Tuesday

Trump Sows Doubt on Voting. It Keeps Some People Up at Night.

CC™ News - By Reid J. Epstein

WASHINGTON — In October, President Donald Trump declares a state of emergency in major cities in battleground states, like Milwaukee and Detroit, banning polling places from opening.
A week before the election, Attorney General William Barr announces a criminal investigation into the Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden.
After Biden wins a narrow Electoral College victory, Trump refuses to accept the results, won’t leave the White House and declines to allow the Biden transition team customary access to agencies before the Jan. 20 inauguration.
Far-fetched conspiracy theories? Not to a group of worst-case scenario planners — mostly Democrats, but some anti-Trump Republicans as well — who have been gaming out various doomsday options for the 2020 presidential election. Outraged by Trump and fearful that he might try to disrupt the campaign before, during and after Election Day, they are engaged in a process that began in the realm of science fiction but has nudged closer to reality as Trump and his administration abandon long-standing political norms.
The anxiety has intensified in recent weeks as the president continues to attack the integrity of mail voting and insinuate that the election system is rigged, while his Republican allies ramp up efforts to control who can vote and how. Just last week, Trump threatened to withhold funding from states that defy his wishes on expanding mail voting, while also amplifying unfounded claims of voter fraud in battleground states.
“In the eight to 10 months I’ve been yapping at people about this stuff, the reactions have gone from, ‘Don’t be silly, that won’t happen,’ to an increasing sense of, ‘You know, that could happen,’” said Rosa Brooks, a Georgetown University law professor. Earlier this year, Brooks convened an informal group of Democrats and never-Trump Republicans to brainstorm about ways the Trump administration could disrupt the election and to think about ways to prevent it.
But the anxiety is hardly limited to outside groups.
Marc Elias, a Washington lawyer who leads the Democratic National Committee’s legal efforts to fight voter suppression measures, said not a day goes by when he doesn’t field a question from senior Democratic officials about whether Trump could postpone or cancel the election. Prodded by allies to explain why not, Elias wrote a column on the subject in late March for his website — and it drew more traffic than anything he’d ever published.
But changing the date of the election is not what worries Elias. The bigger threat in his mind is the possibility that the Trump administration could act in October to make it harder for people to vote in urban centers in battleground states — possibilities, he said, that include declaring a state of emergency, deploying the National Guard or forbidding gatherings of more than 10 people.
Such events could serve to depress or discourage turnout in pockets of the country that reliably vote for Democrats.
“That to me is that frame from which all doomsday scenarios then go,” he said.
To ward off such a scenario, Elias is engaged in multiple lawsuits aimed at making it easier to cast absentee ballots by mail and making in-person voting more available, either on Election Day or in the preceding weeks.
Biden, for his part, has suggested more than once that Trump might try to disrupt or delay the election. And his campaign grew very concerned this month when it was announced that election security briefings, which in past cycles had been delivered to candidates by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, would now be the province of the director of national intelligence. That post is currently held by John Ratcliffe, a Trump ally who was confirmed to the position Thursday. Ratcliffe was among the president’s chief Fox News defenders during the Russia investigation and has been a sharp critic of the FBI.
“Since 2016, Donald Trump has shown that he is always ready to sacrifice our basic democratic norms for his personal and political interests,” said Bob Bauer, a Biden senior adviser who is the campaign’s chief lawyer. “We assume he may well resort to any kind of trick, ploy or scheme he can in order to hold onto his presidency. We have built a strong program to plan for and address every possibility to ensure that he does not succeed.”
