Who’s going to win the 2020 Iowa caucuses, according to the polls – Vox.com
Who’s going to win the 2020 Iowa caucuses, according to the polls – Vox.com

The Iowa caucuses are here at last, and the latest polls show a very, very tight race in the Democratic primary, with Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden at the front of the pack.

But this final stretch in polling before the Iowa caucuses isn’t without drama. A highly anticipated poll from J. Ann Selzer and the Des Moines Register, scheduled for release on Saturday, failed to come out after former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg complained he was left off some of the surveys.

Aside from that bungled poll, seven major Iowa polls have been released in the past two weeks, with the latest from Monmouth University, Civiqs, and Emerson College.

The Monmouth results, released last Wednesday, found Biden on top — as he has been nationally all along — with 23 percent of likely caucus-goers saying they’d support him. Still, his lead was far from comfortable. Sanders came in a close second, with 21 percent support; Buttigieg nearly tied with Sen. Elizabeth Warren for third, with 16 and 15 percent respectively; and Sen. Amy Klobuchar came in fifth with 10 percent.

The only other candidates Monmouth found to have more than 1 percent support were entrepreneurs Tom Steyer and Andrew Yang, with 4 and 3 percent support, respectively. The poll has a margin of error of 4.2 percentage points, making the deltas between candidates perhaps even more narrow than they appear.

Civiqs — which conducted an online poll, opposed to the telephone polling Monmouth did — completed its polling during the same time period as Monmouth (January 23 to 27), but found a slightly different result.

Sanders topped Civiqs’ poll, with 24 percent support from likely caucus-goers. Warren came in second, at 19 percent; Buttigieg third, with 17 percent; Biden fourth, with 15 percent; and Klobuchar still fifth, with the backing of 11 percent of likely caucus-goers.

Yang and Steyer again topped the second tier of candidates, with pollsters recording 5 percent support for Yang and 4 percent for Steyer. The margin of error for Civiqs’ work is 4.8 percentage points, again meaning the differences in standing — at least among the top four candidates — might be closer than the results initially suggest.

And Emerson’s telephone poll — the most recent of these three, taken from January 30 to February 2 — found Sanders to be the favorite, with 28 percent support; Biden trailed him with 21 percent. Buttigieg and Warren were again nearly tied, with 15 and 14 percent support, respectively, and Klobuchar was fifth, with 11 percent.

Yang’s and Steyer’s results matched Civiqs’ survey: They received 5 and 4 percent support, respectively. The poll’s margin of error is 3.3 percentage points.

Those new results are of a kind with four polls that came in during the penultimate week of January. Back then, Sanders began to emerge as a state frontrunner: An Emerson College poll put his support at 30 percent; a New York Times/Siena College poll placed him at 25 percent, and a CBS News/YouGov poll put him at 26 percent. Biden led in the fourth poll, from Suffolk University/USA Today, with 25.4 percent.

Biden was second in two of the polls led by Sanders (21 percent in Emerson’s poll, and 25 percent in the CBS survey); Buttigieg was second in the Times poll, with 18 percent support. The CBS and Suffolk polls put the former mayor in third place; the Emerson poll in fourth. Warren was fourth in every poll, except for the Emerson survey, in which she was essentially tied with Buttigieg.

If we take a look at all these in aggregate, as RealClearPolitics does in its Iowa polling average, Sanders appears poised to take Iowa, with a lead of 4 percentage points, though depending on how those votes are distributed, it’s hard to say how that will translate into the final results.

RealClearPolitics’ 2020 Democratic primary polling average.
RealClearPolitics

Sanders certainly has an advantage. However, it is important to remember that Iowa’s caucuses aren’t run like a regular primary. Just because a candidate gets the most votes doesn’t mean the candidate will get the most delegates, as Vox’s Andrew Prokop explained. Also, because of the way the caucuses are run, quirks in the pollsters’ models and Iowans’ very relatable uncertainty in the eleventh hour, anything could happen.

