PoliticsUSA TODAY'Totally irresponsible': Dems criticize Pence presiding over Amy Coney Barrett vote after aides contract COVID-19
Senate Democrats on Sunday lodged harsh criticisms at Vice President Mike Pence who plans to preside over the chamber during a vote on Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation to the Supreme Court despite several of his top aides contracting COVID-19. News broke Saturday evening that Pence's Chief of Staff, Marc Short, had tested positive for the disease. Pence, who runs the White House's coronavirus task force and has since tested negative for the virus, had planned to preside over the Senate floor Monday when the chamber votes on Barrett's confirmation to the high court.
PoliticsAssociated PressEarly vote total exceeds 2016; GOP chips at Dems' advantage
With nine days before Election Day, more people already have cast ballots in this year's presidential election than voted early or absentee in the 2016 race as the start of in-person early voting in big states led to a surge in turnout in recent days. The opening of early voting locations in Florida, Texas and elsewhere has piled millions of new votes on top of the mail ballots arriving at election offices as voters try to avoid crowded places on Nov. 3 during the coronavirus pandemic. The result is a total of 58.6 million ballots cast so far, more than the 58 million that The Associated Press logged as being cast through the mail or at in-person early voting sites in 2016.
PoliticsNational ReviewOcasio-Cortez Declines to Promise Support for Pelosi as Speaker, Will Back ‘Most Progressive Candidate’
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Sunday hedged on whether she would support Nancy Pelosi as House speaker again, saying she will support the “most progressive” candidate. “If Speaker Pelosi runs again, as she just indicated she will if the Democrats keep the House, will you support her?” CNN's Jake Tapper asked the freshman congresswoman during an interview on CNN. The New York progressive's remarks came just moments after Pelosi confirmed on CNN that she intends to run for speaker of the House should Democrats retain their majority in the chamber.
U.S.INSIDERA white woman yelled 'f--- Black Lives Matter' at a Starbucks barista after she told her to wear a mask
An unnamed white woman yelled at Alex Beckom, a 20-year-old Black barista, after Beckom told her she had to wear a mask in Starbucks. The woman yelled "f--- Black Lives Matter" at the barista, falsely claimed she was being discriminated against because she is a Trump supporter, and said the coronavirus was a hoax. Starbucks has required all customers to wear masks in its stores since July.
PoliticsUSA TODAYVoting across the US live updates: Joe Biden leads Donald Trump in Texas poll; New Hampshire can't ban armed voters; Facebook threat
The unprecedented level of early voting nationwide has been most notable in Texas, where more than 7.1 million ballots have already been received, according to the U.S. Elections Project website. That's the highest total in the nation, and it augurs well for Democrat Joe Biden's chances of turning the state blue for the first time in more than four decades. A new poll by the Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler shows Biden ahead of President Donald Trump among likely voters, 48%-45%, within the poll's margin of error.
WorldReutersItaly plans further curbs as coronavirus cases hit new record
Italy reported another daily record for COVID-19 cases on Saturday as the government planned further restrictions to contain a resurgence of the pandemic, despite a second night of street protests against curfews ordered this week. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has said he wants to avoid a repeat of the blanket lockdown earlier in the year. After clashes in the southern city of Naples on Friday night, police faced off against dozens of masked protestors in the centre of Rome after the far-right Forza Nuova group called for a protest against the curfews.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez is heavily favored to win her reelection race. Her challenger has still raised $10 million because Republicans are desperate to beat her.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the overwhelming favorite in her reelection race in New York's 14th Congressional district. "I guarantee you 75% of his contributors don't know anything about him," a Republican strategist told The New York Times. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is widely expected to win reelection next month as the US Representative for New York's 14th district.
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Police chief: Illinois officer who shot Black couple in car fired
A police officer who shot a Black couple inside a vehicle — killing a 19-year-old man and wounding his girlfriend — has been fired, the police chief announced Friday.
ScienceBBC'Murder hornet': First nest found in US eradicated with vacuum hose
The first nest of Asian giant hornets found in the US has successfully been destroyed by scientists. The nest, in the state of Washington, was found by putting tracker devices on the hornets and it was sucked out of a tree using a vacuum hose. The invasive species insects, known as "murder hornets", have a powerful sting and can spit venom.
