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Friday, September 15, 2023

9/15 WAKE-UP CALL: U-A-W Strikes

Thousands of members of the United Auto Workers went on strike at three U.S. assembly plants of General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis, after the union and the automakers failed to reach a deal on a new labor contract Thursday night.  The facilities are GM’s midsize truck and full-size van plant in Wentzville, Missouri; Ford’s Ranger midsize pickup and Bronco SUV plant in Wayne, Michigan; and Stellantis’ Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator plant in Toledo, Ohio. For Ford, UAW President Shawn Fain said only workers in paint and final assembly will be on strike. “We got to do what we got to do to get our share of economic and social justice in this this strike,” 

Fain said outside the Ford facility in Wayne, minutes after the strike began. “We’re going to be out here until we get our share of economic justice. And it doesn’t matter how long it takes.” The selected plants produce highly profitable vehicles for the automakers that largely continue to be in high-demand. About 12,700 workers – 5,800 at Stellantis, 3,600 at GM and 3,300 at Ford – will be on strike at the plants in total, the union said. The UAW represents about 146,000 workers across Ford, GM and Stellantis.

HUNTER INDICTED:  Hunter Biden was indicted on gun charges related to his firearm purchase in 2018. Republicans will likely use the case to attack President Biden, who is running for reelection, though their presidential frontrunner, Donald Trump, is facing two federal criminal cases and local ones in Georgia and New York. Federal prosecutors accused the junior Biden of knowingly lying about his drug addiction when he purchased a pistol and possessing it illegally. The White House has denied involvement. Hunter Biden’s legal team didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment, and the Justice Department declined to comment. A plea deal that also covered federal tax charges against him fell apart this summer. Biden faces up to 25 years in prison after being indicted on three felony charges for lying about his crack cocaine addiction when buying a gun. CNN's Paula Reid (pictured left) spoke about how deflated those closest to Hunter were at the announcement. 'I got the sense that it's just pretty dark and gloomy over there, they feel defeated,' Reid said. She said Hunter is also feeling 'despair' over his huge legal fees.

➤BIDEN LOSES WAPO SUPPORTER: Prominent Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, who is favored by President Biden and has been supportive of his presidency, has called on the 80-year-old commander-in-chief to drop out of the 2024 race. In the opinion piece, bluntly titled “President Biden should not run again in 2024,” Ignatius asserts that Biden’s age “isn’t just a Fox News trope.” In fact, he argues, “it’s been the subject of dinner-table conversations across America this summer.”

The eminent commentator, who has written for the paper under seven different presidential administrations, cites a recent Associated Press-NORC poll, which found that more than three-quarters of the American public (77%) — including a notable 69% of Democrats — think Biden is too old to be effective for four more years. 

➤BIDEN'S LATEST WHOPPER: Biden, at 80, the nation's oldest-ever president, was speaking at Prince George Community College in Maryland Thursday for an economic address he meant to contrast what he calls 'Bidenomics' with the police of predecessor Donald Trump. At one point, however, the president turned his speech to a common theme, that Democracy is 'under attack' when he suddenly discussed his time at the University of Pennsylvania. 'We got to fight for it,' Biden said. ''I taught at the University of Pennsylvania for four years and I used to teach political theory. And folks, you always hear, every generation has to fight for democracy.' His claim about teaching there has no basis in reality. 


➤TRUMP TRIAL DELAYED: Former President Donald Trump won’t be tried next month alongside two of his co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case who opted for a speedy trial, a judge ruled on Thursday. In a written order, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said it was a “procedural and logistical inevitability” that Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro must have their trial severed from that of Trump and the other 16 co-defendants in the sweeping racketeering indictment. “Defendants Chesebro and Powell will join each other at trial, however, the other 17 defendants are severed from these two,” McAfee wrote. He hasn’t yet set a trial date for the other defendants. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had urged McAfee to try all 19 defendants together on Oct. 23—the trial date set for Chesebro and Powell, two pro-Trump lawyers who backed his efforts to overturn the November 2020 presidential election.

➤KELLY INTERVIEWS TUMP: Former president donald Trump , 77, sat down with Kelly for a SiriusXM interview aired on Thursday that saw him sharing insight into many of the issues he faces ahead of the 2024 election. Kelly said that the indictments were 'very scary' for him due to 'left-wing judges' and 'left-wing juries' and asked him if he could see himself going to prison. 'I have a great attitude, it doesn't affect me at all because I'm fighting for the country, I'm fighting for the people,' before talking about how good his poll numbers were and that 'the people know it's all fake.'

