LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Sheriff Alex Villanueva is challenging Lakers star LeBron James to contribute to efforts to find the gunman who shot two Los Angeles County deputies at point-blank range.
Villanueva made the challenge during an interview on a local radio show Monday.
There are two private pledges totaling $75,000, in addition to the $100,000 from the county, but the sheriff is calling on James to kick in $175,000 or even $350,000.
“I want to make a challenge…to LeBron James,” he said. “I want you to match that and double that reward because I know you care about law enforcement.
“You expressed a very interesting statement on race relations and officer-involved shootings and the impact that it has on the African-American community and I appreciate that, but likewise, we need to appreciate that respect for life goes across professions, races, creeds, and I’d like to see LeBron James step up to the plate and double that.”
It’s unclear specifically which statement Villanueva was referring to, but James has publicly condemned the police shootings of George Floyd, Jacob Blake, and others in recent months, saying African Americans are “scared”.
There was no immediate response from James to the sheriff’s challenge.
The federal deficit is on track to reach an unprecedented $3.3 trillion when the fiscal year closes out at the end of the month, driven in large part by the COVID-19 response.
Mnuchin credited the large stimulus and extraordinary measures by the Federal Reserve for helping the economy survive the shock of the pandemic.
“I think both the monetary policy working with fiscal policy and what we were able to get done in an unprecedented way with Congress is the reason the economy is doing better,” he said.
Mnuchin’s comments are in line with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments urging Congress to “go big” in its response, though Powell has not weighed in on precisely how much the federal government should be spending.
The deadlock, however, has led to a situation where key benefits that expired in July, including expanded unemployment and a small business loans program, have not been renewed. Congress appears unlikely to strike a deal ahead of November’s elections.
Veteran journalist Bob Woodward maintained Monday that he didn’t do anything wrong by sitting on remarks President Trump made about the coronavirus in the early months of the outbreak because, at the time, the author thought Trump was referring to COVID-19’s impact on China.
In February, Woodward conducted the first of a series of on-the-record interviews with the president for his upcoming book, “Rage,” and Trump described the novel coronavirus as “deadly stuff,” even as he publicly compared it to a seasonal flu.
A month later, Trump admitted to Woodward: “I still like playing it [the virus] down, because I don’t want to create a panic.”
Critics condemned Trump when audio of the recording was released last month, but the president has dismissed the controversy. The president and others have pondered why the veteran journalist didn’t report his comments about the novel coronavirus sooner if he thought they were “so bad or dangerous,” while claiming he was trying to keep Americans “calm.”
“Bob Woodward had my quotes for many months,” Trump tweeted last week. “If he thought they were so bad or dangerous, why didn’t he immediately report them in an effort to save lives? Didn’t he have an obligation to do so? No, because he knew they were good and proper answers. Calm, no panic!”
During a Monday appearance on NBC’s “Today,” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie asked Woodward about criticism he’s received for sitting on the quotes.
“In February I thought it was all about China because the president had told me about a discussion with Chinese President Xi, and if you look at what was known in February, the virus was not on anyone’s mind. No one was suggesting changing behavior, then when it exploded in March, as you know, there were 30,000 new cases a day,” Woodward said. “Publishing something at that point would not have been telling people anything they didn’t know.”
Guthrie pointed out that Trump told Woodward on Feb. 7 that coronavirus was “deadly,” “airborne,” and worse than the flu, which contradicted what the president was saying publicly.
“If there was any suggestion I had that that was about the United States, I would have, of course, published I think I have a public health, public safety responsibility. But there was no indication in February, in March everyone knew what Trump had told me, that it applied to the United Sates.” Woodward said.
“The key here, Savannah, is that in May, three months later, I learned the key piece of evidence: that on January 28, 10 [days] before that February call, the president was warned by his national security adviser, in a top secret meeting, that the virus is going to be the gravest national security threat to your presidency.”
Woodward continued: “That’s why I begin the book with that January 28 meeting, because that’s what the president is telling me about on February 7, but I think he was talking to me about China.”
The “Rage” author then reiterated that he didn’t realize Trump’s February comments were harmful until months later.
“It is one of those shocks for me, having written about nine presidents, that the president of the United States possessed the specific knowledge that could have saved lives. Historians are going to be writing about the whole lost month of February for tens of years,” Woodward said.
Woodward said Trump spoke to him 18 times for “Rage” and the two spent a lot of time “exploring the inner Donald Trump” simply because the president regretted not speaking to the author for his previous book. Woodward said he will release all relevant audio as people ask for it.
GeoColor visible satellite image of an Atlantic Ocean packed with five tropical cyclones at 10:20 a.m. EDT Monday, September 14, 2020. (Image credit: RAMMB/CIRA/Colorado State University)
On Monday, for just the second time on record, the Atlantic has five simultaneous hurricanes, tropical storms, and tropical depressions, as Hurricane Paulette, Hurricane Sally, Tropical Storm Teddy, Tropical Storm Vicky, and Tropical Depression Rene all roamed the waters.
Colorado State University hurricane scientist Phil Klotzbach says the only other time five simultaneous tropical cyclones existed in the Atlantic was September 11-14, 1971. The record is six, set during the period September 11-12, 1971: Edith, Fern, Ginger, Unnamed, Heidi and Irene.
Just four days after the climatological midpoint of the Atlantic hurricane season, we’ve had 20 named storms so far in 2020, an astounding level of activity has been exceeded only once … and then during an entire season: in 2005, when 28 named storms formed.
