President Trump said last week he was thinking "very strongly" about commuting the prison sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. But now, he may have already stopped looking.
Trump "appears to have backed off" the idea after pushback from Republicans and after Reps. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.) and Mike Bost (R-Ill.) met with him directly, CNN reports. According to the report, LaHood and Bost "laid out the litany of crimes" committed by Blagojevich, who was recorded discussing plans to sell a Senate seat.
The president previously referred to this tape as "a phone call where nothing happens" while arguing that Blagojevich was treated "unbelievably unfairly." But Bost told CNN that after he walked through Blagojevich's various crimes and argued that commuting him would send the wrong message, Trump said, "I wish I had the perspective before." While discussing Blagojevich, Trump reportedly "did not seem aware of the details of Blagojevich's case," CNN writes.
One White House official told CNN that there hasn't been any progress on the issue since last week, and one said it "appeared to be on ice." Trump had already signaled he could be backing away from the idea after changing his description of it from something he's considering "strongly" to something that White House staff is "continuing" its "review" of, The New York Times noted.
Another White House official objected to this and told CNN there is "no pumping the brakes" happening here, but it sounds like it would not be surprising if following this GOP backlash, the Blagojevich issue is one Trump simply never mentions again. Brendan Morrow
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a new guidance has acknowledged that COVID-19 can spread through the air, CNN reports.
The CDC's website as of Friday says that "airborne viruses, including COVID-19, are among the most contagious and easily spread" and that the coronavirus commonly spreads "through respiratory droplets or small particles, such as those in aerosols."
The CDC's latest guidance also says, "It is possible that COVID-19 may spread through the droplets and airborne particles that are formed when a person who has COVID-19 coughs, sneezes, sings, talks, or breathes. There is growing evidence that droplets and airborne particles can remain suspended in the air and be breathed in by others, and travel distances beyond 6 feet (for example, during choir practice, in restaurants, or in fitness classes)."
The guidance from the CDC, CNN notes, previously described COVID-19 as mainly spreading through "respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes or talks" and within six feet. In the new guidance, when listing ways to protect oneself from COVID-19, in addition to steps such as social distancing and wearing a mask, the CDC also now says to "use air purifiers to help reduce airborne germs in indoor spaces."
The Washington Post notes that "scientists and public health experts have warned of mounting evidence that the novel coronavirus is airborne" for months, and University of Colorado at Boulder chemistry professor Jose-Luis Jimenez told the Post this acknowledgement from the CDC as a "major change."
"This is a good thing," Jimenez told the Post, "if we can reduce transmission because more people understand how it is spreading and know what to do to stop it."
Additionally, University of Maryland professor Donald Milton told CNN it's a "major improvement," adding, "I'm very encouraged to see that the CDC is paying attention and moving with the science. The evidence is accumulating." Brendan Morrow
A sizable anti-abortion minority of U.S. voters are excited at the prospect of a 6-3 conservative Supreme Court striking down or effectively neutering Roe v. Wade, but the Affordable Care Act is in much more imminent danger after the death Friday of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The high court is scheduled to hear oral arguments Nov. 10 in a lawsuit by Texas and other conservative states, backed by the Trump administration, arguing that the entire ACA should be struck down because the GOP-controlled Congress zeroed out the individual mandate to buy insurance in 2017. The lawsuit "was largely shrugged off" when it was filed two years ago, Politico notes, but it has now "been validated by Republican-appointed justices in lower courts, and ObamaCare will have one less ally on the conservative-dominated bench when the Supreme Court considers the law's fate this fall."
"Conventional wisdom had held that Chief Justice John Roberts would likely join with the court's liberals to save the ACA once again," Axios reports. "But if President Trump is able to fill Ginsburg's former seat, Roberts' vote alone wouldn't be enough to do the trick, and the law — or big sections of it — is more likely to be struck down." Most at risk are the law's protections for pre-existing conditions, according to legal scholars following the litigation. But everything is on the table, including Medicaid expansion, coverage for people up to age 26 on their parents' insurance plans, and no-cost preventative care.