There are a lot of factors that will affect Monday’s results

Much of how Monday night ends depends on the size of caucus turnout, the demographic groups that come and caucus, which candidates are caucus-goers’ second choices and who the large number of currently undecided likely caucus-goers ultimately decide to caucus for.

Obviously, the more supporters any given candidate can get to show up for them at caucus sites across the state, the better their chances. But as of now, no one knows exactly how big (or small) the turnout will be.

State and national polls of Democrats, likely voters, and likely caucus-goers have shown an incredible degree of excitement around the 2020 primary for months — a January Quinnipiac University national poll, for instance, found 85 percent of Democratic and Democratic-leaning independent voters saying they are either “extremely” or “very” motivated to vote in the primary’s contests.

Based on this enthusiasm, pollsters have — in general — assumed a large turnout. Monmouth’s numbers, for instance, assume a night of crowds reminiscent of the 2008 primary, when around 236,000 Iowans caucused.

That may seem fairly safe, but if pollsters’ assumptions are off by just a little, the results could be strikingly different than the numbers cited above. As Vox’s Ella Nilsen and our former colleague Tara Golshan have explained, the winner of the caucuses is actually decided by a very small number of people:

With a field of 11 candidates, the winner could walk away having only received the support of 40,000 to 50,000 caucus-goers statewide — fewer people than live in Dubuque, Iowa. And political experts here said with five strong candidates going into caucus night, it’s still anyone’s guess who could win.

“Maybe the top candidate ends up with 20 percent, because you’ve got six strong candidates going into caucus night,” Norm Sterzenbach, a former Iowa Democratic Party official said this fall. “Twenty percent could win it, that’s only 40,000-50,000 votes.”

…

“It’s a relatively small number, right? It’s the size of a sort of medium-sized town,” said David Redlawsk, a political science professor at the University of Delaware and an expert on the Iowa caucuses. “In Congressional elections, winners normally have more than 100,000 votes.”

And it’s not just how many caucus-goers turn out that will affect the results — the average age of caucus-goers is also expected to have a marked effect on who is the eventual victor.

The latest polls show that should the turnout skew younger, Sanders has a marked advantage (one that Monmouth’s pollsters found unique to him — that is, caucuses with more younger voters didn’t help Warren or, say, Buttigieg as much as they did the senator from Vermont).

Turnout that skews older, however, would help Biden, whom Monmouth found to have 37 percent support of those over 65 and just 7 percent support among likely caucus-goers 18 to 49, a group Sanders carried, with 39 percent support.

Former Vice President Joe Biden posing with supporters in Des Moines on February 2, 2020.
Joshua Lott/Getty Images

Sanders acknowledged this paradigm Saturday in Iowa, telling supporters, “We will know early on in the night if we are going to win. If voter turnout is high, we are going to win … if it is low, quite frankly, we will not.”

Monmouth’s Patrick Murray said this dynamic could make the margin of victory even narrower than Sterzenbach projected.

“A turnout swing of as few of 10,000 voters could determine who ‘wins’ the caucus if it is driven by a specific demographic group,” Murray said in a statement Wednesday.

Based on this, one could say that if Sanders manages to bring out 10,000 more young caucus-goers than expected, Iowa would be — as he predicts — his this time.

But that ignores the fact that some caucus-goers will be required to change their allegiances, a fact that seems as if it could benefit Biden as much as Sanders.

The viability standard could change everything

The caucuses are conducted in a manner that is similar to ranked-choice voting.

Iowans gather at their local precinct and publicly declare their allegiance to their candidate by gathering in groups. This year, officials will tally those supporters using documents called presidential preference cards. Candidates who are found to have more than 15 percent support of a precinct following a count of those cards will be deemed “viable,” and their support will be locked in — that is, Iowans who caucused for them can’t change their minds.

