Category: Audio Posts: Selected Articles

With only a month left until Election Day, Vice President Harris is navigating a pair of external challenges in the month of October that pose risk to her campaign.

At home, there’s the recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Helene — including in the vital swing states of North Carolina and Georgia. And abroad, there’s the real risk of escalating conflict in the Middle East.

The twin crises present a unique challenge for the Biden administration and, by extension, Harris — who is a key part of that team. So her campaign and the White House are pulling out the stops to try to show voters they’re on top of things, even as Harris pushes ahead on the campaign trail.

For Harris, there’s the fear that these “October surprises” go sideways and she gets some blame. In a race this close, every vote matters.

But these kinds of high-profile crises also present an opportunity to demonstrate leadership, said Democratic political strategist Ian Russell.

“What she has to do, and what she is doing, is showing up and showing that she’s engaged, showing that she’s capable of stepping up to the challenges that the country and the world face and I think she’s doing that very well,” Russell said.

How Harris has been responding to these October surprises

Harris took a break from the campaign on Wednesday to visit a Georgia neighborhood ravaged by Hurricane Helene where more than half of residents don’t have power and many don’t have running water.

“The president and I have been paying close attention from the beginning to what we need to do to make sure the federal resources hit the ground as quickly as possible,” Harris said. “That includes what was necessary to make sure that we provided direct federal assistance. And that work has been happening.”

President Biden also surveyed Asheville, N.C., where some of the most severe storm damage occurred, as he and Harris try to reassure voters in the critical state that their administration is up to the task. Harris’ campaign has said she plans to tour storm damage in North Carolina soon, too.

Her opponent, former President Donald Trump, is slated to be it the state on Friday for a town hall.

Another crisis was averted: the economic fallout from a strike

The International Longshoremen’s Association decision to go on strike on Tuesday had been another challenge for Harris, threatening to upend the economy heading into the election.

But on Thursday, the union dockworkers and port operators reached a tentative agreement on wages and agreed to extend their contract to Jan. 15. Harris and Biden had sided firmly with the union, and on Thursday Biden said both sides had acted “patriotically” to reopen the ports to ensure supplies were available for hurricane rebuilding efforts.

Trump sees opportunity in these crises

The Trump campaign is on the lookout for anything they can use against Harris in the closely contested race — including the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

On Tuesday, Trump told his supporters that he was the person to take on Iran after it attacked Israel. “We have a nonexistent president and a nonexistent vice president, who should be in charge, but nobody knows what’s going on,” Trump said.

Harris made sure to get out in front of cameras this week to reaffirm her support for Israel. “As I have said, I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist militias,” she said.

“And let us be clear: Iran is not only a threat to Israel; Iran is also a threat to American personnel in the region, American interests, and innocent civilians across the region who suffer at the hands of Iran-based and -backed terrorist proxies.”

How the White House, Harris and her campaign are able to navigate these “October surprises” is critical in a race this close, with only a month left.

“There’s always going to be something that could go wrong at home or abroad,” Russell said. “And our leaders need to be able to step up and deliver while also being politicians.”

An invasion of dangerous three-foot rat-like creatures with orange teeth is wreaking havoc across California, threatening the safety of residents and the state’s economy.

Nearly 1,000 nutria – one of the largest rodent species – had already been hunted down in the Bay Area this year.

But the creatures have now made way into Contra Costa County’s California Delta – which is one the state’s most crucial water sources and ecological sites, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Also known as Coypu, the animals, which weigh around 20 pounds, pose a threat to humans, livestock and pets, and cause widespread destruction across wetlands. 

They are known to carry tapeworms and are hosts for potentially deadly diseases such as tuberculosis and septicemia. They are also carriers for blood and liver flukes that can lead to infection through exposure to contaminated water, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. 

Nutria look similar to beavers, with the distinction of highly arched backs and ‘long, thin, round, sparsely haired tails rather than wide, flat tails like that of a beaver,’ according to the CFWD. 

The rodents are usually found near permanent water sources and have large bright orange teeth as well as a white muzzle and whiskers. 

Since the first nutria, a pregnant female, was discovered on a private wetland in March of 2017 in California, 5,042 of the species have been killed in the state. 

Officials are urging locals to ‘immediately’ report and photograph any sightings or potential signs of their presence to their state wildlife department. 

California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesman Peter Tira told SFGate: ‘We cannot have nutria reproducing in the delta. The threat to California’s economy is too great.’

The spread is particularly alarming due to the animal’s prolific reproductive rate – with females giving birth to as many as 27 offspring per year. 

They also breed all year round, producing two to three litters each with two to nine young per litter. 

On top of this there is no natural predator keeping its population in check. 

In some states, including California, the rodents are listed on the prohibited species list, which outlaws their importation, possession, exchange, purchase, sale and transportation. 

