Ted Cruz, Chris Cuomo get into slugfest after senator rips Gov. Cuomo's COVID response

Ted Cruz

Chris Cuomo

Gov. Cuomo'

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and CNN's Chris Cuomo faced off in a fiery clash on Wednesday night that further escalated when the Republican took a swipe at the anchor's Democratic brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The conversation began with Cuomo pressing Cruz on whether President Trump went "soft" on the far-right group the Proud Boys during Tuesday night's debate. The senator responded by saying he wished Trump was "much clearer" with his denunciation and appreciated the president's sharper condemnation the next day. Cruz quickly called out the press for being "hypocritical" for not condemning Joe Biden's 2010 eulogy for former senator and klansman Robert Byrd.

"You're really gonna go with that?" Cuomo reacted. "I know you're a master debater... you're gonna go with that weak-ass argument here? Byrd, who had a complete enlightenment about how hate was wrong, who changed his life, who spoke about it, who changed his ways?"

"Chris, have you ever eulogized a klansman? I haven't," Cruz shot back.

The CNN anchor then invoked "Charlottesville" and "David Duke" as examples he suggested Trump failed to condemn white supremacists and invoked Trump's attacks on Cruz's family during the 2016 election in an attempt to challenge the senator to slam the president.

"What happened to that Ted?" Cuomo asked. "I don't know if [Trump] changed or just you changed for some reason, Senator."

"Chris, there was a time when CNN actually cared about being journalistic and talking about facts. Donald Trump broke you guys," Cruz later slammed Cuomo's network. "I mean, you're entire show, your entire network is just about how much you hate Trump."

The "Cuomo Prime Time" anchor denied that he hates the president, insisting that he "respects him as president" and simply wants "better for this country."

The clash further escalated, however, when the CNN anchor called out the governors of Texas, Florida, and Georgia over their response to the coronavirus pandemic.

"I get that your show wants to attack Texas, and Florida, and Georgia because they have Republican governors. We've also had much, much lower death rates than many other parts of the country," Cruz said, alluding to Democrat-run states. "And it's political, the attacks you're making."

Cuomo slammed Cruz's charge that he's made the subject of the coronavirus "political," highlighting his family's own recovery from the disease.

"Let me say something," Cruz interjected. "There is something disgusting that Democrats are doing, that Joe Biden does, and that you do, which is you try to blame the people who've lost their lives on your political enemies. And that's just not right... It's not right at all and it's particularly not right, Chris, when your brother has presided over the state with the highest death rate in the country."

"New York's record will stand for itself," Cuomo defended his brother.

"I know your brother didn't want those people to lose their lives but you shouldn't play politics," Cruz continued.

"Oh, that's good. So you don't think he intentionally killed them. That's good. That's very charitable of you," Cuomo knocked the senator.

"Of course not!" Cruz exclaimed. "We could have a very reasonable policy discussion about the policy mistakes in New York, New Jersey of sending COVID-positive patients into nursing homes and I think that was a very serious policy mistake."

"Mhm, because that didn't happen all over the country, right?" Cuomo said.

"No, it didn't happen in Texas. That's one of the reasons why the death rate in New York is four times the death rate in Texas," Cruz responded.

After Cuomo lobbed several attacks against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Cruz grilled the CNN anchor whether the New York governor's nursing home policy was a "mistake."

"My brother was the first one to say that there was a learning curve and that mistakes were made and they changed things as soon as they could," Cuomo said.

"Then don't be a hypocrite about it," the senator fired back on the anchor's double standard on governors' handling of the pandemic, later asking Cuomo, "Does it trouble you at all that New York and New Jersey had the highest death rates?"

"Of course! It all troubles me, Ted!" Cuomo shouted. "And to watch guys like you stand by and stroke your beard like a wise man instead of telling the president to get on it when you have power-"

"How about you tell your brother to get on it!" Cruz erupted.

"My brother will stand for his own record!" Cuomo exclaimed. "Why don't you talk to the president the way that you talk to my brother, Ted? You afraid of him? You think he'll smack you down at home? Is that what it is like the way he shut you up in the primary?"

The clash quickly moved towards President Trump's travel ban on China with Cuomo denying Cruz's correct assertion that the former VP condemned Trump's actions as xenophobic at the time, telling the senator he'd bet him "dinner" that he was wrong.

Both Cuomo and CNN had long been criticized for going months without offering critical coverage of Gov. Cuomo's controversial nursing home policy, particularly when the anchor hosted the brother on his show nearly a dozen times and largely avoided the subject.

 

Tucker: Biden used 'illusion of reasonableness' at debate to disguise plans to 'tear down our system'

America deserved better than Tuesday's "painful, highly depressing" debate between President Trump and Joe Biden in Cleveland, but there were some key moments that should have given voters insight, Tucker Carlson said Wednesday.

The "Tucker Carlson Tonight" host highlighted Biden's refusal to answer whether he planned to pack the Supreme Court if he wins the presidency and Democrats win the Senate -- which likely indicates the former vice president plans to do just that, Carlson claimed.

