memeorandum: Beirut blast: Lebanon searches for answers in explosion aftermath (NBC News)

9:57 AM ET, August 6, 2020

Top Items:

Emboldened Pelosi takes hard line as relief talks drag on — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin stood up before a room full of Senate Republicans noshing on lunch Tuesday, compelled to make a declaration about Speaker Nancy Pelosi. — “There were press reports that Mark is indecisive and I'm owned by Nancy …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

Roy Neel / The Daily Beast:

Trump's Last Gasp Could Be a Supreme Court Justice in January — The potential for a last-minute conservative SCOTUS appointment by a defeated Trump and a defanged McConnell is real and frightening. — Close your eyes and picture Jan. 3, 2021: The Capitol is teeming with 35 newly sworn-in Senators …

Discussion: Politico, NBC News, Washington Post, Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA, Breitbart and Political Wire

Politico:

‘I want to get an outcome’: McConnell defends strategy as he faces GOP grumbling — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell knows where he needs to take his fellow Republicans on coronavirus relief — but he's not sure how many will follow him there. — Facing a deeply divided Senate GOP conference …

Discussion: Reuters, The Hill, Breitbart, ABC News and Fox News

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
In Stimulus Talks, McConnell Is Outside the Room and in a Tight Spot

Discussion: Politico, Denver Post, WTOP and Washington Post

Rashaan Ayesh / Axios:
Rand Paul: Republicans should apologize to Obama for complaining about spending

Discussion: Breitbart and New York Post

Politico:
CIA steers clear of Senate Republican probe into Bidens

Discussion: The Hill and Raw Story

Heather Kelly / Washington Post:

For the first time, Facebook removes post by Trump containing coronavirus misinformation — The company is has faced pressure to better moderate its site amid a massive advertiser boycott. — Facebook on Wednesday said it removed President Trump's post of a video clip from a Fox News interview …

BBC: Facebook and Twitter restrict Trump accounts over ‘harmful’ virus claim

Shannon Bond / NPR:
Twitter, Facebook Remove Trump Post Over False Claim About Children And COVID-19

Discussion: Common Dreams, Breitbart, TechCrunch, Bloomberg and The Wrap

Axios:
Facebook, Twitter take down Trump post saying kids are immune to coronavirus

Discussion: Politico, The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Beast

New York Times:

Trump's Bank Was Subpoenaed by N.Y. Prosecutors in Criminal Inquiry — The subpoena, sent to Deutsche Bank, suggests that the inquiry into President Trump's business practices is more wide-ranging than previously known. — The New York prosecutors who are seeking President Trump's tax records …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Fox News, CNBC, The US Sun, Balloon Juice, The Guardian, Raw Story and POLITICUSUSA

CNN:

Trump singles out Texas and Florida for help with coronavirus response — (CNN)President Donald Trump agreed to continue paying for the full cost of National Guard troops deployed to help with the coronavirus response in just two states — Texas and Florida — after their Republican governors appealed directly to him.

Discussion: Politico and WISC-TV

New York Times:

The Unique U.S. Failure to Control the Virus — Slowing the coronavirus has been especially difficult for the United States because of its tradition of prioritizing individualism and missteps by the Trump administration. — By David LeonhardtGraphics by Lauren Leatherby

Harry Enten / CNN:

New polls suggest Trump's position has stabilized — (CNN)There's little doubt that former Vice President Joe Biden has the upperhand against President Donald Trump at this point. Biden has led in poll after poll nationally and in almost every poll in the core six battleground states …

Discussion: Raw Story, Monmouth University …, FiveThirtyEight and The American Independent

Miranda Devine / New York Post:

Joe Biden's mental ability is a campaign issue that can't be ignored — He might be riding high in the polls, but Joe Biden's mental acuity increasingly is an issue in the election campaign, and growling at reporters who ask about it is no way to alleviate voter concerns.

Discussion: Fox News

Dmitri Mehlhorn / The Bulwark:

How to Steal an Election — Four ways Trump can still win, 89 days out. — If you want the bad news all at once, the TL/DR is this: — (1) Trump can use normal tactics to win outright or make the race closer. — (2) COVID problems with election administration can take up to 6 percent off of Biden's margin.

Discussion: Brookings

NBC News:

Beirut blast: Lebanon searches for answers in explosion aftermath … BEIRUT — When the blast slammed into his hospital, doctor Ibrahim Melki leaned into the mayhem. — Doctors and nurses at the Trad Hospital in Beirut rushed to remove shrapnel and shards of glass from hundreds of wounded people.

Discussion: One America News Network, NPR, MSNBC and Breitbart

New York Times:
Blame for Beirut Explosion Begins With a Leaky, Troubled Ship

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Robin Wright / New Yorker:
After Twin Explosions, an “Apocalypse” in Lebanon

Discussion: The Federalist, New York Times and middleeastmonitor.com

CNN:
Esper says ‘most believe’ Beirut explosion ‘was an accident’ after Trump claimed it was an attack

Discussion: The Dispatch, POLITICUSUSA, The Hill, IJR, WISC-TV and Mediaite

Molly Duffy / The Gazette:

Trump campaign uses unauthorized and altered Gazette photo to criticize Biden — New ad manipulates photo from Coralville to depict Biden hiding in Delaware basement — A new ad from President Donald Trump's re-election campaign uses a manipulated version of a news photo taken in Coralville …

Discussion: The Hill, Althouse, POLITICUSUSA and IJR

Gary Sheffield, Jr / OutKick:
Joe Rogan Expresses Discomfort Surrounding Joe Biden Campaign

Discussion: The Daily Caller

CNN:
Fact check: Trump ad edits out microphone and trees from Biden photo to make him seem alone in basement

Discussion: Raw Story

Trevor Hunnicutt / Reuters:
Trump hangs on to financial edge in race against Biden

Discussion: Politico, Axios, Associated Press, The Hill and New York Post

Annie Karni / New York Times:

Member of Conservative Think Tank Takes On Reporter Duties on Air Force Two — Instead of a member of the White House press corps, the role of pool reporter was filled by Robert B. Bluey, a vice president at the Heritage Foundation. — WASHINGTON — When Vice President Mike Pence traveled …

Discussion: The Daily Signal and Twitchy

Washington Post: Democrats and Republicans push back on Trump's desire to deliver convention speech from White House

CNN:

Ex-acting AG Sally Yates defends FBI investigation into Flynn, calls Barr move to drop charges ‘highly irregular’ — (CNN)Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates pushed back Wednesday on current Attorney General William Barr's move to dismiss charges against President Donald Trump's …

Discussion: Washington Post and Politico

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Our nation is in a free fall. But sure, let's talk about Hillary's emails again.

Discussion: Fox News, New York Post, The Gateway Pundit, Redstate and Roll Call

Carrie Johnson / NPR:
Sally Yates, Defending DOJ, Says Michael Flynn Talks Neutered U.S. Russia Policy

Discussion: New York Times, Townhall, Bloomberg and The Hill

Judd Legum / Popular Information:

The Trump campaign's latest contest is a scam. Here's proof. — This week, the Trump campaign has been heavily promoting a contest to win a “VIP Dinner” with Trump in Southhampton, New York, on August 8th. Advertisements on Facebook touted the dinner as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to share a meal with Trump.

CNN:

Kanye West's bizarre ‘campaign’ is designed to help Trump — Kanye West announces he's running for president — John Avlon is a senior political analyst at CNN. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. Read more opinion on CNN. — (CNN)We need to talk about Kanye.

Discussion: Althouse, Daily Kos, The US Sun, Breitbart and The Hill

Washington Post:

Fearing covid and missed classes, many parents prefer mixing online and in-person school, poll finds — Most American parents think it's unsafe to send their children back to school given the risks of the novel coronavirus, and more than 80 percent favor holding school at least partly online …

Matt Wilstein / The Daily Beast:

Meghan McCain Won't Commit to Voting Biden Over Trump — “I'm not saying who I'm voting for, but I'm not voting for Trump,” “The View” host said nonsensically on “Watch What Happens Live” Wednesday night. — Meghan McCain officially signed off of The View for the summer last week.

Discussion: Raw Story

Sarah Dadouch / Washington Post:

'I have no idea how I'm not dead': A Post correspondent recalls doomful night in Beirut — Sarah Dadouch, a Beirut-based correspondent for The Washington Post, shared her experience of Tuesday's explosions with The Post's Siobhán O'Grady. The account was condensed and edited for clarity.

Ezra Klein / Vox:

How inequality is changing the Republican Party — and breaking American politics — A new book tries to untangle the relationship between white identity politics and skyrocketing inequality. — Historically, conservative political parties face the problem Harvard political scientist Daniel Ziblatt calls “the conservative dilemma.”

Discussion: Political Wire

US Congressman Rodney Davis:

Davis Statement on His Positive COVID-19 Test — f t # e — U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill) released the following statement on his positive COVID-19 test:

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, CNN, Reuters, Just The News, New York Post, Decatur, IL Patch, NPR, Politico, The Hill and Axios

CBS News:

Georgia second grader tests positive for coronavirus after first day of school, forcing class to quarantine — Two suburban Atlanta school districts that began in-person classes Monday with mask-optional policies face more questions about COVID-19 safety protocols after on-campus pictures showed students packed shoulder-to-shoulder.

Discussion: BuzzFeed News, Raw Story and Eschaton

Rob Stein / NPR:

Fauci Reveals He Has Received Death Threats And His Daughters Have Been Harassed — Dr. Anthony Fauci says that he has received death threats and his daughters have been harassed as a result of his high-profile statements about the coronavirus pandemic. — “Getting death threats …

Molly Ball / TIME:

How COVID-19 Changed Everything About the 2020 Election — In the 2020 that might have been, nobody is sick and politics is the center of the universe. — The Democratic Party has just nominated Joe Biden and his running mate at its mid-July convention in Milwaukee, while Republicans …

Barbara Sprunt / NPR:

WATCH: Biden Says He Wouldn't Stand In The Way Of A Trump Prosecution — Joe Biden says that he believes prosecuting a former president would be a “very unusual thing and probably not very ... good for democracy,” but he would not stand in the way of a future Justice Department pursuing criminal charges …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and Vanity Fair

Natalie Jackson / Sabato's Crystal Ball:

Poll-Based Election Forecasts Will Always Struggle With Uncertainty — KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE — We have no idea how much uncertainty exists in pre-election polls. That leads to very complex poll-based forecast models. — The general public lacks the expertise necessary …