theguardian--2020-06-28--Donald Trump’s re-election playbook: 25 ways he'll lie, cheat and abuse his power

Donald Trump will do anything to be re-elected .
His opponents are limited because they believe in democracy .
Trump has no limits because he doesn ’ t .
1 ) Declare yourself above the law .
2 ) Use racist fearmongering .
Demand “ law and order ” and describe protesters as “ thugs ” , “ lowlife ” and “ rioters and looters ” .
Describe Covid-19 as “ kung-flu ” .
Retweet posts from white supremacists .
In your campaign ads , use a symbol associated with Nazis .
3 ) Appoint an attorney general more loyal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ politicize the Department of Justice so it ’ s lenient on your loyalists and comes down hard on your enemies .
Have it lighten the sentence of a crony convicted of lying under oath .
Order investigations of industries you dislike .
4 ) Fire US attorneys who are investigating you .
5 ) Fire independent inspectors general who are looking into what you ’ ve done .
Crush any whistleblowers you find .
6 ) Demean and ignore the intelligence community .
Appoint a director of national intelligence more loyal to you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ head of the FBI pledge loyalty to you .
7 ) Pack the federal courts with judges and justices more loyal to you than to the constitution .
8 ) Politicize the Department of Defense so generals will back whatever you order .
Refer to them as “ my generals ” .
Have them help clear out protesters .
Order the military to surveil protesters .
Tell governors you ’ ll bring in the military to stop protesters .
9 ) Purge your party of anyone disloyal to you and turn it into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
10 ) Get rid of accumulated experience and expertise in government .
Demean career public servants .
Hollow out the state department , the Departments of Justice , Health and Human Services , and public health .
11 ) Reward donors and cronies with bailouts , tax breaks , subsidies , government contracts , regulatory rollbacks and plum jobs .
Put their lobbyists in charge of your agencies .
Distribute $ 500bn in pandemic assistance to corporations in secret , without any oversight .
12 ) Coddle dictators .
Don ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to work with the leaders of other democracies .
Withdraw from international treaties .
13 ) Create scapegoats .
Demonize migrants and lock up asylum seekers at the border , even if they ’ re children .
Put a white nationalist in charge of immigration policy .
Blame Muslims , Mexicans and Chinese .
14 ) Denigrate and ridicule all critics .
Describe opponents as “ human scum ” .
Attack the mainstream media as purveyors of “ fake news ” and “ enemies of the people ” .
15 ) Conjure up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ your opponent in the last election .
Without any evidence , accuse your predecessor of “ treason ” .
Fabricate a “ deep state ” out to get you .
16 ) Downplay real threats to the nation , such as a rapidly spreading pandemic .
Lie about your utter failure to contain it .
Muzzle public health experts .
Urge people to go back to work even as the pandemic worsens in parts of the country .
17 ) Encourage armed supporters to “ liberate ” states from elected officials who disagree @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nations to investigate your electoral opponent and flood social media with lies about him .
19 ) Use rightwing propaganda machines like Fox News and conspiracy-theory-peddling One America News to inundate the country with your lies .
Ensure that the morally bankrupt chief executive of Facebook allows you to spread your lies on the biggest media machine in the world .
20 ) Suppress the votes of people likely to vote against you .
Intimidate voters of color .
Encourage Republican governors to purge voter rolls , demand voter ID and close polling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mail-in ballots during the pandemic .
Claim they will cause voter fraud , without evidence .
Threaten to close the US postal service .
22 ) Get Vladimir Putin to hack into US election machines , as he did in 2016 but can now do with more experience and deftness .
Promise him that in return you ’ ll further destabilize America as well as Nato .
Let him even place a bounty on killing US troops in Afghanistan .
23 ) If it still looks like you ’ ll be voted out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 24 ) If you ’ re voted out of office notwithstanding all this , refuse to leave .
Contest the election , claim massive fraud , say it ’ s a conspiracy , get your cult of a political party to support your lies , get your propaganda machine to repeat them , get your justice department to back you , get your judges and justices to affirm you , get your generals to suppress any subsequent rebellion .
Memo to America : beware Trump ’ s playbook .
Spread the truth .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
• None Robert Reich , a former US secretary of labor , is professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley and the author of Saving Capitalism : For the Many , Not the Few and The Common Good .
His new book , The System : Who Rigged It , How We Fix It , is out now .
He is a columnist for Guardian US

Donald Trump will do anything to be re-elected. His opponents are limited because they believe in democracy. Trump has no limits because he doesn’t.
Here’s Trump’s re-election playbook, in 25 simple steps:
1) Declare yourself above the law.
2) Use racist fearmongering. Demand “law and order” and describe protesters as “thugs”, “lowlife” and “rioters and looters”. Describe Covid-19 as “kung-flu”. Retweet posts from white supremacists. In your campaign ads, use a symbol associated with Nazis.
3) Appoint an attorney general more loyal to you than to America, and politicize the Department of Justice so it’s lenient on your loyalists and comes down hard on your enemies. Have it lighten the sentence of a crony convicted of lying under oath. Order investigations of industries you dislike.
4) Fire US attorneys who are investigating you.
5) Fire independent inspectors general who are looking into what you’ve done. Crush any whistleblowers you find.
6) Demean and ignore the intelligence community. Appoint a director of national intelligence more loyal to you than to America. Demand that the head of the FBI pledge loyalty to you.
7) Pack the federal courts with judges and justices more loyal to you than to the constitution.
8) Politicize the Department of Defense so generals will back whatever you order. Refer to them as “my generals”. Have them help clear out protesters. Order the military to surveil protesters. Tell governors you’ll bring in the military to stop protesters.
9) Purge your party of anyone disloyal to you and turn it into a mindless, brainless, spineless cult.
10) Get rid of accumulated experience and expertise in government. Demean career public servants. Hollow out the state department, the Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, and public health.
11) Reward donors and cronies with bailouts, tax breaks, subsidies, government contracts, regulatory rollbacks and plum jobs. Put their lobbyists in charge of your agencies. Distribute $500bn in pandemic assistance to corporations in secret, without any oversight.
12) Coddle dictators. Don’t criticize their human rights abuses. Refuse to work with the leaders of other democracies. Withdraw from international treaties.
13) Create scapegoats. Demonize migrants and lock up asylum seekers at the border, even if they’re children. Put a white nationalist in charge of immigration policy. Blame Muslims, Mexicans and Chinese.
14) Denigrate and ridicule all critics. Describe opponents as “human scum”. Attack the mainstream media as purveyors of “fake news” and “enemies of the people”.
15) Conjure up conspiracies supposedly led by your predecessor and your opponent in the last election. Without any evidence, accuse your predecessor of “treason”. Fabricate a “deep state” out to get you.
16) Downplay real threats to the nation, such as a rapidly spreading pandemic. Lie about your utter failure to contain it. Muzzle public health experts. Urge people to go back to work even as the pandemic worsens in parts of the country.
17) Encourage armed supporters to “liberate” states from elected officials who disagree with you.
18) Bribe other nations to investigate your electoral opponent and flood social media with lies about him.
19) Use rightwing propaganda machines like Fox News and conspiracy-theory-peddling One America News to inundate the country with your lies. Ensure that the morally bankrupt chief executive of Facebook allows you to spread your lies on the biggest media machine in the world.
20) Suppress the votes of people likely to vote against you. Intimidate voters of color. Encourage Republican governors to purge voter rolls, demand voter ID and close polling places.
21) Seek to prevent mail-in ballots during the pandemic. Claim they will cause voter fraud, without evidence. Threaten to close the US postal service.
22) Get Vladimir Putin to hack into US election machines, as he did in 2016 but can now do with more experience and deftness. Promise him that in return you’ll further destabilize America as well as Nato. Let him even place a bounty on killing US troops in Afghanistan.
23) If it still looks like you’ll be voted out, try to postpone the election.
24) If you’re voted out of office notwithstanding all this, refuse to leave. Contest the election, claim massive fraud, say it’s a conspiracy, get your cult of a political party to support your lies, get your propaganda machine to repeat them, get your justice department to back you, get your judges and justices to affirm you, get your generals to suppress any subsequent rebellion.
25) Declare victory.
Memo to America: beware Trump’s playbook. Spread the truth. Stay vigilant. Fight for our democracy.


theguardian--2020-06-28--Mississippi lawmakers vote to remove Confederate emblem from state flag

