Hurricane Lee: Tropical Storm Lee has become a hurricane. It’s now Category 1, but as the storm moves over the warm waters of the Atlantic it is expected to intensify to a Category 5 hurricane and become the strongest storm so far this year. Although still hundreds of miles away, it is expected to create strong waves around islands in the Northeastern Caribbean. The hurricane is expected to shift from its current projected course, which has it moving directly toward Florida.
McConnell’s health: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says that he plans to serve his full term as minority leader and remain in his Senate seat until the end of his current term. During a meeting with Republican senators, he discussed a physician’s report that said he was in good health and did not suffer a stroke and that the two incidents in which he froze during public appearances likely were caused by dehydration or a lingering effect of the concussion McConnell suffered during a fall.
Hunter Biden indictment: Court documents filed by federal prosecutors indicate they intend to seek a grand jury indictment of Hunter Biden, son of President Biden, in the next couple of weeks. The prosecutors did not say which charges would be involved. Biden and the Justice Department previously had reached a plea agreement on charges of late filing of income tax returns and possessing a gun while using illegal drugs but the plea agreement fell apart after being questioned by the judge who needed to approve it.
Texas barrier: A federal judge in Austin, Texas, has ordered the state to remove from the Rio Grande River the floating barrier than Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had ordered put in place to block immigrants from crossing at Eagle River, Texas. Judge David Ezra said the barrier was a hazard and that Texas had not produced any evidence that it actually stopped any illegal immigration. He ordered that Texas move the barrier out of the river and onto the shore by Sept. 15.
Secret Santos report: CBS News reports it has obtained a copy of a previously secret report prepared by an outside company that was hired by George Santos’ congressional campaign committee. The report detailed various aspects of Santos’ background and provided a shopping list of scandals that could surface during a Santos run for Congress. CBS said the report was prepared in 2021 and that as a result of the report several of the people Santos had working on his campaign urged him to forget about running. CBS News says that when he refused to drop out, those people quit his campaign.
Artificial intelligence: Morgan Stanley has announced that an artificial intelligence chat bot will be put into use later this month to listen to conversations between investors and Morgan Stanley financial advisers. The artificial intelligence system will then automatically create meeting summaries, emails, database updates and financial management tips. Morgan Stanley said it has tested the artificial intelligence system on 1,000 of its financial advisors and found that it provides valuable assistance with some tasks.
