McCarthy’s future: Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida says he will file this week to force a vote to remove Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker. Gaetz is one of the right-wing extremists who were upset by the bipartisan deal that McCarthy helped work out on Saturday to avoid a government shutdown. The temporary funding measure keeps the government funded until Nov. 17. It is expected that there will be additional bipartisan cooperation in both the House and Senate to reach a deal keeping the government open after the current temporary funding law expires.
Trump trial begins: Donald Trump said at a New York courthouse this morning that New York Attorney General Letitia James is a racist and the judge presiding over his trial that began today is prejudiced against him. The trial is in James’ lawsuit alleging business fraud by Trump, some Trump family members, The Trump Organization and certain company executives. Judge Arthur Engoron already has ruled that the defendants did commit fraud against banks, insurance companies and government tax agencies. Trump has argued that he did nothing wrong in providing incorrect financial statements because they carried disclaimers warning they shouldn’t be relied upon. The trial could result in Trump being banned from doing business in New York state.
Nobel Prize: Two scientists have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their work in developing technology that enabled the creation of Covid-19 vaccines. The scientists are Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman. Both teach at the University of Pennsylvania and Karikó also is a professor at a university in Hungary. They were instrumental in developing mRNA technology that tells the human body to produce cells that block spike proteins on the surface of the Covid virus, keeping the virus from invading human cells.
Powerball Jackpot: The Powerball Jackpot drawing tonight will be for $1.04 billion. There was no winner of the jackpot in Saturday’s drawing. Someone won $1.08 billion in a drawing held July 19, but whoever bought the winning ticket that was sold in California has not yet come forward. The odds of winning tonight’s drawing are about 292 million to one.
Garland interview: Attorney General Merrick Garland said in an interview on the CBS News program “60 Minutes” last night that the Biden White House has not tried to exert any influence on any investigations or prosecutions that have taken place by the Justice Department. Garland said that if President Biden tried to exert influence such as asking Garland to go after Donald Trump for political reasons he would resign but doesn’t expect that President Biden would ever do such a thing.
Carter’s birthday: Former President Jimmy Carter celebrated his 99th birthday yesterday at his home in Plains, Georgia, with wife Rosalynn and other family members. Carter received congratulations from world leaders and The White House erected a replica of a birthday cake for Carter on the front lawn. Carter has been receiving hospice care at home for about seven months.
