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  Published Date: 2020-08-12 

 Emergency services have been called to a major train derailment near Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire, where smoke can be seen billowing from the track amid reports of an engine fire and serious injuries. About 30 emergency vehicles, including an air ambulance, are reported to be at the scene already, with more continuing to arrive. British Transport Police confirmed they were responding to the incident, stating: “Officers were called to the scene at 9.43am and remain there alongside paramedics and the fire brigade.” Describing the incident as “extremely serious”, Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, confirmed before first minister’s questions in the Holyrood chamber that there were early reports of serious injuries, and that a major incident had been declared. She added that her thoughts were with all those involved. This is an extremely serious incident. I’ve had an initial report from Network Rail and the emergency services and am being kept updated. All my thoughts are with those involved. https://t.co/veKAgMwZ36 — Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) August 12, 2020 The UK transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said he had been briefed on the incident by Network Rail, tweeting: “British Transport Police and Network Rail are on location, along with rail workers who were nearby. The UK government will provide every support. My thoughts are with those involved and their families.” Some witness reports on social media suggested the train had fallen down an embankment after running into a landslip. North-east Scotland was one of the areas badly affected by torrential rain and thunderstorms overnight, with flooding causing travel disruption and continued school closures on Wednesday morning. Flooding in Stonehaven on Wednesday. Photograph: Martin Anderson/PA The River Carron burst its banks and was pictured flowing through Stonehaven’s town centre. Mick Lynch, the assistant general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, said: “RMT is aware of the major incident at Stonehaven and our reps are liaising directly at senior level with both ScotRail and Network Rail. “Our priority at this time is to support our members, their colleagues and their families and to do all that we can to assist the rescue operation which RMT members are currently involved in. “The facts behind this incident will need to be established in due course but at this stage we are focused on support and assistance and our thoughts are with all those impacted by this tragedy.” 

  Published Date: 2020-08-12 

 10:34 Social media is full of good wishes and crossed fingers for the bulk of Scotland’s nursery and school pupils who return to full-time education this morning, although heavy storms overnight along the country’s east coast mean that the reopening of a number of schools in Fife and the north east has been delayed after routes became flooded. Older pupils in particular must still be reeling from the emotional rollercoaster of the past week which saw thousands of exam estimates significantly downgraded, especially in schools in poorer areas, and then reinstated yesterday by the education secretary, John Swinney, following furious protests. But despite this U-turn, the Times Scotland this morning predicts the SNP is on course for an unprecedented majority at Holyrood next year. The latest YouGov figures represent the highest levels of support for the SNP – at 57% – and independence – at 53% – ever recorded by the company. The polling, which was conducted during the exams row, finds that Nicola Sturgeon’s personal approval rating is 50, compared with five when YouGov last asked the question a year ago. By comparison, Boris Johnson’s rating is -50 having fallen by 16 points, suggesting once again that Sturgeon’s handling of the coronavirus crisis puts her party on a strong footing for next May’s Scottish parliament elections, and for securing a mandate for a second independence referendum. 