Mississippi legislators have voted to replace the state flag , the last in the nation to feature the Confederate battle emblem , which has been condemned as racist .
The state House and the Senate voted to remove the current flag on Sunday and create a commission that will design a new flag that can not include the Confederate symbol and that must have the words “ In God We Trust ” .
Mississippi governor Tate Reeves has signalled he will sign the measure in the coming days .
The flag ’ s supporters have resisted efforts to change it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recent weeks have changed dynamics on this issue in the state , which has a long history of systemic racism and saw more lynchings of African Americans than any other state in the late 19th and early 20th centuries .
As protests against racial injustice recently spread across the US , including Mississippi , leaders from business , religion , education and sports have spoken forcefully against the state flag .
They have urged legislators to ditch the 126-year-old banner for one that better reflects the diversity of a state with a 38 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Senate met Saturday and took a big step : by two-thirds margins , they suspended legislative deadlines so a flag bill could be filed .
Spectators cheered as each chamber voted , and legislators seeking the change embraced each other .
“ There are economic issues .
There are issues involving football or whatever , ” said Delbert Hosemann , Republican lieutenant governor , on Saturday .
“ But this vote came from the heart .
That makes it so much more important.
” David Jordan , a Democratic senator who is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to change the flag .
He smiled broadly after Saturday ’ s vote and said , “ This is such a metamorphosis.
” On Sunday , the House passed the bill to change the flag with a vote of 91-23 .
The Senate followed that vote by approving the bill 37-14 .
The bill stipulates the current flag must be removed within 15 days of the vote .
Mississippi has the last state flag with the Confederate battle emblem - a red field topped by a blue X with 13 white stars .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
All of the state ’ s public universities have stopped flying it , as have a growing number of cities and counties .
White supremacists in the Mississippi legislature set the state flag design in 1894 during backlash to the political power that African Americans gained after the civil war .
In 2000 , the Mississippi supreme court ruled that the flag lacked official status .
State laws were updated in 1906 , and portions dealing with the flag were not carried forward .
Legislators set a flag election in 2001 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Former Ole Miss basketball player Blake Hinson told his hometown Daytona Beach ( Florida ) News-Journal that the Mississippi flag played a part in his decision to transfer to Iowa State .
“ It was time to go and leave Ole Miss , ” Hinson said .
“ I ’ m proud not to represent that flag anymore and to not be associated with anything representing the Confederacy.
” Reeves said Saturday for the first time that he would sign a bill to change the flag if the Republican-controlled legislature sends him one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said people should get to vote on a flag design in another statewide election .
The new design – without the Confederate symbol – will be put on the ballot 3 November , but it will be the only choice .
If a majority voting that day accept the new design , it will become the state flag .
If a majority reject it , the commission will design a new flag using the same guidelines .
“ I understand many view the current flag as a symbol of heritage and southern pride @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Faith Hill , a Mississippi native , “ but we have to realize that this flag is a direct symbol of terror for our black brothers and sisters.
” Associated Press contributed to this report

Mississippi legislators have voted to replace the state flag, the last in the nation to feature the Confederate battle emblem, which has been condemned as racist.
The state House and the Senate voted to remove the current flag on Sunday and create a commission that will design a new flag that cannot include the Confederate symbol and that must have the words “In God We Trust”. Mississippi governor Tate Reeves has signalled he will sign the measure in the coming days.
The flag’s supporters have resisted efforts to change it for decades, but rapid developments in recent weeks have changed dynamics on this issue in the state, which has a long history of systemic racism and saw more lynchings of African Americans than any other state in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
As protests against racial injustice recently spread across the US, including Mississippi, leaders from business, religion, education and sports have spoken forcefully against the state flag. They have urged legislators to ditch the 126-year-old banner for one that better reflects the diversity of a state with a 38% Black population.
The state House and Senate met Saturday and took a big step: by two-thirds margins, they suspended legislative deadlines so a flag bill could be filed. Spectators cheered as each chamber voted, and legislators seeking the change embraced each other.
“There are economic issues. There are issues involving football or whatever,” said Delbert Hosemann, Republican lieutenant governor, on Saturday. “But this vote came from the heart. That makes it so much more important.”
David Jordan, a Democratic senator who is African American, has pushed for decades to change the flag. He smiled broadly after Saturday’s vote and said, “This is such a metamorphosis.”
On Sunday, the House passed the bill to change the flag with a vote of 91-23. The Senate followed that vote by approving the bill 37-14. The bill stipulates the current flag must be removed within 15 days of the vote.
Mississippi has the last state flag with the Confederate battle emblem – a red field topped by a blue X with 13 white stars. The flag has been divisive for generations. All of the state’s public universities have stopped flying it, as have a growing number of cities and counties.
White supremacists in the Mississippi legislature set the state flag design in 1894 during backlash to the political power that African Americans gained after the civil war.
In 2000, the Mississippi supreme court ruled that the flag lacked official status. State laws were updated in 1906, and portions dealing with the flag were not carried forward. Legislators set a flag election in 2001, and voters kept the rebel-themed design.
Former Ole Miss basketball player Blake Hinson told his hometown Daytona Beach (Florida) News-Journal that the Mississippi flag played a part in his decision to transfer to Iowa State.
“It was time to go and leave Ole Miss,” Hinson said. “I’m proud not to represent that flag anymore and to not be associated with anything representing the Confederacy.”
Reeves said Saturday for the first time that he would sign a bill to change the flag if the Republican-controlled legislature sends him one.
Reeves and many other politicians have said people should get to vote on a flag design in another statewide election. The new design – without the Confederate symbol – will be put on the ballot 3 November, but it will be the only choice.
If a majority voting that day accept the new design, it will become the state flag. If a majority reject it, the commission will design a new flag using the same guidelines.
“I understand many view the current flag as a symbol of heritage and southern pride,” tweeted the country music star Faith Hill, a Mississippi native, “but we have to realize that this flag is a direct symbol of terror for our black brothers and sisters.”


theguardian--2020-06-28--Outrage over Trump’s retweet of supporter shouting ‘white power’ – as it happened

US health secretary Alex Azar has warned that “ the window is closing ” on the country ’ s chance to take action to effectively curb the coronavirus , as the number of confirmed cases surpassed 2.5m .
The Health and Human Services secretary pointed to a recent spike in infections , particularly in the south and said people have “ to act responsibly ” by social distancing and wearing face masks especially “ in these hot zones ” .
For a third consecutive day on Saturday , the number of confirmed US cases rose by more than 40,000 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ 267 % so far in June and jumped by a record 3,857 cases on Sunday , the eighth record-breaking increase this month .
Overall , US deaths from Covid-19 have surpassed 125,000 with more than 2.5m confirmed cases , according to compiled by Johns Hopkins University , far more than any other country in the world .
The fresh surge in Covid-19 cases has been most pronounced in a handful of southern and western states that reopened earlier and more aggressively , with the support of the Trump administration , despite warnings by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ steady decline in cases .
Texas and Florida were among the states that reversed course on parts of their reopening plans last week as cases continue to increase .
Appearing on NBC ’ s Meet the Press program on Sunday morning , Azar was asked by presenter Chuck Todd why the US was failing to tackle the Covid-19 crisis , especially when so many other countries seem to be succeeding .
Azar acknowledged the US was “ seeing surging in cases ” and that the majority of those are among people under the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ large number of those ” will be asymptomatic , presenting a different challenge for authorities trying to get a grip on outbreaks .
“ This is a very serious situation , ” Azar said , adding that “ the window is closing ” to stop virus spread .
“ We have to act , and people as individuals have to act responsibly .
We need to social distance , we need to wear our face coverings .
”