Figure 1. Radar image of Hurricane Sally at 12:04 p.m. EDT Monday, September 14, 2020. Sally was in the process of closing off an eyewall, with the southern side still incomplete. (Image credit: Mark Nissenbaum/Florida State University)
Sally intensifies into a dangerous hurricane
At 12:30 p.m. EDT Monday, September 14, Sally was centered 165 miles southeast of Biloxi, Mississippi. Sally was a strengthening hurricane with 90 mph winds, moving west-northwest at 7 mph with a central pressure of 985 mb. Wind gusts as high as 66 mph were observed late Monday morning at the VK 786/Petronius (Chevron) oil rig offshore from Mobile, Alabama (elevation 53 feet).
Sally was bringing heavy rains to the Florida Panhandle and to the Alabama coast on Monday. On Sunday, Sally brought more than five inches of heavy rains to portions of the Florida west coast, after deluging the Florida Keys on Saturday with 11.36 inches at Key West and 11.99 inches at Lower Matecumbe Key.
Satellite and radar images showed a sharp increase in the intensity of Sally’s heavy thunderstorm activity on Monday morning, with the surface center of circulation reforming to the east under the most intense thunderstorms, allowing the storm to become vertically aligned. Moderate wind shear of 10-20 knots from upper-level winds out of the west continued to interfere with heavy thunderstorm formation on the west side of Sally’s circulation. However, radar imagery showed Sally in the process of closing off an eyewall, and once that process is complete, the wind shear will have less of an impact and more rapid intensification can occur.
Satellite imagery late Monday morning appeared to show a pattern called a Central Cold Cover (CCC), with a single large thunderstorm dominant. Typically, the huge thunderstorm when a CCC pattern is present is anchored to the arm of a low-level rain band some distance outside of the storm’s core; in that case, development is typically slowed until the large thunderstorm goes away (kudos to Boris Konon and Mark Lander for pointing this out). Usually, a storm is at an intensity of about 55 – 65 mph when a CCC occurs, though that intensity can happen at any stage of development. It is possible that this CCC structure may be able to slow Sally’s intensification.
Figure 2. GeoColor visible satellite image of Sally as of 8:50 a.m. EDT Monday, September 14. A single large thunderstorm was generating gravity waves, visible as ripples propagating out. This pattern, called a Central Cold Cover (CCC), typically results in a slowdown of intensification. (Image credit: RAMMB/CIRA/Colorado State University)
Forecast for Sally
The track forecast for Sally has more uncertainty than usual for a storm expected to make landfall in less than 48 hours. Sally is forecast to move in a general west-northwest motion at about 6 – 7 mph through Monday night. Steering currents will weaken by Monday night, causing a slowdown of Sally’s forward speed to 5 mph or less, as the storm begins to feel the influence of a strong band of upper-level west-southwesterly winds over the southern U.S.
A weakness in the ridge of high-pressure steering Sally should allow the storm to turn north by Tuesday morning, when Sally will be very close to the coast. The timing of this turn will strongly depend upon how quickly Sally organizes and intensifies. A stronger storm will be affected more by the upper-level winds, which are blowing from the west, forcing a quicker turn to the right and resulting in a landfall in Mississippi or Alabama. A slower-organizing storm is more likely to make landfall in Louisiana, at a lower intensity. With Sally now a hurricane, a turn more to the right and landfall in Mississippi or Alabama appears most likely.
Wind shear may decrease to around 10 knots by Monday night, which will potentially allow Sally to completely close off a center and finish building an eyewall. The air mass surrounding Sally is reasonably moist, with a mid-level relative humidity around 65%, so dry air is unlikely to be a major hindrance to this process.
Figure 3. Track forecast for Sally from the 6Z Monday, September 14, run of the GFS ensemble forecast. The black line is the mean forecast from the 21 member forecasts. The thin lines (color-coded by pressure) from the individual members predicted a variety of possible landfall locations, with a stronger storm likely to move ashore farther to the east. (Image credit: Tropical Tidbits)
By Tuesday morning, wind shear is expected to tick up a notch, to around 20 – 25 knots, which may slow or halt the intensification process. This shear will be caused by the strong band of upper-level westerly winds helping steer Sally more to the right, as mentioned above. This band of winds will also ventilate Sally, though, providing an upper-level outflow channel capable of aiding intensification.
Sally will be over the very warm waters of the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, where sea surface temperatures are around 29.5°C (85°F). There is plenty of heat energy in the ocean waters Sally will be traversing to support rapid intensification, as the storm should remain just northeast of a cool eddy with low oceanic heat content over the southeast Gulf.
Figure 4. Predicted landfall wind speed (colors) and sea level pressure (black lines) from the 6Z Monday, September 14 run of the HWRF model. This model had the strongest landfall forecast of any of our top intensity models from Monday morning, predicting that Sally would hit Mississippi near 11 a.m. EDT Tuesday as a category 2 hurricane with 100 mph winds. (Image credit: Tropical Tidbits)
How much Sally strengthens will depend in large part on how quickly it closes off an eye; a period of rapid intensification cannot be ruled out if the storm organizes quickly enough. The 12Z Monday run of the SHIPS model gave a 16% chance that Sally would rapidly intensify by 30 mph in a 24-hour period, and an 11% chance it would intensify by 50 mph in 36 hours. Sally was just shy of meeting that 16% chance of intensifying 30 mph in 24 hours, since it intensified by 25 mph between 8 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. EDT Monday.
The official forecast calls for Sally to peak as a category 2 hurricane with winds of 105 mph, but it could reach category 3 hurricane strength with 115 mph winds if it manages to close off a complete eyewall by Tuesday morning.
