WHAT'S BREWING
CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE CLAIMS AT LEAST 3 LIVES A Northern California wildfire threatened thousands of homes after winds whipped it into a monster that incinerated houses in a small mountain community and killed at least three people. Several other people have been critically burned and hundreds, if not thousands, of homes and other buildings are believed to have been damaged or destroyed by the North Complex fire northeast of San Francisco. Some 20,000 people were under evacuation orders or warnings in Plumas, Yuba and Butte counties. [HuffPost]
ORANGE HAZE AND DARKNESS BLANKET CALIFORNIA The San Francisco Bay Area awoke to deep orange skies and a smoky darkness lingering hours after sunrise on Wednesday as wildfires raged across California. The phenomenon is a result of 16 different fire complexes burning in the region, dispersing smoke with the help of gusty wind. The National Weather Service’s Bay Area branch warned the “unprecedented smoke” hanging high in the air will likely descend closer to street level as the day goes on, making the air more dangerous to breathe. [HuffPost]
THE SENATE'S HARD AT WORK... CONFIRMING MORE JUDGES The Senate is back in session after a month of recess and Republicans’ first order of business isn’t a comprehensive coronavirus relief bill. Or emergency stimulus in response to high unemployment. Or legislation addressing nationwide unrest over police violence targeting Black Americans. It’s confirming more judges. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has long said his top priority is getting Trump’s nominees settled into lifetime federal court seats, didn’t disappoint on Wednesday. [HuffPost]
HARRIS TAKES CENTER STAGE IN DEM ADVERTISING California Sen. Kamala Harris has assumed a central role in Democratic advertising as the presidential campaign enters its final weeks, a sign that party operatives are counting on the first Black woman to appear on a major party’s presidential ticket to fire up young people and Black voters in key swing states. A set of new advertisements and mailers from BlackPAC, a political action committee that focuses on turning out Black voters in the presidential race and in key Senate races, puts Harris front and center, and notes how she was “raised with the values of the civil rights movement.” [HuffPost]
GOP ELECTION LAWYER TAKES DOWN TRUMP'S VOTER FRAUD LIES Benjamin Ginsburg, a veteran election law attorney and longtime fixture of the GOP’s legal team, has written a searing op-ed blasting Trump for his harmful rhetoric about electoral fraud. Jones Day, the firm where Ginsburg was employed until he retired last month, works for Trump’s 2020 campaign. That makes the attorney’s Washington Post op-edall the more striking, since it tore into the president and Republicans for baselessly sowing doubt about the integrity of the U.S. election system. [HuffPost]
TRUMP JR. DEFENDS PROTEST SHOOTER: 'WE ALL DO STUPID THINGS AT 17' Donald Trump Jr. defended Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old who fatally shot two anti-racism protesters in Wisconsin last month, stating that “we all do stupid things” at that age. During an interview with the TV show “Extra,” the president’s eldest son was asked why the Trump administration hasn’t condemned Rittenhouse’s actions. “We’re waiting for due process,” said Trump, whose father frequently attempts to undermine due process and the rule of law. “We’re not jumping to a conclusion.” [HuffPost] | 