"A broad ruling against the entire ACA still requires some logical leaps," Axios notes. But "a lawsuit that once seemed like a long shot now has a much more reasonable chance at success — and that means 20 million people's health coverage really could be in the balance." Trump and congressional Republicans tried and narrowly failed to replace the ACA in 2017, and Trump has yet to release his frequently teased newer health care plan. Peter Weber
President Trump gave approval Saturday for a deal in which China's ByteDance would partner with Oracle and Walmart to create a U.S. TikTok spinoff that would satisfy his security demands. ByteDance said Monday it wanted to clarify some "groundless rumors" about the deal, asserting that the Beijing company would control 80 percent of a wholly owned subsidiary, TikTok Global, after a public offering. Oracle would own a 12.5 percent stake and Walmart the other 7.5 percent.
U.S. backers of the deal argue that because U.S. investors own 41 percent of ByteDance, the 20 percent owned by Walmart and Oracle would give U.S. investors and companies a majority stake in the TikTok Global. Oracle and Walmart also said Americans would hold four of the five seats on the board of directors. ByteDance said Monday that one seat would go to Walmart CEO Doug McMillon but the other four would stay with current directors, including ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming.
Another "rumor" ByteDance sought to shoot down was Trump's assertion that the Chinese company would pay the U.S. $5 billion to create an education fund to teach American children "the real history of our country." ByteDance said the $5 billion figure was just an estimate of federal taxes it would pay over several years if its new subsidiary proved successful. Trump has said he wanted the buyers to pay the White House "key money" for facilitating the deal, but White House lawyers said that would violate the law.
ByteDance also said it will retain full control of TikTok's prized algorithms and source code, and Oracle can review the code for security threats but only in controlled locations. Trump's Aughst executive order giving ByteDance 90 days to sell to a U.S. company cited concerns that the personal data of Americans could be passed on to China's government. A senior Trump campaign official tells The Wall Street Journal that TikTok's Washington lobbyists had argued to Trump's campaign that banning a social media juggernaut with 100 million users, "including many who are of voting age and live in battleground states such as Florida," would be bad politics. Peter Weber
She's been running since age 9 and competed in Division I track and cross-country, but Sister Stephanie Baliga had never before experienced a marathon like this one.
When the Chicago Marathon was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 32-year-old nun decided she would still run the 26.2 miles, only it would be inside, on a treadmill in the basement of her church, the Mission of Our Lady of the Angels. Baliga spread the word that this solo marathon was going to be a fundraiser for the church's food bank, and a friend told her she should livestream the run so people could support her from afar.
At 4 a.m. on Aug. 23, Baliga started a Zoom call, and immediately, family, friends, and clergy members were cheering her on. Baliga told The Associated Press it "seems to have allowed people to have some encouragement and happiness and joy in this time of extreme difficulty for lots of people. I'm really humbled by the extraordinary support that so many people have shown me along this journey."
The last 30 minutes were rough, Baliga said, but a surprise appearance by her childhood hero, Olympic marathon runner and 2004 bronze medalist Deena Kastor, "distracted me from the pain." Baliga finished the treadmill marathon in three hours and 33 minutes, and raised more than $130,000 for the food bank. Catherine Garcia
Forecasters expect the slow-moving Tropical Storm Beta to make landfall in Texas on Monday afternoon or evening.
As of late Sunday night, Beta was about 120 miles south of Galveston, moving west-northwest at 6 mph with winds clocking in at 60 mph. The storm is expected to hit southeast Texas, where it will hover for about 24 hours as it drops torrential rain, ABC News reports. Beta will weaken over the course of the week, and will likely enter the Mississippi Valley by Friday.
There are flash flood watches in effect for parts of Texas and Louisiana, and when the storm first hits, forecasters warn there could be storm surge of up to four feet. Catherine Garcia