Tom Lutz  and Bryan Armen Graham  in New York

28 Jun 2020 21.47 BST Florida governor Ron DeSantis says younger people are driving up the Covid-19 numbers in his state. “You’re seeing it in those groups who are less at risk, but you’re seeing them test positive at much higher rates,” DeSantis said. “I think [ages] 25 to 34 has been pretty close to 20%.” The number of coronavirus cases in Florida rose by 8,530 to 141,075 on Sunday, according to the state’s health department. Miami-Dade county reported more than 2,000 new cases for the first time. The news comes one day after the state established a daily record for new cases with 9,585 reported on Saturday, part of an alarming weeklong trend of 43,784 confirmed cases, which accounts for more than 30% of Florida’s overall tally. As of 9.25am on Sunday, there have been 141,075 positive cases of the coronavirus statewide. The case count includes 138,567 Florida residents and 2,508 non-Florida residents.
28 Jun 2020 21.31 BST California governor orders closure of bars and nightclubs in LA California governor Gavin Newsom has ordered the closure of bars and nightclubs in seven of the state’s counties, including Los Angeles. Newsom’s order came as Covid-19 cases in California rise. “Covid-19 is still circulating in California, and in some parts of the state, growing stronger,” Newsom said in a written statement. “That’s why it is critical we take this step to limit the spread of the virus in the counties that are seeing the biggest increases.” Los Angeles county reported 2,169 news coronavirus cases on Saturday alone. “If we can’t find it in us to follow these mandates, including wearing face coverings and distancing when around others, we jeopardize our ability to move forward on the recovery journey,” Barbara Ferrer, the Los Angeles county health director, said on a statement on Saturday. “Our collective responsibility is to take immediate action, as individuals and businesses, to reverse the trends we are experiencing.”
28 Jun 2020 21.13 BST Arizona has set a new high for confirmed Covid-19 cases in a single day. Here’s more from the Associated Press: Arizona health officials reported 3,858 more confirmed coronavirus cases on Sunday, the most reported in a single day in the state so far. It was also the seventh time in the last 10 days that daily cases surpassed the 3,000 mark. The Arizona Department of Health Services also reported nine additional deaths. That pushes Arizona’s documented Covid-19 totals to nearly 74,000 cases and 1,588 known deaths. Some Arizona hospitals have begun activating surge plans to increase their capacity to treat Covid-19 patients as confirmed cases rise and more people seek treatment. Arizona became a coronavirus hot spot following Governor Doug Ducey’s lifting of stay-home orders last month.
28 Jun 2020 21.07 BST A reminder that the young and fit can still feel the effects of Covid-19. Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz was the first NBA player to test positive for the virus (after an ill-advised decision to touch several reporters’ microphones) in March. His diagnosis ushered in the league’s decision to shut down. Gobert says he will be fit enough to play when the NBA resumes in the coming weeks, but told French publication L’Equipe that he still has trouble smelling, a common side-effect of the virus. The NBA's Disney World dream could turn into a nightmare, fast Read more “Taste has returned, but [my] sense of smell is still not 100%,” he said. “I can smell smells, but not from far away. I spoke to specialists, who told me that it could take up to a year.” The NBA will resume in a “bubble” at Disney World in Orlando, although there has been speculation whether the rise in Covid-19 cases in Florida could put the restart in jeopardy.
28 Jun 2020 20.51 BST Let’s take a little break from criticism of Donald Trump’s response to Covid-19 and instead hear from someone who doesn’t think Mike Pence is doing a good job either. That would be Washington’s Democratic governor, Jay Inslee. “When I heard the vice president talk about how things are just hunky-dory, it’s just maddening,” Inslee said on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday. “The situation is critical in many places across the United States and all the happy thoughts and wishful thinking in the world is not going to wash that away.” .@GovInslee on @realdonaldtrump: "We sure could use some leadership from the president….he's distorted our ability to fight this war."
Adds, "Donald trump is for #maskingup like [former Alabama Gov.] George Wallace was for integration." pic.twitter.com/s3gxW2Agxo — Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) June 28, 2020 Inslee did also give his thoughts on the president, by the way. The governor said Covid-19 was far more important than the president defending statues of Confederate generals. “We need a president who will care more about living Americans and less about dead Confederates,” he said. Inslee added that the president should use the influence he has over his most ardent supporters to help curb the spread of the virus. “If we can get everyone wearing a MAGA hat to wear a mask, we are going to contain this virus,” he said. “This is the way to open our economy, if we get people to mask up and reopen our economy, that’ll be a good day for everyone.”
28 Jun 2020 20.35 BST Pence: 'wearing a mask is just a good idea' On Friday, vice president Mike Pence led a briefing by the coronavirus task force in which he did not once recommend that people wear face masks. It seemed that political considerations – Donald Trump has made statements pooh-poohing masks – prevented Pence from making the most basic of health recommendations. Two short days later and Pence has (for the moment) changed his tune. The vice president is visiting Texas today to meet with local officials about the state’s growing outbreak. During his visit, Pence has made a rare public show of wearing a mask himself – and he has now recommended that others do the same.
The Texas Tribune reports: Pence encourages Texans to follow local mask orders. "Wearing a mask is just a good idea," Pence says. — Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) June 28, 2020 Masked up in Texas on Sunday. Photograph: Tony Gutierrez/AP Take it from Mike Pence: wear a mask in public.
28 Jun 2020 20.22 BST COLUMBUS, Ind. (AP) — It was a scene Jeannine Lee Lake never would have imagined when she first ran against Greg Pence, Vice President Mike Pence’s brother, for a rural Indiana congressional seat two years ago: an almost entirely white crowd of more than 100 people marching silently in the Pences’ hometown this month, offering prayers for Black people killed by police and an end to systemic racism. Leading them was Lake, who is in rematch against Pence. She is the only Black woman running for federal office in Indiana this fall. The Democrat, who lost badly in 2018 and again faces long odds in the deeply conservative district, has spent much of the past few weeks at events such as the one in Columbus on Juneteenth. In communities across a district that is 93% white, Lake has talked about seeing her children pulled over by police and “harassed for no reason.” She has spoken the names of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black people killed by police, telling crowds “we’re here to call for change.” Jeannine Lee Lake, Democratic candidate for Indiana’s 6th congressional district, speaks to the crowd gathered for Juneteenth day event in Columbus, Indiana. Photograph: Michael Conroy/AP “In no way, shape or form is 2018 the same as the 2020 race in regard to the grassroots effort and the galvanization of the movement that is now Black Lives Matter,” said Lake, 50. “It’s just a total shift.” The reenergized movement against racial inequality has amplified the voices of Black candidates, in some cases pushing the political debate over race into Republican-leaning areas. Democrats say they’ve seen a significant boost in fundraising and other engagement for candidates running on racial justice issues, and believe it could help the party flip some Republican-held districts in November. Read further via the Associated Press.
Updated at 20.38 BST
28 Jun 2020 20.14 BST Ed Pilkington In a week that saw the worst day on record for new cases, Trump shrugs as experts warn Americans not to follow his lead, Ed Pilkington reports: A disaster is unfolding in Montgomery, Alabama, where Martin Luther King preached and where Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on the bus. Hospitals are running short of drugs to treat Covid-19, intensive care units are close to capacity, and ventilators are running short. Between 85% and 90% of the very sick and dying are African American. Amid this gathering storm, the city council met to decide whether to require people to wear masks, a basic protection the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) strongly recommends. Doctors lined up to plead their case. “This is beyond an epidemic in this area,” said the pulmonologist Bill Saliski. “Our units are full of critically ill covid patients. We have to slow this down.” His colleague, Nina Nelson-Garrett, described watching undertakers carrying out corpses, 30 minutes apart. “Something as simple as a mask can save someone’s life,” she said. Republican Senator from Alabama Richard Shelby points to his University of Alabama face mask last month in Washington. Photograph: Michael Reynolds/EPA Dr Kim McGlothan recounted how she was frequently stopped by white people asking, “Is the media sensationalizing this, is it really as bad as they are making out?” McGlothan told the council: “People don’t believe the hype. Until you mandate masks, we won’t be able to stop this – we just won’t.” Then a black resident stood up. Six of his relatives had died from Covid-19. His brother was on a ventilator. “This is not about masks,” he said. “The question on the table is, ‘Do black lives matter?’ I lost six of my family to Covid. How would it feel if it was your family?” Read the full piece here: 'Like leaning into a left hook': coronavirus calamity unfolds across divided US Read more
Updated at 20.38 BST
28 Jun 2020 20.06 BST Hello this is Tom McCarthy jumping into the blog and wondering whether everyone has seen the below photo, supposedly of a Trump supporter wearing a face mask as a sleeping mask, making the rounds today? Real life imitates a political cartoon. pic.twitter.com/NV1lBQK7P8 — southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) June 28, 2020 Is this staged? What do you think?
28 Jun 2020 19.54 BST Bryan Armen Graham US health secretary Alex Azar has warned that “the window is closing” on the country’s chance to take action to effectively curb the coronavirus, as the number of confirmed cases surpassed 2.5m. The Health and Human Services secretary pointed to a recent spike in infections, particularly in the south and said people have “to act responsibly” by social distancing and wearing face masks especially “in these hot zones”. For a third consecutive day on Saturday, the number of confirmed US cases rose by more than 40,000. In Arizona, cases have risen by 267% so far in June and jumped by a record 3,857 cases on Sunday, the eighth record-breaking increase this month. Overall, US deaths from Covid-19 have surpassed 125,000 with more than 2.5m confirmed cases, according to compiled by Johns Hopkins University, far more than any other country in the world. The fresh surge in Covid-19 cases has been most pronounced in a handful of southern and western states that reopened earlier and more aggressively, with the support of the Trump administration, despite warnings by health officials to wait to see a steady decline in cases. Texas and Florida were among the states that reversed course on parts of their reopening plans last week as cases continue to increase. Appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press program on Sunday morning, Azar was asked by presenter Chuck Todd why the US was failing to tackle the Covid-19 crisis, especially when so many other countries seem to be succeeding. Azar acknowledged the US was “seeing surging in cases” and that the majority of those are among people under the age of 35, which means a “large number of those” will be asymptomatic, presenting a different challenge for authorities trying to get a grip on outbreaks. “This is a very serious situation,” Azar said, adding that “the window is closing” to stop virus spread. “We have to act, and people as individuals have to act responsibly. We need to social distance, we need to wear our face coverings.”
28 Jun 2020 19.38 BST Democratic party chairman Tom Perez has put out a statement following Donald Trump’s since deleted retweet of a man shouting “white power”. The president called those appearing in the video “great people”. Trump deletes tweet of supporter shouting ‘white power’ after outrage Read more “Once again, Donald Trump’s actions are simply indefensible,” said Perez in the statement. “As our country faces a reckoning since the murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and so many others, we are seeking ways to address systemic racism and injustice. But Trump is tweeting a video promoting ‘white power.’ “This president tries to claim ignorance, but the consistency of his actions – on Charlottesville and most recently Lafayette Square – drown out his vacuous words. We need a president who will heal our nation’s wounds and unite the American people, not a demagogue who tries to divide us through fear and bigotry.” White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere says the president had not heard the “white power” shout when he retweeted the video.
28 Jun 2020 19.22 BST New York governor Andrew Cuomo says the White House administration is “in denial” about the Covid-19 pandemic. “This is a continuation of the first wave, and it was a failed effort to stop the first wave in the country,” Cuomo said during an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press. “If you listen to what the president says, what they said at the White House briefing, they’re saying what they said three months ago. They’re basically in denial about the problem. They don’t want to tell the American people the truth.” Cuomo said the White House’s attitude meant states had created their own responses to the virus. “And they don’t want to have any federal response,” he added. “I knew what they were saying: ‘You’re on your own.’ And it’s not a good feeling, but it’s sort of liberating.” New York, which was once the worst-affected region in the world by Covid-19, has seen a decline in deaths and cases over the last few weeks, and the state is gradually reopening. Five people died from the virus in New York on Saturday, whereas there were nearly 800 fatalities a day in the state at the peak. “We are on the exact opposite end,” Cuomo said. “We have less than 800 people in hospitals, [the] lowest number basically since we started.” However, as cases rise across the US as a whole, Cuomo said he was concerned the state could be hit hard again and said New Yorkers should wear masks and practice social distancing. “I’m now afraid of the spread coming from other states because we are one country and people travel,” Cuomo said. “I’m afraid the infection rate in the other states will come back to New York and raise that rate again.”
28 Jun 2020 19.06 BST Nancy Pelosi suggests Russia has information on Donald Trump House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has suggested Russia may have compromising information on the president. Pelosi said she found the lack of response from the Donald Trump over reports in the New York Times that Russia had offered bounties for Taliban-linked militants to kill US soldiers “appalling”. “I don’t know what the Russians have on the president politically, personally or whatever it is, but he wants to ignore [reports of wrongdoing],” Pelosi told ABC’s This Week. When she was asked if she was saying the Russians have dirt on Trump, Pelosi replied: “How else would you explain his refusal to ignore, again and again, the intelligence that puts right at the Russian doorstep the involvement into our elections, for example?” The president said on Sunday no one had told him about the reports. “Nobody briefed or told me, [vice president Mike] Pence, or chief of staff Mark Meadows about the so-called attacks on our troops in Afghanistan by Russians,” Trump tweeted in part. “Everybody is denying it & there have not been many attacks on us…” You can read more on the story here: Trump denies knowledge of 'Russian bounties on US troops' as criticism mounts Read more
28 Jun 2020 18.51 BST Some, including Donald Trump, have claimed the rise in Covid-19 cases across the US are due to increased testing. That’s not a view shared by Tom Frieden, the former director of the Centers for Disease Control. During an appearance on Fox News on Sunday, Frieden said he could say with “100% certainty” that there has been a true rise in cases, because of a rise in the proportion of positive tests. He also said the recent cases were “just the tip of the iceberg”. Frieden said he understood why people were growing frustrated by lockdown measures but “the virus is not tired of making us sick.” He added that he believed that a number of southern states had reopened too soon. “If you open when cases are still increasing, as many states did, it’s like leaning into a left hook,” Frieden said. “You’re going to get hit hard. And that’s what’s happening.”