  Published Date: 2020-08-12 

 A charter flight to remove asylum seekers who recently arrived in the UK on small boats is due to take off despite last-minute high court actions in the early hours of Wednesday morning and other interventions which have led to at least 19 people not boarding the plane. The Home Office said up to 20 people would be placed on the charter flight destined for France and Germany. The Guardian knows of 19 who either had their removal directions deferred by the Home Office or stayed by the high court a few hours ago, or who believed they would be on the flight but then found out that the Home Office had never set removal directions for them. The 19 who have a stay of execution now have an opportunity to make more detailed asylum representations in the UK. The Home Office argued that all had previously been in another European country – France or Germany – and should have their asylum claims dealt with there under a process known as the Dublin convention, under which an asylum claim can be dealt with in the first safe European country an asylum seeker arrives in. The vulnerability of many of those threatened with removal to mainland Europe is stark, with at least nine thought to be suffering from PTSD, at least eight survivors of torture, and seven at risk of suicide, with several having attempted suicide since arriving in the UK .At least three are victims of trafficking and at least three are suffering from physical injuries acquired through torture. Many of the asylum seekers were detained in the last week of July. The charter flight was due to take off at 7.45am but the Home Office was not disclosing the location the plane was due to fly from. The majority of the asylum seekers due to fly had their tickets deferred by the Home Office before any high court action was required. Three cases were the subject of emergency out-of-hours high court action late on Tuesday evening and into the early hours of Wednesday morning. All three were granted orders staying their removal in order for more detailed submissions about their asylum claims to be made. They lodged pre-action protocols on Monday, the first stage in the judicial review process, to try to halt the Home Office action to remove them. Those involved in the legal action come from countries including Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Yemen. The 19 people due to fly were represented by Duncan Lewis solicitors. Helen Baron, a trainee solicitor at Duncan Lewis Solicitors, said: “We are extremely relieved that 19 clients at risk of removal on August 12 have had their removal directions deferred by the Home Office, stayed by the court or confirmed that the Home Office never in fact set directions for their removal. Many are extremely vulnerable and have suffered further trauma from being detained and their fear of removal after surviving horrors in Yemen, Kuwait, Iran and Afghanistan as well as en route to the UK. We will continue to fight for their protection in the UK.” Home Office sources confirmed that the charter flight was due to take off on Wednesday morning but declined to confirm how many people would be onboard. It is understood that they will issue a statement later . The Home Office does not release comprehensive statistics on those who arrive in the UK in small boats, but analysis by PA Media puts the number who have crossed the Channel this year at more than 4,100, The home secretary, Priti Patel, previously said the small boat arrivals would become an “infrequent phenomenon”. But instead the numbers crossing have increased. She has appointed a former Royal Marine, Dan O’Mahoney, as “clandestine Channel threat commander”. Humanitarian organisations and migration experts have urged the government to create safe and legal routes to the UK for asylum seekers, to reduce the number of people making risky sea journeys, and to strengthen family reunion provisions and offer humanitarian visas.  

