7. Alabama’s Charles Barkley says he would stand for the anthem and disagrees with Nike depicting Colin Kaepernick as a hero
— Never one to shy away from controversial topics, Barkley spoke about the standing for the National Anthem and asked what Nike is going to next on WBRC’s podcast. He said, “I’m sick of talking about kneeling. What are y’all actually going to do for the community? Because all they’re doing is making people mad, with the kneeling.”
— He thinks the media is to blame in a lot of ways,. Barkley added, “[M]ost black people, we’re not thinking every time we leave our house we’re going to get shot by the cops. That’s disingenuous by the media, and when it happens, it explodes. But it’s interesting – they never show it when [police] kill a white person.”
6. Kanye West wants to bring Kaepernick to the White House and get him and President Donald Trump on the same page
— Fresh off of his controversial appearance on “Saturday Night Live,” West thinks he has a plan that can bring Kaepernick and Trump together to heal the divide.
— West thinks that if he can get Kaepernick to the White House they can “remove that ‘sons of bitches’ statement and we can be on the same page.” Trump has sought this before.
5. Congressman Keith Ellison’s (D-MN) accuser refuses to hand over a video to a Democratic lawyer. Her claim is called unsubstantiated
— Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party investigated the matter, privately, but was denied access to a video of the alleged event, so they declared the matter unsubstantiated.
— The attorney suggested, “An allegation standing alone is not necessarily sufficient to conclude that conduct occurred, particularly where the accusing party declines to produce supporting evidence that she herself asserts exists,” which is a standard not afforded to Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
4. Alabama’s hospitals have problems. No one has a real solution, but this could be an opening for Walt Maddox
— 75 percent of Alabama’s hospitals are losing money. $530 million has gone unpaid, and there is no end in sight.
— Ivey’s opponent Walt Maddox can’t explain how he would pay for this Medicaid expansion and the state’s political media can’t stop cheering him on long enough to ask him about it.
3. Trump gets a win on Canadian trade
— Trump’s deal ropes Canada, Mexico and the United States into a new, but similar, trade deal that includes better options for American dairy exports, dispute resolution, tax-free online shopping rules and relaxing of U.S. threats of auto tariffs. It also keeps the $1.2 trillion trade zone active.
— Now, China remains the last outstanding piece of Trump’s trade puzzle, His tactics have worked with Korea, Canada, Mexico, Japan and the EU. China is all that remains.
2. The Kavanaugh mess is embarrassing for the press and could cost Democrats their chance at taking over the U.S. Senate
— Last night, NBC Nightly News had three different debunked pieces. Most embarrassingly, they ran a piece on the third accuser that ended with the following embarrassing admission: “[T]onight, NBC News not been able to independently corroborate Swetnick’s claims. And when we asked Avenatti for any witnesses who could back up her account, he provided four names of friends Swetnick says went to parties with her. One of them says he does not recall anyone named Julie Swetnick, another of the friends she named is deceased. NBC News has reached out to the other two and has not heard back.”
— Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) is facing a tough re-election battle and her voters support the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh at a 60 percent clip while she is trailing her opponent 51 to 41 percent. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) is less likely to get female votes now than before her opposition to Kavanaugh.
1. President Donald Trump expands the scope of the FBI investigation into allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh
— As soon as Sen. Flake (R-AZ) required an FBI probe to get his vote, the media and Democrats declared it wasn’t enough. Trump caved and officially allowed the FBI to do whatever it wants with this probe including interviewing Kavanaugh and his less credible accusers.
— According to Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Democrats do not care what is in the report because they have already convicted Kavanaugh. He also said a vote will be held this week.
