| If it’s October in an election year, you can count on a new Bob Woodward book. His latest, “War,” is out soon and excerpts are already trickling out. The book says former President Donald Trump has kept regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin, albeit on a hush-hush basis. Trump denies this. The book also says that Trump supplied Putin with COVID-19 tests at a time when they were in short supply domestically, which Trump also denies. His campaign said the book “either belongs in the bargain bin of the fiction section of a discount bookstore or used as toilet tissue.” But those mentions are already filtering into the campaign. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, reacted incredulously to the new-but-disputed information. Speaking with broadcaster Howard Stern, Harris said “People in America were struggling to get tests and this guy is sending them to Russia, to a murderous dictator for his personal use?” Walz also brought it up in his campaign stops, saying “Flattery will get you everywhere with Donald Trump.” If this Woodward book is like the rest, expect many more excerpts to roll out before it appears on bookstore shelves. The book also covers President Joe Biden’s agonizing over his place in the race prior to his exit.
Gov. Tim Walz had a bumpy day on the road yesterday. According to a pool report, one of the vehicles in the vice presidential candidate’s motorcade — a staff van — arrived at Seattle’s airport with an “extremely flat tire, back right, hubcap literally resting on the tarmac. Nobody seemed particularly alarmed.” That wasn’t all. The Walz plane wasn’t there when the candidate arrived. The Walz entourage switched to a Boeing 757, which is bigger than the 737 he has been using as he moves across the country. No word yet on whether there was a mechanical issue that could have prompted the swap. Walz was in Washington state, California and Nevada yesterday. At a fundraiser with Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, Walz joked about his debate performance. A pool report quoted him saying this: “I’m a schoolteacher, so I have an inclination to just answer the damn question.” Then he said about the prep sessions: “The first advice they give you is: Oh, don’t answer the question. Pivot! Pivot as quick as you can!"
What was almost an aside in the Tim Walz “60 Minutes” interview this week isn’t landing well back home with state business group leaders. To recap, Walz was defending his slate of policies as governor, including the universal school meals program and the paid family and medical leave plan enacted on his watch. Walz said the latter passed at the urging of the business community. That’s a stretch . While a small group representing a collection of small businesses went to bat for the paid-leave plan, the bulk of Minnesota businesses opposed it through their trade associations. The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce pushed back hard. The Harris-Walz campaign pointed to several Minnesota business owners that supported the paid family and medical leave law and said the governor’s comment was made about them. Walz also brought up the in-progress program in last week’s vice presidential debate and spoke as if it were up and running. The program won’t go live until 2026.
Federal authorities have foiled a plot to disrupt the U.S. election through attacks on large groups of people. The U.S. Department of Justice said the Afghan man was inspired by the Islamic State. It’s not clear how far along he was in the planning. But the FBI arrested him after he took possession of two AK-47s and ammunition. Officials say they are on high alert for violence or other disruptions ahead of the election.
An opportunity to sound off on the election on our airwaves is here. Between now and Election Day, we’ve added quite a few chances for you to participate in the conversation around the big issues. Tonight at 7 p.m., we'll bring you a special live call-in program called “America, Are We Ready?” This week is all about health care. What are the candidates saying? What are the voters saying? Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams co-hosts the show with WNYC’s Brian Lehrer. And Thursday evening at 8 p.m., you can call in to “The Middle with Jeremy Hobson.” The question on the table is: “What do you want the next president to do about immigration?”
Minnesota hospitals are scrambling to conserve IV fluid during a nationwide shortage. Some Minnesota health systems say they are postponing non-emergency procedures after Hurricane Helene damaged a North Carolina facility, leading to a temporary nationwide shortage of IV fluid bags. The manufacturer, Baxter International, near Asheville, supplies approximately 60 percent of all IV fluids used in health care systems across the U.S. Yesterday, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar released a statement calling on the Biden administration and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to do what they can to address the nationwide shortage. She also warned that another plant in Daytona Beach, Fla., that manufactures IV solutions could be impacted by Hurricane Milton, which is expected to hit Florida sometime this evening.
A pair of legal actions focused on the potentially-addictive nature of TikTok moved forward Tuesday, including one where Minnesota is part of a broad coalition against the social media site. More than a dozen states and the District of Columbia filed lawsuits against TikTok yesterday, saying that the popular short-form video app is designed to be addictive to kids and harms their mental health. Separately, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from around the county began a national investigation into TikTok to determine whether the platform is violating state consumer protection laws. It’s the latest legal scandal for the popular app; under a federal law that took effect earlier this year, TikTok could be banned from the U.S. by mid-January if its China-based parent company, ByteDance, doesn’t sell the app by then. "I am deeply concerned about the impact TikTok is having on the mental health of young people,” Ellison said. “I will not be deterred in my work to protect the mental health and well-being of Minnesota’s youth.” | 