Good morning. Here comes October. Mostly cloudy towards northern Minnesota with scattered rain showers. Partly cloudy elsewhere. Breezy. Highs in the mid 50s to lower 60s. More on this week's weather on Updraft President Donald Trump's hesitation, once again, to denounce white supremacy during Tuesday's presidential debate is drawing quick condemnation from anti-racism activists — as are his unusual comments directed at a white supremacist group called the Proud Boys.
During an exchange on the debate stage, moderator Chris Wallace repeatedly asked Trump if he would condemn white supremacists. Trump initially sidestepped that question, claiming that he mostly sees violence "from the left wing."
Trump eventually responded to Wallace's question by referring to a white supremacist group, saying, "Proud Boys, stand back and stand by. But I'll tell you what: Somebody's got to do something about antifa and the left." --Sarah McCammon, NPR
The first debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden erupted in contentious exchanges Tuesday night over the coronavirus pandemic, job losses and how the Supreme Court will shape the future of the nation’s health care.
In what was the most chaotic presidential debate in recent years, somehow fitting for what has been an extraordinarily ugly campaign, the two men frequently talked over each other with Trump interrupting, nearly shouting, so often that Biden eventually snapped at him, “Will you shut up, man?”
Catch all our coverage from NPR here. If you missed the debate, you can listen to it from MPR News Presents at noon.
Despite saying in 2016 that the Senate should not confirm then-President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court pick, Lewis said the Senate should confirm Barrett right away.
“If you look at the difference between 2016 and today, in 2016 the will of the people had President Barack Obama and his prerogative to fill a vacancy. But there is also a will of the people in 2016 to have a Republican Senate block that, and indeed they did. So this is all about the will of the people, as it always is,” he said. “That is the difference: You’ve got a Republican Senate now and a Republican president, and you didn’t have that in 2016.”
Incumbent Sen. Tina Smith joined the program Monday. Both candidates are scheduled to debate during Politics Friday on MPR News this week.
The coronavirus pandemic is nearing the 100,000 milestone of confirmed, active cases.
State officials continue to stress that the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over. Health Department numbers continue to bear that out.
Minnesota posted another 817 confirmed COVID-19 cases Tuesday with hospitalizations rising to their highest level since late May. The number of active, confirmed cases of the disease also hit a record with a seven-day average approaching 8,000.
Officials caution that outbreaks are being driven now largely by formal and informal get-togethers among friends, families and co-workers who are not staying vigilant against the disease.
If current trends continue, Minnesota on Thursday will mark 100,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the pandemic. The milestone will come seven months after the first Minnesotan started to develop symptoms.
Here are Minnesota’s current COVID-19 statistics:
- 2020 deaths
- 98,447 positive cases, 88,380 off isolation
- 2,017,350 tests, 1,406,578 people tested
~ Matt Mikus, MPR News |
