Neither VP nominee would talk about this

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Thursday, October 8

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PENCE, HARRIS CLASH ON COVID The vice presidential debate between Republican Mike Pence and Democrat Kamala Harris started with a clash on the COVID-19 pandemic ― one in which Pence, head of the White House coronavirus task force, repeatedly misrepresented the truth. Harris countered: “The American people have witnessed what is the greatest failure of any presidential administration in history,” Harris said. “210,000 dead people in our country. … Over 7 million people have contracted this disease. One in five businesses closed... Frontline workers... treated like sacrificial workers.” At the end of the night, Karen Pence, apparently in deference to her husband's attitude, refused to wear a mask on stage, flouting the debate rules. [HuffPost]

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PENCE REFUSED TO SAY IF HE'D ACCEPT ELECTION RESULTS

In the final question of Wednesday's debate, moderator Susan Page asked Pence what he would do if President Donald Trump refused to peacefully transfer power if Democrat Joe Biden wins the election. Pence responded by insisting that his boss would win reelection — and by falsely claiming that mail-in voting creates a high risk of voter fraud, which is a largely nonexistent problem that Trump and the Republican Party have hyped as part of their efforts to sow doubt in the outcome of the election. [HuffPost]

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NO ONE WANTED TO DISCUSS THEIR BOSS'S HEALTH Neither Pence nor Harris wanted to talk about the health of the septuagenarians at the top of their party’s respective tickets last night. When asked if the American people deserved more information about the health of both Trump, 74, and Biden, 77, their running mates quickly pivoted to other topics. Pence attacked Harris over her skepticism toward Trump’s effort to rush a coronavirus vaccine to market. Harris said Biden has been more transparent than Trump when it comes to health records as well as his tax returns. [HuffPost]

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TRUMP: GETTING CORONAVIRUS WAS 'BLESSING FROM GOD'; HAILS UNAPPROVED 'MIRACLE' CURE Trump called it a “blessing from God” that he got coronavirus, a disease that has killed over 211,000 Americans this year, in a video message outside the White House in which he appeared to be wearing heavy makeup. He also hawked an unapproved treatment he received as a "miracle" cure and promised anyone who needs it will get it for free. Trump received top-notch care for his sickness, including treatment available to no one else. [HuffPost]

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LEADING MEDICAL JOURNAL CALLS FOR END TO TRUMP In a rare political statement from a scientific journal, the New England Journal of Medicine released an editorial Wednesday lambasting the Trump administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and calling on Americans to vote Trump out of office next month. November’s election will have life-or-death consequences for people regardless of party alignment, the journal’s editorial board said. This is the first time in the journal’s 208-year history that the editors have ever published an editorial about elections. [HuffPost]

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CHRIS CHRISTIE REMAINS HOSPITALIZED WITH COVID-19 Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie remained hospitalized Wednesday, four days after he revealed that he had tested positive for the coronavirus. Christie is one of at least five people who helped prepare Trump for last week’s presidential debate and have now tested positive for the virus, including former White House aide Kellyanne Conway and Trump policy adviser Stephen Miller. Christie said last week that no one wore face masks during the prep sessions. Christie, who has asthma, may be especially vulnerable to COVID-19. [HuffPost]

WHAT'S BREWING

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LOUISIANA BRACES FOR ITS 6TH MAJOR HURRICANE OF 2020 For the sixth time in the Atlantic hurricane season, people in Louisiana are once more fleeing the state’s barrier islands and sailing boats to safe harbor while emergency officials ramp up command centers and consider ordering evacuations. Most of Louisiana is in the path of Hurricane Delta, the 25th named storm of the Atlantic’s unprecedented hurricane season, with the latest National Hurricane Center estimating landfall in the state on Friday. The center’s forecasters warned of winds that could gust well above 100 mph and up to 11 feet of ocean water potentially rushing onshore when the storm’s center hits land. [AP]

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TRUMP MUST TURN OVER TAXES TO PROSECUTORS Trump’s accountant must turn over his tax records to a New York state prosecutor, an appeals court ruled in a decision that likely sets up a second trip to the U.S. Supreme Court over the issue. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said in a written decision that a stay of a lower-court decision will remain in effect so Trump’s lawyers can appeal the ruling to the high court. A district court judge had rejected their renewed efforts to invalidate a subpoena that the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. issued to Trump’s accounting firm. [AP]

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TOP DOJ OFFICIALS DROVE CHILD SEPARATIONS A two-year investigation by DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz reportedly deems Jeff Sessions, Trump’s first attorney general, and Rod Rosenstein, the former deputy attorney general, “a driving force” of the administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy. “We need to take away children,” Sessions reportedly told a group of federal prosecutors during a May 2018 conference call shortly after the policy was announced. [HuffPost]

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DOJ FREES PROSECUTORS TO TAKE STEPS THAT COULD INTERFERE WITH ELECTIONS Avoiding election interference is the overarching principle of Department of Justice policy on voting-related crimes. The policy generally bars prosecutors not only from making any announcement about ongoing investigations close to an election, but also from taking public steps before the end of voting because the publicity could tip the balance of a race. But now, if a U.S. attorney’s office suspects election fraud that involves postal workers or military employees, federal investigators may take public investigative steps before the polls close, even if those actions risk affecting the outcome of the election. [ProPublica]

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AMY CONEY BARRETT WAS A 'HANDMAID' IN A DEVOUT CHRISTIAN GROUP Appellate judge Amy Coney Barrett’s involvement with People of Praise, a small Christian group, has been under intense scrutiny since Trump nominated the 48-year-old to the Supreme Court last month. Barrett has declined to speak publicly about her involvement with the group and People of Praise has not confirmed she was a member, but The Washington Post revealed Barrett had an active role in People of Praise and served as a “handmaid,” a term used to refer to female leaders. [HuffPost]

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COMPANIES ARE MAKING MAJOR CLIMATE PLEDGES. HERE'S WHAT THEY MEAN Companies are pledging to tackle the climate crisis and save the world ― while still selling you stuff, of course. But it's important to look behind the corporate-speak and dissect these initiatives to determine if they truly have teeth and to hold companies accountable for actually fulfilling their promises. In a sea of impressive-sounding pledges, it can be hard to tell what’s meaningful and what’s greenwashing. To try to decode what these pledges really mean, HuffPost asked climate experts to help guide us. [HuffPost]

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