Tuesday, October 3, 2023

10/3 WAKE-UP CALL: Gaetz Seeks To Oust McCarthy

Gaetz and McCarthy
Rep. Matt Gaetz reiterated his plans to file a measure this week calling up a vote on whether to oust Kevin McCarthy as House speaker. The two have fought about the direction of the Republican party. Their most recent battle concerned last weekend’s short-term spending deal that will keep the federal government funded through mid-November, which McCarthy engineered. Hard-line conservatives, including Gaetz, objected. McCarthy has said he is ready for any vote and painted Gaetz as an obstructionist with a personal vendetta. Democrats are dealing with their own baggage. Publicly, they back President Biden in the 2024 presidential election, but privately, their fears are growing.

➤AMERICANS STILL SPENDING LIKE THERE'S NO TOMORROW: With interest rates and inflation up, pandemic savings dwindling and the labor market cooling, you’d think consumers would rein it in. Nope. Concerts, trips and designer handbags are taking priority over saving for a home or a rainy day. A tough housing market and the “life is unpredictable” lesson Covid taught has some people spending on once-in-a-lifetime experiences they fear they won’t be able to have later. Whether this kind of spending becomes the norm or is just a temporary phenomenon remains to be seen, financial experts say, but labor strikes, student loan repayments and rising gas prices could lead people to pull back.

➤UKRAINE USING DECOYS: Ukraine is using a warfare tool as old as time in its conflict against Russia: decoys. The bogus howitzers, radar stations and mortars are used to lure Moscow’s missiles, shells and drones. The logic? Every weapon that strikes the fakes is one fewer danger to real equipment and troops. High-quality replicas made from rigid plastic foam, plumbing and scrap equipment can help mislead an enemy about attack plans or how well defended an area is, deterring an assault. Kyiv declined to comment on how widely used they are, but fakes likely account for some of the weapons Moscow claims to have destroyed on the battlefield, which exceed the numbers in Ukraine’s arsenal. Russia also deploys decoy; their effectiveness is uncertain.

➤TRUMP FRAUD TRIAL OPENS: Court is in session. Former President Donald Trump is the star of a fiery trial that opened in New York on Monday that could shine a light on how much money the real estate mogul turned politician is really worth. A civil trial that's expected to last three months will determine how much Trump and his companies will be penalized after a New York judge ruled he committed fraud for years while building his real estate empire. New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking $250 million in damages. Potential witnesses include Trump, his children and former business associates.


➤JOHN KELLY GOES ON THE RECORD TO CONFIRM SEVERAL DISTURBING STORIES ABOUT TRUMP: John Kelly, the longest-serving White House chief of staff for Donald Trump, offered his harshest criticism yet of the former president in an exclusive statement to CNN. According to CNN, Kelly set the record straight with on-the-record confirmation of a number of damning stories about statements Trump made behind closed doors attacking US service members and veterans, listing a number of objectionable comments Kelly witnessed Trump make firsthand.

“What can I add that has not already been said?” Kelly said, when asked if he wanted to weigh in on his former boss in light of recent comments made by other former Trump officials. “A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them.’ A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because ‘it doesn’t look good for me.’ A person who demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family – for all Gold Star families – on TV during the 2016 campaign, and rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America’s defense are ‘losers’ and wouldn’t visit their graves in France.

Kelly’s statement to CNN comes days after former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson sat down with CNN in an interview promoting her new book, “Enough,” and warned the public that “Donald Trump is the most grave threat we will face to our democracy in our lifetime, and potentially in American history.”

➤CONGRESSMAN CARJACKED: Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, was carjacked Monday night about a mile from the Capitol. His chief of staff confirmed the incident in a statement and said he was not injured. “As Congressman Cuellar was parking his car this evening, 3 armed assailants approached the Congressman and stole his vehicle. Luckily, he was not harmed and is working with local law enforcement. Thank you to Metro PD and Capitol Police for their swift action and for recovering the Congressman’s vehicle,” the statement said. Washington Metropolitan Police said an armed carjacking was reported at about 9:32 p.m. in the Navy Yard neighborhood of Southeast Washington. No information about the victim was immediately provided.

➤NORTH DAKOTA STATE SENATOR DOUG LARSEN, HIS WIFE AND 2 CHILDREN KILLED IN UTAH PLANE CRASH: A state senator from North Dakota, his wife and their two young children died when the small plane they were riding crashed in Utah, a Senate leader said Monday. Doug Larsen's death was confirmed Monday in an email that Republican Senate Majority Leader David Hogue sent to his fellow senators. . The plane, of which Larsen was the pilot, crashed Sunday evening shortly after taking off from Canyonlands Airfield about 15 miles north of Moab.