But those who caucused for candidates who fail to meet that 15 percent threshold will be allowed to change their allegiance to one of the viable candidates. This is known as realignment.

This makes caucus-goers’ second choices important. In all three of the latest polls, Warren was the top second choice, with 19 percent of Monmouth respondents putting her second, 16 percent in the Civiqs poll, and 23.8 percent in Emerson’s.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren speaks at Iowa State University on February 2, 2020.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Biden was the second most popular in two, with 16 percent of Monmouth’s poll choosing him as their No. 2, and 15 percent in Civiqs’ survey. Emerson’s pollsters found Klobuchar the top second choice among the top five candidates in that poll, with 18.7 percent second-choice support.

But it’s important to look at where that second-choice support is coming from — many polls have found that Sanders supporters overwhelmingly said Warren is their second choice. For instance, in Civiqs’ latest poll, 31 percent of Sanders backers said Warren is their second choice, more than any other group. And Emerson’s poll saw 50 percent of Sanders supporters saying Warren was their second choice.

But given recent polls, it seems likely that if Sanders fails to clear the 15 percent mark, he’ll do so in precious few precincts, meaning the majority of his caucus-goers will not be required to throw their support elsewhere. This is a reality that also affects Yang and Steyer, who find most of their second-choice support coming from Sanders backers as well.

Instead, the backers of candidates like Yang, Steyer, or even Klobuchar could make all the difference.

Emerson found Yang’s supporters split in their second-choice support; assuming Sanders, Biden, Warren, Buttigieg, and Klobuchar were still viable, 30.7 percent said they’d caucus for Klobuchar; 22.4 percent said they’d go for Warren; 17.6 said they’d move to Sanders; and 14.1 percent said they’d go home.

Entrepreneur Andrew Yang speaking at Des Moines, Iowa’s Drake University in January 2020.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Steyer fans were split almost evenly between Sanders, Buttigieg, and Klobuchar; and Klobuchar backers overwhelming liked Biden as their second choice, with 41.2 percent saying they’d back him, while 25.9 and 23.3 percent said they’d go to Warren and Buttigieg, respectively.

Civiqs grouped all the candidates outside of Sanders, Warren, Buttigieg, and Biden together when reporting supporters’ second choices. Respondents who are for a candidate not in this top tier split almost evenly for Warren (19 percent), Biden (19 percent), and Buttigieg (20 percent). Sanders received just 9 percent second-choice support among these caucus-goers.

Klobuchar stands to gain the most if Sanders and Biden don’t make the 15 percent threshold, again, something that isn’t likely to happen. She also has the greatest support among Buttigieg backers after Biden in the Civiqs poll, at 18 percent, and the most in the Emerson poll, with 30.1 percent — numbers that could serve her well in any precincts in which Buttigieg fails to meet the viability standard.

All this would suggest that any realignment boosts would likely benefit Sanders less than his chief rivals — unless there are a lot of districts where Warren misses the 15 percent cutoff, as 33 percent of Warren supporters say Sanders is their second choice.

The good news for candidates counting on realignment boosts is that most Iowans seem to have settled on a second choice. Monmouth asked whom its respondents would caucus for if only the top six candidates in its poll — Biden, Sanders, Buttigieg, Warren, Klobuchar, and Yang — remained viable, and only 6 percent said they didn’t know. In Emerson’s poll, only 9 percent said they wouldn’t choose one of those five.

The bad news is timing and individual caucus-goers’ commitment to the process is a huge part of how much the realignment process will benefit viable candidates, because caucus-goers can leave.

Say you caucused for Klobuchar, and she was declared nonviable in your precinct, but the night’s growing long and you need to get back to your baby. You can go without realigning your support. Essentially, it’s important to remember that realignment will change things, but it won’t affect final totals in every case, as Vox’s Andrew Prokop has explained. And even in precincts where it may appear as if it will matter a lot, it might not impact things at all.