PoliticsThe IndependentPutin rejects Trump’s claims that Hunter Biden’s behaviour ‘criminal’
Vladimir Putin says he does not see anything criminal in Hunter Biden's behaviour despite Donald Trump's insinuations. The Russian president voiced his disagreement with Mr Trump's election attacks on Joe Biden's son and his business dealings in Ukraine. The president has tried to link his White House opponent with unproven allegations of “corrupt” business dealings, which the former vice president has dismissed as a Russian disinformation campaign.
U.S.USA TODAY'An incredibly tragic day for Ocala': Florida police chief Greg Graham killed in plane crash
A Florida police chief who had recently earned his pilot's license was killed in a small-plane crash on Sunday morning. The death of Greg Graham, who became Ocala's 30th police chief in January 2012, according to the Star-Banner of the USA TODAY Network, stunned the central Florida city northwest of Orlando. "An incredibly tragic day for Ocala.
BusinessBusiness InsiderThe operator of this Boeing 767 private jet says the plane has an air system so advanced it kills pathogens so passengers don't need to wear a mask onboard – see inside
European aircraft operator Comlux just welcomed back its second-largest plane, a Boeing Business Jet 767, that underwent a four-month refurbishment in the US. European private jet operator Comlux specializes in a unique type of aircraft that only an elite group of flyers can afford to enjoy: airliners-turned-private-jets. Comlux has five jets from Boeing and Airbus in its fleet and among the largest is a Boeing Business Jet 767-200ER, affectionately known as "SkyLady."
PoliticsThe WeekOcasio-Cortez: No problem with Biden's lack of support for fracking ban, would be 'privilege' to lobby him
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday's edition of State of the Union that she feels strongly about the need to ban fracking in the United States, but she's not letting that get in the way of her efforts to help former Vice President Joe Biden defeat President Trump in the upcoming election. Biden, she said, has "made very clear" that he disagrees with a fracking ban, but she says it would be a "privilege" to lobby him on the issue in the future.
PoliticsThe IndependentDemocrats planning 30-hour 'digital filibuster' to try to stop Amy Coney Barrett being confirmed
The Senate will vote on Sunday to send the federal judge's nomination to a full vote, which will be held on Monday. With little remaining hope of blocking her confirmation to the court, and her replacing Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Democrats have announced a symbolic show of defiance. Unlike an actual filibuster, which slows proceedings and can make an unpopular bill run out of time and therefore be blocked, the digital filibuster will not affect the outcome.
U.S.INSIDERA 58-year-old woman who's a suspect in her elderly mother's stabbing told police 'she deserved it and now she's in a better place'
A 58-year-old Utah woman was arrested for allegedly killing her 84-year-old mother, according to Deseret News. The woman, Lori Lee Donlay, told authorities during questioning that "she deserved it, and now she's in a better place." A 58-year-old woman was arrested on Friday for allegedly killing her elderly mother and said to authorities that "she deserved it" and would take the reason why she did it "to the grave."
PoliticsThe New York TimesFox News Is Covering Hunter Biden Claims More Than 2016 WikiLeaks Emails
A month before the 2016 presidential election, WikiLeaks released hacked emails from John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman. Last week, The New York Post published an article featuring emails from a laptop purportedly owned by Hunter Biden, son of the Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden. The answer: Fox News is giving more airtime to the unverified Hunter Biden emails than it did to the hacked emails from Podesta in 2016, according to an analysis from the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab, which studies disinformation.
PoliticsThe WeekTrump reportedly doesn't 'want to help some' GOP senators amid warnings of 'potentially catastrophic' election
Josh Holmes, a top adviser to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), told Politico he thinks the Republican Party could win more Senate races than people expect on Nov. 3, but the fact that there are so many close contests means "you could have a whole bunch of scenarios play out on Election Day." The worst-case scenario for the GOP, he said, is "potentially catastrophic." As it turns out, the party may not get that much help from President Trump when it comes to avoiding such a fate.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderMore than 57 million Americans have already voted, suggesting a huge voter turnout for 2020. But it's not clear who that would favor.