"That's what radicalism looks like. Anything that stands between you and the power you seek, you destroy, even if it's the world's oldest constitutional court -- which our Supreme Court is," the host said. "We should be afraid of people who are willing to do things like that, but in Joe Biden's case we don't seem to be afraid.

"And that leads to something else that we learned last night at the debate: tone is everything," Carlson added.

"Biden all but admitted on stage that he plans to tear down our system, but he did it in a calm, 'This is your captain speaking' voice."

By contrast, Carlson argued, Trump defended the American system, the system that most people support.

"Nothing Trump said onstage was radical," Carlson argued, "virtually nothing he ever says is radical, at least if you compare to public opinion polling on the issues. It's his tone that rattles people. Trump could make a wine list sound menacing."

As a result, "amazingly, tragically, many people who watched last night may have concluded that Joe Biden is the stable, steady alternative," Carlson concluded. "They concluded this even as Joe Biden suggested he plans to change their lives, their country, permanently and forever in ways they won't like.

"It's quite a trick, the illusion of reasonableness. Barack Obama was a master of this."

 

Texas officials give update on efforts clean water contaminated by deadly parasite

 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during a visit to Lake Jackson, Texas on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. A Houston-area official says it will take 60 days to ensure a city drinking water system is purged of a deadly, microscopic parasite that led to warnings over the weekend not to drink tap water. (Marie D. De Jesús/Houston Chronicle via AP)

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UPDATED 10:02 AM PT – Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Texas officials gave an update on efforts to purge the water source for the city of Lake Jackson of a deadly brain eating parasite. On Tuesday, officials from the state’s Commission for Environmental Quality and Gov. Gregg Abbott addressed concerns surrounding the contamination.

Residents in Lake Jackson have been advised to boil their water before consuming it. This all follows the death of a six-year-old boy earlier this month after he became infected from the parasite.

Officials said the process of decontaminating the water could take close to three months.

“The path forward for the citizens of Lake Jackson is not going to be one that’s short, we have to get through the boil water notice first, which could take two to three weeks,”explained Toby Baker, spokesman for the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality. “After that, we have to get chlorine levels to a state that would that can burn the entire system, scour the system and kill the amoebas.”

Officials said it’s very rare to be killed by the parasite as water has to enter through the nose in order for the parasite to reach the brain. However, they noted they are committed to finding out how the water supply was contaminated.

National Guard soldiers and City of Lake Jackson employees distribute bottled water to residents Monday, Sept. 28, 2020, in Lake Jackson, Texas. Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration on Sunday after a brain-eating amoeba was discovered in the water supply for Lake Jackson, Texas. (Marie D. De Jesús/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Graham slams FBI actions in Russia probe: ‘If that doesn’t bother America, then something’s wrong’

Graham

Carter Page

Former Trump 2016 campaign adviser Carter Page "deserves to be compensated" after former FBI director James Comey testified about the Russia investigation before the Senate Judiciary Committee, panel chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told “Hannity" Wednesday.

“What happened here is the Democratic Party hired a foreign agent, Christopher Steele, who enlisted a suspected Russian spy to create a dossier that was a bunch of garbage, Russian disinformation,” Graham told host Sean Hannity. “And the FBI bought it hook, line and sinker, used it four times against an American citizen, a Trump campaign person, to get a warrant. If that doesn't bother America, then something's wrong.

“To my Democratic colleagues," Graham added, "if the shoe were on the other foot, you'd be burning the place down."

Graham characterized Comey as having a “convenient memory” of what was “damning” to President Trump but denying any incriminating conduct by his investigators.

“It's hard to believe that the director of the FBI in charge of an investigation of a sitting president wasn't told, ‘Oh, by the way, the sub-source who prepared the dossier we think is a Russian agent [dating] back to 2009,'” he said.

If someone involved were to come forward and testify that Comey had been briefed on the background of the dossier, Graham said, Comey would be in “big-time trouble.”

In addition, the chairman added, Comey made the "pretty stunning" admission that "if he knew then what he knows now, he would not sign the warrant application against Carter Page.

"This is a big day for Carter Page," Graham added. "I think he's going to become a rich man."

 

Michigan Senate passes voter-fraud bill that would make some offenses a felony

Undecided Michigan voters weigh President Trump vs. Joe Biden

Michigan’s state Senate passed two bills in a bipartisan vote Wednesday that would make it a felony to request a mail-in ballot under another person’s name or to fill out an application for multiple ballots.

“Our government is based on the notion that people get to choose their elected voices in the capital," Republican state Sen. Kevin Daley, a sponsor of the bills, said. "People need to have confidence that their elections are being conducted honestly, and that they can trust the results.”

Michigan is sending out a mail-in ballot application to all registered voters for the Nov. 3 election because of the coronavirus pandemic. By the end of September, more than 2.5 million voters – 32% overall -- had already requested a ballot in the state, according to the Oakland Press in Oakland County, Mich.

More than 2.6 million voters requested mail-in ballots in Michigan's August primary and a spokesperson for Michigan's Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said officials expected that number to double for the general election, according to MLive.com.

