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Thursday, September 10, 2020

The Rundown: Trump Played Down Virus

TRUMP SPOKE IN FEB, MARCH ABOUT SERIOUSNESS OF CORONAVIRUS: President Trump told journalist Bob Woodward in February and March about the seriousness of the coronavirus, how it spread through the air and was deadlier than the flu, but said that he played it down publicly because he didn't want, quote, "to create a panic."

In the disclosures from Woodward's new book, called Rage, reported yesterday by the Washington Post and CNN, along with recordings Woodward made of his interviews of Trump for the book, Trump said in mid-March, "I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down because I don’t want to create a panic."

Trump was saying publicly at the time that the coronavirus was no worse than the flu and was under control and would quickly disappear, even though he'd shared the severity of the new virus and its contagiousness with Woodward in early February, telling him, "You just breathe the air and that’s how it’s passed," and "It’s also more deadly than even your strenuous flus."


Asked about the disclosures yesterday, Trump acknowledged downplaying the coronavirus, saying, "The fact is I’m a cheerleader for this country. I love our country and I don’t want people to be frightened. I don’t want to create panic, as you say. . . . We want to show confidence. We want to show strength."


Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden blasted Trump, saying at a Michigan campaign event yesterday, "While a deadly disease ripped through our nation, he failed to do his job -- on purpose. It was a life or death betrayal of the American people." Biden also charged that Trump, quote, "lied to the American people. He knowingly and willingly lied about the threat it posed to the country for months."

➤HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICIAL SAYS PRESSURED TO SUPPRESS INTELLIGENCE TRUMP MIGHT NOT LIKE: Department of Homeland Security official Brian Murphy filed a whistleblower complaint in which he said he was pressured by senior Department officials to suppress information in intelligence reports that President Trump might not like, including about Russian interference in the election and the growing threat from white supremacists. Murphy, who was demoted in August from his job as principal deputy under secretary in the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, also alleged that senior officials pressured him to alter reports so they'd reflect administration policy goals. Murphy charges he was demoted for refusing to go along with the changes and for filing confidential internal complaints about what he was being pressured to do, and is seeking to be reinstated. Murphy's complaint was released yesterday by Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, who condemned, quote, "the politicization of intelligence." A Homeland Security spokesman denied Murphy’s allegations.

Among Murphy's specific claims, he says that he was directed by acting deputy Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli to change a section of a report to make the threat posed by white supremacists less serious, and to play up the threat posed by left-wing groups, to echo what the administration was saying amid the protests after George Floyd's death. Murphy also charges that acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told him in July to hold back reports on Russian election interference because they, quote, "made the president look bad."


➤THREE DEAD FROM CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES, WHICH TURNED SKIES ORANGE: Officials said Wednesday that three people had been killed by a fast-moving wildfire that was raging northeast of San Francisco, whipped by strong winds as it forced thousands of people to evacuate from their homes. Fire officials said the North Complex fire has damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes and other buildings. Smoke from the wildfires caused eerie orange skies over the San Francisco Bay area, as well as orange and red skies in other areas as well. More than dozen wildfires are burning in California, and there are also blazes in Washington state, and in Oregon and Idaho, where people also had to evacuate their homes.

➤FEDERAL SEXUAL ASSAULT CHARGES AGAINST EX-NYC GYNECOLOGIST: A 62-year-old former New York City gynecologist was charged in federal court Wednesday (September 9th) with using medical examinations to sexually assault women and girls for nearly two decades, including the wife of former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang. The federal charges are the second brought against Robert A. Hadden for his alleged actions. After being charged in New York, he gave up his medical license, but didn't serve any jail time under a 2016 plea deal with Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance. The #MeToo movement contributed to growing outrage over his light punishment. Hadden pled not guilty yesterday to six counts of inducing others to travel to engage in illegal sex acts and was ordered released on $1 million bail.

Newsday 9/10/20
➤RAPTORS FORCE GAME 7 WITH DOUBLE-OVERTIME WIN: It took two overtimes, but the Toronto Raptors finally got a 125-122 win last night (September 9th) against the Boston Celtics to force a deciding Game 7 in their Conference Semifinals series. The reigning NBA champion Raptors and the Celtics are vying to take on the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals.

➤NBA PLAYOFFS: Results from Conference Semifinals yesterday:
  • Toronto Raptors 125, Boston Celtics 122 (2OT) -- Series tied at 3-3 (East)
  • L.A. Clippers 96, Denver Nuggets 85 -- Los Angeles leads 2 games to 1 (West)

➤NHL PLAYOFFS: Results from Conference Finals yesterday:
  • Tampa Bay Lightning 2, New York Islanders 1 -- Tampa Bay leads 2 games to 0 (East)

➤NFL SEASON BEGINS TONIGHT WITH CHIEFS AGAINST TEXANS: The NFL season kicks off tonight with a game between the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Texans at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Since there were no preseason games this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, this will be the first NFL game since the Super Bowl in February. State and local authorities are allowing the Chiefs to have fans at the game, but it's limited to 22 percent of capacity, which is about 17,000 fans. They'll be required to face masks whenever they can't maintain social distance.

➤SERENA WILLIAMS ADVANCES TO U.S. OPEN SEMIFINALS: Serena Williams has made it into the U.S. Open semifinals, winning her quarterfinal match yesterday (September 9th) against Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Williams is continuing her quest for a record-tying 24th Grand Slam singles title. In the women's other quarterfinal, Victoria Azarenka defeated Elise Mertens in straight sets. In the semifinals today, Williams and Azarenka will play each other, and Naomi Osaka will take on American Jennifer Brady. On the men's side yesterday, second-seeded Dominic Thiem beat Alex de Minaur, and Number 3 Daniil Medvedev defeated Andrey Rublev, both in straight sets. The men's semifinals are on Friday.

➤BRAVES SCORE 29 RUNS AGAINST MARLINS, TIED FOR SECOND-MOST: The Atlanta Braves scored 29 runs in their 29-9 win over the Miami Marlins last night (September 9th), tying for second-most in a game in the modern era, and falling just one run short of the major league record. The record is held by the Texas Rangers, who scored 30 runs against the Baltimore Orioles in 2007. The other teams to score 29 runs in a game were the Chicago White Sox in 1955 and the Boston Red Sox in 1950.

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