More than 57 million Americans have already voted as of Sunday, according to the US Elections Project. The Florida professor who runs the US Elections Project said it suggests a total turnout of 65%, which would be the highest since 1908. The data comes from the US Elections Project which is run by Dr. Michael P. McDonald, a political science professor at the University of Florida.
U.S.USA TODAY2 crew killed in U.S. Navy training plane crash in Alabama identified
A U.S. Navy training plane from Naval Air Station Whiting Field crashed at approximately 5 p.m. Friday in Magnolia Springs, Alabama, killing both crew members on board, according to Cmdr. Zach Harrell, a spokesman for the office of the commander of Naval Air Forces. The Navy "is not aware of any civilian casualties at this time," according to a brief statement on the Naval Air Forces' Facebook page, and the "Navy is cooperating fully with local authorities." The two crew members were identified Sunday as U.S. Navy Lt. Rhiannon Ross, 30, of Wixom, Michigan, and U.S. Coast Guard Ensign Morgan Garrett, 24, of Weddington, North Carolina.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderJoe Biden is doubling down on raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour despite the economic downturn. It could bump paychecks for over 27 million workers.
Biden is pushing ahead with raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour even as the downturn takes a toll on small businesses. The Biden campaign hasn't laid out a timeline to implement it, and it did not respond whether it supported a House bill that would raise it to that level by 2025. Congress last raised the federal minimum wage in 2009.
PoliticsUSA TODAY OpinionViable unborn children can live without their mothers — our Constitution protects them
Perhaps it is time for the United States Supreme Court to acknowledge and protect the humanity of another category of de-humanized individuals, as it did for Black people and women in America not so long ago. Surely, the same Constitution that afforded women the fundamental right to abort non-viable unborn children can guarantee life and liberty for viable humans in utero. Regardless of whether Congress codifies the 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, or expands the United States Supreme Court's bench, Judge Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation will likely keep abortion, particularly later-term abortion, on the High Court's radar.
PoliticsThe IndependentRudy Giuliani caught up in anti-Trump protests in Manhattan
Rudy Giuliani was caught up in anti-Trump protests in New York City as opponents of the president and his supporters confronted each other. Mr Giuliani was confronted outside Trump Tower as he sat in the passenger seat of a car talking to police officers and gave his abusers a thumbs up. Anti-fascist protestors took to the streets of Manhattan on Sunday to counter a pro-Trump rally that was taking place in the city.
BusinessBusiness InsiderBillionaire James Dyson just sold his Singapore penthouse at a massive loss a year after his company scrapped plans to design an electric vehicle in the city
Dyson founder James Dyson just sold Singapore's most expensive penthouse at a loss. Since then, Dyson cancelled its hyped electric car project because it was not commercially viable. James Dyson, billionaire inventor of the Dyson vacuum, just sold the largest and most expensive penthouse in Singapore.
PoliticsPoliticoRepublicans crash Florida early vote, eating into Democrats’ lead
President Donald Trump was one of those GOP voters going to the polls, kicking off Florida's statewide in-person early voting period Saturday by casting his ballot in West Palm Beach and livestreaming an event to urge supporters to show up and catch Democrats. Further south, in Miami, former President Barack Obama held a rally for his former vice president, Joe Biden, at Florida International University. The split-screen schedule of the two presidents, each of whom carried Florida with different voter coalitions, shed light on the different strategies of the two campaigns in Trump's must-win state, with the president trying to supersize older and white voter turnout and Obama seeking to boos...
PoliticsBusiness InsiderOutgoing Virginia GOP congressman says 'the two-party system is really failing the American people right now'
US Rep. Denver Riggleman of Virginia on Sunday lamented the state of American politics on NBC's "Meet the Press," questioning the effectiveness of the current two-party system. "I believe duopoly is really, the two-party system is really failing the American people right now," Riggleman said. Riggleman, a Republican, has been highly critical of the QAnon movement and was a leader in passing a House resolution that condemned the movement.
“Many are longtime Republicans wrestling with what they see as a choice between two lousy candidates.”
“Some undecideds turn out to be people who’ve long felt alienated from the two big political parties.”
“They’re not following the 24-hour news cycle. The election and politics are just not a high priority.”
“One common trait: at this stage of the game, the undecided voter doesn’t fit into an easy political profile.”
“More realistically...these voters may not be motivated to vote at all in the 2020 election.”