Trump has said he expects the election to be held Nov. 3 as scheduled, and under federal law he does not have the power to unilaterally postpone it. But a recent comment by the president’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner about whether the election would be held as scheduled — “I’m not sure I can commit one way or another,” he said — renewed fears that Trump would try to move the election or discredit the balloting process if he thought he was going to lose.
Trump’s campaign derided the anxiety over the election as irrational hand-wringing driven by Democrats’ inability to accept his victory four years ago.
“Hillary Clinton, Stacey Abrams and the entire Democratic Party refused to accept the results of their elections and pushed the Russia collusion conspiracy theory for years,” said Tim Murtaugh, communications director for Trump’s reelection campaign. “Now Joe Biden’s allies have formed actual conspiracy committees where they’ll work up new hoaxes to further undermine our democracy. They are wasting their time. As President Trump has repeatedly said, the election will happen on Nov. 3.”
The president attacked mail balloting again Sunday morning, with a baseless claim that it would lead to “the greatest Rigged Election in history.”
Some Democrats have been cautious about voicing their warnings about potential electoral calamities too loudly, for fear that even the suggestion of a tainted election would depress turnout.
“You don’t want to set up a perception based on the theory that elections don’t matter,” said Ari Rabin-Havt, who was a deputy campaign manager for Sen. Bernie Sanders. “You don’t want to tell supporters that nothing you do matters because this guy is going to screw it up.”
Brooks’ group at Georgetown is not the only one forecasting doomsday scenarios for the election. Ian Bassin, executive director of Protect Democracy, a nonprofit group dedicated to resisting authoritarian government, last year convened the National Task Force on Election Crises, a bipartisan 51-member group that includes Republicans such as Michael Chertoff, the former homeland security secretary. The group is dedicated to envisioning and presenting plans for scenarios that could wreck the 2020 presidential election.
The task force began with 65 possibilities before narrowing the list early this year to eight potential calamities, including natural disasters, a successful foreign hack of voting machines, a major candidate’s challenging the election and seeking to delegitimize the results, and a president who refuses to participate in a peaceful transfer of power.
Among the scenarios they eliminated when making final cuts in January, ironically, was a killer pandemic that ravaged the country and kept people homebound before Election Day. After the coronavirus struck, the group reconstituted to publish pandemic-related recommendations for state governments to follow.
The group also produced a 200-page document, which has not been made public. Several members said they had worked on specific scenarios but had not seen the complete draft. They said that while many of the possibilities envisioned an incumbent president using the forces of government to his advantage, the report’s authors had been careful not to make the document explicitly about Trump.
“We hope there are safeguards in place,” said Norman Ornstein, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute who participated in the task force. “Let’s face it, those safeguards ought to include the Senate of the United States and the Justice Department. There’s reason to be nervous.”
Edward Foley, a law professor at Ohio State University who participated in the task force, said the 2020 election could resemble the contest of 1876, which nearly split the country a decade after the Civil War.
That election was not decided until Gov. Samuel Tilden of New York conceded to Gov. Rutherford Hayes of Ohio two days before the inauguration. The outgoing president, Ulysses Grant, had made contingency plans for martial law because he was concerned there would be simultaneous competing inaugurations.
“We’re setting ourselves up for an election where neither side can concede defeat,” Foley said. “That suggests that the desire to dispute the outcome is going to be higher than ever.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
© 2020 The New York Times Company

