the U.S. presidential election, after Biden won the state-by-state Electoral College vote that officially determines the U.S. presidency, the Kremlin said. The Kremlin had said it would wait for the official results of the election before commenting on its outcome, even as other nations congratulated Biden on the win in the days
after the Nov. 3 vote. “For my part, I am ready for interaction and contact with you,” the Kremlin cited Putin as saying in a statement. Reuters
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Pelosi, Schumer under pressure to strike coronavirus deal . . . Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer face pressure to allow a vote on a Covid-19 assistance plan without the aid for states they’ve said is vital, after a bipartisan group split that and liability protections from other relief spending. With the congressional session winding down and a government funding package needed by Friday, time is running out for
an agreement on the two most contentious and partisan pandemic-relief issues -- Covid-19 liability protections for employers and aid for state and local governments. Bloomberg
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Blizzard to hit the Northeast . . . All eyes are on the Northeast as a significant winter storm is going to develop and bring epic snowfall totals, possible blizzard conditions and ice from the Mid-Atlantic to New England. A system moving across the Plains will bring measurable snow to parts of Oklahoma and Texas. That same area of low pressure will move off the southeast coast and become
our nor’easter Wednesday into Thursday. Fox News
Teen charged with murdering family . . . A juvenile has been charged with four counts of murder in connection with the deaths of two adults and two children at a home near Elkview in Kanawha County. A fifth member of the family, a teenage boy, had been located away from the crime scene and was being interviewed by deputies. A sheriff earlier said a man, his wife and sons, ages 12 and 3, were found deceased by a relative at about 10:40 a.m. Sunday.
West Virginia MetroNews
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Woman finds raccoon in Christmas tree . . . A Florida woman captured video of the chaos that ensued inside her home when her dog alerted her to a raccoon climbing her Christmas tree. Aubrey Iacobelli said she awoke to the sound of her dog growling about 4:15 a.m., and a brief investigation
uncovered the reason for the canine's disquiet -- a raccoon had apparently entered the home through the dog door and was climbing the Christmas tree. A video
filmed inside Iacobelli's home shows the dog knocking the tree over in an attempt to reach the raccoon, sparking a chase through the house. UPI
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Keith
Keith Koffler
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