memeorandum: Exclusive: Nashville explosion witness remembers chilling warning from the RV: ‘A bomb is in this vehicle’ (Adam Tamburin/The Tennessean)

3:50 PM ET, December 25, 2020

Top Items:

Massive downtown Nashville explosion an ‘intentional act’, police say — Yihyun Jeong Brinley HinemanNashville Tennessean — Nashville authorities believe an explosion that occurred in downtown Nashville early Christmas morning was an “intentional act” and sparked by a vehicle.

Discussion: New York Post, Twitchy, RedState, The Guardian, CBS News, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, Lucianne and Mock Paper Scissors

Adam Tamburin / The Tennessean:

Exclusive: Nashville explosion witness remembers chilling warning from the RV: ‘A bomb is in this vehicle’ — A woman's voice warned downtown residents to evacuate before the Christmas morning explosion that rocked Nashville, according to witness who described hearing the chilling message before fleeing with her family.

New York Times:

Nashville Explosion Appears Intentional, Authorities Say — An explosion linked to a vehicle sent debris and shattered glass into the city streets, and has injured three people. — An explosion rocked downtown Nashville on Christmas morning, sending smoke rising high above the city, blowing out store windows and forcing evacuations.

Discussion: CBS News, Tennessee Lookout, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Election Wizard, We Love Trump and TheBlaze

Tyler Durden / ZeroHedge News:

CCTV Footage Appears To Capture Ominous ‘Evacuation’ Warning Before Nashville Explosion — Update (1250 ET): Unconfirmed video appears to have captured the moments before and after the Christmas morning explosion in Downtown Nashville. — Right before the explosion, a woman can be heard on a loudspeaker …

Discussion: The Sun, The Hill and WKRN-TV

Spencer Ackerman / The Daily Beast:

Vehicle in Downtown Nashville Blared a Warning—Then Exploded — The FBI and ATF are investigating the incident, which sent three people to the hospital. — An RV broadcasted a warning to passersby in downtown Nashville of an imminent explosion. Then the vehicle detonated early Christmas morning.

Discussion: Washington Post, CBS News, Associated Press, The Election Wizard, Forbes and Alternet.org

ABC News:

‘Announcements coming’ from RV in Nashville before it exploded in apparent ‘intentional act’: Police — No significant injuries have been reported. — Catch up on the developing stories making headlines. — Andrew Nelles/Tennessean.com/USA Today Network via Reuters

Discussion: Washington Post, WKRN-TV, KTVZ-TV and Mediaite

WKRN-TV:

Large ‘intentional’ explosion damages downtown Nashville Christmas morning — NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A large explosion was reported in downtown Nashville early Christmas morning. — The explosion happened in the area of Second Avenue and Broadway near Commerce Street occurred around 6:30 am Friday.

Discussion: The Hill, CNN, Associated Press, The Sun, WHNT-TV, The Tennessean, Reason and UPI

Andrew Kaczynski / Medium:

Andrew Kaczynski — Francesca Kaczynski, also known as Bean, Beanie or Beans, died December 24th of complications from cancer. She was nine months old. — In her short life, Francesca was an outgoing, bold and curious baby. She had huge, deep brown eyes that followed whatever her parents were doing.

Discussion: UPI

Gabriel T. Rubin / Wall Street Journal:

Trump Lawyers Get Little Backup From Their Firms or Universities — Chapman University becomes the latest organization to formally distance itself from the president's legal efforts to challenge the election results — LAWYERS HELPING TRUMP with his quixotic election challenges …

Discussion: Raw Story

Michael Balsamo / Associated Press:

Judge delays execution of only woman on US death row — WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge said the Justice Department unlawfully rescheduled the execution of the only woman on federal death row, potentially setting up the Trump administration to schedule the execution after president-elect Joe Biden takes office.

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Examiner and New York Post

Nicole Sperling / New York Times:

An Oscar Winner Made a Khashoggi Documentary. Streaming Services Didn't Want It. — Bryan Fogel's examination of the killing of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi had trouble finding a home among the companies that can be premier platforms for documentary films.

more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:

Behind Trump Clemency, a Case Study in Special Access — Philip Esformes was sentenced last year to 20 years for Medicare fraud. Then a well-connected organization supported by his family weighed in with the White House. — Philip Esformes acquired a $1.6 million Ferrari and a $360,000 Swiss watch …

Discussion: The Intellectualist

WJBK-TV:

Gov. Whitmer finally answers whether she would have accepted a Biden VP offer — LANSING, Mich. (FOX 2) - We continue our look back at 2020 in part 2 of our exclusive 1-on-1 with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. — Capitol correspondents spent six months chasing the governor around …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Fox News and New York Post

Jeffery Martin / Newsweek:

Trump Warns Republicans Who Didn't Back Election Fraud Claims: ‘I Will NEVER FORGET!’ — President Donald Trump lashed out at some Republican lawmakers Thursday on social media for not embracing his baseless allegations of election fraud. — Trump has refused to concede the election …

Discussion: CNN, IJR, Mediaite and Alternet.org

Politico:

Democrats shatter fundraising records ahead of Georgia Senate runoffs — Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock shattered fundraising records by hauling in more than $100 million each in the past two months, significantly outraising GOP Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in the final stretch …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, The Daily Caller, Media Matters for America, The Hill and Political Wire

Bill Allison / Bloomberg:
Democrat Ossoff's Fundraising Tops $106 Million In Georgia Senate Race

Discussion: Associated Press, CNN, Georgia Recorder, Washington Post, Axios, Wall Street Journal and Washington Times

Megan Henney / Fox Business:

Trump opposition to coronavirus relief bill threatens to derail economic recovery from pandemic — Any delay on the bill's passage could plunge millions of Americans into financial crisis — Will fattened stimulus checks boost Pelosi's COVID relief bill?