AP News in Brief at 12:04 a.m. EDT
Democrats pound their message: To oust Trump, you must vote
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Former President Barack Obama warned Wednesday night that American democracy may not survive if Donald Trump is reelected, delivering a scathingly remarkable assessment of his successor at the Democratic National Convention. Then delegates broke a historic barrier by nominating Kamala Harris as Joe Biden's running mate and the first Black woman on a national political ticket.
Obama, himself a barrier breaker as the nation's first Black president, pleaded with voters to “embrace your own responsibility as citizens – to make sure that the basic tenets of our democracy endure. Because that’s what is at stake right now. Our democracy.”
The third night of the Democrats’ four-day convention stood out for its urgent focus on voting and the party’s commitment to progressive values on issues like gun violence and climate change. Democrats targeted Trump’s policies as dangerous, casting him as cruel in his treatment of immigrants, disinterested in the nation’s climate crisis and over his head on virtually all of the nation’s most pressing challenges.
At the same time, high-profile party figures spoke directly to women and all voters of color, whose energy this fall could ultimately decide the outcome.
Harris, a 55-year-old California senator and daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, addressed race and equality in a personal way Biden cannot when he formally accepts his party's presidential nomination on Thursday.
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Democratic convention takeaways: Make history, pound Trump
There has been one persistent theme in the Democratic National Convention so far: to portray President Donald Trump in highly personal ways as one unsuited for the White House both in skills and temperament. And no one, not even former President Barack Obama, has been holding back.
Here are some key takeaways from the third night of the convention.
OBAMA, GLOVES OFF
Former President Barack Obama came to power on the airy notions of “hope and change.” He governed with a largely calm and cerebral air, and continued that in his post-White House years.
On Wednesday, Obama dispensed with decorum and delivered a direct hit on Trump, a striking condemnation and a call to Americans, particularly young ones, to not let democracy be taken from them.
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The Latest: Harris makes history in accepting VP nomination
WASHINGTON (AP) — Kamala Harris has made history night as the first Black woman to accept a spot on a major party’s presidential ticket.
In her highly anticipated address capping the third night of the virtual Democratic National Convention, Harris mixed her polish as a former prosecutor with deeply personal tales of her upbringing to argue that she and Joe Biden can rejuvenate a country ravaged by a pandemic and deeply divided by partisan bitterness.
Harris evoked the lessons of her late mother, Shyamala Gopalan, a biologist and Indian immigrant, saying Wednesday that she instilled in her a vision of “our nation as a beloved community -- where all are welcome, no matter what we look like, where we come from, or who we love.”
“There is no vaccine for racism,” Harris said. “We have got to do the work.”
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California wildfires chase people from homes into smoky air
VACAVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Crews worked in blistering heat Wednesday to beat back wildfires that ignited across Northern California, sending thousands of people from their homes into smoky air, briefly halting traffic on an interstate and killing a pilot on a firefighting mission.
Hundreds of fires were burning across California, including 23 major fires or groups of fires that Gov. Gavin Newsom blamed on "this extraordinary weather that we’re experiencing and all of these lightning strikes.” He said the state has recorded nearly 11,000 lightning strikes in 72 hours and knows of 367 fires.
Ash and smoke filled the air in San Francisco, which is surrounded by wildfires burning to the north, east and south. The LNU Lightning Complex is made up of several fires in five counties north of San Francisco, including in Vacaville, a city of about 100,000 people between San Francisco and Sacramento.
Nearby Travis Air Force Base ordered non-mission essential personnel to evacuate, officials said.
The fire had consumed nearly 194 square miles (502 square kilometers) Wednesday night, an area larger than the size of San Jose.
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Cuomo brushes back AP report of care home death undercount
NEW YORK (AP) — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo responded Wednesday to an Associated Press report that his state’s coronavirus death toll in nursing homes could be a significant undercount, saying it makes sense to include only those residents who died on the home’s property.
Unlike the federal government and every other state with major outbreaks, only New York explicitly says that it counts just residents who died on nursing home property and not those who were transported to hospitals and died there.
“If you die in the nursing home, it’s a nursing home death. If you die in the hospital, it’s called a hospital death,” the Democratic governor said during an interview on Albany public radio station WAMC. “It doesn’t say where were you before.”
Cuomo said if New York were to count a death as a nursing home death and a hospital death, that could lead to a “double count.”
“And If I’m a nursing home operator, I say: ‘Don’t say that person died in my nursing home, because they didn’t,’” Cuomo said. ”‘They died in the hospital. And if the hospital did a better job, they wouldn’t have died. So why do I get the blame for the death when it didn’t happen in my nursing home?’ So it depends on how you want to argue it.”