There’s still a lot of uncertainty around first choices, too

Throughout months of polling, one thing has been constant: Iowans aren’t sure if they’ll actually caucus for their first choices.

In Selzer’s November 2019 poll, 62 percent of respondents said they could be persuaded to support someone other than their first choice. Her early January poll found that number had fallen some, but was still significant: 45 percent of likely caucus-goers.

Monmouth’s most recent work found similar results — 45 percent of likely caucus-goers said they were “open” to caucusing for a candidate other than their current first choice, with 13 percent saying there was a “high possibility” they’ll change their minds before Monday night. And 5 percent said they still have no first choice.

Emerson’s pollsters found 66 percent of likely caucus-goers said they are sure to caucus for their first choice, while — and again, this poll was taken in the three days before the caucuses — 34 percent said they may still change their minds.

Recent polls have found Warren and Sanders support to be more set in stone, and Monmouth’s work appear to bear this out: 62 percent of those who identify as “very liberal” said they know for sure who they will caucus for, while only 41 percent of those identifying as “moderate” or “conservative” said the same. And 34 percent of very liberal likely caucus-goers said they could change their minds, while 50 percent of moderates and conservatives were open to switching.

This would seem to provide an opportunity for a candidate like Klobuchar to win over some last-minute supporters, and it’s an opportunity she told reporters Saturday she plans to capitalize on. “We are punching way above our weight … we clearly have a surge going here.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar greetings a crowd in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on February 2, 2020.
Getty Images

Also presenting an opportunity is that half of all respondents who said they are “somewhat liberal” said they would be open to changing their allegiance. That presents a situation that could benefit almost anyone given this is the most progressive slate of candidates in decades — even Biden, as Vox’s Laura McGann has pointed out, would be the most progressive president in generations.

All this makes candidates’ last-minute pitches extremely important — they need to make sure they solidify the support they have, while also trying to convince people to defect and win over those still undecided. The campaigns are all aware of this and spent Saturday and Sunday covering the state, holding dozens of events, fending off pranksters, deploying high-profile surrogates, and, in Sanders’s case, holding concerts.

And Emerson’s polling suggests these final pushes are bearing fruit. For instance, 22.6 percent of Yang’s backers told the college’s pollsters they’d settled on him in the past three days — and even candidates who haven’t polled well are earning last-minute supporters: 4.9 percent of those who plan to back Sen. Michael Bennet said he’d won them over in the past three days.

But who is going to win?

As Prokop has explained, more than one candidate could “win” the caucuses given state officials will be releasing three sets of results.

One candidate could win the pre-realignment total, essentially the popular vote; another, the realigned numbers; and a third could come away with the most state delegates (a number that will help determine how many of Iowa’s 41 national delegates each candidate will receive).

Given this, and all the uncertainty and byzantine processes we went through above, it is hard to say who will come out on top in any of these three results.

But we can say whom things are looking good for.

Obviously, Sanders and Biden have a fairly healthy lead in polling averages. We know that the progressive candidates have more stalwart supporters, meaning Biden’s standing many not be as strong as it appears in topline poll numbers.

Sen. Bernie Sanders interacts with supporters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on February 2, 2020.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

We also know Warren is the popular second choice, but that a lot of her universe of support with that metric comes from Sanders supporters, who probably won’t have to realign themselves. And we know that Biden and Buttigieg also do well as second choices.

Turnout should be fairly high, something that could benefit Sanders greatly, especially if a large number of younger Iowans come out to caucus.

It’s safe to say Sanders appears to be in good stead, particularly in pre-realignment totals, but that any lead he might be able to rack up there will be threatened by the second round, in which we can expect Warren, Biden, Buttigieg — and maybe Klobuchar — to pick up more new supporters than Sanders will. Whether those gains will be enough for him to be knocked off his top spot remains to be seen.

