News
In our news wrap Thursday, Hurricane Helene’s death toll has risen to 200, Typhoon Krathon made landfall in southwestern Taiwan, NATO’s new leader made his first official visit to Ukraine, at least 78 people have died after an overcrowded boat capsized in Congo and the nation’s biggest retailers are ramping up their hiring for the holiday season.
PBS NewsHour – October 3, 2024 (04:00)
With just over a month to go until Election Day, the presidential race is still neck and neck. Political correspondent Lisa Desjardins breaks down the findings from the latest PBS News/NPR/Marist poll.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart – October 3, 2024 (55:00)
With the election just over a month away, Americans are caught between a flood of political promises and the reality that we live in a time of political dysfunction. Navigating a presidential election in a digital world has proved difficult due to the widespread misinformation and different realities we live in online.
To get to the root of this issue and emphasize the threat to democracy, Jon Stewart sits down with New York Times columnist and host of “The Ezra Klein Show” podcast, Ezra Klein, and co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology and co-host of “Your Undivided Attention” podcast Tristan Harris. They explore how social media’s effective tactics of personalizing users’ newsfeeds or “For You Page” alters public opinion on hot-button issues and what we need to do to close the gap between political spin and public need.
PBS NewsHour, October 3, 2024 – 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm (ET)
PBS NewsHour – October 3, 2024 (05:12)
Israeli forces kept up their punishing attacks across southern Lebanon and in the capital Beirut. Civilians have increasingly become victims of this escalating conflict, and now, medical workers are under fire. As special correspondent Leila Molana Allen reports, the strikes in Beirut have left residents of a weary city feeling nowhere is safe.
Donald Trump laid the groundwork to try to overturn the 2020 election even before he lost, knowingly pushed false claims of voter fraud and “resorted to crimes” in his failed bid to cling to power, according to a court filing unsealed Wednesday that offers new evidence from the landmark criminal case against the former president.
The filing from special counsel Jack Smith’s team offers the most comprehensive view to date of what prosecutors intend to prove if the case charging Trump with conspiring to overturn the election reaches trial. Although a months-long congressional investigation and the indictment itself have chronicled in stark detail Trump’s efforts to undo the election, the filing cites previously unknown accounts offered by Trump’s closest aides to paint a portrait of an “increasingly desperate” president who, while losing his grip on the White House, “used deceit to target every stage of the electoral process.”
A newly unsealed court filing lays out fresh details from the landmark criminal case against former president Donald Trump after trying to overturn the 2020 election. It argues that the former president is not entitled to immunity from prosecution
PBS NewsHour – October 2, 2024 (08:00)
We’re learning new details about Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. A newly unsealed court filing from the Justice Department argues the former president should still face trial after the Supreme Court ruled presidents have immunity for official acts. Amna Nawaz discussed the latest with Carrie Johnson and Mary McCord.
A new filing by special counsel Jack Smith in the case he has brought against Donald Trump for his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election provides greater detail and support for Smith’s argument that Trump, while president, committed illegal acts to reverse his 2020 election loss.
Those acts, argues Smith, were taken by Trump as a candidate for reelection and therefore are not covered by a 2024 Supreme Court opinion related to the case that says presidents’ official actions are immune from prosecution when they exercise their core constitutional powers.
But are the actions that fall outside of a president’s core constitutional powers clearly defined? Smith’s filing is not only relevant to his 2020 election subversion case against Trump but will likely affect the next and future presidents of the United States. The filing, and inevitable legal battles that will result from it, will help clarify precisely how far presidential immunity extends.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Wednesday granted special counsel Jack Smith’s motion to file a redacted motion arguing against presidential immunity for Donald Trump in his federal election interference case in Washington. Smith filed his hefty, 165-page redacted brief on the matter thereafter.
The special counsel filed the brief under seal last week after Chutkan sided with him on his request to file an “oversized” brief addressing the Supreme Court’s July 1 immunity decision. Trump had opposed Smith’s request to file the jumbo briefing.
Why I *won’t* tell you what you want to hear
CHRIS CRUCIAL: It’s the Blue Wall, stupid
PLUS: Governor Katie Porter?
Yes, that would be the narrowest electoral margin since George W. Bush beat Al Gore 271-268 but it would still be a win for Harris.
Now, here’s the thing: If Harris loses just ONE of those Blue Wall states, her path gets much, much harder. Let’s say she comes up short in Wisconsin, which has 10 electoral votes — the least of the Blue Wall trio.
CNN gets it half right
On paywalls.
And THAT is where I think CNN hasn’t totally figured it out just yet. As in: What, specifically, do people get for becoming paid subscribers. Here’s the official CNN line via digital head Alex MacCallum:
In addition to unlimited access to CNN.com’s articles, subscribers will receive benefits like exclusive election features, original documentaries, a curated daily selection of our most distinctive journalism, and fewer digital ads.
The Morning: The big debate moment that wasn’t
On the ‘democracy’ argument
Personally, I think it is pretty damn close to disqualifying to not be able to say that Joe Biden won and Donald Trump lost in 2020. I think our democracy came under real threat in the wake of the 2020 election and, if Mike Pence had caved to the pressure he was under, we could have seen the results of a free and fair election overturned.
But, putting on my hat as a political analyst, I have to say that my view is simply not shared by voters who haven’t made up their mind about the 2024 election.
The issues those voters care about most — according to poll after poll — are the economy, abortion and immigration. “Democracy” is usually much further down the list.
US Democracy is a representative democracy, meaning that the people choose their government officials. These officials represent the citizens’ ideas and concerns in government. This is different from a direct democracy, where citizens vote directly on every issue.
- There are many issues related to US Democracy that Congress is looking to address with legislation. In the ‘About’ section of this post is an overview of the issues and potential solutions, party positions, and web links. Other sections have information on relevant committees, chairs, & caucuses; departments & agencies; and the judiciary, nonpartisan & partisan organizations, and a wikipedia entry.
- The US Democracy category has related posts and three posts on issues of particular focus: Voting Rights, Money in Politics, and Partisan Polarization..
To participate in ongoing forums, ask the post’s curators questions, and make suggestions, scroll to the ‘Discuss’ section at the bottom of each post or select the “comment” icon.
Descending Further into Regional War, Associated Press
An Israeli attack surprisingly placed in the center of Beirut near governmental buildings killed seven Hezbollah-affiliated civilian first responders as communities in southern Lebanon are ordered to evacuate.
5 Things To Know About Port Strike, The Hill
East Coast dockworkers strike for higher pay and automation protection, risking $5B daily losses and putting pressure on Biden, who supports unions but faces calls to intervene.
OpenAI Valued at $157B, TechCrunch
OpenAI secures $6.6 billion in record-breaking VC round, boosting its valuation to $157 billion as it scales AI development and navigates executive shakeups.
Ground News
Working-Class Philly Turns to the GOP, For the Left
Working-class voters are turning red in Philadelphia as the Republican Party gained over 10,000 new registrants since 2023, including a surge in Trump-supporting young males.
Biden Signs Law After Shared Green Worries, For the Right
Biden signed legislation exempting semiconductor manufacturing facilities from environmental reviews despite objections from some Democrats and green activists who have expressed concerns about potential toxic waste.
– December 13, 2024
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