  Published Date: 2020-08-12 

 Democrats from all corners of the party appeared largely united behind Joe Biden’s selection of the California senator Kamala Harris as his running mate on Tuesday. The responses came almost immediately after Biden unveiled Harris as his choice for the vice presidential nominee, less than a week before the Democratic national convention, where Biden will be formally nominated as the presidential candidate for his party. “I’ve known Senator @KamalaHarris for a long time. She is more than prepared for the job. She’s spent her career defending our Constitution and fighting for folks who need a fair shake,” Barack Obama tweeted. “This is a good day for our country. Now let’s go win this thing.” In this dystopian world, Kamala Harris sails above the presidential bar | Richard Wolffe Read more Hillary Clinton said she was “thrilled to welcome” Harris to the ticket. “She’s already proven herself to be an incredible public servant and leader,” the former presidential candidate tweeted. Harris had been one of Biden’s rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination until she dropped out of the race late last year, but both would be considered center-left, though Harris has cultivated some more progressive credentials. While she was often criticized as too much of a centrist and establishment candidate, as Biden was, praise also came from high-profile progressive leaders on Tuesday, including two of Biden’s other former rivals, the senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. “Congratulations to @KamalaHarris, who will make history as our next Vice President,” Sanders tweeted. “She understands what it takes to stand up for working people, fight for health care for all, and take down the most corrupt administration in history. Let’s get to work and win.” Warren, who had been in the running to be Biden’s running mate, tweeted that Harris would be a “great partner” to Biden “in making our government a powerful force for good in the fight for social, racial, and economic justice.” Play Video 4:59 Kamala Harris: memorable moments from Joe Biden's VP pick – video The liberal group Democracy for America (DFA), which had endorsed Sanders for president this year before he dropped out, also expressed support. “Vice President Biden’s selection of Senator Kamala Harris gives Democrats an historic opportunity to defeat Donald Trump, break through a glass ceiling for Black women, and win majorities in both the House and the Senate that can deliver the bold progressive reforms we need to restore America,” the group’s CEO, Yvette Simpson, said in a statement. Rahna Epting, executive director of the progressive public policy advocacy group MoveOn, said in a statement: “Members have shown excitement around a Harris pick. “Joe Biden made a powerful choice in Harris: a woman of incredible accomplishment, a fighter for our democracy, and a compassionate and empathetic leader,” she added. The Michigan congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, a progressive who has not endorsed Biden, tweeted: “I’ve fought alongside Senator @KamalaHarris for direct cash payments during the pandemic and for clean water as a human right. Now let’s defeat Trump and make those policies a reality.” The progressive New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was more muted in her reaction, reportedly telling USA Today that Harris “complements [Biden] really well” and “rounds out his ticket”. Harris “is aligned with him on quite a few issues”, she said. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Biden, Warren and Harris at a presidential debate in Houston in September. Photograph: Brian Cahn/ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock During the presidential primaries, one of the main criticisms of Harris was that she did not clearly define her positions. On healthcare, for example, she co-sponsored Sanders’s Medicare for All bill and said she favored eliminating private healthcare, before later unveiling a healthcare plan that kept a significant role for the industry. Harris has been a prominent voice on racial justice. But her record as California’s “top cop” has also drawn scrutiny from progressives over her approach to police reform, prisoners’ rights and truancy among other issues. Kamala Harris: can a 'top cop' win over progressives in 2020? Read more Critics had generally preferred one of the other finalists in Biden’s deliberations process for Biden’s running mate. While Warren was the favored potential running mate among the liberal wing of the Democratic party, others advocated for former Georgia state representative Stacey Abrams. But Harris fulfills a major requirement among some progressive Americans: that he pick a woman of color. And among the many candidates mentioned by Biden himself, or anonymous Democratic operatives in articles gaming out his choices, or pundits, there was no single person who would satisfy all the interest groups and sectors of the Democratic party. Play Video 2:45 Trump's surprise as Joe Biden selects Kamala Harris as running mate: 'She was very nasty' – video Biden also strongly considered the former Obama administration national security adviser Susan Rice, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, Illinois senator Tammy Duckworth, Florida congresswoman Val Demings, and California congresswoman Karen Bass. Donors for Harris, Biden, and other former presidential candidates said Harris’s qualifications were undeniable and she would breathe extra life into the Biden campaign. “Phone has blown up. People are fired up. The historic nature of it but also she’s a great campaigner who will help us win. She’s already gone thru primaries and is known,” a Harris campaign donor said in an email to the Guardian. Ami Copeland, a former national finance director for Obama’s first presidential campaign, said she did not “anticipate too much blowback” from Harris’s nomination. “Stakes are too high and it’s not 2016,” she said. Republicans, meanwhile, were eager to falsely paint Harris as a radical leftist, despite many in her own party seeing her as a centrist. At a press conference Tuesday afternoon Donald Trump said: “So she did very poorly in the primaries and now she’s chosen, so let’s see how that works out.” 