The final state delegate count is what is usually used to determine who wins. But Iowa doesn’t have a winner-take-all system; delegates are distributed proportionately, meaning in a race that has been this close, several candidates could end up with similar numbers.

That won’t necessarily stop whoever gets the most from declaring themselves the winner — like when Hillary Clinton “won” the state by 0.25 percentage points in 2016 — but it would make it difficult for any one candidate to pick up strong momentum boost ahead of the New Hampshire primary.

And that boost is really what the caucuses are about. Iowa’s 41 national delegates represent such a small fraction of the total that former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg isn’t even bothering to compete in the state.

It won’t be until Super Tuesday that candidates get to compete in states with large delegate totals, with 1,344 delegates up for grabs (the first four contests in February only have 155). It’s difficult to make it to Super Tuesday without proving yourself first, however, and Iowa is a chance — for some candidates, like Klobuchar, perhaps a last chance — to do just that.

Source Article from https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/2/3/21115983/2020-iowa-caucuses-winner-polls

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Top WHO official warns world may be ‘dangerously unprepared’ for next pandemic as coronavirus outbreak spreads – CNBC
Top WHO official warns world may be ‘dangerously unprepared’ for next pandemic as coronavirus outbreak spreads – CNBC

“If we fail to prepare, we are preparing to fail,” he added.

Tedros said more than $1 billion has been spent trying to stop the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. By comparison, he added, just $18 million was spent on preparedness in Congo’s neighbor Uganda before the virus crossed the border.

“This must be a lesson for the rest of the world,” he said.

The plea from WHO’s top official comes as the deadly coronavirus has now killed at least 362 people and sickened more than 17,400 worldwide, including patients in the U.S. and Europe.

The respiratory illness, which is capable of spreading through human-to-human contact, is not yet considered a pandemic. A pandemic is “an epidemic occurring worldwide, or over a very wide area, crossing international boundaries and usually affecting a large number of people,” according to WHO. While the new virus has spread to almost two dozen countries, the majority of the cases remain in mainland China.

Nevertheless, many global health experts expect the virus will become a pandemic. Since emerging about a month ago in Wuhan, China, the coronavirus has infected more people than the 2003 SARS epidemic, which sickened roughly 8,100 people across the globe over nine months. As of Monday, there are nearly 200 cases in at least 23 countries, outside of China, a handful of which have been transmitted from human contact within those countries.

On Thursday, WHO declared the virus a global health emergency after declining to do so at two previous meetings.

Tedros said the “continued increase in cases and the evidence of human-to-human transmission outside of China” were “most deeply disturbing.”

Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/03/top-who-officials-world-is-unprepared-for-next-pandemic-as-coronavirus-spreads.html

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More Wyo roads close as storm progresses, including I-80 and I-25 – Oil City News
More Wyo roads close as storm progresses, including I-80 and I-25 – Oil City News
I-25 in Casper is seen on Monday morning on a WYDOT webcam. (WYDOT)

CASPER, Wyo. – A winter storm continues to cause travel headaches through central and southern Wyoming on Monday morning.

All roads leading into and out of Casper are closed as of 9 a.m.

I-25 between Douglas and Buffalo closed in the early hours today.

Article continues below…

I-80 between Rock Springs and Rawlins is closed, with black ice warnings between Cheyenne and Pine Bluffs. It’s closed to light and high profile vehicles between Elk Mountain and Laramie.

Multiple roads and highways around Natrona County are closed, including US 20, US 26, US 87, US 220, and Wyoming Boulevard.

Multiple schools, government offices and businesses in Natrona County have closed today. Our full list of closures is here.

A winter storm warning is in effect through tomorrow morning, and there is a no unnecessary travel warning in the city of Casper.

Source Article from https://oilcity.news/community/weather/2020/02/03/more-wyo-roads-close-as-storm-progresses-including-i-80-and-i-25/

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Jill Biden Laments Loss of Lindsey Graham as a ‘Great’ Friend: ‘That’s Been a Little Hurtful’ – Newsweek
Jill Biden Laments Loss of Lindsey Graham as a ‘Great’ Friend: ‘That’s Been a Little Hurtful’ – Newsweek

Jill Biden, the wife of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, lamented that Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has turned against her family, saying he used to be a “great friend.”