Figure 5. Rainfall forecast for the five days from 2 a.m. EDT Monday, September 14, to September 19. Rainfall amounts in excess of 15 inches (pink colors) were predicted along the Gulf Coast to the east of where Sally makes landfall. (Image credit: NOAANHC)
Rainfall and storm surge: two major concerns with Sally
Regardless of its landfall intensity, the primary damage from Sally is likely to result from the slow-moving storm’s torrential rains. Sally is expected to move at 6 mph or less through Thursday, leading to rainfall measurements in feet rather than in inches. Models suggest that localized totals in excess of two feet are possible. A larger corridor of 8-16 inches can be expected near the coasts of southeast Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the extreme western Florida Panhandle.
Storm surge is also a major concern, with up to 11 feet of surge predicted along the east side of New Orleans. As discussed in Sunday’s post, New Orleans’ rebuilt levee system has proven it can handle storm surge flooding of at least 17 feet, the peak level of storm surge flooding observed during Hurricane Isaac in August 2012. However, many areas outside this levee system are not as well fortified and suffered destructive storm surge flooding during Isaac. Sally is likely to produce a prolonged and dangerous storm surge from Monday into Wednesday across far southeast Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and far western Florida.
Trabus Technologies maintains a live storm surge tracker for Sally. As of 3 p.m. EDT Monday, the peak surges measured at NOAA tide gauges from Sally were:
3.2 feet at Shell Beach, Louisiana (southeast of New Orleans)
2.7 feet at Apalachicola, Florida
2.6 feet at Waveland, Mississippi
2.4 feet at Panama City Beach, Florida
2.3 feet at Cedar Key, Florida
Figure 6. Radar image of Paulette at 12:55 a.m. EDT Monday, September 14, before an island-wide power outage disrupted transmission of further imagery. (Image credit: Bermuda Weather Service)
Paulette makes a direct hit on Bermuda
Hurricane Paulette made a direct hit on the island of Bermuda early Monday morning, with its 40-mile-wide eye encompassing almost the entire island at 5 a.m. EDT. At landfall, Paulette was a category 1 hurricane with 85 mph winds. The hurricane’s winds increased to 90 mph while Bermuda was in the eye; at 9 a.m. EDT, when the rear eyewall was pounding the island, NHC upgraded Paulette to a category 2 hurricane with 100 mph winds.
An island-wide outage knocked out power to 20,000 customers on Bermuda at approximately 1 a.m. EDT, but the Government of Bermuda reported via Twitter at 8 a.m. that the island had experienced “no major issues” during passage of the front eyewall of Paulette. With its years of hurricane experience, Bermuda is well-fortified against storms such as Paulette.
Peak winds reported by the Bermuda airport during passage of Paulette were 55 mph, gusting to 89 mph, but the station did not report a 4 a.m. EDT observation, when the most intense part of Paulette’s eyewall was overhead. Between 2 – 3 a.m. EDT, an observing station at the National Museum of Bermuda reported sustained winds of 62 mph, with gusts up to 96 mph. A weather station in Wreck Road, Bermuda, reported a sustained wind of 80 mph and a gust to 107 mph around 10 a.m. EDT.
With conditions for intensification favorable, Paulette is expected to become a high-end category 3 storm with 125 mph winds on Tuesday, becoming the Atlantic’s second major hurricane of 2020. Increased wind shear and cooler waters will begin a weakening trend on Wednesday. (Note that by the time the hyperactive 2005 season got to the “P” storm, Philippe, that season had already produced four major hurricanes.)
Figure 7. Infrared satellite image of the island of Bermuda almost entirely in the large 40-mile-diameter eye of Hurricane Paulette at 4:50 a.m. EDT, Monday, September 14. (Image credit: RAMMB/CIRA/Colorado State University)
Tropical Depression Rene just hanging on
Far to the southeast of Paulette, slow-moving Tropical Depression Rene was on its last legs Monday. Top sustained winds were a mere 30 mph, and strong wind shear was pushing dry air into the tiny system. Rene will likely become a remnant low by Tuesday.
Tropical Storm Teddy forms in the central Atlantic
Tropical Storm Teddy, which formed in the central Atlantic on Monday morning, was headed west at 14 mph at 11 a.m. EDT Monday with top sustained winds of 40 mph. Teddy is expected to turn to the northwest on Wednesday, well before reaching the Lesser Antilles Islands.
Conditions for intensification will be very favorable late this week, and Teddy is predicted to be a major hurricane by Friday. Bermuda and Newfoundland, Canada, may potentially be at risk from Teddy.
Tropical Storm Vicky forms in the Eastern Atlantic
Tropical Storm Vicky formed in the eastern Atlantic at 11 a.m. EDT Monday, about 350 miles west-northwest of the Cabo Verde Islands. Vicky was headed northwest at 6 mph, with top sustained winds of 45 mph. Vicky will have favorable conditions for development through Monday night, with sea surface temperatures near 26.5 Celsius (80°F), moderately to high wind shear of 20 – 25 knots, and a moist atmosphere. However, wind shear is predicted to rise to a prohibitively high 40 – 60 knots Tuesday through Wednesday, destroying Vicky by Thursday. Vicky is not a threat to any land areas.
Another tropical wave coming off coast of Africa has potential to develop
A new tropical wave, emerging from the coast of Africa on Monday, has some modest model support for development late in the week as it moves west at about 10 mph. Two of the 51 members of the 0Z Monday European model ensemble forecast showed this system would develop into a tropical storm that would reach the Lesser Antilles Islands by Tuesday, September 22.
In its 2 p.m. Monday EDT Tropical Weather Outlook, NHC gave this wave two-day and five-day odds of development of 20% and 50%, respectively. The next name on the Atlantic list of storms is Wilfred — the last name on the list.