theguardian--2020-06-28--Health secretary: ‘Window is closing’ to stop coronavirus as US cases pass 2.5m

US health secretary Alex Azar has warned that “ the window is closing ” on the country ’ s chance to take action to effectively curb the coronavirus , as the number of confirmed cases surpassed 2.5m .
The Health and Human Services secretary pointed to a recent surge in infections , particularly in the south and said people have “ to act responsibly ” by social distancing and wearing face masks especially “ in these hot zones ” .
For a third consecutive day on Saturday , the number of confirmed US cases rose by more than 40,000 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ 267 % so far in June and jumped by a record 3,857 cases on Sunday , the eighth record-breaking increase this month .
Overall , US deaths from Covid-19 have passed 125,000 with more than 2.5m confirmed cases , according to compiled by Johns Hopkins University , far more than any other country in the world .
The fresh surge in Covid-19 cases has been most pronounced in a handful of southern and western states that reopened earlier and more aggressively , with the support of the Trump administration , despite warnings by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ steady decline in cases .
Texas and Florida were among the states that reversed course on parts of their reopening plans last week as cases continue to increase .
Appearing on NBC ’ s Meet the Press program on Sunday morning , Azar was asked by presenter Chuck Todd why the US was failing to tackle the Covid-19 crisis , especially when so many other countries seem to be succeeding .
Azar acknowledged the US was “ seeing surging in cases ” and that the majority of those are among people under the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ large number of those ” will be asymptomatic , presenting a different challenge for authorities trying to get a grip on outbreaks .
“ This is a very serious situation , ” Azar said , adding that “ the window is closing ” to stop the virus ’ s spread .
“ We have to act , and people as individuals have to act responsibly .
We need to social distance , we need to wear our face coverings.
” Azar argued that the US is in a better position than two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it is conducting more testing and has therapeutics available to treat Covid-19 .
But he acknowledged that hospitalizations and deaths could increase in the next few weeks , because it is a lagging indicator .
The Trump administration has long been criticized for its response to the coronavirus crisis , and the president has frequently been at odds with public health officials on the best course of action to curb the spread .
New York state , which was the center of the US outbreak through April and May , and enacted strict @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Covid-19 fatalities on Sunday .
Five people died from the coronavirus in the state on Saturday , a toll Governor Andrew Cuomo called “ the lowest number we have had since this started.
” During the peak of the pandemic in April , nearly 800 people were dying every day from coronavirus .
“ We are on the exact opposite end , ” from states such as Texas , Florida and Arizona , Cuomo said in an interview with NBC ’ s Meet the Press .
The governor cautioned , however , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New Yorkers let their guard down and fail to follow social distancing and mask-wearing requirements .
“ I ’ m now afraid of the spread coming from other states because we are one country and people travel , ” Cuomo said .
“ I ’ m afraid the infection rate in the other states will come back to New York and raise that rate again.
” House speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday that it was “ long overdue ” for masks to be mandated across the country , but that opposition from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ blocking such a step .
“ And my understanding , that the Centers for Disease Control ( CDC ) has recommended the use of masks , but not to demand – required it , because they don ’ t want to offend the president , ” she said on ABC ’ s This Week .
“ And the president should be an example .
You know , real men wear masks .
Be an example to the country and wear the mask… it ’ s not about protecting yourself .
It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Azar said Trump doesn ’ t have to follow his own administration ’ s guidance because as president he is tested regularly and is in “ very different circumstances than the rest of us ” .
Democratic Washington Governor Jay Inslee told CBS that Trump should spend more time tweeting about wearing masks instead of defending monuments to Confederate generals .
“ We need a president who will care more about living Americans and less about dead Confederates , ” he said .

US health secretary Alex Azar has warned that “the window is closing” on the country’s chance to take action to effectively curb the coronavirus, as the number of confirmed cases surpassed 2.5m.
The Health and Human Services secretary pointed to a recent surge in infections, particularly in the south and said people have “to act responsibly” by social distancing and wearing face masks especially “in these hot zones”.
For a third consecutive day on Saturday, the number of confirmed US cases rose by more than 40,000. In Arizona, cases have risen by 267% so far in June and jumped by a record 3,857 cases on Sunday, the eighth record-breaking increase this month. Overall, US deaths from Covid-19 have passed 125,000 with more than 2.5m confirmed cases, according to compiled by Johns Hopkins University, far more than any other country in the world.
The fresh surge in Covid-19 cases has been most pronounced in a handful of southern and western states that reopened earlier and more aggressively, with the support of the Trump administration, despite warnings by health officials to wait to see a steady decline in cases. Texas and Florida were among the states that reversed course on parts of their reopening plans last week as cases continue to increase.
Appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press program on Sunday morning, Azar was asked by presenter Chuck Todd why the US was failing to tackle the Covid-19 crisis, especially when so many other countries seem to be succeeding.
Azar acknowledged the US was “seeing surging in cases” and that the majority of those are among people under the age of 35, which means a “large number of those” will be asymptomatic, presenting a different challenge for authorities trying to get a grip on outbreaks.
“This is a very serious situation,” Azar said, adding that “the window is closing” to stop the virus’s spread. “We have to act, and people as individuals have to act responsibly. We need to social distance, we need to wear our face coverings.”
Azar argued that the US is in a better position than two months ago in fighting the virus because it is conducting more testing and has therapeutics available to treat Covid-19. But he acknowledged that hospitalizations and deaths could increase in the next few weeks, because it is a lagging indicator.
The Trump administration has long been criticized for its response to the coronavirus crisis, and the president has frequently been at odds with public health officials on the best course of action to curb the spread.
New York state, which was the center of the US outbreak through April and May, and enacted strict stay-at-home measures, reported its lowest number of Covid-19 fatalities on Sunday.
Five people died from the coronavirus in the state on Saturday, a toll Governor Andrew Cuomo called “the lowest number we have had since this started.” During the peak of the pandemic in April, nearly 800 people were dying every day from coronavirus.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: ‘The president should be an example. You know, real men wear masks. Be an example to the country and wear the mask.’ Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/AP
“We are on the exact opposite end,” from states such as Texas, Florida and Arizona, Cuomo said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press. The governor cautioned, however, that the numbers could spike again if New Yorkers let their guard down and fail to follow social distancing and mask-wearing requirements.
“I’m now afraid of the spread coming from other states because we are one country and people travel,” Cuomo said. “I’m afraid the infection rate in the other states will come back to New York and raise that rate again.”
House speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday that it was “long overdue” for masks to be mandated across the country, but that opposition from Donald Trump had played a role in blocking such a step.
“And my understanding, that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has recommended the use of masks, but not to demand – required it, because they don’t want to offend the president,” she said on ABC’s This Week.
“And the president should be an example. You know, real men wear masks. Be an example to the country and wear the mask… it’s not about protecting yourself. It’s about protecting others and their families.”
Azar said Trump doesn’t have to follow his own administration’s guidance because as president he is tested regularly and is in “very different circumstances than the rest of us”.
Democratic Washington Governor Jay Inslee told CBS that Trump should spend more time tweeting about wearing masks instead of defending monuments to Confederate generals. “We need a president who will care more about living Americans and less about dead Confederates,” he said.


theguardian--2020-06-28--Trump deletes tweet of supporter shouting ‘white power’ after outrage