  Published Date: 2020-08-12 

 Opposition leaders jailed or driven out of country amid crackdown on protests over election results Authorities in Belarus say they have arrested more than 6,000 people during three nights of violently suppressed demonstrations against vote-rigging in Sunday’s disputed presidential election, as more footage and accounts emerged of police beating and violently detaining protesters. Opposition leaders have been jailed and driven out of the country in a massive crackdown following the election, which the election commission said was won in a landslide by President Alexander Lukashenko. Among those to have fled is Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the main opposition candidate, who left for Lithuania after an apparent threat to her children. Profile Who is Svetlana Tikhanovskaya? Show Hide Born in 1982 in Mikashevichy, Belarus, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya rose to prominence as an opposition leader to Alexander Lukashenko, after her husband Siarhei Tsikhanouski, a popular YouTuber, was arrested while preparing to stand for election. After she announced her intention to run in his place, Belarusian authorities thought they could safely leave Tikhanovskaya on the 2020 election ballot to provide a window dressing of democratic competition. Instead, Tikhanovskaya emerged as a formidable opponent, describing herself not as a leader, but a symbol, and promising swift new elections if she attained power. One of the “Chernobyl children” hosted in Ireland to help them recuperate from the effects of the nuclear accident in neighbouring Ukraine, as an opposition figure she drew crowds of thousands even in small cities, where people sang along to Changes, the 1987 song by the Soviet rock band Kino that became the soundtrack of a previous generation of people demanding a new kind of politics. Tikhanovskaya had sent her children out of Belarus during the campaign after she said she had received threats, and then in a video published days after she rejected the official result of the disputed election, a visibly distressed Tikhanovskaya indicated she had faced an ultimatum involving her family. She was forced to flee to neighbouring Lithuania. “God forbid you face the kind of choice that I faced,” she said. “Children are the most important thing in our lives.” Photograph: Natalia Fedosenko/TASS At a detention centre on the outskirts of the capital, Minsk, desperate families have gathered each morning begging police for information on relatives who have gone missing at the protests. In a rally in central Minsk on Wednesday, hundreds of women wearing white and holding flowers formed a human chain to protest against police brutality and mass arrests. The Belarus Free Theatre, an underground theatre group critical of the government, reported that two of its members had been arrested and said they were being held in desperate conditions. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Women take part in an event in support of detained and injured protesters in Minsk on Wednesday. Photograph: Natalia Fedosenko/Tass “Our managing directors #SvetlanaSugako and #NadezhdaBrodskaya were jailed for 10 and 13 days respectively. During their court hearings we were told that a single cell (~3x4m) now contains 36 people in female bloc and 50 in male,” the group tweeted. Dozens of journalists from Russia have been arrested, many from Russian news agencies, and news crews have been attacked by police and had their cameras broken. The Belarusian interior ministry tallied 3,000 detentions after rallies on Monday night, 2,000 on Tuesday, and another 1,000 on Wednesday, according to the agency’s Telegram feed. Internet service in Belarus appeared to improve on Wednesday after a nearly three-day blackout that appeared devised to throttle the protests. The blackout was a rare example in Europe of a government voluntarily knocking its entire country offline to stifle dissent. The EU has threatened to reimpose sanctions over suspected vote-rigging and the violent crackdown on demonstrators, and has announced an emergency meeting of foreign ministers on Friday to discuss Belarus. The bloc’s most senior foreign policy official, Josep Borrell, said Sunday’s vote had been “neither free nor fair”. Borrell has promised an “in-depth review” of EU relations with Belarus, threatening sanctions against “those responsible for the observed violence, unjustified arrests, and falsification of election results”. Profile Who is Alexander Lukashenko? Show Hide Born in August 1954 in Kopys, Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko has served as president of Belarus since the establishment of the office in July 1994. On his initial election, Lukashenko set about establishing an effective dictatorship, sustained by shamelessly rigged elections. Over the years, Lukashenko has offered his people a sort of Soviet-lite system that prizes tractor production and grain harvests over innovation and political freedoms, and the key part of his political offer has always been political and economic stability. Lukashenko tried to push this line again into the run-up to 2020’s disputed presidential vote, painting Belarus as an island of stability in a world buffeted by economic crises, political unrest and coronavirus. But the scale of discontent has shown that for many Belarusians, this messaging will no longer work. The 2020 elections have been described as the deepest crisis he has faced in his career, and in order to secure his supposedly crushing victory, Lukashenko required what appears to be some of the most brazen vote-rigging in recent European history. He appears to have subsequently forced his main opponent, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, into exile. After the election, in a congratulatory message, Vladimir Putin urged Lukashenko to consider further economic and legal integration with Russia, which the opposition has warned would undermine Belarus’s sovereignty. The man sometimes described as “Europe’s last dictator” may have engineered a sixth term in office, but the balance of power has shifted away from him in a way few would have thought possible even a month ago. Photograph: Sergei Grits/AP The Dutch foreign minister, Stefan Blok, said on Tuesday that a reintroduction of sanctions had not been ruled out, but it was important to avoid measures that would affect the Belarusian population. Any sanctions must win the support of all 27 member states, and doubts remain about backing from Hungary’s leader, Viktor Orbán, who in June called for remaining restrictions to be dropped. According to Belarus’s election commission, Tikhanovskaya took 10% of the vote while Lukashenko won 80%. Tikhanovskaya has filed a complaint against the results. On Tuesday evening, protesters in Minsk clashed with police, who used stun grenades and rubber bullets to try to disperse the crowds. Protesters’ anger intensified over police attacks on demonstrators laying flowers at the site where a young man was killed a day earlier. In a video published on Tuesday morning, a visibly distressed Tikhanovskaya indicated she had faced an ultimatum involving her family and had been forced to flee for neighbouring Lithuania. “God forbid you face the kind of choice that I faced,” she said. “Children are the most important thing in our lives.” Play Video 1:41 'No life is a good price': Belarus opposition leader posts video from Lithuania – video The circumstances of Tikhanovskaya’s departure suggested that Lukashenko was increasing pressure on her as he sought to quash the biggest protests of his 26 years in power. The first fatality was confirmed on Monday when police said a man died after an explosive device went off in his hand. Opposition supporters have blamed police for his death. On Tuesday, people laying flowers and white ribbon at the spot in Minsk where he died were allegedly targeted by riot police. The human rights group Viasna reported mass detentions in the cities of Grodno, Brest and Vitebsk. The White House said it was “deeply concerned” by the violence. Poland offered to act as a mediator between Lukashenko and the opposition and called for an emergency EU summit. Lukashenko, often referred to as Europe’s last dictator, has vowed not to allow Belarus to be “torn apart” and dismissed the protesters as pawns of foreign powers. The Belarusian foreign ministry said on Tuesday it had “irrefutable” evidence of “interference from abroad”. Additional reporting by Jennifer Rankin in Brussels and Martin Farrer 