Keeping an eye on Gulf of Mexico disturbance
NHC on Monday was monitoring an area of interest over the western Gulf of Mexico producing a few disorganized showers and thunderstorms. Some slow development is possible while this system moves southwestward at 5 – 10 mph over the western Gulf of Mexico this week.
Dry air over the western Gulf of Mexico, however, is likely to inhibit its development, as will wind shear. In its 2 p.m. EDT Monday Tropical Weather Outlook, NHC gave this system two-day and five-day odds of development of 10% and 20%, respectively.
The 2020 parade of record-early named storms continues
Teddy’s arrival on September 14 marks the earliest date that any Atlantic season has produced its nineteenth tropical storm, topping the record held by an unnamed storm from October 4, 2005, which was classified after the season was over. Vicky’s arrival on September 14 marks the earliest date that any Atlantic season has produced its twentieth tropical storm, topping the record held by Tammy from October 5, 2005.
With the Atlantic hurricane season just four days past the climatological half-way point, we’ve already had 20 named storms, seven hurricanes, and one intense hurricane. Only two Atlantic hurricane seasons since 1851 have had that many named storms, and both of those during an entire season. The record was 28 named storms in 2005, followed by 1933, with 20 named storms. According to Colorado State University hurricane scientist Phil Klotzbach, the averages for this point in the season are seven named storms, three hurricanes, and 1.5 intense hurricanes.
Bob Henson contributed to this post.
Website visitors can comment on “Eye on the Storm” posts (see below). Please read our Comments Policy prior to posting. (See all EOTS posts here. Sign up to receive notices of new postings here.)
For everyone in Portland hoping the air quality would improve once the weekend ended — that would be everyone — bad news: the state still has several days of smoke-filled air to look forward to.
Much of the West Coast has been blanketed with smoke for days as wildfires rage in Oregon and beyond.
“I wish I could say it would get out of here today,” said Tyler Kranz, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Portland, “but that doesn’t look to be the case.”
Instead, said Kranz, we can expect to stay socked in with smoke during the day Monday and into the night. Starting Tuesday and through Wednesday, he said, there will be a gradual improvement.
Those air quality index numbers will be heading in the right direction, he said, but slowly, and don’t expect to see the sky. Instead, there will be smoke, clouds, and possible showers.
But Thursday through Friday is when Kranz said Portlanders, and Oregonians in general, might get to take a full, non-smoke-filled breath.
“Heck,” he said, “we could even see some peeks of sunshine and blue sky.”
Showers are also in the forecast.
What if you can’t wait? With smoke blanketing most of the West Coast, where could a person go to inhale some fresh air before the end of the week?
Nowhere close by.
“If you went to the middle of nowhere Nevada,” Kranz said, “you would have clean air.”
Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what’s happening in the world as it unfolds.
(CNN)If the 2020 census fails to count everyone in the US, experts warn that the consequences will be serious, widespread and long-lasting.
Census workers are currently visiting homes that haven’t responded to the 2020 census. US households that haven’t responded to the census can still do so by:
The World Health Organization reported the world’s highest single-day increase since the pandemic began at more than 307,000 cases Sunday.
The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, co-convened by the World Bank and WHO, criticized political leaders for not being prepared for the coronavirus pandemic in a report on epidemic preparedness published Monday.
“Financial and political investments in preparedness have been insufficient, and we are all paying the price,” authors said.
In Nevada, President Donald Trump held an indoor campaign rally on Sunday, his first since June in Tulsa, Oklahoma, drawing a rebuke from the state’s Democratic governor.
“Tonight, President Donald Trump is taking reckless and selfish actions that are putting countless lives in danger here in Nevada,” Gov. Steve Sisolak said Sunday night on Twitter.
Trump’s rally in Henderson near Las Vegas followed a Saturday night event on the tarmac at Minden-Tahoe Airport that drew at least 5,000 largely maskless supporters.
The nation’s institutions of higher education continue to grapple with COVID-19. The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse is the latest one to announce the temporary suspension of in-person instruction on Sunday amid a spike in campus cases.
Some significant developments:
Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and Oxford University have resumed clinical trials of their COVID-19 vaccine candidate in the United Kingdom after a brief global pause in testing.
South Korea is easing coronavirus restrictions after reporting its lowest daily toll of infections in a month.
WHO announces highest single-day record in global infections since the pandemic began, reporting 307,930 COVID-19 cases Sunday.
📈 Today’s numbers: Montana, Kansas, Guam and Puerto Rico set records for deaths this week, according to a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data through late Saturday. New case records were set in Wisconsin. The U.S. has had about 6.5 million confirmed cases and more than 194,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Globally, there have been more than 29 million cases and about 924,000 fatalities.
📰 What we’re reading: Eating disorders thrive in isolation which explains why health experts have seen a surge in people seeking help amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The National Eating Disorders Association has reported up to 78% during some months, in the number of calls and online chats compared to a year ago.
This file will be updated throughout the day. For updates in your inbox, subscribe to The Daily Briefing newsletter.
NFL threatens disciplinary action for coaches not wearing masks
The NFL reminded team personnel on the sidelines about the COVID-19 requirements for wearing face coverings. There were several games Sunday in which team members other than players did not use them.
Troy Vincent, who oversees the league’s football operations, sent a memo to the 32 clubs on Monday saying “we must remain vigilant and disciplined in following the processes and protocols put in place by not only the league, union and clubs, but also by state and local governments.”
Game-day protocols require all individuals with bench area access, including coaches and members of the club medical staff, to wear face coverings at all times.
“Failure to adhere to this requirement will result in accountability measures being imposed against offending individuals and/or clubs,” the memo said.
WHO reports highest single-day increase of global infections
The World Health Organization announced the highest single-day increase of COVID-19 infections with 307,930 cases reported Sunday. The previous record was set on Sept. 6 at 306,857 cases.
