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News Now

  • Trump, protesters go big in Dallas
  • Fiorina vs Trump: Smackdown debate?
    Calif wildfires: Woman killed, 400 homes burned
  • McConnell forces Iran deal vote – again
  • Kentucky clerk: Back at work
  • 2016ers: Goings on
 
Trump, Protesters Go Big in Dallas (Politico, NYT, AP, me)
• In a searing, meandering speech in Dallas on Monday night, Donald Trump called the U.S. “a dumping ground for the rest of the world.” “It’s disgusting what’s happening to our country,” Trump said as he decried anchor babies and gang members (he makes it sound like a vermin infestation)
 
• The mostly white crowd of several thousand waved miniature American flags, munched nachos and drank $13 cups of beer from plastic cups (whoa – pricey). They chanted puns – “Trump up the jam.” They insulted Gov Bobby Jindal (R-La). They shouted down a Hispanic man from a local radio station
 
• Trump got a lukewarm reaction when he asked about the possibility of beginning to accept large campaign contributions, and claimed he could quickly raise $200 million. “If I took that would you people object?” Trump asked, receiving a muted mix of “Nos” and boos from the crowd (they’re into his wealth – don’t want any trappings of regular politicians)
 
• The most pointed message came from Trump’s introductory speakers, tea party activists Katrina Pierson and Scottie Neil Hughes. “I hope Donald Trump tears up that loyalty pledge,” said Pierson, who railed against the Republican establishment’s attempts to undermine tea party candidates
 
• Down the street, a group of protesters stood behind metal barriers and heckled attendees as they lined up for the event. “Raise your hand, racists,” a man with a mic connected to speakers repeatedly shouted. A Trump supporter in a purpose dress did so, then said to a female protester, “Clean my hotel room, bitch.” (nice)

 

• President Obama said during a Q&A during a high school town hall in Iowa on Monday, “This whole anti-immigrant sentiment that’s out there in our politics right now is contrary to who we are.” Obama was in Des Moines to announce plans to let aspiring college students apply for federal financial aid three months earlier (TRNS, (AP, NYT)
 
Fiorina vs Trump: Smackdown? (NYT, Daily Beast, me)
• Donald Trump has criticized Carly Fiorina’s looks, saying of his only Republican rival: “Look at her face! Would anybody vote for that?” He has said that listening to Fiorina’s voice gives him a “massive headache.” He has mocked her business career, and gleefully declared how “viciously” she was fired by Hewlett-Packard (Costco run, folks, for debate snaxx)
 
• Wednesday, Trump will share a stage with Fiorina for the first time, in the second GOP presidential debate. Political strategists warn male candidates to use caution when debating against a female rival. But almost never before in American presidential politics has a candidate, accused of sexism and bullying, been forced to confront the female recipient of his insults on live TV
 
• In the first GOP debate, Trump defended having called women “fat pigs” and “disgusting animals,” and he later implied that moderator Megyn Kelly of Fox News had asked him tough questions because she was menstruating. In his past, he has called a female lawyer “disgusting” when she took out a breast pump, among other episodes in his past

&&&
 

• Fiorina, 61, has said that, as a successful woman, “you’re either a bimbo or you’re the other b-word.” She is often defensive when asked whether her gender has helped her get ahead, and yet she has seized on her position as the only woman in the 16-person Republican field
 
• “Instead of shutting him down, there’s a way to pat poor Donald, the chauvinistic pig, on the head,” said Rob Sturzman, a Republican strategist in Sacramento. “If I were her, I would have a little fun with Trump,” said former Rep Patricia Schroeder (D-Co), who sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988. Strategists said she should ignore sexist attacks by Trump (yup)
 
• People close to Fiorina expect her to portray Trump as not being a real Republican, and to call out his inconsistent positions on economic and social issues. Fiorina has been preparing for the debate by adjusting her standard responses and zingers to fit into the succinct format, working mostly at home in Virginia (got to do more than that – be original, light – not bitchy)
 
• Trump’s plan to attack Fiorina’s corporate record could make an impression effective. Voters know little about the layoffs during her rocky tenure at Hewlett-Packard or about her $21 million severance package (she’s vulnerable – and can’t seem defensive – it’s almost as tricky for her as him. she could appear to allow herself to be a tiny bit of a victim)

• North Korea says its main nuclear facility, Yongbyon complex, is now in “full operation.” The country was ready to face U.S. hostility “with nuclear weapons any time,” state-run news agency KCNA reported (BBC)

 

Calif Wildfires: Woman Killed, 400 Homes Burned (Reuters, me)
• A Northern California wildfire has killed an elderly, disabled woman who couldn’t escape from her home and burned some 400 homes to the ground, fire officials said Monday, and they expect the property toll to climb. The so-called Valley Fire that erupted Saturday has forced thousands of residents to evacuate north of Napa County
 
• Some 9,000 structures remained threatened as darkness fell on Monday evening, according to Cal Fire. “The whole place was ablaze. It was like Armageddon,” said Steve Johnson, 37, a construction worker who was visiting his mother in the fire-ravaged community of Hidden Valley Lake
 
• By Monday evening, the blaze had blackened 62,000 acres of tinder-dry forests, brush and grasslands, and was only about 10% contained, according to Cal Fire. About 40,000 acres of the landscape were consumed in the first 12 hours of the fire at the peak of its intensity on Saturday and early Sunday, stoked by high winds
 