Donald Trump has deleted a tweet he sent featuring video of a Trump supporter shouting , “ White power !
White power !
” after an outpouring of grief and outrage at racist language flowing directly from the White House once again .
The tweet was deleted after it drew fierce criticism from across the political spectrum , including from Tim Scott of South Carolina , the sole African American Republican in the Senate .
“ There ’ s no question that he should not have retweeted it and he should just take it down , ” Scott told CNN @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” program .
“ It was so profanity laced , the entire thing was offensive .
Certainly , the comment about the white power was offensive .
It ’ s indefensible .
We should take it down.
” Trump had left the tweet , featuring video of arguments among residents of The Villages , a predominantly white and conservative retirement community in Florida , posted on his Twitter feed for nearly four hours .
“ Thank you to the great people of The Villages , ” Trump tweeted about the footage , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ golf cart with a “ Trump 2020 ” sign spouting racist rhetoric at white anti-Trump protesters .
White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere claimed that Trump had not heard the man screaming “ white power ” at the start of the video he tweeted .
“ President Trump is a big fan of The Villages , ” Deere said in the statement .
“ He did not hear the one statement made on the video.
” Cody Keenan , a former speechwriter for Barack Obama , said the tweet was part of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ How ‘ bout we just skip past the kabuki where White House staff emails reporters anonymously to say they had nothing to do with it , every [ Republican ] senator pretends they haven ’ t seen it , and just accept that they ’ re all part of the Trump 2020 white power Covid rally ‘ til the end , ” Keenan tweeted .
Trump sent the tweet as he faces a difficult re-election bid , which in part involves a struggle to shore up support among his base of white and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a majority of that demographic has supported protests over the killing last month of George Floyd , an African American man , by a white police officer in Minneapolis , Minnesota .
The Floyd protests have launched what could be a moment of reckoning for racial justice , on issues ranging from unaccountable police killings to Confederate monuments to criminal justice reforms to the legacy of slavery to reparations .
Yet Trump has leaned into his opposition to the protests , threatening to deploy the US military in American cities , promising stiff @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when the looting starts , the shooting starts ” – a phrase famously used in the 1960s by a Miami police chief long accused of bigotry – and declaring himself the president of “ law and order ” .
On Sunday , Trump , who is also facing a growing scandal over his handling of the coronavirus crisis , and intelligence indicating a Russian plot against American soldiers in Afghanistan , once again sought to stoke racial tensions .
Following his retweet of footage from The Villages , Trump sent a tweet in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vast silent majority is alive and well !
!
” The phrase “ silent majority ” is associated with Richard Nixon ’ s political strategy to inflame racial anxiety to win votes .
In a separate appearance on CBS New ’ s Face the Nation , vice-president Mike Pence refused to use the phrase “ Black Lives Matter ” .
“ John , I really believe that all lives matter , ” Pence replied , using a phrase that has long been criticized for failing to recognize the racism Black Americans face .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ morning in a separate CNN appearance , health secretary Alex Azar said he had not seen the most recent tweet – but asserted that Trump is not supportive of white supremacy .
“ I ’ ve not seen that video or that tweet , but obviously neither the president , his administration nor I would do anything to be supportive of white supremacy or anything that would support discrimination of any kind , ” Azar said .
“ [ O ] bviously , the president and I and his whole administration would stand @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But many critics of the president see him as one of the most powerful proponents of white supremacy in the country ’ s history .
Andrew Stroehlein , European media director of Human Rights Watch , said Trump ’ s tweet was “ not surprising for a man who ’ s called neo-Nazis “ very fine people ” and hired white nationalists to work in the White House , but still , immensely dangerous .
“ With his poll numbers falling , he wants a race war , ” Stroehlein tweeted .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ‘ white power ’ video today , got caught covering up that Putin , who got him elected , was paying bounties for murdering American soldiers , ” wrote Walter Shaub , former director of the office of government ethics , on Twitter .
“ His response is to lie , attack the press , and take no action against Putin .
Trump is at war with America .
”

Donald Trump has deleted a tweet he sent featuring video of a Trump supporter shouting, “White power! White power!” after an outpouring of grief and outrage at racist language flowing directly from the White House once again.
The tweet was deleted after it drew fierce criticism from across the political spectrum, including from Tim Scott of South Carolina, the sole African American Republican in the Senate.
“There’s no question that he should not have retweeted it and he should just take it down,” Scott told CNN’s “State of the Union” program.
“It was so profanity laced, the entire thing was offensive. Certainly, the comment about the white power was offensive. It’s indefensible. We should take it down.”
Trump had left the tweet, featuring video of arguments among residents of The Villages, a predominantly white and conservative retirement community in Florida, posted on his Twitter feed for nearly four hours.
“Thank you to the great people of The Villages,” Trump tweeted about the footage, which begins with a white man driving a golf cart with a “Trump 2020” sign spouting racist rhetoric at white anti-Trump protesters.
White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere claimed that Trump had not heard the man screaming “white power” at the start of the video he tweeted.
“President Trump is a big fan of The Villages,” Deere said in the statement. “He did not hear the one statement made on the video.”
Cody Keenan, a former speechwriter for Barack Obama, said the tweet was part of Trump’s re-election strategy.
“How ‘bout we just skip past the kabuki where White House staff emails reporters anonymously to say they had nothing to do with it, every [Republican] senator pretends they haven’t seen it, and just accept that they’re all part of the Trump 2020 white power Covid rally ‘til the end,” Keenan tweeted.
Trump sent the tweet as he faces a difficult re-election bid, which in part involves a struggle to shore up support among his base of white and evangelical Christian voters. Polls indicate that a majority of that demographic has supported protests over the killing last month of George Floyd, an African American man, by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The Floyd protests have launched what could be a moment of reckoning for racial justice, on issues ranging from unaccountable police killings to Confederate monuments to criminal justice reforms to the legacy of slavery to reparations.
Yet Trump has leaned into his opposition to the protests, threatening to deploy the US military in American cities, promising stiff penalties for defacing statues, tweeting “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” – a phrase famously used in the 1960s by a Miami police chief long accused of bigotry – and declaring himself the president of “law and order”.
On Sunday, Trump, who is also facing a growing scandal over his handling of the coronavirus crisis, and intelligence indicating a Russian plot against American soldiers in Afghanistan, once again sought to stoke racial tensions.
Following his retweet of footage from The Villages, Trump sent a tweet in all caps that said, “the vast silent majority is alive and well!!” The phrase “silent majority” is associated with Richard Nixon’s political strategy to inflame racial anxiety to win votes.
In a separate appearance on CBS New’s Face the Nation, vice-president Mike Pence refused to use the phrase “Black Lives Matter”.
“So you won’t say ‘black lives matter?’” host John Dickerson asked Pence.
“John, I really believe that all lives matter,” Pence replied, using a phrase that has long been criticized for failing to recognize the racism Black Americans face.
05:17 How 'white fragility' reinforces racism – video explainer
Challenged on Trump’s rhetoric Sunday morning in a separate CNN appearance, health secretary Alex Azar said he had not seen the most recent tweet – but asserted that Trump is not supportive of white supremacy.
“I’ve not seen that video or that tweet, but obviously neither the president, his administration nor I would do anything to be supportive of white supremacy or anything that would support discrimination of any kind,” Azar said. “[O]bviously, the president and I and his whole administration would stand against any acts of white supremacy.”
But many critics of the president see him as one of the most powerful proponents of white supremacy in the country’s history.
Andrew Stroehlein, European media director of Human Rights Watch, said Trump’s tweet was “not surprising for a man who’s called neo-Nazis “very fine people” and hired white nationalists to work in the White House, but still, immensely dangerous.
“With his poll numbers falling, he wants a race war,” Stroehlein tweeted.
“Our racist president, who retweeted a ‘white power’ video today, got caught covering up that Putin, who got him elected, was paying bounties for murdering American soldiers,” wrote Walter Shaub, former director of the office of government ethics, on Twitter. “His response is to lie, attack the press, and take no action against Putin. Trump is at war with America.”


theguardian--2020-06-28--Trump denies knowledge of 'Russian bounties on US troops' as criticism mounts

