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1 Judge Says Trump Hearings And Trial Will Be Streamed Live On Youtube
Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty and waived his right to appear for his arraignment early yesterday, then moved to sever his trial from the proceedings for the other 18 defendants in the case, but the biggest announcement yesterday concerned how visible the trial will be. Judge Scott McAfee said that the trial would be live-streamed on the Fulton County Superior Court’s YouTube channel, keeping with Georgia state court policy that leans toward allowing cameras during court proceedings. A trial date hasn’t been officially set in the case, but after a request for a speedy trial from co-defendant Kenneth Chesebro, a trial date for Chesebro was set for October 23rd. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis still wants to try all 19 defendants at the same time, but it’s not yet decided if that will happen. Judge McAfee set the arraignment date for all 19 defendants for Wednesday, September 6th.
2 Hurricane Idalia Leaves Flood Waters And Thousands Without Power
While speaking at the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency yesterday, President Joe Biden made several announcements related to the recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Idalia. Biden said he had talked with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, saying the two had talked so much this week they should have each other “on speed dial,” and said he had told DeSantis that he had approved a major disaster declaration for the state. Biden also talked with the governors of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina yesterday morning to offer assistance, and approved an emergency declaration for South Carolina. Biden also announced that he’ll be traveling to Florida tomorrow morning to survey the damage from the storm. As of yesterday afternoon, around 135,000 customers were still without power in Florida and Georgia according to poweroutage.us, with DeSantis saying most of the remaining outages in Florida were in the hard-hit Big Bend area of the state.
3 Capitol Doctor Says McConnell Is "Medically Cleared" For Work
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has been cleared for his duties by the attending physician of Congress. Dr. Brian Monahan said in a letter distributed by McConnell’s office that “After evaluating yesterday’s incident, I have informed Leader McConnell that he is medically clear to continue with his schedule as planned.” The incident Dr. Monahan referred to was the second instance of McConnell freezing while taking questions from reporters, this time pausing for around 30 seconds after being asked by a reporter what his thoughts were on running for reelection in 2026. There was limited discussion after McConnell’s first “freeze” in July during a weekly Senate press briefing, but this week’s episode is prompting questions about his health and ability to continue to serve. President Biden told reporters yesterday that he had spoken to McConnell and “He was his old self on the telephone.” Biden went on to attribute the episodes to the aftereffects of a concussion McConnell suffered in a fall earlier this year.