A top intelligence official says Russia is using a "range of measures" to take down former Vice President Joe Biden ahead of the 2020 presidential election, while China prefers that President Trump doesn't win.
William Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, released a statement on Friday detailing the "intentions and activities" of U.S. adversaries in the presidential election, which describes how intelligence officials are "concerned" primarily about China, Russia, and Iran.
By the U.S. assessment, China "prefers that President Trump — whom Beijing sees as unpredictable — does not win re-election," Evanina wrote. Additionally, Russia is "using a range of measures to primarily denigrate" Biden, and "some Kremlin-linked actors are also seeking to boost President Trump's candidacy on social media and Russian television," the statement said.
Finally, Evanina said that Iran seeks to "undermine U.S. democratic institutions, President Trump, and to divide the country in advance of the 2020 elections," driven by its belief that Trump being re-elected would "result in a continuation of U.S. pressure."
Senate Intelligence Committee Acting Chair Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Vice Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) on Friday said this statement "highlights some of the serious and ongoing threats to our election." They also said that additional information has been provided to members of Congress in recent weeks and that more of it "can, and at the appropriate time should, be shared with the voting public." Brendan Morrow
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield wanted to extend the agency's No Sail Order for cruise ships set to expire on Wednesday, but was blocked by the White House, The New York Times reports.
At the beginning of the pandemic, there were several coronavirus outbreaks on cruise ships; the Diamond Princess, for example, saw 700 of its 3,711 passengers and crew members test positive for COVID-19, with 14 dying. Wanting to avoid a repeat of this, Redfield argued the No Sail Order, which went into effect in April as a way of combating the coronavirus, should be extended until mid-February 2021, but he was overruled during a White House Coronavirus Task Force meeting on Tuesday, the Times reports. The task force decided instead ships will be able to set sail after Oct. 31.
The Cruise Lines International Association says the industry generates $53 billion in economic activity every year, and its biggest market in the United States is Florida. Republican politicians in the swing state and cruise industry lobbyists have been arguing that the No Sail Order should not be extended, but White House Deputy Press Secretary Brian Morgenstern told the Times the task force's decision was not politically motivated.
"The president, the vice president, and the task force follow the science and data to implement policies that protect the public health and also facilitate the safe reopening of our country," he said. Catherine Garcia
On Wednesday, six rockets landed near Erbil International Airport in northern Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdistan region, the Ministry of Interior of the Kurdistan Regional Government announced, and a U.S. defense official told CNN there are initial indications that three of the rockets hit a base housing U.S. troops.
There are no reports of U.S. injuries, CNN reports, but the official called the attack "troubling" because of the number of rockets fired and the possibility that several of the rockets were larger than those typically used.
The Ministry of Interior said the rockets were fired from the direction of Sheikh Amir, a town in Nineveh province that is controlled by Hashad al Shabbi, a predominantly Shia paramilitary force.
Prime Minister of Kurdistan Region of Iraq Masrour Barzani tweeted that "the KRG will not tolerate any attempt to undermine Kurdistan's stability and our response will be robust. I have spoken to the Prime Minister of Iraq, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, on the importance of holding the perpetrators accountable." Catherine Garcia
The NBA Finals are always high stakes, but there are several storylines behind the seven game series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat that tips off Wednesday night that could turn it into a particularly memorable showdown.
Friends-turned-nemeses — LeBron James will don the Lakers purple and gold against the Heat, whom he helped lead to back-to-back titles during his four-year stint in South Beach that ended in 2014. James' decision to leave the Heat and return to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who drafted him 2003, was received warmly around the league and paid off when he won he brought a ring to Ohio in 2016, but Miami fans still have a sour taste in their mouths, and James' relationship with Heat president, Pat Riley, has reportedly diminished after the abrupt departure. James has downplayed the personal aspect of the series, but there is history there.
It's about time — Most franchises wouldn't be too concerned about a 10-year gap between Finals appearances, but the Lakers are different. They've been to 32 Finals throughout their history, the most of any team in the NBA, but it's been a decade since they made it this far and won their last championship behind the late Kobe Bryant, whose presence will certainly loom over the series.
Legacies — Any postseason series James plays in at this point in his Hall of Fame career has an affect on his legacy, but securing another ring would go a long way. James has made nine of the last 10 NBA finals, including this year's, but some of his critics still knock him for going 3-6 in his previous appearances. A title would also likely throw James' co-star Anthony Davis into a conversation about the best big men of all time. On the Miami side, Erik Spoelstra is continuing to cement himself as one of the league's great coaches, and their leader Jimmy Butler is trying to establish that he's capable of being the centerpiece on a title-winning team. Tim O'Donnell
Another study is warning against President Trump's debunked coronavirus treatment.
Despite being studied as an early coronavirus treatment, studies have found the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine ineffective and even dangerous when used to fight coronavirus. A study published Wednesday added to that evidence, finding that the drug was ineffective in preventing health care workers from contracting coronavirus.
For the study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania focused on 125 health care workers. Some of them received hydroxychloroquine for eight weeks from April to July, while others got a placebo. Throughout that time, four of the 64 workers who got the drug ended up with COVID-19, while four of the 61 who got the placebo did as well. Six of those who tested positive developed coronavirus symptoms, but none needed to be hospitalized. As a result, the researchers said they "cannot recommend the routine use of hydroxychloroquine" to prevent infections among health care workers.
In June, a clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine also showed hydroxychloroquine wasn't effective in preventing coronavirus infections after exposure to the virus. The FDA has since removed its emergency use authorization for the drug as a coronavirus treatment, and in July it released a study showing how the drug could cause serious side effects in hospitalized patients. Kathryn Krawczyk
Fox News' Chris Wallace received mixed reviews for his performance as the moderator for the first 2020 presidential debate. Some analysts blamed him for failing to keep things under control, while others believe he did the best he could. For his part, Wallace said he's "just sad with the way" it all turned out.
In an interview with The New York Times, Wallace spoke candidly about the situation, admitting that he felt desperate while trying to prevent the candidates from interrupting each other. He also said he didn't realize until it was too late that President Trump wasn't planning to stop ignoring the ground rules (Wallace refused to say whether Trump deserved the primary blame for how things unfolded). "I never dreamt that it would go off the tracks the way it did," he told the Times, adding that, despite his lengthy journalism career, "I've never been through anything like this."
Afterwards, Wallace had no desire to celebrate, though he did reluctantly accept a glass of champagne from his producers at the airport. He said he's "been involved in a certain amount of soul-searching" since returning home. Read more at The New York Times. Tim O'Donnell