Donald Trump claimed on Sunday that no one had told him about a Russian plot to offer bounties to Taliban militants in exchange for fatal attacks on coalition troops in Afghanistan , though US security officials have been weighing a response to the plot since at least March .
Top administration officials , including members of Trump ’ s national security council , have been discussing the Russian bounty offer for months , the New York Times first reported .
But in a tweet Sunday morning , Trump claimed never to have heard about the Russian offer – and he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made .
“ Nobody briefed or told me , [ vice president Mike ] Pence , or chief of staff Mark Meadows about the so-called attacks on our troops in Afghanistan by Russians , ” Trump tweeted in part .
“ Everybody is denying it & there have not been many attacks on us … ” Meadows took over as chief of staff at the end of March , after the national security council , which includes top advisers to the president with offices inside the White House , convened an interagency meeting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reports , according to the Times .
Joe Biden , Trump ’ s presidential rival , accused Trump in a virtual town hall on Saturday of betraying US troops by failing to act on the intelligence reports .
“ Not only has he failed to sanction or impose any kind of consequences on Russia for this egregious violation of international law , Donald Trump has continued his embarrassing campaign of deference and debasing himself before Vladimir Putin , ” Biden said .
“ His entire presidency has been a gift to Putin , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It ’ s a betrayal of the most sacred duty we bear as a nation , to protect and equip our troops when we send them into harm ’ s way.
” A Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered cash to Taliban-linked militants for successful attacks on coalition forces in the fall of 2019 , as the US and Taliban engaged in talks to end a decades-long war , according to widely reported US intelligence assessments .
While Trump and aides cast doubt on those assessments , further reporting published on Sunday by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were tipped off to the Russian program by the discovery by US special forces of a large amount of American cash at a Taliban outpost .
Warnings about the suspected Russian plot were sent up the intelligence chain in January , the Times reported .
Twenty Americans were killed in combat in Afghanistan in 2019 .
But the White House press secretary , the director of national intelligence ( DNI ) , and now the president himself all denied at the weekend that news of a secret Russian paid assassinations plot against US @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s inner circle .
“ I have confirmed that neither the president nor the vice president were ever briefed on any intelligence alleged by the New York Times in its reporting yesterday , ” intelligence director John Ratcliffe said in a statement Saturday .
“ The White House statement addressing this issue earlier today , which denied such a briefing occurred , was accurate.
” House speaker Nancy Pelosi , a Democrat , said on ABC ’ s This Week program on Sunday that it was “ totally outrageous ” that Trump did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ defend American lives .
“ This is as bad as it gets , and yet the president will not confront the Russians on this score , ” Pelosi said .
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany issued a statement Saturday denying that Trump had been briefed but saying “ this does not speak to the merit of the alleged intelligence ” .
The White House has not explained why the president would not be briefed on a plot to kill US soldiers deployed overseas .
“ Either the DNI is lying ( which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ DNI withheld earthshaking information from President Trump because he is so infantile and irrelevant that they ’ d rather he not know ( which is … well … also a massive problem ) , ” tweeted Connecticut senator Chris Murphy , a Democrat .
The former acting director of national intelligence , Richard Grenell , who served the Trump administration , suggested on Sunday that the reports about the intelligence assessment were wrong .
“ No one would be fine with this if it were true , ” Grenell tweeted .
Both the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ statements denying the plot .
“ This unsophisticated plant clearly illustrates the low intellectual abilities of the propagandists of American intelligence , who instead of inventing something more plausible have to make up this nonsense , ” the Russian Foreign Ministry said .
A Taliban spokesman said the militants “ strongly reject this allegation and are not indebted to the beneficence of any intelligence organ or foreign country ” .
Trump has publicly undermined US intelligence assessments about Russia in the past .
In a July 2018 appearance in Helsinki , Finland , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ endorsed Putin ’ s denial of US findings that Russia had tampered in the 2016 presidential election .
“ They said they think it ’ s Russia ; I have President Putin , he just said it ’ s not Russia , ” Trump told reporters .
“ I will say this : I don ’ t see any reason why it would be .
I have great confidence in my intelligence people , but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.
” A @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in March 2019 documented extensive contacts between Russian intelligence and Trump campaign officials but “ did not establish that the Trump Campaign coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities ” .
The report documented 10 instances of potential obstruction of justice by Trump personally in investigations directly or indirectly involving his campaign ’ s Russia ties .

Donald Trump has said intelligence about a Russian plot to offer bounties to Taliban militants in exchange for fatal attacks on coalition troops in Afghanistan was not “credible” and was therefore not reported to him.
The US president gave the explanation in a tweet on Sunday night, and dismissed the widely reported allegations as “possibly another fabricated Russia hoax”.
Trump has come under pressure to explain why he had not heard about the Russia offer even though US security officials have been weighing a response to the plot since at least March.
Top administration officials, including members of Trump’s national security council, have been discussing the Russian bounty offer for months, the New York Times first reported.
Earlier on Sunday, Trump claimed never to have heard about the Russian offer – and he questioned whether such an offer had been made.
“Nobody briefed or told me, [vice president Mike] Pence, or chief of staff Mark Meadows about the so-called attacks on our troops in Afghanistan by Russians,” Trump tweeted in part. “Everybody is denying it & there have not been many attacks on us …”
Meadows took over as chief of staff at the end of March, after the national security council, which includes top advisers to the president with offices inside the White House, convened an interagency meeting to discuss taking action on the intelligence reports, according to the Times.
Joe Biden, Trump’s presidential rival, accused Trump in a virtual town hall on Saturday of betraying US troops by failing to act on the intelligence reports.
“Not only has he failed to sanction or impose any kind of consequences on Russia for this egregious violation of international law, Donald Trump has continued his embarrassing campaign of deference and debasing himself before Vladimir Putin,” Biden said.
“His entire presidency has been a gift to Putin, but this is beyond the pale. It’s a betrayal of the most sacred duty we bear as a nation, to protect and equip our troops when we send them into harm’s way.”
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden slammed President Trump after the New York Times reported that U.S. intelligence concluded that the Russian military offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants in Afghanistan to kill American troops https://t.co/izhdSre2Le pic.twitter.com/C4w9YgQGJ1 — Reuters (@Reuters) June 28, 2020
A Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered cash to Taliban-linked militants for successful attacks on coalition forces in the fall of 2019, as the US and Taliban engaged in talks to end a decades-long war, according to widely reported US intelligence assessments.
While Trump and aides cast doubt on those assessments, further reporting published on Sunday by the Times revealed that US intelligence agencies were tipped off to the Russian program by the discovery by US special forces of a large amount of American cash at a Taliban outpost.
Warnings about the suspected Russian plot were sent up the intelligence chain in January, the Times reported.
Twenty Americans were killed in combat in Afghanistan in 2019.
But the White House press secretary, the director of national intelligence (DNI), and now the president himself all denied at the weekend that news of a secret Russian paid assassinations plot against US troops ever made it to Trump’s inner circle.
“I have confirmed that neither the president nor the vice president were ever briefed on any intelligence alleged by the New York Times in its reporting yesterday,” intelligence director John Ratcliffe said in a statement Saturday. “The White House statement addressing this issue earlier today, which denied such a briefing occurred, was accurate.”
House speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said on ABC’s This Week program on Sunday that it was “totally outrageous” that Trump did not act on the intelligence reports to defend American lives.
“This is as bad as it gets, and yet the president will not confront the Russians on this score,” Pelosi said.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany issued a statement Saturday denying that Trump had been briefed but saying “this does not speak to the merit of the alleged intelligence”.
“Either the DNI is lying (which is a massive problem) or the DNI withheld earthshaking information from President Trump because he is so infantile and irrelevant that they’d rather he not know (which is … well … also a massive problem),” tweeted Connecticut senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat.
The former acting director of national intelligence, Richard Grenell, who served the Trump administration, suggested on Sunday that the reports about the intelligence assessment were wrong. “No one would be fine with this if it were true,” Grenell tweeted.
Both the Russian foreign ministry and the Taliban issued statements denying the plot.
“This unsophisticated plant clearly illustrates the low intellectual abilities of the propagandists of American intelligence, who instead of inventing something more plausible have to make up this nonsense,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
A Taliban spokesman said the militants “strongly reject this allegation and are not indebted to the beneficence of any intelligence organ or foreign country”.
Trump has publicly undermined US intelligence assessments about Russia in the past. In a July 2018 appearance in Helsinki, Finland, alongside Russian president Vladimir Putin, Trump endorsed Putin’s denial of US findings that Russia had tampered in the 2016 presidential election.
“They said they think it’s Russia; I have President Putin, he just said it’s not Russia,” Trump told reporters. “I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be. I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.”
A report by special counsel Robert Mueller delivered in March 2019 documented extensive contacts between Russian intelligence and Trump campaign officials but “did not establish that the Trump Campaign coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities”.
The report documented 10 instances of potential obstruction of justice by Trump personally in investigations directly or indirectly involving his campaign’s Russia ties.


theguardian--2020-06-29--Congress to be briefed on Russian bounties plot as Trump denies knowledge – live

Here ’ s Donald Trump again , following up his retweet of video of a white couple pointing weapons at protesters with : “ Can anyone believe that Princeton just dropped the name of Woodrow Wilson from their highly respected policy center .
Now the Do Nothing Democrats want to take off the name John Wayne from an airport .
Incredible stupidity !
” Here ’ s more on the Princeton story , where the 28th president ’ s name is to be removed from the School of Public and International Affairs , due to views on race which are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ least .
It was always likely , meanwhile , that Trump wouldn ’ t like news out of Orange county , California , that the airport there named for John Wayne could soon be given a different title .
According to an Associated Press report , the Orange County Democratic party wants to rename the airport , having passed a resolution “ condemning ‘ racist and bigoted statements ” the actor , who died in 1979 , made in a 1971 interview with Playboy .
In the interview , Wayne makes bigoted statements @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the LGBTQ community .
“ I believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility .
I don ’ t believe in giving authority and positions of leadership and judgment to irresponsible people , ” he said .
Wayne also said that although he didn ’ t condone slavery : “ I don ’ t feel guilty about the fact that five or 10 generations ago these people were slaves.
” The actor said he felt no remorse in the subjugation of Native Americans .
“ I don @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taking this great country away from them .
.
( O ) ur so-called stealing of this country from them was just a matter of survival , ” he said .
“ There were great numbers of people who needed new land , and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves.
” Wayne also called movies such as Easy Rider and Midnight Cowboy perverted , and used a gay slur to refer to the two main characters of the latter film .
Democrats are therefore calling on the Orange County @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s name , statue and other likenesses from the international airport and “ to restore its original name : Orange County Airport ” .
Trump likes Wayne ( who campaigned for rightwing causes in Hollywood ) and Wayne would ’ ve liked Trump – at least according to the cowboy star ’ s daughter , Aissa , who held an event for Trump on the campaign trail in 2016 .
“ The reason that I ’ m here to support Mr Trump is because America needs help , ” Aissa Wayne said at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Iowa birthplace .
“ And we need a strong leader .
And we need someone like Mr Trump with leadership qualities , somebody with courage , someone that ’ s strong like John Wayne .
“ If John Wayne were around , he ’ d be standing right here instead of me.
” In response , Trump said : “ We love John Wayne .
We love John Wayne and we love his family equally , right ?
Equally.
” Not all Wayne ’ s family returned the love .
Ethan Wayne , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of John Wayne Enterprises , responded with a statement in which he said no one “ can speak on behalf of John Wayne and neither the family nor the Foundation endorses candidates in his name ” .