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Reports: Michigan reaches $600M deal in Flint water crisis
Michigan will pay $600 million to compensate Flint residents whose health was damaged by lead-tainted drinking water after the city heeded state regulators’ advice not to treat it properly, an attorney involved in the negotiations told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Details will be released later this week, according to the attorney, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about it ahead of an official announcement. The settlement was first reported by The Detroit News, MLive.com and WXZY-TV.
It is intended to resolve all legal actions against the state for its role in a disaster that made the impoverished, majority-Black city a nationwide symbol of governmental mismanagement, the attorney said.
The offices of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel have been negotiating for more than 18 months with lawyers for thousands of Flint residents who have filed suits against the state.
Ryan Jarvi, a spokesman for Nessel, declined to confirm the reports of a deal Wednesday night.
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Trump: US demands restoration of UN sanctions against Iran
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States will demand Thursday that all United Nations sanctions be reimposed against Iran, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday, a move that follows America's embarrassing failure to extend an arms embargo against Tehran.
The administration’s insistence on snapping back international sanctions against Iran sets the stage for a contentious dispute. It's possible that the U.S. call will be ignored by other U.N. members — an outcome that could call into question the U.N. Security Council’s ability to enforce its own legally binding decisions.
“Two years ago I withdrew the United States from the disastrous Iran nuclear deal, which was a product of the Obama-Biden foreign policy failure — a failure like few people have seen in terms of the amount of money we paid for absolutely nothing and a short-term deal," Trump said.
He pledged that under his administration, Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.
“If and when I win the election, within the first month, Iran will come to us and they are going to be asking for a deal so quickly because they are doing very poorly," he said, adding that sanctions have crippled Iran's economy and limited the amount of money it can use to support militant groups.
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NKorea to unveil new economic plans in January party meeting
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea will hold a rare ruling party congress in January where leader Kim Jong Un will announce a new five-year plan to develop the country’s dismal economy ravaged by U.S.-led sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic, state media said Thursday.
The plans were confirmed Wednesday during a plenary meeting of the Workers’ Party’s decision-making Central Committee where Kim acknowledged economic shortcomings caused by “unexpected and inevitable challenges in various aspects and the situation in the region surrounding the Korean Peninsula.”
The report by Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency didn’t directly mention nuclear diplomacy with the United States, which has stalled over disagreements in exchanging sanctions relief and denuclearization steps.
The Workers’ Party last convened for a full congress in 2016, which was its first in 36 years, where Kim announced his initial five-year national development plan, which included goals for improving power supply and increasing agricultural and manufacturing production.
Entering the plan’s final year, Kim during the Central Committee’s last plenary meeting in December declared a “frontal breakthrough” against sanctions while urging his nation to stay resilient in the struggle for economic self-reliance.
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Trump praises QAnon conspiracists, appreciates support
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday praised the supporters of QAnon, a convoluted, pro-Trump conspiracy theory, and suggested he appreciates their support of his candidacy.
Speaking during a press conference at the White House, Trump courted the support of those who put stock in the conspiracy theory, saying, “I heard that these are people that love our country." It was Trump's first public comment on the subject and continued a pattern of president appearing unwilling to resoundingly condemn extremists who support his candidacy.
QAnon has ricocheted around the darker corners of the internet since late 2017, but has been creeping into mainstream politics more and more. The baseless theory centers on an alleged anonymous, high-ranking government official known as “Q” who shares information about an anti-Trump “deep state” often tied to satanism and child sex trafficking.
Trump insisted he hadn't heard much about the movement, “other than I understand they like me very much” and "it is gaining in popularity.”
Trump has retweeted QAnon-promoting accounts, and shirts and hats with QAnon symbols and slogans are not uncommon at his rallies.
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Reds broadcaster Thom Brennaman uses anti-gay slur on air
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Reds broadcaster Thom Brennaman used an anti-gay slur on air during Cincinnati's game Wednesday night and later left the broadcast after apologizing.
Brennaman used the slur moments after the Fox Sports Ohio feed returned from a commercial break before the top of the seventh inning in the first game of a doubleheader at Kansas City. Brennaman did not seem to realize he was already on air.
The 56-year-old Brennaman remained on air in the second game until the top of the fifth inning, when he spoke directly to the camera before handing off play-by-play duties.
“I made a comment earlier tonight that I guess went out over the air that I am deeply ashamed of,” he said. “If I have hurt anyone out there, I can’t tell you how much I say from the bottom of my heart, I am very, very sorry.”
After pausing to announce a home run by Cincinnati's Nick Castellanos, Brennaman added: “I don’t know if I’m going to be putting on this headset again” and apologized to the Reds, Fox Sports and his coworkers.