The U.K., which has suffered Europe’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak, has recorded more than 3,000 new cases of COVID-19 Sunday for the third day running for the first time since May.
The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, co-convened by the World Bank and WHO, published a report Monday on epidemic preparedness titled “A World in Disorder.” In the report, GPMB says political leaders around the world collectively failed to prepare for the coronavirus pandemic.
“It is not as if the world has lacked the opportunity to take these steps. There have been numerous calls for action… over the last decade, yet none have generated the changes needed,” the authors said.
Images of Florida fans maskless at football opener draws criticism
Florida State University officials on Sunday said they were upset that fans were not wearing face masks during the football opener over the weekend. Images of maskless fans led to criticism on social media.
“We were disappointed with some fans, particularly some student fans, at the Georgia Tech football game who did not comply with our policies regarding social distancing and wearing masks while in their seats,” FSU Athletic Director David Coburn said Sunday in a statement to the Tallahassee Democrat, part of the USA TODAY Network.
“There was ample room for all fans to remain safely distanced. We have three weeks until our next home game, and we will re-double our efforts to both inform our patrons and improve compliance with the new rules,” the statement read.
The criticism comes after a video on social media showed what was believed to be a pre-game FSU party off-campus with a large group of people not wearing face masks, the Democrat reported.
Rite Aid: Fired manager ‘created an escalation’ when attacked by maskless customer
Rite Aid has responded to a worker’s claim that she was fired for defending herself when a man who refused to wear a mask attacked her, asserting that she lost her job because she possessed and displayed a knife during the episode — not because she defended herself and others in the store.
Previously, the drug store chain headquartered in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, had declined to publicly discuss details of the Sept. 3 confrontation between shift manager Elena Santiago and an unidentified young man who refused to wear a mask in the chain’s downtown store in York, Pennsylvania.
But after news of her firing spread across the country, the chain released a statement that asserted Elena Santiago, a 40-year-old single mother of three who had worked at the store for four and a half years, was not fired from her $11-an-hour job for defending herself.
“We understand the concern regarding the incident in York, PA,” Savarese wrote in the email. “For many reasons, we have a no tolerance policy specific to associates bringing weapons to our facilities and having weapons on person. The primary reason is to keep our associates, customers and communities safe, and to mitigate an escalation of any situation. In this unfortunate incident, the show and use of weapons by our associate created an escalation.”
– Mike Argento, York (Pa.) Daily Record
Scientists ‘aghast’ over White House appointees’ meddling with CDC reports
Scientists and physicians reacted with words such as “aghast,” “despicable” and “outrageous” over the weekend as news spread that White House appointees interfered with a basic national public health report when it conflicted with President Donald Trump’s coronavirus messaging.
Michael Caputo, the Health and Human Services assistant secretary for public affairs, acknowledged Saturday that since June, he and an advisor have been scrutinizing and at times pushing for changes to a weekly health report distributed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr. William Schaffner, who is on the publication’s editorial board, said he was “aghast” and “appalled” by the reported attempts to delay, stop or change reports. He described the publication as a vital part of the global conversation among public health officials who track diseases and dangers.
The meddling, first reported by Politico, included efforts to stop the publication of a report last week on the use of hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug often touted by Trump, delay a 10-state study of COVID-19 infection statistics in June and another on the spread of coronavirus at a Georgia sleep-away camp.
– Elizabeth Weise and Karen Weintraub
Mother, 2-year-old escorted from Southwest flight over mask policy
A woman traveling from Fort Myers, Florida, to Chicago said she was escorted off her Southwest Airline flight on Saturday because her 2-year-old son was snacking prior to takeoff and wasn’t wearing his mask.
Jodi Degyansky, 34, wants airlines to have more compassion for parents who have toddlers that might have difficulty donning their masks for a long time. “We are trying to get used to it, but he’s 2,” Degyansky said.
Degyansky said she flew to Florida to visit her family in Naples. On her arrival flight to Southwest Florida International Airport, the flight attendants were much more understanding, she said.
– Melissa Montoya, Fort Myers (Fla.) News-Press
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse halts classes for two weeks amid COVID-19 spike
The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse suspended in-person undergraduate classes for two weeks due to a spike in coronavirus cases. Officials on Sunday said they will require face coverings on all campus property, both indoor and outdoor, and will expand a previous edict for shelter in place that was limited to one residence, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network.
In-person instruction is scheduled to resume on Sept. 28.
COVID-19 resources from USA TODAY
On Facebook: A lot is still unknown about the coronavirus. But what we do know, we’re sharing with you. Join our Facebook group, Coronavirus Watch, to receive daily updates in your feed and chat with others in the community about COVID-19.
Tips for coping: Every Saturday and Tuesday we’ll be in your inbox, offering you a virtual hug and a little bit of solace in these difficult times. Sign up for Staying Apart, Together.
President Donald Trump was scheduled to visit a wildfire command center and meet with California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday as the death toll from scores of wildfires roaring across much of the West rose to at least 35.
Firefighters struggled with high winds and low humidity in their furious battle for containment. Meteorologist Dan Borsum said strong southerly winds and low humidity Monday will result in elevated fire weather conditions across the region. He said conditions may improve a little bit Tuesday.
Borsum added the air quality in the region may not improve until October.
Two more deaths were reported California, raising the death toll there to 24. Ten deaths have been reported in Oregon and one in Washington state since a rash of fires began burning in drought conditions a month ago.
Several people remain missing and an unknown number of homes have been destroyed.
Search continues for several people missing from California’s North Complex Fire.
