TOP STORIES

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Monday, August 31

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WISCONSIN GOV. ASKS TRUMP TO STAY AWAY FROM STATE 

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers urged President Donald Trump to reconsider a planned trip to the state following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, saying such a visit may only “delay our work to overcome division and move forward.” Evers, a Democrat, sent the missive after the White House said the president would travel to Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday to meet with law enforcement and survey the damage following demonstrations against police brutality and systemic racism that came after the shooting. Days after Blake was shot, two protesters were killed. [HuffPost]

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1 KILLED AS PROTESTERS, TRUMP SUPPORTERS CLASH One person was shot and killed in Portland, Oregon, as a large caravan of President Donald Trump supporters and Black Lives Matter protesters clashed. It wasn’t immediately clear if the shooting late Saturday was linked to fights that broke out when about 600 vehicles filled with Trump supporters were confronted by counterdemonstrators in the city’s downtown. Police said the caravan had left the area around 8:30 p.m., and officers heard gunshots around 15 minutes later. Officers arrived at the shooting scene “within a minute,” police said, but the man who was shot did not survive. [AP]

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GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS CASES TOP 25 MILLION Since Chinese officials implemented the first coronavirus lockdown in the city of Wuhan in January, there have been more than 25.2 million cases of COVID-19 across the planet. More than 846,000 people have died from the disease, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Efforts to curb the outbreak have led to the global disruption of daily life and the economy, as schools and workplaces shuttered in hopes of slowing transmission. Meanwhile, former presidential candidate Herman Cain has "tweeted" from the grave, saying that the virus is not as deadly as the media has made it out to be. [HuffPost]

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PRO-COP RALLY DRAWS SCORES TO KENOSHA Scores of police supporters gathered Sunday in downtown Kenosha, Wisconsin, where protesters have been demonstrating against police brutality since the shooting of Jacob Blake on Aug. 23. Some attending the rally yesterday wore “back the blue” shirts. Others carried American flags. They applauded when law enforcement vehicles drove by. A Kenosha police officer shot Blake in the back seven times, leaving the 29-year-old Black man paralyzed. Protesters have gathered in Kenosha every night since Blake’s shooting. [AP]

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DEMS ERUPT AFTER ELECTION SECURITY BRIEFINGS TERMINATED The sudden decision by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to cut off congressional briefings on election security is a “shocking abdication of its lawful responsibility” and a “betrayal of the public’s right to know how foreign powers are trying to subvert our democracy,” said a Saturday statement from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). The lawmakers fired back after National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe alerted Senate and House leaders Friday that in-person briefings will no longer be provided to lawmakers. Joe Biden called the move "shameless partisan manipulation." [HuffPost] 

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WHERE IS MY MOTHER? A DAUGHTER'S SEARCH FOR ANSWERS The last time Ellie Green saw her mother, Angela, they fought. Ellie, then 18, had recently acquired her first boyfriend and her first car. It was June 20, 2019, and she had just returned to her parents’ house in Prairie Village, Kansas, after her freshman year of college and a month abroad in Europe. Ellie was testing the boundaries, and Angela was struggling with the growing distance between her and her only child. Ellie drove away, thinking they both just needed to cool off; soon enough, they would cook together and reconnect. But she never saw or heard from her mother again. [HuffPost]

WHAT'S BREWING

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TRUMP DUCKS QUESTION ABOUT ACCUSED TEEN SHOOTER 

President Donald Trump on Saturday dodged a question about Kyle Rittenhouse, the Illinois teenager and Trump supporter who has been charged with homicide in the shooting deaths of two demonstrators in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Donald Trump Jr., meanwhile, retweeted a supportive message about Rittenhouse. The teen traveled to the Kenosha protest Tuesday armed with a semi-automatic rifle, according to investigators. The fatal shooting of two protesters and the wounding of a volunteer medic was captured in cellphone videos. [HuffPost]

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THE GOP IS VERY MUCH TRUMP'S PARTY, POLL SHOWS More Trump voters said they were loyal to President Donald Trump than they were to the Republican Party, according to a new HuffPost/YouGov poll. Some 49% of Republican and Republican-leaning independents who voted for Trump in 2016 said they consider themselves more supporters of Trump than of the Republican Party. Just 19% said they were more supporters of the party, with another 28% saying they were supporters of both. The poll came on the heels of the Republican National Convention, during which the GOP declined to rally around a policy platform and instead opted to “reassert the party’s strong support" for "Trump and his administration.” [HuffPost]

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THIS MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE PRIMARY IS PROGRESSIVES' BIGGEST TEST One of the last Democratic congressional primaries of this election cycle is also one of its most consequential. Holyoke, Massachusetts, Mayor Alex Morse, 31, is taking on Rep. Richard Neal, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, on Tuesday in the primary in Massachusetts’ 1st Congressional District. As head of the panel in charge of taxation and virtually all social program spending, Neal, 71, is one of the most powerful Democrats in Congress, and has been criticized by progressives on many key issues. [HuffPost]

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TOP GENERAL VOWS THAT MILITARY WON'T INTERFERE IN U.S. ELECTION The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has assured congressional leaders that the military will not interfere in the upcoming presidential election. “I foresee no role for the U.S armed forces in this process,” Gen. Mark Milley stated in written responses released Friday to questions from two Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee. President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted without any basis in fact that the Nov. 3 election will be “rigged” and “corrupt,” sparking fears that he may refuse to leave office if he loses. [HuffPost]

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DHS CHIEF 'UNAWARE' NATURALIZATION CEREMONY WOULD BE AIRED AT RNC Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf claimed Sunday that he did not know the naturalization ceremony he led at the White House last week would be aired at the Republican National Convention later that day. In a pretaped video that ran as part of the convention’s prime-time programming, President Donald Trump participated in a naturalization ceremony at the White House for five new citizens while Wolf administered the oath of allegiance. The video raised concerns that Trump and Wolf used the ceremony on government property to further the president’s reelection chances. [HuffPost]

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BESTSELLING AUTHOR GIVES TRUMP VOTERS A WAY OUT Author Don Winslow has a suggestion for Republicans who are uncomfortable with President Donald Trump but don’t want to admit that they’re voting for former Vice President Joe Biden: Just don’t tell anyone. Winslow’s new video, “An Open Letter To Republicans,” calls out party members who continue to support the president in spite of the scandals, lies and botched response to the coronavirus pandemic. “How many times does a person have to lie to you before you stop listening to them?” the video asks. [HuffPost]

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