1/ The CDC said it’s seeing a “distressing trend” in the United States’ coronavirus outbreak as COVID-19 cases grow “in all parts of the country.” The U.S. is reporting roughly 60,000 new COVID-19 cases daily – up nearly 17% compared with a week ago. Hospitalizations for COVID-19 have also hit the highest point since Aug. 22 with 37 states reporting increased hospitalizations, including 21 states that have recently reported new records or are approaching previous highs. (Bloomberg / CNBC)
2/ The CDC expanded its definition of a “close contact” to a person who has been within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period. That includes multiple, brief encounters of one or two minutes at a time. The CDC had previously defined a close contact as someone who spent at least 15 consecutive minutes within six feet of a confirmed coronavirus case. (Washington Post / NBC News)
3/ The White House is considering millions of dollars in cuts for coronavirus relief, HIV treatment, and other health programs in cities that Trump has deemed “anarchist jurisdictions.” In September, Trump ordered federal agencies to reduce funding to jurisdictions that “disempower” police departments and promote “lawlessness.” The Department of Health and Human Services has identified federal grants for nearly 200 health programs that serve the poorest and sickest residents in New York, Portland, Ore., Washington, D.C., and Seattle. (Politico)
4/ Trump abruptly ended an interview with “60 Minutes” host Lesley Stahl and then threatened to post their interview before it broadcasts Sunday night. Trump, calling the interview “FAKE and BIASED,” tweeted a behind-the-scenes clip of a maskless Stahl speaking to two mask-wearing producers and wrote, “Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes not wearing a mask in the White House after her interview with me. Much more to come.” Trump spent more than 45 minutes filming with Stahl before cutting off the interview. He didn’t return for an appearance he was supposed to tape with Pence. Trump reportedly ended the interview “because he was frustrated with Stahl’s line of questioning, one source said. Another person said the bulk of the interview was focused on coronavirus.” (New York Times / Washington Post / The Guardian / Politico / CNN)
5/ The Trump administration lost track of the parents for 545 migrant children who were separated at the U.S. border. About two-thirds of parents were deported to Central America without their children. Roughly 60 children were under the age of 5 when they were separated. (NBC News / New York Times)
6/ Trump maintains a bank account in China and has paid $188,561 in taxes while pursuing licensing deals from 2013 to 2015. Trump has repeatedly accused Biden of being “weak on China,” describing Biden family as “selling out our country” to China. Meanwhile, Trump paid $750 in U.S. taxes in 2016 and 2017. (New York Times / The Guardian)
7/ Despite more than 50 former senior intelligence officials saying that the Hunter Biden story “has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation,” Trump directed Attorney General William Barr to “act fast” and appoint a special prosecutor before election day. Rudy Giuliani obtained a laptop hard drive belonging to Hunter Biden that was purportedly left at a repair shop in Delaware. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, meanwhile, told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt downplayed the need for a special counsel to independently investigate the emails between Hunter and a foreign businessmen while Joe Biden was vice president. (The Guardian / Politico / The Hill)
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📌 Some background bits on the Giuliani x Hunter Biden misinformation campaign -
🤨 Rudy Giuliani was caught on camera putting his hand down his pants and moving it around in front of a 24-year-old actress pretending to be a television reporter. Giuliani and a fictional young female reporter, who was part of a Sacha Baron Cohen prank for the soon-to-be-released movie sequel to “Borat,” are seen going into a hotel bedroom for drinks — at the woman’s invitation — after conducting an interview about Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. In July, Giuliani called the NYPD on Baron Cohen after the comedian bursts into the bedroom in his Borat persona, shouting: “She’s 15. She’s too old for you!” Giuliani, however, didn’t mention to police the compromised position he was in when Borat came into the room. The film, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” will be released Friday on Amazon Prime Video. (The Guardian / NBC News / Daily Beast / The Hill) | | |
8/ Trump’s re-election campaign committee ended September with $63.1 million in the bank, while Biden reported $177.3 million for the final stretch of the campaign. Biden and Democratic allies are on pace to spent $142 million on TV ads in the closing days of the campaign, while Trump’s campaign has been canceling ad buys in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Ohio. Trump’s campaign and committees with the Republican National Committee have raised $1.5 billion since the start of 2019. (Associated Press / New York Times)
- [Of note] Trump called the 2016 $10 million cash infusion a loan, but his campaign called it a donation. “Who paid it back, and how? Trump boasted about self-funding his 2016 campaign, but in its tense final moments, his advisers could only get him to agree to a loan. ‘It was like a cash advance.’” (BuzzFeed News)
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