Lauren Aratani (now) and Martin Pengelly (earlier)

30 Jun 2020 01.55 BST Kari Paul here, logging off for the evening. Here is the top news of the hour. Senator Elizabeth Warren introduced a bill that would put extend and expand a nationwide moratorium on evictions.
The House passed the most dramatic expansion of the Affordable Care Act, which is unlikely to move any further but is emblematic of its stance on healthcare access and significant nonetheless.
Jerome Powell, the new chair of the Federal Reserve, is slated to speak to Congress tomorrow and seems to be poised to ask for more aid money.
The Arizona governor has ordered bars, gyms and theaters closed as the state deals with a surge in Covid-19 cases following its reopening.
A bombshell report from CNN outlined how more than a dozen officials close to the president say his classified calls to heads of state to be “abominations” that show Trump poses “a danger to national security of the United States”.
30 Jun 2020 01.15 BST Donald Trump’s behavior on highly classified calls with other leaders is being called “beyond disrespectful” and “catastrophic” after a shocking report was published by CNN on Monday. I find it uncouth how he speaks to people in general, but our chief allies specifically Chancellor Angela Merkel and former PM Theresa May...beyond disrespectful. @LiftOurVoicesUS https://t.co/eEdu3m35G2 — Gretchen Carlson (@GretchenCarlson) June 29, 2020 The story, which the Guardian has not independently verified, is based on interviews with more than a dozen staffers with close contact to Trump. More details: Trump was “consistently unprepared” for calls, and overpowered easily by other leaders. He knows very little about history or politics and would “almost never” read briefing materials prepared for him by the CIA and NSC staff in advance of his calls with heads of state.
It’s not getting any better: there was little evidence that the President became more skillful or competent in his telephone conversations with most heads of state over time.
Ignoring his own advisors, Trump spoke with autocratic leaders frequently. Trump was described as “inordinately solicitous of Putin’s admiration and seemingly seeking his approval”.
Advisors were particularly concerned about the frequency of the calls with Turkish president Recep Erdogan – in which he pressed Trump for policy concessions and other favors. Erdogan was so easily able to reach Trump that insiders began to worry he had access to the US president’s schedule. Oh. This is how Trump's autocratic friends bypass the President's minders. https://t.co/qfNgcukMLi pic.twitter.com/gnDzHno3pk — emptywheel (@emptywheel) June 29, 2020 Trump was particularly disrespectful to female heads of state, including Theresa May and Angela Merkel. His calls with them were called “near-sadistic”. Merkel was reportedly unbothered by Trump’s severe tactics while May reportedly became flustered and upset in response to his bullying.
One person familiar with “almost all” of Trump’s conversation with major players including Russia, Turkey, Canada, Australia and western Europe described the calls cumulatively as ‘abominations’ and said if members of Congress heard them they would “no longer be able to retain confidence in the President”.
Trump used calls with other heads of state to advance his own personal agenda. He frequently trashed his predecessors, particularly Barack Obama and George W. Bush. As one source said: “There was no sense...of the United States as an historic force with certain democratic principles and leadership of the free world ... The opposite. It was like the United States had disappeared. It was always ‘Just me’.”
Updated at 01.16 BST
29 Jun 2020 00.20 BST Calls that Donald Trump makes to foreign leaders have consistently alarmed US officials, a new report from CNN found. Hundreds of classified calls with heads of state have gone so poorly that insiders including his former secretaries of state and defense, two national security advisers and his longest-serving chief of staff say Trump poses “a danger to national security of the United States”. CNN interviewed dozens of officials who have listened to Trump’s calls in real time or have been consistently provided transcripts of the calls during his tenure. They said Trump is frequently unprepared to discuss or unknowledgeable about serious issues, “abusive to leaders of America’s principal allies”, and “outplayed” in his conversations with powerful leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Erdogan. Two different sources told CNN Trump was “delusional” when talking with foreign leaders. From the report: The sources said there was little evidence that the President became more skillful or competent in his telephone conversations with most heads of state over time. Rather, he continued to believe that he could either charm, jawbone or bully almost any foreign leader into capitulating to his will, and often pursued goals more attuned to his own agenda than what many of his senior advisers considered the national interest. The report found Trump most frequently speaks with Erdogan - who calls the White House as often as twice a week and has a direct line to Trump. He reportedly bullied allies including Prime Minister Theresa May of the United Kingdom and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whom he called “stupid”.
29 Jun 2020 00.05 BST Arizona governor orders bars, gyms and theaters closed Arizona governor Doug Ducey has rolled back state pandemic reopening processes and ordered bars, nightclubs, gyms, movie theaters and water parks around the state to be closed for at least 30 days starting Monday night. Following the expiration of Ducey’s stay-at-home orders in mid-May, most bars and nightclubs in Arizona reopened and the number of new cases of Covid-19 began to climb again. On Sunday, Arizona health officials reported 3,858 more confirmed coronavirus cases – the most reported in a single day in the state so far and the seventh time in the last 10 days that daily cases surpassed the 3,000 mark. Since the pandemic began, 74,500 cases and 1,588 deaths stemming from the virus have been reported in Arizona. Ducey also has ordered public schools to delay the start of the classes at least until 17 August. Most school districts had planned to start the school year in late July or early August. Both orders could be extended if the number of new Covid-19 cases continues to grow.
Updated at 00.25 BST
29 Jun 2020 23.40 BST Jerome Powell, the new chair of the Federal Reserve, is slated to tell Congress tomorrow that the battle with Covid-19 and its economic fallout will be long and hard-fought. “The path forward for the economy is extraordinarily uncertain and will depend in large part on our success in containing the virus.” He adds: It’s “hard to capture in words” the lives upended. He said the economy re-opened sooner than expected, leading to a modest recovery in recent weeks. But the push to do so has made the number of recent infections surge. Powell signaled that more aid money may be needed, though Congress has already committed nearly $3 trillion in aid. The central bank’s Main Street lending facility - which has yet to be tapped for pandemic relief - may prove valuable “in the months ahead” he said.
29 Jun 2020 23.25 BST On Monday the House passed in a vote of 234-179 the most significant expansion of the Affordable Care Act since its inception in 2010. The vote for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act was largely symbolic as it is unlikely to pass in the Senate. Even if it did, Donald Trump would immediately veto it, the White House said on Monday. Still, the move is one Democrats can point to in the midst of a pandemic and an election year to underscore the difference between its approach to health care and that of the Republican party. The legislation would expand central elements of the the ACA, including eligibility for insurance subsidies to those at higher incomes. It would also pressure more than a dozen states to expand Medicaid coverage and reverse some of the impact the Trump administration has had on the law in the past four years. From the Washington Post: The hours of debate before the vote allowed Democrats to point out, again and again, that the Trump administration is seeking to invalidate the ACA in a lawsuit before the Supreme Court that was initiated by a group of Republican attorneys general who contend the entire law is unconstitutional. “As lives are shattered by the coronavirus, the protections of the Affordable Care Act are more important now, more than ever,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Noting that both Trump and congressional Republicans promise to preserve the law’s protections for people with preexisting medical conditions, she said: “Oh really? Then why are you in the United States Supreme Court to overturn them?”
Updated at 23.30 BST
29 Jun 2020 22.52 BST Senator Elizabeth Warren on Monday introduced a bill that would put a nationwide moratorium on evictions for one more year and expand existing protections to include more renters. Moratoriums against eviction have been passed across the US as the economy reels from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. But as many of those are set to expire soon, housing advocates have predicted a “tsunami of evictions” and a potential spike in homelessness. The bill from the Massachusetts senator would expand the current federal eviction moratorium so it includes most renters and protect them for one year from March 27, 2020. “Renters who have lost their job or had their income reduced shouldn’t have to fear losing their homes in the middle of a pandemic,” Warren said in a statement to Vox. “Housing is a human right and an absolute necessity to keep families safe during this crisis, and Congress must step in now to help keep people in their homes.”
29 Jun 2020 22.31 BST Hello, readers! Kari Paul in San Francisco here to give you the news for the next few hours. Stay tuned for updates.
29 Jun 2020 22.14 BST Today so far The supreme court released a huge decision on a law that severely restricted abortion. The court struck the law down, saying that it already ruled a similar law unconstitutional in 2016. Chief justice John Roberts sided with the liberal judges in the ruling.
The court struck the law down, saying that it already ruled a similar law unconstitutional in 2016. Chief justice John Roberts sided with the liberal judges in the ruling. The White House in a press briefing continued to double down on defenses that Donald Trump did not know about bounties that Russia allegedly placed on coalition forces, including US troops, in Afghanistan.
that Donald Trump did not know about bounties that Russia allegedly placed on coalition forces, including US troops, in Afghanistan. California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, said that the state will continue to roll back its reopening plan , citing an alarming rise in new cases in certain counties in the state.
, citing an alarming rise in new cases in certain counties in the state. Reddit and Youtube announced, as a result of revised hate speech policy, multiple rightwing and white supremacist communities and channels would be removed from the platforms. The move comes after criticism that social media platforms allow hate speech to go unchecked.
Updated at 22.42 BST