More than 30,000 firefighters and support personnel are assigned to almost 100 major fires burning in the West, the National Fire Information Center says.
No containment yet for Oregon’s killer Beachie Creek Fire
Growth on two major Oregon fires burning northeast of Salem has slowed but they remain 0% contained, authorities said Monday. The Beachie Creek and Riverside fires are one mile apart but a merge is not imminent, according to Oregon State Fire Marshal officials. The Beachie Creek Fire has killed four people and destroyed most of the tourist town of Detroit.
“One of our focuses right now is getting containment around the fire up, getting good fire lines around it,” Beachie Creek Fire spokesman Stefan Myers said.
– Virginia Barreda and Zach Urness, Salem Statesman Journal
Trump, quiet on fires, to pay visit today
President Donald Trump, out west for a series of campaign fundraisers and rallies, will meet with California Gov. Gavin Newsom and visit a fire command center in Sacramento County today where he will be briefed by local and federal fire and emergency officials, the White House said. Trump has had little to say about the fires, either on Twitter or in his public appearances, although he did thank the firefighters in a tweet Friday and indicated that financial help was on the way. Last month he had threatened to withhold federal money.
“I see again the forest fires are starting,” he said at an August rally in Pennsylvania. “They’re starting again in California. I said, you gotta clean your floors, you gotta clean your forests. … “Maybe we’re just going to have to make them pay for it because they don’t listen to us.”
Wildfires turn up heat on climate-change debate
Trump’s assertions that forest management is to blame for the fires is falling deaf ears among Democratic political leaders on the West Coast as they grapple with how to douse the blazes. Inslee, speaking Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” described climate change as “a blowtorch over our states in the West.”
“It is maddening right now that when we have this cosmic challenge to our communities, with the entire West Coast of the United States on fire, to have a president deny that,” Inslee said. “These are climate fires.”
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, also appeared on the program, pointing out that the Cascade snowpacks have gotten smaller and forests drier.
“The president has said it’s all about raking the forest. It’s just a big and devastating lie,” Merkley said.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted: “The hots are getting hotter. The wets are getting wetter. Climate change isn’t something that is going to happen in the future. It’s happening right NOW.”
Seven remain missing in North Complex Fires
In California, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea announced two more people have died from the North Complex Fire, bringing the death toll to 14. Honea said seven people remain missing, but added his office has “leads” on all of them. More than 160 people once listed as missing have been located, he said. The fire, which has burned more than 400 square miles in Butte and Plumas counties, was listed as 26% contained Monday. The fire, about 80 miles north of Sacramento, has been burning for almost a month.
Suspended Oregon fire marshal explains why he quit
State Fire Marshal Jim Walker made an offer to a distraught employee that he says ultimately led to his resignation. The employee was worried about a relative who lived an area where four people have died since the Beachie Creek Fire raced through the area a week ago. So, on Thursday night, Walker and a member of the incident management team searched through the dark and dense smoke of the canyon. All but one were accounted for. The next day Walker, who reports to State Police Superintendent Travis Hampton, was placed on paid leave.
“Their take was … you’re using your position or your job to be able to go into that area,” Walker said. “I can’t in good faith work in a system that’s non-supportive to what I see as needing to be provided to our firefighters on the ground.”
Fire closes in on gateway city to Sequoia National Park
A section of Sequoia National Park was closed as the Sequoia Complex Fire threatens Three Rivers, a gateway city to the park. Three Rivers is a town of more than 2,000 people in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada at the edge of the San Joaquin Valley.
“Our No. 1 priority is public and employee safety. It is crucial to take care of our staff and our gateway community of Three Rivers,” said Acting Superintendent Lee Taylor. “With this partial park closure, it is our intention to reduce possible evacuation complexity of the Three Rivers community by reducing the amount of visitors in the area.”
– Sheyanne N. Romero and James Ward, Visalia Times-Delta
29 major fires burning in California alone
Cal Fire has provided a grim update on the state’s wildfires. Over 16,750 firefighters are battling 29 major wildfires across California. Since the beginning of the year, wildfires have burned over 3.3 million acres in the state, an area larger than the state of Connecticut. Since Aug. 15, when California’s fire activity elevated amid thousands of lightning strikes in parched forests and brush, more than 4,100 structures have been destroyed.
American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Mike Sommers argues the oil industry in Texas and other Hurricane Laura-hit states have avoided major damage because the industry prepares for natural disasters like this.
HOUSTON — Offshore platforms and one refinery along the U.S. Gulf Coast shut down on Sunday as they prepared for a second hurricane strike in less than a month.
Continue Reading Below
Phillips 66 began shutting its 255,600 barrel-per-day (bpd) Alliance, Louisiana, refinery as Tropical Storm Sally was forecast to pass just west of the plant, 24 miles south of New Orleans.
Other refineries in east Louisiana were monitoring the storm, forecast to become a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 100 mph, early on Tuesday.
From Saturday, energy companies began shutting offshore production as they evacuated workers in the path of the storm, located 115 miles east-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Tropical Storm Sally is seen off the U.S. Gulf Coast on Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. (NOAA/GOES-East)
Chevron Corp shut the Blind Faith and Petronius platforms and evacuated the workers, it said on Sunday.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc said it began shutting some of its offshore drilling operations on Sunday. Its offshore production was unchanged and all personnel remained on production platforms, company spokeswoman Cynthia Babski said.
Murphy Oil shut the Delta House platform in the path of Sally, the company said.
However, BHP Billiton does not plan to take workers from offshore facilities, a company spokeswoman said.
U.S. Gulf of Mexico offshore oil production makes up about 17% of U.S. crude oil and 5% of U.S. natural gas output. As much as 1.5 million barrels per day of oil output was shut last month as Hurricane Laura tore through the Gulf of Mexico.