Charlotte Sena
➤MISSING CHILD FOUND ALIVE: Charlotte Sena was found 'alive and safe' on Monday - two days after she was snatched from Moreau Lake State Park in Gansevoort. Craig Ross Jr, 47, is the suspect in custody - and he is currently under questioning, New York Governor Kathy Hochul (center) revealed in a dramatic press conference Tuesday evening. He lived inside a trailer at his mother's property on Barrett Road in Milton, New York. Police found little Charlotte covered up and hidden in a cabinet on Monday. Ross Jr. drove up to Sena's parents' home at 4.20am Monday morning and left a ransom note inside their mailbox - which was covered in his DNA and fingerprints. At 2.30pm Monday, investigators finally found a match in the database and linked the fingerprints to a DWI arrest made in Saratoga County in the 1990s. From there, they swooped on Ross Jr's camper van, arrested him, and found the missing girl. Cops confirmed Ross Jr is not a registered sex offender and did not reveal a motive.

➤DIRT BIKE MAYHEM IN PHILLY: A Philadelphia dirt bike rider callously smashed the rear windshield of a car driven by a young mom and threatened her with a gun as her children looked on. The startling incident was captured on cellphone video recorded as numerous young men on motorcycles and ATVs moved through the downtown area know as Center City. One biker used both of his feet to shatter the rear window. The mother got out to confront him despite him being armed. She also shoved him and he head butted her with his motorcycle helmet. The woman, identified as 23-year-old Nikki Bullock, refused to back down. The scene was reminiscent of a nightmarish image from one of the post-apocalyptic Mad Mad movies. 

💸NO POWERBALL WINNER: The numbers were drawn Monday night for a $1.04 billion Powerball jackpot - but no-one won, meaning the prize pot has climbed to $1.2 billion.  The winning numbers announced were: 12, 26, 27, 43, 47 and the Powerball 5. It took several hours to determine that no one had scooped the eye-watering prize, meaning it climbs by another $160 million ahead of Saturday's drawing.

🏈MNF SEATTLE 24 GIANTS 3:  Rookie cornerback Devon Witherspoon returned an interception 97 yards for a touchdown and had two of Seattle's 11 sacks as the Seahawks continued their Monday night mastery with a 24-3 victory against the New York Giants in East Rutherford, N.J. Here's the Westwood One Radio Call:

Kenneth Walker III rushed for 79 yards and a touchdown and Geno Smith threw a TD pass to DK Metcalf as the Seahawks (3-1) improved to 29-12 all-time on "Monday Night Football," with their .707 winning percentage the best in league history. Seattle's sack total tied the franchise's single-game record. The Giants (1-3), who played without star running back Saquon Barkley (ankle), managed just 248 yards of total offense.


⚾MLB ATTENDANCE SURGES PAST EXPECTATIONS: Major League Baseball’s 2023 attendance resurgence beat even the most optimistic internal projections. After predicting a full-season lift of 6% to 8% in June, the league ended the regular season with a total attendance of 70.75 million, a 9.6% increase. The total is the MLB’s largest since 2017 and the first above 70 million since that same year. Aside from COVID-impacted seasons, the 2023 figure is also the greatest year-over-year increase at the gate since 1993, when MLB expanded from 26 to 28 teams. A key factor in this year’s attendance bump was a trio of new on-field rules that introduced a new pitch clock, larger bases, and a ban on extreme defensive shifts. Aimed at eliminating dead time within games and creating a crisper, more action-filled product more relevant to younger fans, those changes helped generate a massive 24-minute reduction in average game times to two hours, 40 minutes — MLB’s lowest such number since 1985. 

✞FORMER PRO BOWL TE RUSS FRANCIS DIES IN PLANE CRASH: Former Pro Bowl tight Russ Francis was killed in a plane crash in Lake Placid, New York, on Sunday, according to family members. Francis was 70.  Francis and Richard McSpadden, a former commander of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, rolled hard to the left after takeoff from Lake Placid Airport before crashing, according to an NTSB spokesperson. It was not immediately clear whether Francis or McSpadden, 63, was flying the plane.

⚾ATTORNEYS: TREVOR BAUER, WOMAN SETTLE DISPUTE IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASE: Former major league pitcher Trevor Bauer and a woman who accused him of beating and sexually assaulting her in 2021 have settled their legal dispute, Bauer's attorneys said Monday. "Both of their respective claims have been withdrawn with prejudice, effective today," attorneys Jon Fetterolf and Shawn Holley said in a statement. The former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher was placed on administrative leave by MLB in July 2021 after the allegations were made by the woman, who said Bauer assaulted her on two occasions during what she said began as consensual sexual encounters between them.



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