Monday

The Irony of Psychological Projection: Trump says Jeff Sessions was not 'mentally qualified' to be attorney general

CC™ News - By Martin Pengelly

Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions’ playground fight continued into Sunday. In an interview with Sinclair TV, Trump said Sessions had not been “mentally qualified” to be his first attorney general. 

Now running for his old Senate seat in Alabama, Sessions continues to doggedly protest that only he could properly implement the president’s agenda. 

The undignified exchange began on Friday night. Still sore over Sessions’ recusal from the Russia investigation in early 2017, and having recorded the Sinclair interview at the White House earlier that day, Trump told voters not to trust his former ally. 

Sessions objected but insisted, loyally, that he was the right pick for Trump supporters. 

Then on Saturday Trump hit back harder, saying Sessions “ruined many lives” and appearing to equate his former aide with the “dirty cops” of the Russia investigation, whom the president referred to as “slime”. 

Sessions recused himself from the investigation into Russian election interference after failing to inform Congress of contacts with the Russian ambassador during the election campaign. 

His deputy, Rod Rosenstein, appointed Robert Mueller as special counsel after Trump fired James Comey, the director of the FBI who had overseen the investigation since its beginnings under Barack Obama. 

After a near-two-year investigation, Mueller did not find a conspiracy between Trump and Russia but did lay out links with Moscow and possible instances of obstruction of justice by the president, whom he did not exonerate. 

“Mr President,” Sessions began a Saturday tweet. “Alabama can and does trust me, as do conservatives across the country. Perhaps you’ve forgotten.” 

The message did not calm Trump, who spent his White House evening firing off abuse and retweeting messages in questionable taste about Sessions, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Stacey Abrams, Hillary Clinton and others. 

“They trusted me,” Sessions went on, “when I stepped out and put that trust on the line for you. You and I fight for the same agenda. Tommy Tuberville [his Senate opponent, ahead in the polls, endorsed by Trump] is so weak he won’t debate me and too weak for Alabama. 

“Alabama will vote for you this fall, but Alabama will not take orders from Washington on who to send to the Senate.” 

The message was in keeping with Sessions’ campaign tactic of maintaining extreme loyalty to the man who regularly humiliated him in office and, after the 2018 midterm elections, fired him. He succeeded only in poking the bear. 

“Jeff,” Trump wrote, “you had your chance and you blew it. Recused yourself … and ran for the hills. You had no courage, and ruined many lives. The dirty cops, and others, got caught by better and stronger people than you. Hopefully this slime will pay a big price. 

“You should drop out of the race and pray that super liberal Doug Jones … gets beaten badly. He voted for impeachment based on “ZERO”. Disgraced Alabama. Coach Tuberville will be a GREAT Senator!” 

Tuberville, who once coached the Auburn Tigers, a college football power, will face Sessions in a run-off in July. Jones won Sessions’ old seat in December 2017, beating a hugely controversial Republican, Roy Moore. The Democrat faces an uphill battle to keep the seat in November.
Doggedly, Sessions still wasn’t done. 
“I will never apologize for following the law and serving faithfully and with honor,” said the immigration hardliner who was once denied a federal judgeship over accusations of racism, who was the first senator to endorse Trump and who mentored Stephen Miller, Trump’s far-right White House adviser. 
“Neither of us knew about the phony investigation into our campaign until after I was sworn in. As you will recall, I recommended firing James Comey from the very beginning.” 
That was Saturday night. Sunday morning brought cold comfort. 
“Jeff Sessions was a disaster as attorney general,” the president told the syndicated Full Measure show, in a rambling complaint about the Russia investigation. 
“Should have never been attorney general, was not qualified. He’s not mentally qualified to be attorney general. He was the biggest problem.”  
Source: The Guradian

Sunday

Company sponsoring the controversial visit of Chinese doctors to Nigeria gives details on their stay in the West African country

President Muhammadu Buhari
CC™ Global News - By Wale Odunsi

The company that funded the trip of the Chinese “medical doctors” to Nigeria, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), has provide further explanation of their trip. 

CCECC said the team has been focusing only on assigned duties in Nigeria. The firm said this in a statement posted on its Twitter page on Friday. It explained that the doctors were not treating Nigerians positive for coronavirus.

CCECC also stressed that the team has assisted in setting up isolation centres and has provided medical support and training to its staff.

The statement said after a 14-day quarantine and necessary tests, the medical team has been carrying out its “assigned mission”.

“The medical personnel are in Nigeria at the instance of CCECC Nigeria and they have been at all times under the care and accommodation of CCECC. During their stay in Nigeria, they have complied with all known immigration and health protocols.”

The company reiterated that “the mandate of the team, as mutually agreed with all stakeholders, does not cover treatment of COVID-19 cases”.