It is legal to shoot the animal outside of city limits or wildlife control officers can kill them using humane euthanasia. 

The highly destructive species is known to cause significant losses in crops and weaken levees due to their burrowing. 

Their effect on ecosystems also poses a threat to rare and endangered species and plants that rely on the marshland.

Each nutria is able to consume up to 25 percent of its body weight per day. But Krysten Kellum of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said they ‘waste and destroy up to ten times as much’, according to SFGate.

The CFWD added: ‘Nutria do not construct dens, they burrow, frequently causing water-retention or flood control levees to breach, weakening structural foundations, and eroding banks,’ reported the San Francisco Chronicle.

The California Delta, where the nutria are now starting to inhabit, helps to channel water to cities and farms across the state, making it easier for rodents to spread into yet more regions. 

Tides push salt water into the Delta from the Pacific, and freshwater travels into the Delta from the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and then through the leveed channels into San Pablo Bay, San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. 

United States Geological Survey said that, when necessary, water from the Sacramento River is diverted and pumped through leveed canals toward California Aqueduct and the Delta-Mendota Canal. 

This water ends up being consumed by humans and used for agricultural purposes throughout Central and Southern California.

Since the aquatic invasion of the rodents, the California Department of Water Resources issued a dire – and equally hilarious – warning about the nutria.

Pitting the creature as a ‘two-faced creature’ straight out of a horror movie, the DWS created a movie-like poster that said that although the animal was ‘so cute,’ the rodent was a ‘monster’.

‘Behind that cure exterior lies a monster. Beware of the dark side of the nutria. They may look harmless, but they are invasive rodents that have the ability to destroy wetlands and damage levees,’ the DWS wrote.

Nutria are also causing problems beyond California, with reports of issues in Oregon.

In fact, feral populations have now become established in 17 states, including Louisiana, Washington, Oregon and California. 

–Analysis–

TEL AVIV — Anyone who wants to understand the Mossad should know about the very first operation conducted by a Jewish secret service. It happened quite a while ago and its coordinator was as prominent as it was unusual: God the Father.

This is what it says in the Holy Scripture, Numbers, Chapter 13: “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Send men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites, and choose one from each tribe who is a prince.'” Moses followed the order from above, chose a nobleman from each of the twelve Israelite tribes and gave them the following instructions: “Go up the mountain and see the land, and the people, whether they are strong or weak, few or many, whether they live in tents or in fortresses… Look also at the condition of the ground, whether it is fat or lean.”

The twelve spies did an excellent job and after forty days they brought back insight that was both promising and threatening. “The land flows with milk and honey. But the people who live there are powerful and the cities are fortified.” Attack or retreat? The scouts could not agree on what should follow from these findings.

Today’s intelligence experts are critical of the biblical spying operation. “Nothing against old Moses,” Yaakov Caroz, the former deputy head of the Mossad, told me. “But we see three serious errors in his approach. Firstly, Moses should not have chosen the men exclusively from one social class, from the social elite — he should have ignored the boss’s orders. And secondly, he should not have chosen one representative from each tribe. It would have been much better to simply select the most capable men. Social or party-political proportionality is deadly in our business.”

And mistake number three, perhaps the worst in the opinion of the Mossad professional: “Instead of creating an impartial committee to check the news and coolly weigh it up, Moses left the evaluation to the men he had sent out. And that naturally led to a dispute between those who thought it was impossible to conquer the country and those who were in favor of an attack.”

The skeptics did not prevail at that time, otherwise history would look different: the children of Israel would never have entered the land of Canaan — and the Jewish people might have perished.

A top Russian official has admitted for the first time that Islamic State was behind a brutal attack on a concert hall in Moscow this year, having blamed Ukraine in its immediate aftermath.

Men with machineguns killed 145 people and wounded hundreds more in a rampage at Crocus City Hall, which was packed with concertgoers on a Friday night in March, before setting the building on fire.

Eleven Tajik citizens and a Kyrgyzstan-born Russian have been arrested in connection with the massacre including four gunmen.

An Isis offshoot in Afghanistan known as Islamic State-Khorasan, or Isis-K, claimed responsibility for the deadliest terrorist act in Russia in two decades.

On Friday, Alexander Bortnikov, the head of Russia’s domestic intelligence agency FSB, became the first senior Russian official to admit that the attack was masterminded by Isis’s Afghan branch and not by the Ukrainian intelligence services, as had been previously suggested by President Putin.

“We know for certain that the men who recruited the attackers are members of Islamic State- Khorasan who have been deliberately targeting the Tajik diaspora in Russia via the internet from Afghanistan,” Bortnikov told a meeting of intelligence chiefs of former Soviet nations in Moscow.

The marginalised Tajik community in Russia, who typically do menial, underpaid work, have faced more violence and discrimination since the gunmen were identified as Tajik migrant workers.

• Putin offers to drop criminal charges if suspects fight in Ukraine

Bortnikov also warned that migrant workers from central Asia were prone to radicalisation “both by terrorist recruiters and foreign intelligence agencies”.

However, he made no mention of any potential Ukrainian role in the attack that the Kremlin had been speculating about. In the aftermath of the shooting Bortnikov insisted on “Ukrainian involvement” as he claimed “Islamists alone could not have plotted such an attack”.

Putin never confirmed the overwhelming evidence of Isis’s role, insisting that Russia “cannot possibly be targeted by terrorist attacks of Islamic fundamentalists” because it was friendly to Muslim nations “on the international arena”.

Sean “Diddy” Combs wanted Justin Bieber to keep what took place during their hangouts under wraps, according to a resurfaced “Jimmy Kimmel Live” clip.

The disgraced music mogul appeared with the “Baby” singer on the late night talk show in 2011 when the latter was just 16. They discussed their close-knit bond with host Jimmy Kimmel at the time.

“What’s going on with you guys? Are you working together?” Kimmel asked in the clip, which is making the rounds online in light of Combs’ serious legal issues.

The former Bad Boy Records exec responded, “No … We’ve become friends in a strange way” before elaborating, “To a lot of us, he’s like a little brother … He’s not afraid to call and ask for advice.”

The “Bad Boy for Life” rapper explained that the music industry is “a strong family” and many people, including himself, want to have their “arms around” Bieber to “protect him” because he’s a “nice person.”

Combs continued to gush about the “Somebody to Love” singer, “Besides his talent, he’s one of the greatest kids that you could ever know.”

Bieber thanked the “Tell Me” rapper for his remarks as the audience clapped during the segment, and Kimmel, 56, pointed out that perhaps Combs could buy the young singer a car as he did with his son.

“He got me a Lamborghini — I just haven’t gotten it yet,” the “Never Say Never” chimed in, prompting Combs to look off to the side in annoyance.

“He had the Lamborghini for a day or two and he had access to the house,” the “Last Night” rapper then said, seemingly referencing when the two spent 48 hours together, per a YouTube video Bieber posted.

“He knows better than to be talking about the things that he does with big brother Puff on national television,” Combs added. “Everything ain’t for everybody.”

When Combs and Bieber spent those two days together back in 2009, the “Coming Home” rapper told the “Beauty and the Beat” singer that they were “gonna go full buck full crazy.”

“Where we hanging out and what we doing, we can’t really disclose, but it’s definitely a 15-year-old’s dream,” Combs added in the YouTube video.

Amid the former Sean John CEO’s sex crimes scandal, another clip of Combs with Bieber resurfaced online, which shows the latter appearing very uncomfortable at some of the former’s remarks.

Combs said in that second video, “Selling out arenas and everything? Starting to act different, huh? You haven’t been calling me and hanging out the way we used to hang out.”

Bieber is then seen awkwardly pulling out his phone and replying, “You tried to get in contact with me throughout all my [partners] and what not — but you never got my number, so want my number?”

A rep for the “Peaches” singer recently said, however, that while Bieber, now 30, is “aware of Diddy’s arrest and all the allegations,” he “just wants to focus on being a great dad and husband.”

Combs has been charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation of a prostitute. He faces a minimum of 15 years and a maximum life sentence.

At a recent press conference, the “I Need a Girl” rapper was accused of sexually assaulting 120 people, including 25 minors. One of the alleged victims was only 9 years old at the time of the crime.

Attorney Tony Buzbee, who hosted the presser, warned that “many powerful people” are set to be exposed in connection to Diddy’s alleged misdeeds, claiming the names will “shock” the public.

Combs is currently awaiting his trial behind bars. No court date has been set yet.

As for Justin, he tied the knot with Hailey Bieber in September 2018 and the two welcomed their first child in August 2024.

If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump laid the groundwork to try to overturn the 2020 election even before he lost, knowingly pushed false claims of voter fraud and “resorted to crimes” in his failed bid to cling to power, according to a court filing unsealed Wednesday that offers new evidence from the landmark criminal case against the former president.

The filing from special counsel Jack Smith’s team offers the most comprehensive view to date of what prosecutors intend to prove if the case charging Trump with conspiring to overturn the election reaches trial. Although a months-long congressional investigation and the indictment itself have chronicled in stark detail Trump’s efforts to undo the election, the filing cites previously unknown accounts offered by Trump’s closest aides to paint a portrait of an “increasingly desperate” president who, while losing his grip on the White House, “used deceit to target every stage of the electoral process.”

“So what?” the filing quotes Trump as telling an aide after being advised that his vice president, Mike Pence, had been rushed to a secure location after a crowd of violent Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to try to prevent the counting of electoral votes.

“The details don’t matter,” Trump said, when told by an adviser that a lawyer who was mounting his legal challenges wouldn’t be able to prove the false allegations in court, the filing states.

