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Friday, November 13, 2020

The AM Rundown: Feds Say Election Was 'Most Secure' In History


The top state and federal officials and election technology companies that run U.S. elections said yesterday that the November 3rd election was, quote, "the most secure in American history." As attorneys for President Trump continue to file unsuccessful legal claims in several states challenging the vote count, the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency said, "There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes or was in any way compromised," and said Americans should have confidence in the results, even though, quote, "we know there are many unfounded claims and opportunities for misinformation about the process of our elections."

Meanwhile, Republicans largely continued to stand with Trump in his refusal as yet to concede to President-elect Joe Biden, but there was a little bit of movement. New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu and Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, both of them Republicans, both said yesterday that Biden is the president-elect, joining the small number of other GOP governors and senators who've also done so. A few Republican senators, while not yet conceding the win to Biden, said out of concern over the national security implications that Biden should begin receiving the intelligence briefings that presidents-elect get during the transition. GOP Senators Chuck Grassley, Lindsey Graham and James Lankford were those saying Biden should be getting the briefing. Biden is otherwise continuing to move forward with the transition, but it's complicated by the administration refusing to grant him access to the funding and resources that are earmarked for presidents-elect during a transition. 


Arizona Called for Biden: Nine days after the election, most news outlets finally called Arizona for President-elect Joe Biden. NBC News projected it first last night, quickly followed by CNN, ABC News, CBS News, The New York Times, and other news organizations that rely on Edison Research. Only Fox News and the Associated Press had called the state, giving it to Biden on Election Night. Georgia and North Carolina are the only states still not called due to their close vote.


Pope Congratulates Biden in Phone Call: Pope Francis congratulated President-elect John Biden in a phone call yesterday, with Biden's transition team saying in a statement that he'd told the pontiff he'd like to work together on issues including "caring for the marginalized and the poor, addressing the crisis of climate change, and welcoming and integrating immigrants." Biden is just the second Catholic to be elected president, along with John F. Kennedy. 

Wall Street Journal 11/13/20







➤SOME SCHOOLS SYSTEMS PULL BACK FROM IN-PERSON CLASSES AMID NATIONWIDE CORONAVIRUS SURGE: As the coronavirus continues to surge nationwide, some schools systems are pulling back from in-person classes, including in Detroit, Indianapolis, Philadelphia and suburban Minneapolis, and New York City on the brink of doing so if test positivity rates reach three percent. A growing number of hospitals are becoming overburdened as cases soar and hospitalizations have reached record numbers. Deaths are also rising, with daily deaths up more than 40 percent over the past two weeks to more than 1,000 a day.

➤TROPICAL STORM ETA KILLS SIX IN FLORIDA, NORTH CAROLINA: Tropical Storm Eta finally moved out into the Atlantic Ocean Thursday after it dropped large amounts of rain on the Southeast, killing one person in Florida and causing flooding that killed five in North Carolina, where it joined up with a cold front. Eta moved through northern Florida yesterday from the Gulf Coast to the Atlantic, after making landfall north of Tampa in the morning. Eta moving into the Atlantic came after the storm made four landfalls: first in Nicaragua last week as a Category 4 hurricane, then on Cuba Sunday and the Florida Keys later that day as a tropical storm, followed by yesterday's landfall.

➤JUSTICE DEPT. SAYS ACOSTA USED 'POOR JUDGMENT' IN JEFFREY EPSTEIN PROBE: A Justice Department report found that former Labor Secretary Alex Acosta exercised, quote, "poor judgment" in his handling of a investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein more than a decade ago when he was a top federal prosecutor in Florida, according to the Associated Press. However, the report says he didn't engage in professional misconduct. The Justice Department investigated Acosta’s handling of a secret plea deal with Epstein, who'd been accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls. Epstein's victims had hoped the probe would hold Justice Department officials accountable for actions they say allowed Epstein to escape justice. Under the secret plea deal, Epstein didn't face serious federal charges and was instead allowed to plead guilty to lesser state prostitution-related charges. He spent 13 months in jail, and was allowed to leave and go to his office almost every day. The wealthy financier committed suicide in jail in New York in August 2019 after being federally charged for sex trafficking.