It said in dealing with both the CCECC and the Nigerian health officials, the doctors only play an advisory role.

“They would continue to engage with CCECC management and staff will always be willing to engage with Nigerian health officials and other stakeholders whenever and wherever it is necessary to do so.”

Full statement below:


Source: Daily Post

Friday

An ongoing vestige of Nasir El-Rufai's ethnic cleansing: Fulani terrorists torch six villages and leave scores dead in their wake

Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai
CC™ Breaking News 

Kaduna (Nigeria) - Credible sources indicate that the Adara community in Kajuru Local Government Area [LGA] has suffered another gruesome attack by the Fulani militia. 

The attack began a little before 2am local time. The Fulani militia armed with AK47 and other automatic weapons simultaneously launched the attack on six Adara villages – killing countless numbers of children and women. 

This is according to the leadership of Adara people. 

In the process, some of the Adara villages were completely hazed down by the militias. The exact number of dead were not immediately available owing to the remoteness of the area. It is located Kala – the biggest settlement in the area. It shares a boundary with Kauru LGA.  

The attached area is a farming community. 

The Adara community has become a repeat victim of the Fulani attacks. In February 2019, an estimated 280 Adara people lost their lives to Fulani militia. This was following Governor El Rufai statement that about 130 Fulanis were killed by Adara people. He made the statement to President Buhari publicly at the Presidential villa. The resulting attacks rendered 15,000 Adara people homeless. 

A source who witnessed the attack indicated that the evening before the attack, the community witnessed helicopters that were hovering around the Adara villages – “going and coming“. The community grew suspicious of the helicopter. “Before each attack, there is always a helicopter that will hover around.“ 

The community members as a result ran to the neighboring in Doka. “All of them ran to Doka“. 

The source added that the attack was coming from Laduga, a Fulani settlement area. Previously, a cache of weapons were discovered by the military at Laduga. 

Source: NewsWire

Wednesday

Trump threatens to permanently cut off funding to the World Health Organization even though the US is $200 million in arrears

CC™ Insight - By Salvatore Di Nolfi 

United States President Donald Trump wrote a letter to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization. 

The letter states that unless the organization makes "major substantive improvements" in the next 30 days, the US will permanently cut off funding and reconsider membership.

  • On April 14, Trump announced he was halting US funding to WHO while his administration performed a review of the organization over what he called its "failed response to the COVID-19 outbreak."
  • "The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China," Trump wrote in the letter. "My Administration has already started discussions with you on how to reform the organization."     
  • President Donald Trump has written a letter to the World Health Organization's chief that says unless the agency makes "major substantive improvements" in the next month, the US will permanently cut off funding and reconsider membership.
The lengthy letter was addressed to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and Trump shared the letter in a tweet Monday. It leveled a series of accusations against the organization and compared Tedros' response with that of his predecessor Gro Harlem Brundtland during the SARS outbreak in the early 2000s.
"In 2003, in response to the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in China, Director-General Harlem Brundtland boldly declared the World Health Organization's first emergency travel advisory in 55 years, recommending against travel to and from the disease epicenter in southern China," the letter said. 
"She also did not hesitate to criticize China for endangering global health by attempting to cover up the outbreak through its usual playbook of arresting whistleblowers and censoring media," the letter continued. "Many lives could have been saved had you followed Dr. Brundtland's example."
Source: Keystone via Associated Press (AP)

Tuesday

World Health Organization issues health warning on Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome (MSIS)

CC™ HealthScope - By Paul Oranika

The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a new warning to clinicians around the world about what the agency described as Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome (MSIS), also known as PMIS similar to symptom of Kawasaki disease and Toxic Shock Syndrome in children. 

According to the released statement by the world health body, the new disease is a rare condition causing inflammatory effect in children under the age of 19. 

Kawasaki disease causes inflammation such as swelling and redness around the blood vessels in the human body. It generally affects Children under the age of five but MSIS also affects young adults upto 21 years old.

