Special Counsel Robert Mueller is delving into President Trump's finances in connection with his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, CNN reports. Individuals familiar with Mueller's probe told CNN that investigators have "seized on Trump and his associates' financial ties to Russia as one of the most fertile avenues for moving their probe forward."
Mueller is tasked with investigating whether Trump or his campaign associates colluded with Russia in its attempts to interfere with the election. Mueller's team apparently believes the money trail "could offer a more concrete path toward potential prosecution than the broader and murkier questions of collusion." His investigation — which absorbed one already underway by federal prosecutors involving former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn — is wide-ranging, and "even investigative leads that have nothing to do with Russia but involve Trump associates are being referred to the special counsel," CNN reports.
In addition to Flynn, investigators have encountered communications that appear to show Russian operatives discussing Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, in connection with efforts to undermine Hillary Clinton in last year's race.
The financial probing has involved Trump Organization records, as well as those of Trump and his family members personally; individuals connected to the 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which Trump held in Moscow; and tenants and buyers of Trump-branded real estate properties. It's not clear whether tax returns are being reviewed.
Jay Sekulow, the president's attorney, told CNN that the president's outside counsel "has not received any requests for documentation or information" about the increased financial scrutiny. "Any inquiry from the special counsel that goes beyond the mandate specified in the appointment, we would object to." Trump told The New York Times last month that he would consider any probing of his finances by Mueller a "violation."
Earlier Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Mueller had impaneled a grand jury in Washington, D.C., in connection with the Russia probe, while Reuters reported that grand jury subpoenas had been issued regarding Donald Trump Jr.'s June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with a Russian lawyer, which the president's son has said he accepted because he was promised damaging information on Clinton. Kimberly Alters
The Florida Department of Health has issued a warning to residents of Hillsborough County after a person there contracted Naegleria fowleri, a single-cell amoeba that infects the brain and is usually fatal.
Infections are rare — between 2009 and 2018, only 34 cases were reported in the United States, with most in the South, the BBC reports. In Florida, there have been just 37 cases reported since 1962. Typically found in warm freshwater, the amoeba enters the body through the nose. It cannot be passed from person to person.
The Department of Health did not say where the infection was contracted or the patient's condition, but did advise residents to avoid getting water from taps, lakes, rivers, ponds, and canals up their noses. Symptoms include fever, nausea, vomiting, headaches, and a stiff neck, and officials said anyone who believes they have been infected should "seek medical attention right away, as the disease progresses rapidly."
Infections are more likely in July, August, and September, when the water is warmer, but health officials don't want people to worry too much, reminding residents that the "disease is rare and effective prevention strategies can allow for a safe and relaxing summer swim season." Catherine Garcia
Nick Cordero, the Tony-nominated actor who starred in Bullets Over Broadway, Waitress, Rock of Ages, and A Bronx Tale: The Musical, died Sunday in Los Angeles after battling the coronavirus for several months. He was 41.
Cordero's wife, Amanda Kloots, shared on Instagram that her husband died "surrounded in love by his family, singing and praying as he gently left this Earth."
Cordero was hospitalized in late March after doctors thought he had pneumonia, and Kloots kept fans updated on his condition via Instagram. While in the intensive care unit, his right leg was amputated and he was put in a medically-induced coma. He also lost 65 pounds and suffered from two mini-strokes. Earlier this month, Kloots told CBS This Morning that Cordero would "most likely" need a double lung transplant in order to "live the kind of life that I know my husband would want to live."
The Canadian-born Cordero made his Broadway debut in 2012 in Rock of Ages, and was nominated for a Tony in 2014 for his role as Cheech in Bullets Over Broadway. He also appeared on several television shows, including a stint on Blue Bloods as Victor Lugo. In addition to Kloots, Cordero is survived by his young son, Elvis. Catherine Garcia
More than 230 scientists from 32 countries are asking the World Health Organization to address growing evidence that the coronavirus can spread indoors via aerosols that float in the air, The New York Times reports.
The WHO has maintained that the coronavirus is primarily spread by infected people who sneeze and cough, with their large respiratory droplets falling to the ground quickly. In its most recent guidance, the WHO said airborne transmission of the virus is only possible after medical procedures that produce aerosols. The scientists disagree, writing in a soon-to-be-published open letter that smaller exhaled particles can infect people, and the WHO's recommendations should be revised.
Multiple scientists told the Times that while they appreciate the WHO's work and attempts to educate the public, they are slow and risk-averse to updating recommendations. Dr. Benedetta Allegranzi, the WHO's technical lead on infection control, told the Times the organization stated "several times that we consider airborne transmission as possible but certainly not supported by solid or even clear evidence. There is a strong debate on this." Read more at The New York Times. Catherine Garcia
President Trump will hold an outdoor rally in New Hampshire next Saturday, with his campaign saying on Sunday it will pass out face masks and hand sanitizer to attendees.
The rally will take place at Portsmouth International Airport. In June, Trump held his first campaign event in months at Tulsa's BOK Center. About 6,000 people showed up, a smaller-than-expected crowd. Hogan Gidley, Trump 2020's national press secretary, said in a statement the campaign is looking forward to "so many freedom-loving patriots" coming to the New Hampshire rally and "celebrating America."
The number of coronavirus cases continues to climb across the country, and Ray Buckley, chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, told Reuters the rally will "only further highlight the chaos" Trump has caused in his "woefully inadequate" handling of the pandemic. Catherine Garcia
Dominion Energy and Duke Energy, the developers behind the 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline, announced on Sunday they are canceling the $8 billion project.
The natural gas pipeline was set to go from West Virginia through Virginia to North Carolina. The project was first announced in 2014, with the developers saying they wanted the pipeline operational by 2018, but it was delayed due to environmental groups filing several legal challenges over permits.
Supporters said the pipeline would create manufacturing and construction jobs, while environmentalists and land owners argued it would destroy Appalachian forests. In June, the Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Forest Service did have the authority to give the developers a key permit, but in a statement on Sunday, Dominion Energy and Duke Energy said there is still an "unacceptable layer of uncertainty and anticipated delays," making the project "too uncertain to justify investing more shareholder capital." Catherine Garcia