The brief was made public over the Trump legal team’s objections in the final month of a closely contested presidential race in which Democrats have sought to make Trump’s refusal to accept the election results four years ago central to their claims that he is unfit for office. The issue flared as recently as Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate when Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, lamented the violence at the Capitol while a Republican opponent, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, refused to directly answer when asked whether Trump had lost the 2020 race.

The filing was submitted, initially under seal, following a Supreme Court opinion that conferred broad immunity on former presidents for official acts they take in office, a decision that narrowed the scope of the prosecution and eliminated the possibility of a trial before next month’s election.

The purpose of the brief is to persuade U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan that the offenses charged in the indictment were undertaken in Trump’s private, rather than presidential, capacity and can therefore remain part of the case as it moves forward. Chutkan permitted a redacted version to be made public, even though Trump’s lawyers argued that it was unfair to unseal it so close to the election.

Though the prospects of a trial are uncertain, particularly if Trump wins the presidency and a new attorney general seeks the dismissal of the case, the brief nonetheless functions as a roadmap for the testimony and evidence prosecutors would elicit before a jury. It is now up to Chutkan to decide which of Trump’s acts are official conduct for which Trump is immune from prosecution and which are, in the words of Smith’s team, “private crimes” on which the case can proceed.

“Although the defendant was the incumbent President during the charged conspiracies, his scheme was fundamentally a private one,” Smith’s team wrote, adding, “When the defendant lost the 2020 presidential election, he resorted to crimes to try to stay in office.”

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung called the brief “falsehood-ridden” and “unconstitutional” and repeated oft-stated allegations that Smith and Democrats were “hell-bent on weaponizing the Justice Department.” Trump, in a separate post on his Truth Social platform, said the case would end with his “complete victory.”

The filing alleges that Trump “laid the groundwork” for rejecting the election results before the contest was over, telling advisers that in the event he held an early lead he would “declare victory before the ballots were counted and any winner was projected.”

Immediately after the election, prosecutors say, his advisers sought to sow chaos in the counting of votes. In one instance, a campaign employee described as a Trump co-conspirator was told that results favoring Democrat Joe Biden at a Michigan polling center appeared accurate. The person is alleged to have replied: “find a reason it isnt” and “give me options to file litigation.”

Prosecutors also alleged that Trump advanced claims of fraud despite knowing they were false, recounting how he conceded to others that allegations of election irregularities made by attorney Sidney Powell were “crazy” and referenced the science fiction series “Star Trek.” Even so, days later, he promoted on Twitter a lawsuit she was about to file.

In demonstrating his apparent indifference to the accuracy of the election fraud claims, prosecutors also cite an account of a White House staffer who after the election overheard Trump telling his wife, daughter and son-in-law on Marine One: “It doesn’t matter if you won or lost the election. You still have to fight like hell.”

The filing also includes details of conversations between Trump and Pence, including a private lunch on Nov. 12, 2020, in which Pence “reiterated a face-saving option” for Trump, telling him, “Don’t concede but recognize the process is over.”

In another lunch days later, Pence urged Trump to accept the election results and run again in 2024.

“I don’t know, 2024 is so far off,” Trump told him, the filing states.

Prosecutors say that by Dec. 5, the defendant was starting to think about Congress’ role in the process.

“For the first time, he mentioned to Pence the possibility of challenging the election results in the House of Representatives,” it says, citing a phone call.

But, prosecutors wrote, Trump “disregarded” Pence “in the same way he disregarded dozens of court decisions that unanimously rejected his and his allies’ legal claims, and that he disregarded officials in the targeted states — including those in his own party — who stated publicly that he had lost and that his specific fraud allegations were false.”

Pence chronicled some of his interactions with Trump, and his eventual split with him, in a 2022 book called “So Help Me God.” He also was ordered to appear before the grand jury investigating Trump after courts rejected claims of executive privilege.

Prosecutors also argue Trump used his Twitter account to spread false claims of election fraud, attacking “those speaking the truth” about his loss and exhorting his supporters to travel to Washington for the Jan. 6, 2021, certification.

They intend to use “forensic evidence” from Trump’s iPhone to provide insight into Trump’s actions after the Capitol attack.

Of the more than 1,200 Tweets Trump sent during the weeks detailed in the indictment, prosecutors say, the vast majority were about the 2020 election, including those falsely claiming Pence could reject electors even though the vice president had told Trump that he had no such power.

That “steady stream of disinformation” culminated in his speech at the Ellipse on the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, where Trump “used these lies to inflame and motivate the large and angry crowd of his supporters to march to the Capitol and disrupt the certification proceeding,” prosecutors wrote.

His “personal desperation was at its zenith” that morning as he was “only hours from the certification proceeding that spelled the end,” prosecutors wrote.

___

Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.