The disease was first diagnosed in New York State where at first doctors were baffled when the disease symptoms began showing up in Children some were already diagnosed with COVID 19 disease. At the same time Doctors in United Kingdom were also reporting such strange disease in young children. So far 4 children have died of MSIS syndrome in New York state Hospitals.

Is MSIS Connected with COVID-19 

Although this disease is relatively new, Medical Scientists believe it may be connected with COVID-19 disease, currently the medical science community is watching this condition very carefully but more research is needed to validate the assumed connection and hypothesis with COVID-19 disease. 

The CDC for disease Control in the United States has made an initial connection between MSIS syndrome and COVID-19 but is unable to categorically determine who is most at risk for contracting this condition . This is the question many scientists are looking at in countries that have diagnosed Children with this condition mostly in United States and United Kingdom. 

WHO statement added, "I call on all clinicians worldwide to work with your national authorities and WHO to be on the alert and better understand this syndrome in children," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted on Saturday.

Symptoms of MSIS 

Part of the reason Medical Scientists compare this syndrome to Kawasaki disease is because MSIS shares the following symptoms with Kawasaki syndrome:

• Fever lasting for more than twenty four hours

• Pain in the stomach, diarrhea and vomiting 

• Changes in skin color or rash 

• Difficulty in breathing 

• Disorientation in Children leading to confusion and overly sleepy 

Maria Van Kerkhove of WHO said during a press briefing on Friday that in some Children they also tested positive for Coronavirus disease and other children showed no symptoms of COVID 19 disease. Officials warn Parents to look for these symptoms in their sick children and call their pediatrician when they observe these enumerated symptoms or call emergency Medical personnel if need be. 

Earlier this past week the US Centers for Disease Control also issued a similar warning although the CDC warning included young adults up to 21 years of age. Worldwide more than 4.5 million people have been infected with COVID 19 disease and close to one-third of the infections were reported in the United States with more than 87,000 deaths according to data reported by Johns Hopkins University. 

The US authorities are considering restoring the World Health Organization funds withheld by the Trump administrations which came under harsh criticism following the withdrawal of such funding. Trump said the WHO was biased against the United States in favor of China, and was very critical of the US when Trump first instituted a ban on flights from China. 

Many critics argue that this is a wrong time to withdraw funding to the World Health Organization in the middle of such serious pandemic responsible for deaths of hundreds of thousands of people around the world. Donald Trump maintains that no official statement has been released over the frozen WHO funding until he authorizes it.

Source: Vocal

Monday

Unable to provide basic testing kits for COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. President Donald Trump launches Space Force

CC™ News 

President Donald Trump on Friday revealed the official flag for the new U.S. Space Force, the first military branch created in seven decades. He also touted the development underway of what he called a "super duper missile" that could outdo foreign adversaries. 

Trump said the flag will be displayed at the White House. The flag was presented to him in the Oval Office, where he also signed the 2020 Armed Forces Day Proclamation. 

"Space is going to be the future both in terms of defense and offense and so many other things," Trump said. "We're now the leader in space."
Trump said the country is building "incredible military equipment at a level that nobody's ever seen before" and described a missile he said is being developed that is the "fastest in the world" and will outpace China and Russia.

"We have I call it the 'super duper missile,' and I heard the other night 17 times faster than what they have right now," Trump said. "You take the fastest missile we have right now. You've heard Russia has five times and China's working on five or six times. We have one 17 times, and it's just gotten the go ahead."
Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany wouldn't comment further with specifics of what missile Trump was talking about when asked at a White House press briefing. But a Department of Defense official later said on Twitter that the U.S. is "developing a range of hypersonic missiles."

The Space Force was established late last year by the administration to protect U.S. assets in space. 

Trump has pointed to threats from China and Russia and the nation’s reliance on satellites for defense operations as reasoning for the sixth military branch. 

Source: USA TODAY