Thursday, May 16, 2024

5/16 WAKE-UP CALL: Biden, Trump To Face-Off

President Biden and Donald J. Trump have agreed to two debates, one on June 27 on CNN and one on Sept. 10 on ABC News, the first onstage clashes between the former president and his successor in more than three years. While some of the details were still being hammered out, the agreement to the two debates, reached in a series of social-media posts Wednesday morning, raises the likelihood of the earliest general-election debate in modern history and immediately delivered a jolt of electricity to a campaign that had settled into something of a rut.

➤BIDEN PROMISES BORDER SHUTDOWN, IF...: President Biden is planning executive action that would allow him to shut down the US-Mexico border once the number of migrant crossings reaches 4,000 per day. The order would match a provision in the bipartisan border bill that failed to pass the Senate in February, which gave the president authority to expel migrants when border crossings reached the same daily average. The legislative proposal would have given the homeland security secretary discretionary authority to carry out removals — but would have made deportations mandatory when illegal entries surpassed 5,000 per day over a one-week period. The bill allowed for the suspension of that authority two weeks after the seven-day average falls to 75% of those levels.

💸INFLATION EASES: U.S. inflation eased last month, offering relief to the Fed and investors after earlier economic data showed simmering price pressures.

The consumer-price index, a gauge for goods and service costs across the economy, rose 3.4% in April from a year ago, the Labor Department said. Core prices that exclude volatile food and energy items climbed 3.6% annually, their smallest gain since April 2021. 

The report was in line with expectations. After three firmer-than-anticipated inflation readings earlier this year, Wednesday’s report alone won’t convince the Fed to change its calculus for if and when to begin cutting interest rates, but it keeps cuts on the table for later this year and soothes fears about further rate hikes. Investors' optimism manifested as the three leading U.S. stock indexes closed at all-time highs.

➤RUSSIA MAKES ADVANCES:  Russia advanced on a new front, as outnumbered Ukrainian troops continued to wait for U.S. weaponry. Moscow’s move is aimed at threatening the regional capital of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. Kyiv officials and Western analysts said that a direct assault now was unlikely, but the advance could gain territory and further stretch Ukraine’s forces. Meanwhile, Russia’s relationship with China is asymmetrical, despite their united front against the West. Contending with sanctions stemming from its Ukraine invasion, Moscow has increasingly turned to Beijing for economic and security support.

➤TWH FEARS RUSSIA IS WINNING:  After months of slow Russian ground advances and technological leaps in countering American-provided arms, the Biden administration is increasingly concerned that President Vladimir V. Putin is gathering enough momentum to change the trajectory of the war, and perhaps reverse his once-bleak prospects. In recent days, Moscow’s troops have opened a new push near the country’s second-biggest city, Kharkiv, forcing Ukraine to divert its already thinned-out troops to defend an area that it took back from Russian forces in a stunning victory in the fall of 2022.

Suspect In Custody
➤SLOVAKIA'S PM SHOT:  In an apparent assassination attempt, Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot and wounded on Wednesday as he made an appearance outside a community center. Fico, 59, was shot in the abdomen after a meeting in the town of Handlova, about 100 miles northeast of the capital Bratislava, in central Slovakia, and airlifted to a nearby hospital. 

The alleged assailant, who has not been identified, was detained by police. 


➤COHEN'S CHARACTER RIPPED:  Donald Trump’s attorneys went for the jugular Tuesday in cross-examination of Michael Cohen, casting the prosecution’s star witness as a shady character with an intense hatred of the former president and with financial motivation to lie about the hush money scheme at the heart of the trial. Defense attorney Todd Blanche started by pointing to Mr. Cohen’s profane message on social media after the trial began in April. “You went on TikTok and called me a crying little s—-,” Mr. Blanche said.“Sounds like something I would say,” Mr. Cohen said. “You referred to President Trump as a dictator douchebag, didn’t you?” Mr. Blanche said. 