29 Jun 2020 21.55 BST Kim Gardner, the head prosecutor for the city of St Louis, Missouri, denounced on Twitter the couple who pointed guns at protesters who were walking by their mansion when protesting against racism and police brutality. Gardner also said that her office is working to investigate the incident. 1/ I am alarmed at the events that occurred over the weekend, where peaceful protestors were met by guns and a violent assault. We must protect the right to peacefully protest, and any attempt to chill it through intimidation or threat of deadly force will not be tolerated. — Kimberly Gardner (@StLouisCityCA) June 29, 2020 Video of the scene went viral and was retweeted by Donald Trump.
A couple has come out of their house and is pointing guns at protesters in their neighborhood #StLouis #lydakrewson pic.twitter.com/ZJ8a553PAU — Daniel Shular (@xshularx) June 29, 2020 The protesters marched past the mansion on their way to the mayor’s house, where they were calling for her resignation after she listed the names and addresses of several people who wrote letters to her asking her to defund the police in a Facebook live video. The mayor has since apologized and removed the video from Facebook.
The man who was seen pointing a rifle at the protestors has spoken about the incident, saying that he and his family were frightened by protestors who broke down iron gates that said “no trespassing” and “private street”. St Louis is known for its deep history of redlining, with a street that runs horizontally through the city gaining the nickname “Delmar Divide” for dividing the predominantly rich and white area of the city in the south from the predominantly black and poor residents to the north of the divide. If you know anything abt the politics of race & segregation in St. Louis, how the white pop there has privatized streets & public services, erected physical barriers to block streets to ensure a white oasis in a heavily black city, then there’s nothing surprising abt this photo. https://t.co/LmCkKnJcz4 — Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) June 29, 2020
Updated at 22.44 BST
29 Jun 2020 21.33 BST California governor continues rollback of reopening plans The Guardian’s Mario Koran reports from California: California is now in the midst of trying to “toggle back” on plans to reopen after case numbers and hospitalizations flare up in sections of the state, said California governor Gavin Newsom today. Redflags have been raised on a number of metrics, including “disturbing trendlines” in positivity rates, hospitalizations and ICU admissions attributed to Covid-19. Over the weekend, Newsom ordered closed bars and nightclubs in nine counties, including Los Angeles, which has nearly 100,000 cases — the most of any region of the state. Particularly hard hit is Southern California’s Imperial County, where an outbreak is taxing the region’s hospital system. In recent weeks, health officials have had to move roughly 500 patients into neighboring regions, taxing their hospital systems, too. Newsom today urged Imperial County to reissue a stay-at-home order that had been previously lifted, and leveled the threat of a heavier hand if they chose not to take the advice. “If they are unsuccessful in building consensus around going back into the stay-at-home order frame, the state of California will assert itself and make sure that happens,” Newsom said. Imperial County wasn’t the only area singled out. In Sacramento County, health officials are attributing a sudden spike to an increase in family gatherings. In San Bernardino, officials say an uptick is related to outbreaks in jails, combined with community spread.
Of particular concern within the state’s correctional system is San Quentin prison, where positive cases have topped 1,000. More than 40% of the prison’s population is deemed “medically vulnerable” and particularly susceptible to health complications from Covid-19. Already the state has released roughly 3,500 inmates early, prioritizing release for medically vulnerable inmates, those with little time remaining on sentences and inmates convicted of non-violent crimes. Newsom said today another 3,500 have been identified as potentially eligible for early release, too. A key question facing both state officials and inmates is securing housing for those in consideration for early release, and not making “a bad situation worse by releasing someone who’s not ready to be released”.
29 Jun 2020 21.09 BST Reddit announced today that it will ban about 2,000 communities on its site that violate its new content policy that explicitly bans hate speech. The banned communities, called “subreddits” on the platform, include popular pages like r/The_Donald, which consisted of discussions and memes support Donald Trump, and r/ChapoTrapHouse, a left-wing forum. The website’s new policy reads: “Remember the human. Reddit is a place for creating community and belonging, not for attacking marginalized or vulnerable groups of people. Everyone has a right to use Reddit free of harassment, bullying, and threats of violence. Communities and people that incite violence or that promote hate based on identity or vulnerability will be banned.” Youtube, another website that has come under criticism for offering a platform to extremists, also said today that it will ban several prominent white supremacist channels, including those run by David Duke and Richard Spencer. The company said that those channels violated its bans on hate speech.
29 Jun 2020 20.52 BST New Jersey governor Phil Murphy said that the state will not allow restaurants to accept customers for indoor dining, citing “knucklehead behavior” from people not practicing social distancing as the reason. New Jersey began its reopening phase 2 June 15, allowing bars and restaurants to offer outdoor dining. Murphy unveiled over the weekend a plan to allow indoor dining at limited capacity as the next step, but on Monday said he will not go forward with the plan. “We have seen spikes in other states driven, in part, by the return of patrons to indoor dining establishments, where they are seated, and without face coverings, for significant periods of time,” he said. “We are also moved to take this step because of what we have seen in some establishments across the state of late.” Local reporters said that crowds outs bars and restaurants, especially along the shores of the state, were huge, with few people wearing masks. For the young crowd out at Donovan’s tonight, there’s no such thing as social distancing or coronavirus. It’s just a Saturday night party pic.twitter.com/t2YsGGwrgY — Josh Axelrod (@j0shaxelrod) June 28, 2020 New York governor Andrew Cuomo said he is considering rolling back similar plans to reopen indoor dining in New York City, also because of reports that people are not practice social distancing in the state.
Updated at 20.55 BST
29 Jun 2020 20.29 BST In a statement emailed to campaign supporters, the Trump campaign said today’s Supreme Court decision to strike down a Louisiana anti-abortion law “is disappointing to say the least” as it denied “women the protection they need in times of crisis”. “Five unelected Supreme Court Justices decided to insert their political agenda in place of democratically determined policies. This case underscores the importance of re-electing President Trump, who has a record of appointing conservative judges, rather than Joe Biden, who will appoint radical, activist judges who will legislate from the courts,” said the statement. It might be worth noting the obvious that all Supreme Court justices are “unelected” and are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, including the two judges Trump himself appointed, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, who both voted to uphold the Louisiana law. A statement from Joe Biden’s campaign struck a similar call to action, telling supporters that individual states have been passing restrictive abortion laws and that the candidate will “codify Roe v. Wade and my Justice Department will do everything in its power to stop the rash of state laws that so blatantly violate a woman’s protected, constitutional right to choose.”
29 Jun 2020 19.34 BST Hallie Golden reports from the self-proclaimed Capitol Hill Organized Protest (Chop) zone in Seattle: A Fox News reporter has been accused of pushing a protester on Monday morning at the occupied area in Seattle known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (Chop). #BREAKING: Protestors inside #CHOP surround a vehicle protected by private security just outside the zone.
They say the man inside is a reporter and shoved a protestor along with verbal abuse.
They won’t let the car go. The security is armed. Protestors are armed.@NBCNews pic.twitter.com/tvbuYnqzlu — Steve Patterson (@PattersonNBC) June 29, 2020 Derrick Drungo, an activist at CHOP who witnessed the incident, told The Guardian the reporter then got in his truck and protesters surrounded it, asking for an apology. Activists said the reporter’s personal security detail came out and tried to pepper spray them, and the group moved a concrete barrier in front of the truck to stop him from leaving. #DEVELOPING: So the man that was in that car got out and started walking away from #CHOP.
Protestors followed, swarming. Again, they say he’s an #FNC reporter and that he shoved a female protestor.
He said nothing in response. They walked several city blocks. @NBCNews pic.twitter.com/6QQBy7mjxY — Steve Patterson (@PattersonNBC) June 29, 2020 The reporter later got out of the car and another man with Fox tried to move the truck. While driving very slowly, the man hit Drungo. Hallie Golden @HallieGolden4 reports from CHOP in Seattle on an incident involving a Fox reporter and an activist today pic.twitter.com/iwqkGRKt6m — enjoli liston (@enjoli_) June 29, 2020 “I got back in front of the car and the driver kept driving,” Drungo told the Guardian.
“My hands were up in the air, and he hit me six times. I told him to stop,” He added.
Updated at 22.17 BST
29 Jun 2020 19.03 BST White House doubles down on "Russian bounties" defense At a press briefing just now, reporters fired off questions to White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany about reports that Trump had knowledge that Russia offered bounties to Taliban militants to fatally attack Western coalition troops, including some from the US. Top administration officials, including members of Trump’s national security council, have been discussing the Russian bounty offer for months, the New York Times first reported. McEnany doubled down on the Trump’s defense that he nor vice president Mike Pence were briefed on the Russian bounties and there is “no consensus” from the intelligence community that the news is true. Members of Congress are reportedly being briefed on the news this afternoon. McEnany declined to answer specific questions on why Trump and Pence were not briefed on the bounties before. The White House doesn’t explain why Trump wasn’t briefed on the intel about Russian bounties to kill U.S. troops if it even had a hint of credibility — only saying it wasn’t “verified” & there’s not a consensus in the intel community. Won’t say who dissents. — Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) June 29, 2020 The press secretary turned questions about the bounties into an opportunity to bash the New York Times and the Washington Post, who also reported on the bounties. McEnany repeated claims that the reports are “unverified” and part of the “failed Russia reporting of the New York Times”. . @PressSec so much more animated in attacking the NYT than offering any criticism of Russia over the reports based on US intelligence sources that Moscow paid Afghan militants to kill American soldiers. — David Nakamura (@DavidNakamura) June 29, 2020
Updated at 21.04 BST