1 The Cleanup Begins As Laura Is Downgraded To A Tropical Depression
Hurricane Laura wasn’t as nasty as predicted – but she still carved a pretty nasty path in her wake after coming ashore early yesterday morning. In Louisiana, Governor John Bel Edwards says six people are dead – four due to trees falling on homes, one from carbon monoxide (due to a generator in the home) and one drowning. Edwards said there's a great deal of damage in the state due to rain and wind from Laura – and hundreds of thousands are without power. In Texas, it was much the same as Governor Greg Abbott says the state dodged a bullet, but notes there was still significant damage. Most of it was centered around the city of Orange, which is right on the Texas/ Louisiana line. Although Laura has now been downgraded to a tropical depression, she’s still causing plenty of problems – and that’s easy to understand when you consider she’s kicking off maximum sustained winds of 65 miles-per-hour. Laura is forecast to move into the mid-Mississippi Valley today and the mid-Atlantic states tomorrow.
2 Trump Calls This The "Most Important Election" In U.S. History
President Trump is calling this the "most important election" in U.S. history. As Trump formally accepted his party's presidential nomination during the Republican National Convention, he hammered Democrats – and specifically, his opponent, Joe Biden. Trump's acceptance speech ran more than an hour.Trump called Biden "weak" and a "Trojan horse for socialism."Trump said the "radical left" will defund police departments and said the U.S. must never allow "mob rule."Trump again defended his administration's response to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak and vowed to "crush" the virus.Trump blamed China for the pandemic and said Biden's plan is not a solution to the virus, but rather a surrender.
3 Presidential Debates: Will They Or Won’t They?
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi thinks there should be no presidential debates in the fall. At a briefing, Pelosi told reporters that President Trump will “probably act” in a way that is "beneath the dignity of the presidency." She argues that Trump "does that every day” and predicted that Trump will "belittle what the debates are supposed to be about." She insisted that Trump has no respect for the office he holds. Pelosi also accused Trump of trying to undermine the election with unfounded criticism of mail-in voting. For his part, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden says he is ready and willing to take the stage with President Trump this fall. Biden was interviewed by MSNBC and said his campaign is following the guidelines from the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. Biden said he expects to be an on-stage fact-checker during the Debates. The nonpartisan commission has scheduled three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate.