HOW REALITY-TV FAME HANDED TRUMP A $427 MILLION LIFELINE  —  Tax records show that “The Apprentice” rescued Donald J. Trump, bringing him new sources of cash and a myth that would propel him to the White House.  —  From the back seat of a stretch limousine heading to meet the first contestants …

In Pennsylvania, advantage Biden with a big boost from women: POLL  —  The result includes a more than 2-1 Biden lead in the Philadelphia suburbs.  —  What to expect from the first presidential debate  —  “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos joins us to discuss President Trump's Supreme …

Behind the White House Effort to Pressure the C.D.C. on School Openings  —  Documents and interviews show how senior officials sought to play down the risks of sending children back to the classroom, alarming public health experts.  —  WASHINGTON — Top White House officials pressured …

Grand Jury Deliberations in Breonna Taylor Case Will Be Released  —  The Kentucky attorney general's office said it would release the recordings of the deliberations after a grand juror complained about how they were publicly represented.  —  LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A juror in the Breonna Taylor case contends …

Biden's Texas Political Director Accused of Illegal Ballot Harvesting At Texas Supreme Court  —  Major Scandal Has Implications for the Biden Campaign  —  The Joe Biden campaign's Texas Political Director has been formally accused of helping to run an illegal ballot harvesting operation …

Fox News Lobotomizes Its ‘Brain Room,’ Cuts Fact-Based Journalism  —  ‘NOT INTERESTED IN FACTS’ … Staffers said the recent layoffs gutting Fox News' fact-checking team were a victory for the network's right-wing opinion shows and further cemented its status as “state media.”

Meet a Secret Trump Voter  —  'Being a lesbian who's voting for Trump is like coming out of the closet again.'  —  Chris is a registered Democrat in her 50s who lives in Manhattan.  She's well-educated, well-traveled and well-informed.  She has voted for candidates of both parties …

Brooklyn Voters Receive Absentee Ballot Envelopes With Wrong Voter Names And Addresses  —  The New York City Board of Elections has mailed out nearly half a million absentee ballots ahead of Election Day this November, as many New Yorkers are opting to vote by mail during the pandemic.

Trump 2016 campaign ‘targeted 3.5m black Americans to deter them from voting’ … Donald Trump's 2016 US presidential election campaign has been accused of actively seeking to deter 3.5 million black Americans in battleground states from voting by deliberately targeting them with negative Hillary Clinton ads on Facebook.

Trump Secretly Mocks His Christian Supporters  —  One day in 2015, Donald Trump beckoned Michael Cohen, his longtime confidant and personal attorney, into his office.  Trump was brandishing a printout of an article about an Atlanta-based megachurch pastor trying to raise $60 million from his flock to buy a private jet.

Barr's Justice Department serves up talking points for Trump  —  The prosecution of Michael Flynn.  A Senate investigation into the provenance of the Steele Dossier.  The nascent federal probe of discarded absentee ballots in Pennsylvania.  —  In recent days, the Justice Department …

Yes, Pack The Court - Pack It With Public Interest Lawyers  —  No intellect or doctrine can overcome a judiciary inclined to favor government and the powerful against the accused and the vulnerable.  And that is the federal judiciary we now have.  —  This commentary is part of The Appeal's collection of opinion and analysis.

Trump — not Biden — is being underestimated going into the debate  —  Watching his 2015 and 2016 debate performances is a mind-boggling experience, knowing how it turned out in the end.  —  In this Oct. 9, 2016, file photo Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic …

Chinese Communist party asserts greater control over private enterprise  —  Xi Jinping moves to strengthen role in wake of Covid-19 and heightened US tensions  —  Senior Chinese Communist party officials have been sending an ominous message to private sector entrepreneurs in recent weeks.

Dr. Fauci Calls Out ‘Outlandish’ Reporting on Fox News, Dr. Scott Atlas' ‘Outlier’ Views Over Misleading Pandemic Info  —  The head of the nation's infectious diseases institute, Dr. Anthony Fauci, directly called out both Fox News and Trump's newly-appointed Covid adviser, Dr. Scott Atlas …

Analysis: In debate, a last chance for Trump to define Biden  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — As a presidential candidate in 2016, Donald Trump seized control of the White House race and never let go.  He masterfully defined and denigrated his opponents with cutting nicknames and a say-anything debate style …

Fox News uses the word ‘hate’ much more than MSNBC or CNN  —  'Fox News is up to five times more likely to use the word “hate” in its programming than its main competitors, according to our new study of how cable news channels use language.  —  Fox particularly uses the term when explaining opposition to Donald Trump.

Trump vs. Biden on the issues: Health  —  COVID-19, the Affordable Care Act and abortion are all on the ballot.  —  Trump vs. Biden on the issues: Health and COVID-19  —  An overview of the presidential candidates' positions on various issues.  —  Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images, FILE

The startling news about Trump's economy that mainstream media ignored  —  Before the coronavirus pandemic, President Trump's economic success blew past that of any other presidency  —  Dallas Fed manufacturing number indicates V-shaped recovery: Stephen Moore

Coronavirus Deaths Pass One Million Worldwide  —  Over the past 10 months, the virus has taken more lives than H.I.V., malaria, influenza and cholera.  And as it sows destruction in daily life around the globe, it is still growing quickly.  —  More than H.I.V. More than dysentery.

Coronavirus Cases Rise in Parts of New York City  —  Areas with highest infection rates generally are home to large communities of ultra-Orthodox Jewish families  —  Covid-19 cases continue to surge in several neighborhoods in New York City and in neighboring Rockland and Orange counties …

How ‘Save the Children’ Is Keeping QAnon Alive  —  Last year, QAnon was on the ropes.  —  The pro-Trump conspiracy theory had been left homeless by the disappearance of 8chan, the message board where “Q,” its pseudonymous central figure, posted cryptic clues about a cabal of child-eating Satanic pedophiles.

Macron meets Belarusian opposition leader Tikhanovskaya in Vilnius  —  No solution to crisis without Putin, French president says.  —  VILNIUS — French President Emmanuel Macron met with Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya on Tuesday morning during a visit to Lithuania.

On the sports media in 2020, advocacy journalism and Twitter - Fourth Watch “BCC Interview” with Bob Ley  —  This week's BCC Interview is with legendary sports journalist Bob Ley.  Ley spent decades at ESPN before retiring last year - I've been honored to count Ley as a Fourth Watch newsletter reader …

Trump's Jobs Record Fell Short of Promises Even Before the Virus  —  When Donald Trump ran for president, he boasted he would be the “greatest jobs president that God ever created.”  —  Four years later, Trump heads into the November election on track to be the first U.S. leader since World War II …

House Democrats unveil new $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief proposal  —  Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Monday unveiled House Democrats' new $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief proposal.  —  Why it matters: Negotiations with the Trump administration have stalled since the House passed …