Biden, whose husband served as vice president under former President Barack Obama, made the remarks in an interview with CNN as her husband prepares to face voters Iowa along with the other Democratic presidential contenders. Her comments were in reference to Graham’s criticism of her husband and son, Hunter, during the ongoing impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.

When asked if she counts the senator from South Carolina as a friend, Biden replied: “We did,” suggesting her family no longer does.

“I don’t know what happened to Lindsey,” she said. “We used to be great friends, and friends with [the late Republican Senator] John McCain. I mean we traveled together with the foreign relations committee, we’ve had dinner, you know…”

“Now he’s changed,” Biden noted.

“It’s hard when you consider somebody a friend and then they’ve said so many things, so many negative things,” she continued. “That’s been a little hurtful.”

Newsweek has reached out to Graham for comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.

Trump’s impeachment was due in part to his effort to pressure Ukraine to announce investigations into unfounded claims that Biden acted corruptly in the Eastern European nation during his tenure as vice president to benefit his son Hunter’s business dealings there. The claim centers around Biden urging the Ukrainian government to fire the country’s top prosecutor, who Trump and his supporters claim was investigating the company Burisma where Hunter Biden sat on the board.

But Biden’s efforts to remove the prosecutor were widely supported within the U.S. government as well as among Western European nations, as the official was believed to be corrupt. Analysts have even suggested that Burisma was more likely to be thoroughly investigated due to the prosecutor’s ouster. However, ethics experts have noted that it looked problematic for Hunter Biden to serve on the company’s board while his father was spearheading U.S. anti-corruption efforts in the country.

Trump and his supporters, including Graham, have repeatedly suggested that the Bidens are themselves corrupt, calling for an investigation.

“Joe Biden’s effort to combat corruption in the Ukraine became a joke,” Graham told Fox News on Sunday. He insisted that he “can prove beyond any doubt that Joe Biden’s effort in the Ukraine to root out corruption was undercut because he let his son sit on the board of the most corrupt company in the Ukraine and we’re not gonna give him a pass on that.”

The former vice president pushed back against the criticism of his son in an interview with NBC News on Sunday.

“And no one’s found anything wrong with his dealings with Ukraine, except they said it sets a bad image,” Biden said.

Jill Biden also pushed back against the claims against her son during her CNN interview on Monday.

“Hunter has done nothing wrong,” she said with laughter. “Why would Hunter be called? Donald Trump should be before that committee.”

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Source Article from https://www.newsweek.com/jill-biden-laments-loss-lindsey-graham-great-friend-thats-been-little-hurtful-1485400

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Trump Faces Backlash Over Super Bowl Ad on Alice Marie Johnson Release – The Daily Beast
Trump Faces Backlash Over Super Bowl Ad on Alice Marie Johnson Release – The Daily Beast
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Islamic State claims London terror rampage that wounded 3, left attacker dead – USA TODAY
Islamic State claims London terror rampage that wounded 3, left attacker dead – USA TODAY

The Islamic State claimed responsibility Monday for a terror attack on a London street that left three people injured and the knife-wielding attacker shot dead by police.

Sudesh Amman, 20, had a fake bomb strapped to his chest when he stabbed two people Sunday in the south London neighborhood of Streatham, police said.  Amman had been released from prison days earlier after serving about half of a three-year sentence for promoting terrorism.

Deputy Assistant Police Commissioner Lucy D’Orsi said counterterrorism officers who had been monitoring Amman’s activities shot him dead.

“We are confident that this is an isolated incident that has been contained,” D’Orsi said. “Officers from our Counter Terrorism Command are investigating.”