  Published Date: 2020-08-12 

 313 jobs to go in publishing and shops, cafes and restaurants in London, Liverpool and St Ives Tate has announced 313 redundancies across its commercial enterprises, which include staff who work in publishing and in gallery shops, cafes and restaurants in London, Liverpool and St Ives. An email to staff was sent on Tuesday evening from the Tate director, Maria Balshaw, and the chief operating officer, Vicky Cheetham, announcing what they said were “difficult and painful” decisions. The figure – almost half of the 640 workforce – is bigger than the 200 redundancies which had previously been speculated on. Balshaw, speaking on Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs at the weekend, said 50% fewer visitors would be coming to the galleries for probably quite a long time. “Sadly, at the moment, the trading business is too big because we won’t be able to open all the cafes and the shops in the same way.” Tate Enterprises (TEL) staff who are members of the PCS union last week voted for industrial action, which could result in more than 100 workers going on strike from 17 August. Concerns have also been expressed that the job cuts could disproportionately affect black and minority ethnic staff. In their email, posted on Twitter by the White Pube, Balshaw and Cheetham address those concerns and say: “First of all it is important to say that we do not yet know the outcome until selection processes are completed. However, it is likely that the proportion of BAME colleagues across Tate Enterprises will remain broadly the same at the end of the process.” They say Tate has given TEL £5m from its reserves to cover losses and ensure the future of the business. “As well as this, Tate Gallery could have expected to receive at least £5m in income from TEL over the course of the year and this will now be lost.” Tate will benefit from a share of the government’s £1.57bn recovery package to help arts and culture in the UK, sectors which are among those hit hardest by the pandemic. PCS has said the figure for Tate is £7m. Despite this, “management is pushing ahead with unnecessary and damaging staff cuts which will greatly hinder the galleries from providing a unique cultural service”. Balshaw said the consultation on job losses had been delayed as long as possible. “We don’t want to lose any staff but we know we have to otherwise the business won’t be able to trade,” she told Lauren Laverne on Desert Island Discs. Staff who lose their jobs would be given the first opportunity to return post-Covid, she added. A joint statement from Hamish Anderson and Carmel Allen, directors of Tate Enterprises, said: “We have worked hard and exhaustively, to model as optimistically as we can for the future and to keep as many jobs as possible. “We regret that, following collective consultation, we will have to make 313 redundancies in Tate Enterprises Ltd. The selection process across these roles will take place over the coming weeks. It is with great sadness that we have been forced by the current circumstances to have to make these decisions. We recognise how difficult this must be for our colleagues and aim to be as supportive as we can while still ensuring the future of the business.” Job losses on an unprecedented scale are looming for galleries, theatres and music venues across the UK despite the government’s financial package. The Southbank Centre in London has announced 400 redundancies. An open letter has called the job cuts brutal and warned that a proposed restructuring will result in “irrevocable damage” to the centre. It has been signed by more than 7,000 people. Over the weekend the centre’s senior artistic team responded to the letter and said the centre would lose £25m over the course of the financial year. Almost all reserves have been used. “Our choices are limited,” they wrote. “We must radically reduce our expenditure.” 