Knowingly putting false information on a ballot and ballot harvesting also would be felonies under the proposal. Writing fraudulent information on a ballot is currently a misdemeanor in the state.

The Republican-led Senate approved the bills 32-6.

“I think the strong support shows that both Republicans and Democrats can agree that securing our elections is important,” Daley told MLive. “It’s amazing what we can do when we work together. We should all be able to trust the outcome of elections - win or lose.”

President Trump has repeatedly expressed concerns over mail-in ballots and polling shows Democrats plan to vote by mail in larger numbers than Republicans who are choosing largely to vote in-person.

Republican Rep. Anne Bollin told MLive, “This is one step in the direction to enhance the trust factor in integrity in our elections on behalf of the voter.”

Despite the concerns, studies have shown that voter fraud has proved exceedingly rare.

Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer hasn’t said whether she’ll sign the legislation.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

2020 Presidential Debate Cartoons

 

James Comey to testify before Congress about Russia probe: What to know

Former FBI director James Comey will make his long-awaited appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday to answer questions regarding the FBI’s actions in the early stages of the Russia investigation.

Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has spent months criticizing the bureau for inaccuracies and omissions in court filings used to obtain warrants to monitor former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page and the FBI’s reliance on ex-British spy Christopher Steele’s dossier, which had been debunked by Steele’s own sub-source during an FBI interview.

Graham has speculated that the lower-level FBI employees who conducted the interview with the sub-source were not the only ones who knew that the sub-source said the information in the dossier was unreliable.

“We’re not going to let the system blame some low-level intel analyst or case agent for defrauding the court,” Graham told Fox News in June. “I believe it goes to the very top, and I’m going to get to the bottom of it and that means Sally Yates and [Rod] Rosenstein, and [Andrew] McCabe and Comey are all going to come before the committee and they’re going to be asked, ‘What did you know and when did you know it?’”

The details of the FBI’s activities related to its use of the dossier for obtaining a warrant (and subsequent warrant renewals) from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court were revealed by a Justice Department Inspector General’s report.

Attorney General Bill Barr revealed in a letter to Graham last week that a previously classified footnote in that report contained information related to the dossier’s reliability, particularly regarding the sub-source.

“A footnote in the Inspector General's report contains information, which up till now has been classified and redacted, bearing on the reliability of the Steele dossier," Barr wrote. "The FBI has declassified the relevant portion of the footnote, number 334, which states that 'the Primary Sub-source was the subject of an FBI counterintelligence investigation from 2009 to 2011 that assessed his or her contacts with suspected Russian intelligence officers.'"

Fox News reported in July that the primary source of Steele’s election reporting was not a current or former Russian official, but a non-Russian-based contract employee of Steele’s firm. Fox News also reported in July that the information the source provided Steele that served as the basis of the dossier was “second and third-hand information and rumors at best.”

Comey has gone on record in the past claiming that the FBI “did not intentionally commit wrongdoing” but described the FBI's failures as "real sloppiness."

Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

 

North Carolina Democrat opposing GOP's Thom Tillis sparks BBQ-vs.-grilling controversy with tweet

A U.S. Senate candidate in North Carolina sparked a controversy of sorts this week with a tweet in which he appeared to conflate barbecuing with grilling, an apparent no-no in the Tar Heel state.

"There's nothing better than BBQ—except for winning this Senate seat, of course,” Democrat Cal Cunningham tweeted Monday -- along with a photo of himself in front of a backyard grill. He also appeared to be selling campaign aprons saying "Ambassador for North Carolina BBQ."

Cunnigham is running against Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, who has held the seat since January 2015.

One Twitter critic wrote, “Fun fact: Carolina bbq means whole hog. You’re grilling bro. Not even close to the same thing."

“He’s grilling over gas? Is there time to get my absentee ballot back?” another joked.

Even the media was thrown into a tizzy over the food faux pas.

Incumbent U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican, left, faces a challenge from Democrat Cal Cunningham.

“Sir. Respectfully, unless there is a hog hiding in that gas grill, the only BBQ in this photo is written on your apron. #blasphemy,” Associated Press political reporter Meg Kinnard tweeted.

The North Carolina Republican Party also called the tweet a "scandal."

Cunningham, 47, a North Carolina native, told the News & Observer in Raleigh that “No self-respecting son of Lexington would ever” mix up barbecuing and grilling. He said the burger and hotdog buns were just for show to help sell the aprons.

“I’ve probably been eating Lexington barbecue since before I had teeth,” he told the News & Observer. “Barbecue is a deep part of our culture. ... North Carolina barbecue is something I love very much.”

Tillis, meanwhile, appeared to seize the moment, tweeting “Did somebody say North Carolina BBQ?” while holding up his takeout from Parker's Barbecue restaurant.

Although, the News & Observer pointed out that Tillis, who has been running behind his challenger, in 2014 referred to “Surf n turf: cedar plank salmon and tenderloin steaks” as a “backyard BBQ.”

It could take days to find out if the fallout from BBQ-gate has any effect on the polls.