She said searches were conducted in at least two residences Monday.

ISIS appeared to claim Amman was inspired by the group’s cause, saying the incident was “in response to calls to attack the citizens of coalition countries” combating ISIS across Syria and Iraq.

Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/02/03/islamic-state-claims-london-terror-attack-wounded-3-left-attacker-dead/4643350002/

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‘That play in our back pocket’: How Patrick Mahomes rallied the Chiefs to a Super Bowl win – The Washington Post
‘That play in our back pocket’: How Patrick Mahomes rallied the Chiefs to a Super Bowl win – The Washington Post

The Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 31-20, in the Super Bowl to deliver Kansas City’s first NFL championship in 50 years. Find all the highlights here.

Commentary: Patrick Mahomes, in Super Bowl comeback, showed why he is the best quarterback in the NFL.

Photos: The best photos from Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.

Halftime show: Jennifer Lopez and Shakira teamed up to become the first two Latina singers to perform at the Super Bowl. It was a truly riveting, wildly entertaining performance. “You may have heard the American Dream itself pulsing in a space where it will always be allowed to live,” pop music critic Chris Richards writes, “inside a pop song.”

Commercials: The very best from Super Bowl Sunday, and the very worst.

Go a little deeper…

• Katie Sowers is the first woman to coach in a Super Bowl. Her goal: ‘Make sure I’m not the last.’

• In tragedies’ wake, Andy Reid and the Chiefs found success through second chances

• The Chiefs brought Native American imagery, and the ‘tomahawk chop,’ to the Super Bowl stage

• Len Dawson smoked his way through the first Super Bowl. The photos are priceless.

• For Chiefs owner Clark Hunt and his family, this Super Bowl trip was 50 years in the making

Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/02/03/patrick-mahomes-rallies-chiefs-tre-right-three-jet-chip-wasp/

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If Bernie Sanders wins Iowa Monday and gains momentum, that would spook the stock market – CNBC
If Bernie Sanders wins Iowa Monday and gains momentum, that would spook the stock market – CNBC

“I think investor perceptions will do something similar to that. The market will be shifting its odds pretty dramatically about who will be the Democratic nominee,” Laperriere said. “Sanders is much more of a risk to the market, but on the other hand, the perception is the odds of him beating Trump are low. Biden is less of a risk for the market, but the odds of him beating Trump are higher.”

Tom Block, Washington analyst at Fundstrat, said Iowa could determine which of party’s progressive candidates will be left standing.

“It appears Sanders is gaining momentum, and Elizabeth Warren is losing momentum. I think Iowa can be the defining moment for the race within the race,” he said. “If Joe Biden gets wiped out in Iowa that would be a negative for him, but if he’s competitive and they all bunch together, I think he can survive for another day.”

Block said Bloomberg only comes in to the race seriously if Biden falters. Markets see the billionaire Bloomberg as much more market-friendly than Sanders or Warren.

“The landscape has significantly changed. You never before had a Super Tuesday like this that has California, Texas and North Carolina. History is changing with this year’s primary schedule,” Block said. “I think the biggest outcome of these early first primaries is going to be deciding whether Bernie has captured the progressive vote, and what is Elizabeth Warren’s argument for staying in the race.”

Investors may find Sanders’ tax proposals less appealing than those of Warren. According to Cornerstone Macro’s analysis, Sanders would push the highest individual tax rate to 52% while other Democrats would raise it to 39.6%, from the current 37%. Under Sanders’ plan, the highest marginal tax rate would be 69.2%, compared with Warren’s 53.5%.

Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/03/if-bernie-sanders-wins-iowa-monday-and-gains-momentum-that-would-spook-the-stock-market.html

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Coronavirus: China accuses US of causing panic and ‘spreading fear’ – BBC News
Coronavirus: China accuses US of causing panic and ‘spreading fear’ – BBC News
Media captionThe BBC’s online health editor on what we know about the virus

The Chinese government has accused the US of causing “panic” in its response to the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

It follows the US decision to declare a public health emergency and deny entry to foreign nationals who had visited China in the past two weeks.