⛽WHO'S FEELING PUMP PAIN MORE: Rising diesel prices are inflating the bills Brett McMahon is getting from the companies that truck in the plywood, rebar and other supplies his concrete-contracting business needs. Asking his clients to renegotiate contracts to ease that pain, he said, has been “hit or miss.”  

“In the private construction world, you’re not going to get a terribly sympathetic ear for that,” said McMahon, chief executive of Bethesda, Md.-based Miller & Long. “It’s, ‘Hey, you knew the risks when you signed the deal.’ ” 

Diesel, jet and marine fuel prices are soaring, pressuring the construction companies, transportation businesses and farmers that are the biggest users. Behind the rise: production cuts made by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, which have propelled crude prices to 10-month highs and boosted the premiums refiners can charge for making the heavy fuels that power trucks, planes and ships. 

➤FLOOD DEATH TOLL RISES: The death toll in Libya’s coastal city of Derna has soared to 11,300 as search efforts continue following a massive flood fed by the breaching of two dams in heavy rains, the Libyan Red Crescent said Thursday. Marie el-Drese, the aid group’s secretary-general, told The Associated Press by phone that a further 10,100 people are reported missing in the Mediterranean city. Health authorities previously put the death toll in Derna at 5,500. The storm also killed about 170 people elsewhere in the country. The flooding swept away entire families in Derna on Sunday night and exposed vulnerabilities in the oil-rich country that has been mired in conflict since a 2011 uprising that toppled long-ruling dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

➤UKRAINE RETAKES CITY: Ukraine's military said on Friday that its troops have captured a village near Bakhmut, the eastern city that fell into Russian hands in May after being besieged for many months. The Russian side had suffered significant casualties and loss of equipment, while Ukrainian troops were able to fortify some areas, the General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces said in a morning report. "In the course of assault operations, they seized Andriivka in Donetsk region," the General Staff said  The village of Andriivka lies south of Bakhmut, the site of the bloodiest battle since the invasion by Russia in February last year. The General Staff also reported "partial success" near Klishchiivka village, south of Bakhmut. During its three-month-old counteroffensive, Ukraine has reported slow, steady progress against entrenched Russian positions, retaking a string of villages and advancing on the flanks of Bakhmut.

➤NASA GETS INVOLVED: NASA said it would begin using artificial intelligence and citizen reporting to study unidentified flying objects to develop a better understanding of the phenomena that have fascinated the public for decades. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced the new measures in conjunction with a report released Thursday by a panel appointed by the agency to make recommendations to address the shortcomings of current UFO data-collection practices.   The panel’s report called on NASA to use its fleet of Earth-observing satellites to look for environmental conditions that coincide with UFO sightings. It also said NASA should work with commercial satellite companies to examine the objects. The report said NASA should use an aviation safety-reporting system so that commercial pilots have a centralized point to report sightings of the phenomena.

➤OPRAH WINFREY RESPONDS TO BACKLASH OVER PEOPLE’S FUND OF MAUI: On a recent episode of CBS Mornings, Oprah Winfrey commented on the backlash she and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson received after they launched the People’s Fund of Maui in August. Together, Winfrey and Johnson contributed $10 million to the fund and asked others to donate as well.

“I was so excited and I got up the next morning and I saw all of this vitriol and I was like, ‘Whoa, what happened here?’” the Color Purple actress said. She added that she felt “vilified” and “terrorized” online. Winfrey shared that she was inspired by a similar fund set up by Dolly Parton following the 2016 wildfires in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Defending the fund, the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks actress said it puts money “directly into the hands of the people” and that she “still think[s] it’s a really strong idea.” She also highlighted that 2,200 Maui residents have signed up for the fund and will begin receiving $1,200 monthly checks. “It made me sad that we’re at this state in our country,” Winfrey said.

People on social media criticized the millionaire and billionaire for asking people to contribute when they can “barely can pay rent, barely can put food on the table for our families.” Even Nick Cannon said on his Daily Cannon podcast, “It’s in poor taste for a billionaire to ask anyone for money. I don’t care what the situation is.”