➤REP. DON YOUNG, OLDEST MEMBER OF CONGRESS, POSITIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS: Republican Rep. Don Young of Alaska, who at 87 is the oldest member of Congress, announced yesterday that he'd tested positive for the coronavirus. Young, who was just reelected to another term, shared the news on Twitter, saying, "I am feeling strong, following proper protocols, working from home in Alaska and ask for privacy at this time." Older people have a heightened risk from the coronavirus.

➤WORLD HAD HIGHEST NUMBER OF MEASLES CASES IN 23 YEARS IN 2019: The number of children around the world who got the measles in 2019 was the highest in 23 years, according to data out yesterday from the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study said there were nearly 870,000 cases last year, and there were 207,500 deaths, up by almost 50 percent since 2016. Officials blamed the record number of cases on a significant drop in children being vaccinated.

➤STUDY: TOO LATE TO STOP GLOBAL WARMING: A study published in the journal Scientific Reports yesterday said that it's too late to stop climate change by reducing emissions, and the only way to stop warming is to extract, quote, "enormous amounts of carbon dioxide" from the atmosphere. The researchers said that even if greenhouse gas emissions were reduced to zero today, global temperatures will continue to rise, and cause sea levels to rise, for centuries. By 2500, the study said the planet's temperature will be about 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than it was in 1850, and sea levels will be about eight feet higher. Some experts, however, cited shortcomings with the study's model, while saying that it does point out that reducing carbon emissions is just part of what needs to be done.

🏈COLTS TOP TITANS 34-17: The Indianapolis Colts defeated the Tennessee Titans 34-17 in Nashville last night. The Titans had been leading 17-13 at halftime, but didn't score again as the Colts added 14 points in the third quarter and another seven points in the fourth. Indianapolis quarterback Philip Rivers threw for 308 yards and a touchdown, and passed Hall of Famer Dan Marino into fifth place for most passing yards in NFL history.

🏌CASEY IN LEAD AFTER OPENING ROUND AT THE MASTERS: British golfer Paul Casey is at the top of the leaderboard after the opening round of the Masters Thursday at Augusta National in Georgia, which was being played seven months later than usual because of the coronavirus pandemic. Casey scored a 7-under 65, giving him a two-shot lead. Tiger Woods opened with a 4-under 68, his best-ever first round at the Masters. Because of rain delays, some players will have to finish their opening rounds today.

⚾BRAVES' FREEMAN, WHITE SOX'S ABREU WIN MVP: The Atlanta Braves' Freddie Freeman and Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox, both of them first basemen, won the MVP award on Thursday, Freeman in the National League and Abreu in the American League. Freeman hit .341 with 13 home runs and 53 RBIs in the coronavirus-shortened, 60-game season. Abreu led the majors with 60 RBIs and 148 total bases, batting .317 with 19 home runs.

➤IVY LEAGUE CANCELS WINTER SPORTS DUE TO PANDEMIC: The Ivy League canceled all winter sports yesterday, including men's and women's basketball, due to the coronavirus pandemic, becoming the first Division I conference to do so. The decision came 13 days before the scheduled start of the college basketball season. The Ivy League cited the, quote, "current trends regarding transmission," as the coronavirus is surging across the country. 

➤COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF, BOWL GAMES COULD BE POSTPONED: The College Football Playoff and the six New Year's bowl games could be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby told Sirius XM Thursday that there have been discussions about moving back the playoff and the six bowl games. There have been 57 games canceled or postponed because of coronavirus outbreaks. Another two were added yesterday, when Saturday's games between Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech and between Rice and Louisiana Tech were called off.
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