Louisiana declared a state of emergency on Saturday and the city of New Orleans ordered a Sunday 6 p.m. CDT evacuation for residents outside its protective levees. Coastal Grand Isle also issued its third evacuation order since July.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has vowed to roll back many of President Trump’s immigrations policies — but he faces obstacles.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has vowed to roll back many of President Trump’s immigrations policies — but he faces obstacles.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is pledging to dismantle the sweeping changes President Trump has made to the American immigration system, if he wins the White House in November.
But that’s easier said than done.
“I don’t think it’s realistic that Biden in four years could unroll everything that Trump did,” says Sarah Pierce, a policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C.
“Because of the intense volume and pace of changes the Trump administration enacted while in office, even if we have a new administration, Trump will continue to have had an impact on immigration for years to come,” Pierce says.
“What the administration has sought to do is to simply turn off immigration and to do it unilaterally by presidential edict, without the approval of Congress or the consent of the American people,” says Omar Jadwat, director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. “That project should be reversed.”
That’s exactly what Biden pledges to do. His position paper on immigration — 51 bullet points that fill 22 pages — seeks to roll back Trump’s accomplishments and reenact Obama-era policies.
“If I’m elected president, we’re going to immediately end Trump’s assault on the dignity of immigrant communities. We’re going to restore our moral standing in the world and our historic role as a safe haven for refugees and asylum-seekers,” Biden said in his acceptance speech at the virtual Democratic National Convention.
The former vice president has an exhaustive to-do list. Within his first 100 days, Biden says he would implement a wide range of policies: not another mile of border wall, no more separating families, no more prolonged detentions or deportations of peaceable, hardworking migrants.
Biden also says he would restore the asylum system and support alternatives to immigrant detention, such as case management, that allow an applicant to live and work in the community while their case works its way through the hearing process. Trump has derisively called this “catch and release.”
And Biden would fully reinstate DACA, which allows migrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children to live and work without fear of deportation.
A car with President Trump drives after participating in a ceremony commemorating the 200th mile of border wall at the international border with Mexico in San Luis, Ariz., on June 23.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
A car with President Trump drives after participating in a ceremony commemorating the 200th mile of border wall at the international border with Mexico in San Luis, Ariz., on June 23.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
But if he’s elected, Biden would face a host of obstacles that could slow his immigration counter-revolution.
First, there’s the specter of renewed chaos at the Southern border. Last year, groups as large as 1,000 Central Americans at a time waded across the Rio Grande into El Paso, Texas, to request asylum. The Border Patrol was overwhelmed and ended up detaining families in primitive, unsanitary conditions. Immigration hawks are wary that Biden would throw open the gates again.
“They don’t want to create such a chaotic situation at the border by welcoming or incentivizing another massive influx from Central America,” says Jerry Kammer, who is affiliated with the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors restrictions on immigration.
Federal border officials are worried what would happen if Biden cancels bilateral agreements with Mexico that have dramatically slowed the migrant flow.
“If Mexico right now decided they weren’t going to continue to help us, people would start coming through like we saw in the caravans two springs ago. There’s no reason that it wouldn’t come back as bad as it was,” says Ron Vitiello, former deputy commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
NPR asked a senior adviser to the Biden campaign what would happen if a new president gave migrants a green light. The adviser said they are cognizant of that “pull factor.”
In fact, the people most closely watching to see if Biden defeats Trump and reverses his immigration crackdown may be beyond U.S. borders.
Some 700 migrants languish in filthy tents pitched in a public park amid mud, rats and clouds of mosquitoes. The encampment is in Matamoros, just across the Rio Grande from Brownsville, Texas. They’re seeking asylum in the U.S. but are stuck there under a Trump initiative known as Remain in Mexico.
“We place our hope in Joe Biden, who is the Democratic nominee, because he would treat the immigrants very differently than Trump has,” says Carla Garcia, speaking at her cluttered campsite. She and her 7-year-old son are seeking protection in the United States after fleeing criminal gangs in Honduras.
“We hope he wins and changes all of this that Trump has created,” Garcia says, motioning to the bedraggled camp. “This is discrimination and racism.”
President Trump delivers remarks on Sept. 11 in Shanksville, Pa.
Jeff Swensen/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Jeff Swensen/Getty Images
For his part, the president is touting the success of Remain in Mexico, which the administration calls the Migrant Protection Protocols.
“We don’t want ’em here. We want ’em outside,” Trump told cheering supporters in Yuma, Ariz., last month. “We got sued all over the place, and we won. So now they don’t come into the United States. They can wait outside.”
While the president says he has single-handedly restored a broken immigration system, human rights advocates are appalled at what they call the cruelty of his policies. And immigrant advocates say they have high hopes that a new administration would rebuild the immigration system based on “American values.”
“There’s no doubt about it, this is a monumental challenge,” says Heidi Altman, director of policy for the National Immigrant Justice Center. “That means a complete and utter reorientation of the culture of the agencies that administer immigration law and policy in the United States.”
But that’s a tall order — and another obstacle Biden would face. Immigration agents have enjoyed extraordinary support from the White House over the past 45 months. The Trump administration has bragged about “unshackling” them to let them do their jobs more aggressively.
“That isn’t something that’s a light switch. You can’t change culture within an organization that vast overnight,” says Angela Kelley, senior adviser to the American Immigration Lawyers Association. “So I agree that it’s going to be a long, long road.”
For an example of how the Border Patrol is marching lockstep with the White House, look to a video titled “The Gotaway,” posted earlier this month.