➤BIDEN FEARS HUNTER COULD END UP IN JAIL: While aides insist that the White House will have no involvement in the case, brought by special counsel David Weiss, some fear it could dramatically impact the president himself, more psychologically than politically. Three advisers granted anonymity to speak about private deliberations said they, and members of the First Family, are worried about the weight Hunter Biden’s trial will place on the president at an already difficult time for him politically. Biden has expressed fears to them about the possibility that his son will serve time in prison.

➤PRO-LIFER SENTENCED FOR BLOCKING CLINIC ACCESS:  A pro-life leader who stored fetuses inside her D.C. home was given a nearly five-year prison sentence Tuesday for blocking an abortion clinic, as fellow activists accused the Biden administration of using federal law enforcement to go after political opponents. U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly handed down a 57-month sentence to Lauren Handy for organizing a 2020 blockade of a D.C. abortion clinic that saw 10 pro-life advocates infiltrate the facility and chain up the entrance. .

➤PUSHBACK GROWS OVER CANCEL CULTURE NAME CHANGES: Communities pushing back against cancel culture name changes . . . across the country, many communities are pushing back against cancel culture and moving to reclaim logos and nicknames that were axed in the name of political correctness. In January, the Southern York County School Board in Pennsylvania reinstated an American Indian logo for its Susquehannock High School Warriors — officials had removed the imagery in 2020. Last year in Sandusky, Michigan, voters recalled three school board members who changed the branding for the local high school sports teams originally known as “the Redskins.”


⚾SOTO PASSES MICKEY MANTLE RECORD: One of baseball's most disciplined hitters since debuting as a 19-year-old in 2018, Juan Soto overtook Mickey Mantle for the most walks by any player in history before their 26th birthday. The New York Yankees outfielder's walk on Tuesday against the Minnesota Twins was the 669th of his career. Soto has led the majors in walks each of the past three seasons and is No. 1 among active players with a career .421 on-base percentage.

⚾ASTROS PITCHER SUSPENDED: Astros starter Ronel Blanco was suspended for 10 games by Major League Baseball after the right-hander was ejected from an outing for having a foreign substance on his glove. Blanco said that he planned to appeal any suspension that may be levied against him. If Blanco appeals, his suspension will be held in abeyance until the appeal process is complete. If Blanco appeals and his suspension is upheld, the Astros will not be able to replace Blanco’s spot on the active roster while he is suspended.

⚾MLB SCORES

  • Yankees 4 Twins 0
  • Rays 4 Red Sox 3
  • Phillies 10 Mets 5
  • Giants 4 Dodgers 1
  • Angels 7 Cardinals 2
  • Astros 3 Athletics 0
  • Rangers 4 Guardians 0
  • Cubs 7 Braves 1
  • Mariners 4 Royals 2
  • Rockies 8 Padres 0
  • D-Backs 2 Reds 1
  • White Sox 2 Nationals 0
  • Marlins 2 Tigers 0
  • Brewers 10 Pirates 2
  • Orioles 3 Blue Jays 2

🏀NBA SCORES:

  • Mavericks 104 Thunder 92
  • Celtics 113 Cavaliers 98
🠊Behind 25 points from Jayson Tatum and a vintage performance from Al Horford, the Celtics took care of the Cavaliers in a 113-98 win in Game 5 on Wednesday night to reach the Eastern Conference finals. Horford was brilliant, racking up 22 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks — and with under two minutes to play, he drilled a dagger 3-pointer that drew the biggest roar of the night; plus a standing ovation and “MVP” chants as he left the floor.

🠊The Thunder and Mavericks spent most of Oklahoma City's 104-92 Game 5 loss to Dallas on opposite sides of the efficiency spectrum.  Dallas watched its role players elevate, its stars deliver, its lineups make OKC pay for its defensive preference. The Thunder chucked 3 after 3 to no avail.  The result is a 3-2 deficit in the Western Conference semifinals heading into Saturday night's Game 6 in Dallas with the season on the line.

🏒NHL SCORES:
  • Avalanche 5 Stars 3
Defenseman Cale Makar scored two goals on Wednesday, helping the Colorado Avalanche stave off elimination with a 5-3 victory over the Dallas Stars in Game 5 of their Western Conference semifinal series. The Stars hold a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series heading into Game 6 on Friday in Denver.

➤THURSDAY'S WEATHER:




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