➤THE CARTERS ARE HAPPY: Former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter’s grandson said his grandparents remain together and in love, even as they face health challenges. “They're coming to the end, as we know,” Jason Carter, chairman of the Carter Center’s Board of Trustees and an attorney, told USA TODAY on Thursday. The Carter Center, the longtime charity created by the former first couple, announced earlier this year that the former president was entering hospice care. In May, the Carter family revealed the former first lady was diagnosed with dementia “He's been in hospice now for several months, but they are happy,” Jason Carter said. “They are together. They are at home. They're in love, and I don't think anyone gets more than that. I mean, it's a perfect situation for this time in their lives.”


🏈NFL EAGLES 34 VIKINGS 28: Jalen Hurts rushed for two touchdowns and passed for one more, and the Philadelphia Eagles held on for a 34-28 win over the visiting Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night. 

Hurts completed 18 of 23 passes for 193 yards, one touchdown and one interception for Philadelphia (2-0). D'Andre Swift notched 28 carries for 175 yards and a touchdown, while DeVonta Smith had four catches for 131 yards and one score. Kirk Cousins completed 31 of 44 passes for 364 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions for Minnesota (0-2). T.J. Hockenson had seven catches for 66 yards and two touchdowns, and Justin Jefferson finished with 11 receptions for a team-high 159 yards.


⚾MLB RAYS 4 ORIOLES 3:  Luke Raley's tiebreaking solo home run in the seventh inning gave the Tampa Bay Rays a 4-3 victory against the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday in the opener of a four-game series between the top two teams in the American League East. Raley has 19 homers this year, though he hadn't hit one since Aug. 24. He had only two RBIs in 12 games this month prior to the two-out blast off Orioles starter Kyle Bradish (11-7). Randy Arozarena smacked a two-run triple for the Rays (91-57), who have won six of their last seven games to pull within one game of the first-place Orioles (91-55). Ryan O'Hearn and Gunnar Henderson homered for Baltimore, which managed just four hits.

⚾MLB YANKEES-RED SOX SPLIT:   Two key home runs were the difference as the New York Yankees bounced back to beat the host Boston Red Sox 8-5 in the finale of Thursday's day-night doubleheader and an overall four-game series.Boston chipped away at a 5-2 deficit and tied the game in the seventh inning. In the eighth, New York's DJ LeMahieu hit a go-ahead double to knock in Anthony Volpe, who beat out an infield single to begin the frame.

⚾MLB SCORES:

  • Red Sox 5 Yankees 0
  • Yankees 8 Red Sox 5
  • Pirates 2 Nationals 0
  • Tigers 8 Reds 2
  • Brewer 4 Marlins 2
  • Mets 11 D-Backs 1
  • Rangers 9 Blues Jays 2
  • Twins 10 White Sox 2
  • Giants at Rockies PP

🏈JETS’ RODGERS UNDERGOES SURGERY: New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers had surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon in his left leg yesterday and reported on Instagram that the procedure “went great.” The season-ending injury occurred during the Jets’ first game of the season against the Buffalo Bills. Rodgers now faces several months of intensive rehab.

🏈CASE AGAINST COACH DELAYED: The upcoming hearing in the sexual harassment case against Michigan State University football coach Mel Tucker was supposed to have taken place weeks ago. It was initially planned for the week before the 2023 college football season began. But Tucker and his attorney got it pushed back to early October, emails show – during the team’s bye week.Tucker is accused of making unwanted sexual comments and masturbating during an April 2022 phone call with Brenda Tracy, a prominent rape survivor and activist he had hired to educate his team about sexual violence prevention. Tucker denied the allegations, saying he and Tracy had consensual “phone sex.” Michigan State suspended Tucker without pay on Sunday, hours after a USA TODAY investigation revealed the allegations. He earned $750,000 a month until his suspension without pay, his contract shows, meaning he had been paid at least $6 million since the college’s investigation started.

➤MASS GOV DECLARES EMERGENCY: Eastern New England was bracing Thursday evening for the arrival of Hurricane Lee, expected to bring a nasty mix of heavy rain, strong winds and high seas to the region starting later Friday and lasting into Saturday, forecasters said. In Maine, Gov. Janet Mills declared a state of emergency as the storm approached. The state was under its first hurricane watch in 15 years. Even if Lee doesn't officially make landfall in New England, its impacts will still be felt across the region in part because of the increasing size of the storm. “Lee is expected to remain large and dangerous for the next couple of days," the National Hurricane Center said Thursday evening.




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