  Published Date: 2020-08-12 

 Thunderstorm warnings are still in place for most of the UK on Wednesday, while high temperatures are forecast again for many parts of England. The Met Office has issued a yellow storm warning for all of England and the eastern half of Scotland, and a more serious amber warning for eastern Scotland between Edinburgh, Inverness and Aberdeen. An amber warning means people should be on alert for flash flooding and building damage from lightning strikes, floodwaters and hailstones. Delays to public transport, difficult driving conditions and possible road closures could also follow, and deep and fast-flowing floodwater could be a threat to human life. Under its yellow warning, the Met Office is predicting storms for north-west England, north Wales and the West Midlands in particular on Wednesday and Thursday. Chief meteorologist Steve Ramsdale said in these areas “exceptional rainfall totals could be seen of 60 millimetres in an hour with a very small chance of 150 millimetres of rainfall in three or four hours”. The Environment Agency has five flood alerts posted for possible flooding in areas around Birmingham, and 17 flood alerts are in place across Scotland. Heatwave conditions are forecast to continue in many parts of England, with a top temperature of 31C expected in London, Cambridge, Yeovil and Southampton. It will also be warm further north, where Leeds, Sheffield and Nottingham are expecting 30C, as are Birmingham and Cardiff. Ten properties in Lancashire were affected by flooding on Tuesday following overnight storms, the Environment Agency said. The rainfall caused the Burrow Beck waterway in Scotforth, south Lancaster, to rise by almost a metre in less than three hours, the agency’s flood risk manager, Andy Brown, said. The agency said further heavy showers could cause more flooding in mostly urban areas of England until Friday, with some homes being affected. 