CBP produced an ominous, fictionalized video on the Border Patrol’s YouTube channel that depicts a Latino migrant who had just escaped from agents, attacking and knifing a man in a dark alley. The video was released at a time when Trump has been stoking fears about violent immigrants at his campaign rallies.
NPR inquired why the video was made and why it was removed a week later before being re-posted. Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott said in a statement that the video was produced “to enhance awareness that effective border security helps keep all Americans safe,” and it was briefly pulled because they misused copyrighted materials.
A Biden presidency also would likely find itself skirmishing with conservative lawyers the way the Trump administration has been tied up in federal courts fighting immigrant advocates.
“If Biden is elected and his administration starts rescinding executive actions that Trump had firm legal authority to do, groups like us will sue. That is a fact,” says R.J. Hauman, head of government relations at the Federation for American Immigration Reform. “We did so under President Obama, and we’ll do so again.”
Finally, there’s the pandemic. An NPR/Ipsos poll shows that a majority of Americans support Trump’s decision to shut the nation’s borders to all types of immigrants to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Biden has not said if he would reverse that order to reopen the borders and jump-start the asylum process, which has been suspended. So it’s anybody’s guess when the virus will subside and the nation can welcome immigrants again.
Likely voters believe that Democratic nominee Joe Biden is more mentally sound that President Donald Trump, according to a recently-released Fox News poll.
The survey of likely 1,191 likely voters found that 51% believe that Biden “has the mental soundness to serve as president.”
Only 47% of likely voters told Fox News that President Trump has the “mental soundness” to be commander-in-chief.
The current president has made his mental stability a cornerstone of his campaign.
The same voters preferred the compassion of Biden over Trump, 62% to 44%, the poll found.
In all, the Fox News survey found that 51% of likely voters would choose Biden and 46% of likely voters would pick Trump if the election were held today.
The poll has a margin of error of ± 2.5 percentage points.
During the event in Henderson, Nev., Trump told attendees that the former president “got caught spying on my campaign,” referring to longstanding accusations from him and his allies that the investigation into the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia in 2016 was orchestrated by the Obama administration in an attempt to sink his candidacy, a claim for which there is no evidence.
The president has ratcheted up his rhetoric aimed at Obama in recent months, accusing the former president in June of committing “treason” while touting the upcoming results of the Justice Department’s investigation into the origins of the probe into the Trump campaign.
“Treason. Treason. It’s treason,” Trump told CBN News in June.
“They’d been spying on my campaign,” the president added at the time. “Turned out I was right. Let’s see what happens to them now.”
Chances for a second round of coronavirus-stimulus payments aren’t dead but are certainly on life-support, lawmakers said.
A stripped-down stimulus plan introduced last week failed to garner enough votes in the Senate to move ahead and most are predicting relief measures will be on hold until after the Nov. 3 presidential election.
Alabama’s Senators split their votes on the $500 billion measure, which didn’t include stimulus checks but was seen as a first step towards direct payments as part of a larger bill. Sen. Doug Jones joined fellow Democrats in voting against the measure; Sen. Richard Shelby, a Republican, backed the GOP bill.
There is no indication Congress is close to reaching any sort of deal.
When asked by CNN if stimulus negotiations were dead, Shelby replied “it looks that way.”
He held out hope, however, that a deal could be reached.
“You never know around here,” Shelby said. “Sometimes things look bleak and they’re revived, and so forth. We thought the scaled-down version was a good bill, a good timing and everything else. The Democrats obviously thought otherwise. That’s all we can do, is tee it up and go with it.”
Jones said his vote reflected the failures of the GOP bill.
Instead of a stimulus package, Congress will turn its attention to a temporary funding measure that will keep the government operating past Sept. 30. If the Senate passes a stimulus bill at the end of September, the House will have until Oct. 1 to approve a measure, leaving little time for relief package.
The previous stimulus funds – up to $2,400 for married couples plus $500 for dependent children – went to roughly 160 million Americans. The majority of people who received stimulus funds – 52% – said they used the money to pay down debt, according to a survey. Thirty-two percent said they mostly saved the money; 15% said they spent or were planning on spending the money.
Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what’s clicking on Foxnews.com.
President Trump on Sunday night held an indoor rally at a warehouse outside Las Vegas where he called the state’s governor a “political hack” and urged him to “open up your state.”
Speaking to thousands of supporters crammed inside the plant in Henderson, Trump targeted Gov. Steve Sisolak — who had earlier blasted the president for hosting the rally in violation of a state mandate limiting gatherings to 50 people.
“You have a governor right now who is a political hack,” Trump told the audience. “Tell your governor to open up your state, by the way. Open up your state.”
The state’s economy has been operating with restrictions on a per-county basis based on their individual coronavirus risk levels.
Casinos and restaurants, for example, in Las Vegas in Clarke County, are operating at 50 percent capacity. But bars and taverns in the county remain closed.
All counties must adhere to state mitigation mandates, including wearing face coverings and limiting gatherings larger than 50 people.
The president’s decision to host Sunday night’s rally — his second in as many days in Nevada with more than 50 people — was described by Sisolak as “reckless and selfish.”
“President Donald Trump is taking reckless and selfish actions that are putting countless lives in danger here in Nevada,” Sisolak said in the statement. “The President appears to have forgotten that this country is still in the middle of a global pandemic.”
Trump assured his supporters Sunday night that he’ll back them in the event any issues arise from attending the indoor rally.
“If the governor comes after you, which he shouldn’t be doing, I’ll be with you all the way, I’ll be with you all the way, don’t worry about a thing,” he said.
This is a widget area - If you go to "Appearance" in your WP-Admin you can change the content of this box in "Widgets", or you can remove this box completely under "Theme Options"
