A new dilemma for Trump's team: Preventing super-spreader churches

Trump admits it: He's losing

Source: Politico

Donald Trump knows he's losing.

The president has privately come to that grim realization in recent days, multiple people close to him told POLITICO, amid a mountain of bad polling and warnings from some of his staunchest allies that he's on course to be a one-term president.

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Behind the scenes, Trump and his team are taking steps to correct course. In the week since his Tulsa rally, the president has grudgingly conceded that he’s behind, according to three people who are familiar with his thinking. Trump, who vented for days about the event, is starting to take a more hands-on role in the campaign and has expressed openness to adding more people to the team. He has also held meetings recently focusing on his efforts in individual battleground states.

Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who effectively oversees the campaign from the White House, is expected to play an even more active role.



Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/27/trump-losing-2020-election-342326

Bernie's student army learns to live with Biden

Source: Politico


As the Democratic primary drew to its conclusion, a flurry of Students for Bernie college organizations made clear where they stood: There was no way they could vote for Joe Biden. If Sanders wasn’t the nominee, they planned to either sit out the fall election or vote third party.

But as coronavirus deaths mount and Donald Trump strikes a law-and-order pose against the protests sweeping the nation, many of the leaders of those groups are rethinking their hardline position. And faced with a choice between a candidate they distrust due to his lack of progressive bona fides, or ushering in the second term of an incumbent they loathe, more than a few leftist college student leaders are learning to live with Biden.

“In recent weeks, it's become pretty clear that Trump is willing to crack down on free speech, and so it's definitely making me lean more toward Biden now,” said Harry Feldman, a Georgia Tech senior and co-chair of the school’s Young Democratic Socialists of America chapter, who was considering voting third party in Georgia.

The last straws, Feldman said, were Trump’s threats to put down unrest with military force and his “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” tweet.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/28/bernie-sanders-college-supporters-joe-biden-328353

At least 2 dead, 4 injured in shooting at California Walmart distribution center, officials say

Source: CNN

At least two people are dead and four are injured in a shooting at a Walmart distribution center in Red Bluff, California, according to Allison Hendrickson, manager of media relations for Dignity Health North State.

The shooting took place around 3 p.m. PT Saturday, Red Bluff City Manager Rick Crabtree told CNN by phone.

A car had rammed into the distribution center, which started a fire, Crabtree said. The fire wasn't very significant, Crabtree said.

An unidentified man was shot on scene and taken to the hospital, he said. It's not clear whether law enforcement shot the suspect.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/27/us/california-walmart-distribution-center-shooting/index.html

LIVE UPDATES: Flag resolution clears Senate, paves the way for state flag to change

Source: Clarion-Ledger

The Mississippi Senate passed a resolution that would allow lawmakers to change the state flag.

Lawmakers voted 36-14 meaning the resolution surpassed the necessary two-thirds majority. This clearly paves the way for the flag to come down in Mississippi.

Lawmakers in both the House and Senate are now expected to pass a bill that removes the current flag and establishes a path forward to getting new one. Gov. Tate Reeves has already said he would sign whatever flag bill the Legislature decides on.

Read more: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2020/06/27/mississippi-flag-live-updates-capitol/3256729001/

"BLACK LIVES MATTER" painted in the street, two blocks away

Florida Democrats recoil at Karen Bass VP float

Source: Politico

Florida Democrats are rising in opposition to the news Joe Biden is vetting a running mate who once lamented the death of “Comandante en jefe” Fidel Castro.

An early ally of Biden’s presidential campaign, California Rep. Karen Bass’ name surfaced this week as a possible vice-presidential pick who could help balance his ticket because of her deep progressive roots and her activism against police brutality, an emerging issue in the presidential race.

But Bass‘ comments about the longtime Cuban leader following his death in 2016 — when she respectfully called him “comandante en jefe” (in Spanish, commander in chief) — is politically poisonous in Florida and even more toxic in Miami, home to many exiles from socialist Latin American regimes that include Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

The Florida Democratic Party has spent two years fighting a renewed GOP effort to brand them as socialists, and the state and national parties are spending big this year in Miami to defend two congressional seats and win two crucial state Senate contests in districts with sizable Cuban-American populations. All four lawmakers condemned Bass’ Castro remarks.



Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/27/florida-democrats-karen-bass-vp-341931

Measures to protect Trump from coronavirus scale up even as he seeks to move on

Source: CNN

(CNN)President Donald Trump appears ready to move on from a still-raging coronavirus pandemic -- skipping the first White House task force briefing in months and moving the event out of the White House itself. But the measures meant to protect him from catching the virus have scaled up dramatically.

As he seeks to insert rival Joe Biden's health into the presidential campaign, Trump has voiced escalating concern about how it would appear if he contracted coronavirus and has insisted on steps to protect himself, even as he refuses to wear a mask in public and agitates for large campaign rallies where the virus could spread.

When he travels to locations where the virus is surging, every venue the President enters is inspected for potential areas of contagion by advance security and medical teams, according to people familiar with the arrangements. Bathrooms designated for the President's use are scrubbed and sanitized before he arrives. Staff maintain a close accounting of who will come into contact with the President to ensure they receive tests.

While the White House phases out steps such as temperature checks and required mask-wearing in the West Wing -- changes meant to signal the country is moving on -- those around the President still undergo regular testing. And even as Trump attempts to put the pandemic behind him by encouraging reopening and downplaying the new surge, there are signs of the still-raging pandemic even within his orbit.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/26/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus-protocols/index.html

WSJ Editorial: "The Trump Referendum"

The new Apple Watch operating system will feature...

...an AI sensor to determine when you're washing your hands, which will trigger a countdown app to confirm you've done it for 20 seconds...