  Published Date: 2020-08-12 

 President Donald Trump told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview on Monday afternoon in the Oval Office that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are “obstructionists” who were not “interested” in helping people in need. Asked to open the nearly 30-minute interview why he needed to continue coronavirus economic recovery aid via executive order instead of through legislation passed by Congress, Trump told Breitbart News that it is because “we have obstructionists on the other side.” “Because Nancy Pelosi and Cryin’ Chuck are absolutely obstructionists,” Trump said. “All they wanted to do was to get money to bail out Democratic cities and states that have been run poorly. They want bailout money. The bailout money is about a trillion dollars and it’s unacceptable. That’s about 90 percent of what they wanted.” In addition to the bailout money for failed blue states and Democrat-run cities, Trump said that Pelosi and Schumer were adamant about appropriating money toward the creation of a mail-in-voting system that he said would result in a “rigged election.” “In addition, they wanted money so that the election would end up being rigged. It would be a rigged election,” Trump said. “This would be a rigged election. This is going to be one of the great messes of all time if they’re allowed to do it, if the courts don’t stop it. So we’ll see what happens.” Asked if Pelosi should call Democrats back to Washington—she let them all go home on recess—to continue negotiations, he said he does not believe she or the Democrats were interested in helping people in need. “She wasn’t interested in the people,” Trump said. “She wasn’t interested in anything other than getting bailout money for her friends who are doing a bad job running the cities and states. Every one of those—practically every one of them is in trouble.” Asked if he meant by that that he believes Democrats are willing to hurt people to achieve their political agenda, he said he does. “Yeah, I guess—it depends on your definition of hurt,” Trump said. “But certainly they’re doing things that are inappropriate. It’s pretty terrible.” Trump said that despite Pelosi and Schumer refusing to agree with congressional Republicans and his administration—lead negotiators for the administration included Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows—his goal was to get cash directly into the hands of Americans who need it. “We want to get money to the people,” Trump said. On Saturday, while in Bedminster, New Jersey, Trump signed a series of four executive orders. One sets up a system with the states that redirects emergency funds to be used to continue an additional $400 per week in unemployment payments to those who need it on top of whatever they’re getting from state unemployment programs. That is less than the $600 per week that the CARES Act passed in March, created in the early days of the pandemic, for those who lost jobs. A second includes a payroll tax cut, and a third defers student loan payments further, while the fourth order delays evictions for those still struggling in the pandemic. Asked about the orders and what they do, Trump explained that the payroll tax cut and the additional $400 per week in unemployment payments are both big steps in the right direction but that he would have wanted to do more than the $400 per week if not for Pelosi and Schumer obstructing that. “Number one, the payroll tax cut is great. It’s a double—it’s employer and employee,” Trump said. “We already got one covered and now the other one is covered. So the payroll tax cut is a very big thing. Getting the money to the people is a very big thing, so we’re at 400 and the reason you can’t go higher than that is because they’ll need more money. We have a certain amount of money. So we’re giving as much as possible. But the reason we can’t go higher is because we would need additional funds. You understand?” Trump also hyped efforts his administration is engaged in to cut prescription drug prices. “You know something else we’re doing is prescription drug prices,” Trump said. “That’s separate but not really separate. We need a favored nations clause so whatever the country that’s paying the lowest price in the world, the United States has to match. Meaning they have to match as a price for the United States. That could bring down drug prices by 70 percent—seven oh. You ever hear that one before? Plus we do the rebates, plus we do the buy from other countries, like Canada buys for much less than the U.S. So Florida would be able to go out and buy their prescription drugs from Canada at 50 percent lower than they pay to a drug company for the exact same prescription. By the way, do you have any idea how big that is? Nobody has any idea.” This is the first of several forthcoming pieces on Trump’s latest exclusive interview with Breitbart News in the Oval Office. Shortly after this interview, Trump gave a news conference in the White House briefing room that was interrupted as U.S. Secret Service officials ushered him from the room after agents shot an armed person outside the White House grounds at the corner of Pennsylvania and 17th Avenue. The president rejoined the briefing moments later to inform the press what had happened. 