• Fire officials described the rapid initial rate of spread as nearly unprecedented, a consequence of vegetation desiccated by four years of drought and weeks of extreme summer heat. Four firefighters were hospitalized with second-degree burns on Saturday
 
• By Monday night more than 1,400 firefighters were battling the flames, one of 12 major wildfires across the state during an intense fire season. Cal Fire reported Monday that some 1,000 structures had been lost. Some 13,000 people had been displaced
 
 

• Driver of the car says this video was taken during a last-minute driving escape from the town of Anderson Springs, close to Middletown, Calif, which has been almost destroyed. Shows the nightmarish conditions displacing residents in the drought-ridden state – it’s harrowing – runs 1:55 (Daily Beast, me)

 
McConnell Forces Iran Deal Vote: Again (Hill, Hill, me)
• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) is preparing to try again on legislation to stop the Iran nuclear deal, even after Democrats blocked a resolution of disapproval last week. Then, McConnell said: “It’s telling that Democrats would go to such extreme lengths to prevent President Obama from even having to consider legislation on this issue.”
 
• McConnell will need to flip two Democrats who previously voted “no” on ending debate to get the 60 votes he needs to move forward with the resolution. But Democrats are pledging to hold firm. Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) said: “It is time we move on to something else. This matter is over.” Debate starts at 1 pm, with a vote expected at 6 pm
 
• Sen Dan Coats (R-Ind) said Monday, “My hope is that Democrats will hear from their constituents and allow an up-or-down vote on President Obama’s Iran deal this week. An issue of this magnitude deserves a vote in the world’s greatest deliberative body.” (filibusters are routine in the Senate)
 
• Reid offered Republicans a deal that would have allowed senators to skip over procedural votes and move to a final vote on the Iran deal, but only if McConnell agreed to a 60-vote threshold for passage. The Kentucky Republican, however, rejected the offer

 

• As of midnight, Hungary has brought in new refugee laws. Police can now detain anyone who tried to breach a razor-wire fence built on the border with Serbia. Monday, EU ministers failed to agree unanimously on mandatory quotas to relocate 120,000 asylum seekers (BBC)
 

Kentucky Clerk: Back at Work (Reuters, AP, Lexington Herald Leader, me)

• Rowan County Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, who was jailed after refusing to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples, said Monday on her return to work she will not block her deputies from issuing them but will not authorize them personally, as one couple celebrated a coming marriage
 

• Shannon and Carmen Wampler-Collins received a marriage license late Monday morning from a deputy clerk. The couple, now 45 and 46 years old, respectively, had a commitment ceremony 20 years ago and have two sons. They legally changed their name years ago
 

• Davis, who says her beliefs as an Apostolic Christian prevent her from issuing marriage licenses to gay couples, was jailed for five days earlier this month for refusing to comply with a judge’s order to issue licenses in line with a Supreme Court ruling in June that made gay marriage legal across the U.S.
 

• Davis, 49, has been under the threat of jail if she interferes in the issuance of licenses. Davis said Monday morning she doubted the validity of the licenses to be issued and told a presser they wouldn’t carry her name, title or personal authorization. “I don’t want to have this conflict. I don’t want to be in the spotlight,” she said, her voice shaking
 

• A lawyer for Davis, Harry Mihet, said her attorneys plan to file a lawsuit this week asking a state court judge to force God Steve Beshear (D-Ky) to make an accommodation for Davis

 

• The U.S. will not impose economic sanctions of Chinese businesses and individuals for economic cyberespionage before the visit of China President Xi Jinping next week, a senior admin official said Monday. The decision followed an all-night meeting between U.S. and Chinese officials Friday. The potential for sanctions is not off the table (WaPo)
 

2016ers: Goings On (Bloomberg, Hill, Medium, AP, AP, AP, TRNS, TRNS, me)

• VP Joe Biden met secretly with Robert Wolf, a former UBS exec and major fundraiser for President Obama, when Biden was in New York last week. Wolf said Biden hadn’t said he would run for president and didn’t ask for his support. People close to Biden say he may not make a decision until late October or early November – downsides and upsides
 

• Former Gov Jeb Bush (R-Fla) on Monday released a five-point plan to strengthen the nation’s posture on cybersecurity, two days before the next debate. Bush cited “a series of high-profile cybersecurity failures and the Obama admin’s feeble response to the growing threat” in announcing his plan. He needs help as he’s floundering
 
• Reaching across partisan lines, Dem presidential candidate Sen Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) said Monday in a speech Q&A  at Liberty University Va: “I would also say that as a nation, the truth is, that a nation which in many ways was created, and I’m sorry to have to say this, from way back on racist principles, that’s a fact. We have come a long way as a nation.”
 
• Two top Republican senators asked the Justice Dept Monday whether it’s conducting a criminal investigation related to Hillary Clinton’s use of a private server for email and whether Bryan Pagliano, the computer specialist who helped set it up, is the subject. Clinton testifies before the House Benghazi Committee on 22 October
 
• Gov Scott Walker (R-Wis), in Nevada, called for eliminating unions for employees of the federal govt and making all workplaces right-to-work unless individual states vote otherwise. “Scott Walker can now add one-trick pony to his resume, right underneath national disgrace,” said AFL-CIO spox Eric Hauser

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___________________
Victoria Jones – Editor

TRNS’ Ellen Ratner, Anthony Herrera and Ebony Romero contributed to this report

 

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