  Published Date: 2020-08-12 

 Presumptive Democrat nominee Joe Biden has selected Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) to be his running mate, making her the first black woman on a major White House ticket, the former vice president announced on social media Tuesday afternoon. “I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked @KamalaHarris — a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants — as my running mate,” Biden wrote on Twitter. The White House candidate continued: “Back when Kamala was Attorney General, she worked closely with Beau. I watched as they took on the big banks, lifted up working people, and protected women and kids from abuse. I was proud then, and I’m proud now to have her as my partner in this campaign.” Back when Kamala was Attorney General, she worked closely with Beau. I watched as they took on the big banks, lifted up working people, and protected women and kids from abuse. I was proud then, and I'm proud now to have her as my partner in this campaign. — Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 11, 2020 In a statement after her selection, Harris tweeted: “.@JoeBiden can unify the American people because he’s spent his life fighting for us. And as president, he’ll build an America that lives up to our ideals. I’m honored to join him as our party’s nominee for Vice President, and do what it takes to make him our Commander-in-Chief.” .@JoeBiden can unify the American people because he's spent his life fighting for us. And as president, he'll build an America that lives up to our ideals. I'm honored to join him as our party's nominee for Vice President, and do what it takes to make him our Commander-in-Chief. — Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 11, 2020 Following the announcement, the Biden campaign said both candidates will speak Wednesday in Wilmington, Delaware, “on working together to restore the soul of the nation and fight for working families to move the country forward.” Harris ended her own bid for the White House in December amid dismal poll numbers and reported turmoil in her campaign. Although the California Democrat launched her campaign with much fanfare, her failed path to the White House never generated support akin to top tier candidates such as Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and of course, her running mate, Biden. President Donald Trump’s re-elected campaign swiftly responded to Biden’s selection of Harris, branding the pair: “Slow Joe and Phony Kamala.” “Kamala Harris ran for president by rushing to the radical left, embracing Bernie’s plan for socialized medicine, calling for trillions in new taxes, attacking Joe Biden for racist policies,” the Trump campaign said in a video tweeted by President Trump. “They smartly spotted a phony — but not Joe Biden. He’s not that smart,” the ad continues, before adding Biden “is handing over the reins to Kamala” if the two win in November. “Slow Joe and Phony Kamala: Perfect together, wrong for America,” the ad concludes. Biden and Harris famously clashed in heated confrontations over the issue of busing to desegregate public schools during the Democrat presidential debates. As Breitbart News reported: [One of the] altercation[s] was initiated by CNN when the debate’s moderators asked Harris if her position against federally mandated busing was the same as the one touted by Biden. Harris began her response by saying it was “simply false” to claim she and the former vice president stood on the same side of the issue, before moving to broader denouncement of Biden and his recent praise of segregationists. Harris said that on the topic she and Biden could not “be further apart,” adding the former vice president was still refusing to acknowledge his past. The attack echoes the one Harris launched at the first debate when she confronted Biden for praising the “civility” of two segregationists Democrats, the late Sens. James Eastland (D-MS) and Herman Talmadge (D-GA). Biden had invoked the men, who dedicated their careers to halting the progress of civil rights, while touting on the campaign trail his ability to forge legislative “consensus.” [..] The rebuke left Biden reeling to respond. The former vice president accused Harris of mischaracterizing his record, but rather than offering proof the 76-year-old frontrunner only muddled his stance on busing and falsely claimed to have never praised racists. Harris, born in Oakland to an Indian mother and Jamaican father, was the second black woman to be elected in 2016 to the Senate. Harris’ record as California attorney general and district attorney in San Francisco was heavily scrutinized during the Democratic primary and turned off some liberals and younger Black voters who saw her as out of step on issues of systemic racism in the legal system and police brutality. She tried to strike a balance on these issues, declaring herself a “progressive prosecutor” who backs law enforcement reforms. Biden, who spent eight years as President Barack Obama’s vice president, has spent months weighing who would fill that same role in his White House. He pledged in March to select a woman as his vice president, easing frustration among Democrats that the presidential race would center on two white men in their 70s. The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

  Published Date: 2020-08-12 

 CNN editor-at-large Chris Cilizza suggested Tuesday that former Vice President Joe Biden would “step aside” to elevate his new running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), all but conceding that Biden will not finish his presidential term, if elected. Joe Biden made the pick that maximized his chances of continuing to make the race a straight referendum on Trump while also selecting someone whose resume suggests being ready to step in, if and when Biden decides to step aside. | Analysis by @CillizzaCNN https://t.co/Ek4d6sfGfT — CNN (@CNN) August 11, 2020 Cilizza argued that Biden’s choice reflected confidence that he will win the election in November — but also suggested that he might not be able to do the job. He wrote (emphasis added): At 55 years old, [Harris] represents a younger generation of leader — something that Biden, who will be 78 on Inauguration Day 2021, said was a major factor in his choice … What that all means is that Biden wants the race to be about him as little as possible. …. What Biden did is make the pick that maximized his chances of continuing to make the race a straight referendum on Trump while also selecting someone, in Harris, whose resume suggests will be ready to step in if and when Biden decides to step aside. Cilizza’s argument comes just days after CNN’s chief media correspondent, Brian Stelter, argued that it was “offensive and otherworldly” for conservatives to argue that Biden was too old and unhealthy to compete or to serve in office. Biden’s announcement of his running mate was also awkwardly worded in a way that suggested Harris might be expected “to lead this nation starting in January 2021”: Joe Biden in email to supporters: "I’ve decided that Kamala Harris is the best person to help me take this fight to Donald Trump and Mike Pence and then to lead this nation starting in January 2021." — NBC News (@NBCNews) August 11, 2020 Notably, CNN president Jeff Zucker endorsed Kamala Harris for California attorney general in the 2009-10 election, and helped her meet “movers and shakers” in New York. At the time, he was president of NBC Universal, and said that he was making a rare exception to his “very, very strict policy” of not supporting political candidates. Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His new book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.