There are more than 17,000 confirmed cases of the virus in China. Some 361 people have died there.

Outside China, there are more than 150 confirmed cases of the virus – and one death, in the Philippines.

The virus causes severe acute respiratory infection and symptoms seem to start with a fever, followed by a dry cough.

Media captionShanghai is unusually quiet as businesses temporarily close and people choose to stay inside

On Monday, a study by a Chinese virologist said a pneumonia outbreak associated with the coronavirus had likely started in bats.

The outbreak took its toll on Chinese shares when markets reopened on Monday following the Lunar New Year holiday. The Shanghai Composite index closed nearly 8% lower, its biggest daily drop for more than four years.

What measures has the US taken?

On 23 January, the US ordered the departure of all non-emergency US personnel and their family members from the city of Wuhan in Hubei province, where the virus originated.

Less than a week later, the US allowed for the voluntary departure of non-emergency personnel and relatives of US government employees from China.

On 30 January, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health emergency over the new virus.

Following this, the US ordered the departure of all US personnel family members under the age of 21 in China.

Any US citizen who has been in Hubei province will be subject to 14 days’ quarantine upon returning to the US.

What are other countries doing to stem the outbreak?

On Monday, Hong Kong said it was suspending from midnight local time (16:00 GMT) 10 out of 13 border crossings with mainland China.

Media captionIndonesians evacuated from Wuhan are sprayed with disinfectant

Various countries have imposed varying travel restrictions and other preventative measures, including:

  • Denying entry to all foreign visitors who have recently been to China: US, Australia, Singapore
  • Denying entry to foreigners travelling from mainland China: New Zealand, Israel. (Russia will also apply these restrictions, though not through Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport)
  • Denying entry to foreigners who have visited Hubei province: Japan, South Korea
  • Temporarily suspending all flights to mainland China: Egypt, Finland, Indonesia, the UK, Italy
  • Closing the border with China: Mongolia, Russia (partially)

The body that represents some of the world’s largest cruise ship operators, the Cruise Lines International Association, announced on Monday that passengers and crew members who had recently travelled to China would not be allowed to board vessels.

How did China react to the US measures?

In a news briefing on Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said the US actions “could only create and spread fear” instead of offering assistance.

She said the US was the first country to impose a travel ban on Chinese travellers and the first to suggest a partial withdrawal of its embassy staff.

“It is precisely developed countries like the US with strong epidemic prevention capabilities… that have taken the lead in imposing excessive restrictions contrary to WHO recommendations,” Ms Hua said, according to a Reuters report.

But Ms Hua also said that China urgently needed “medical masks, protective suits and safety goggles”.

Media captionAerial time-lapse shows a Wuhan hospital being built in 10 days

Do the travel bans work?

Global health officials have advised against the bans.

The WHO has warned that closing borders could even accelerate the spread of the virus, if travellers enter countries unofficially.

“Travel restrictions can cause more harm than good by hindering info-sharing, medical supply chains and harming economies,” the head of the WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said last week.

The WHO instead recommends introducing screening at border crossings.

On Monday, Dr Tedros again praised China for its commitment to fighting the coronavirus, stressing that the only way to defeat it was for all countries to work together “in a spirit of co-operation”.

How deadly is the virus?

More than 75,000 people may have been infected in the city of Wuhan, experts say.

But estimates by the University of Hong Kong suggest the total number of cases could be far higher than the official figures.

A report on the early stages of the outbreak by the Lancet medical journal said most patients who died from the virus had pre-existing conditions.

The report found that, of the first 99 patients treated at the Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan, 40 had a weak heart or damaged blood vessels. A further 12 had diabetes.

Most people infected are likely to fully recover – just as they would from a normal flu.

An expert at China’s National Health Commission (NHC) said that one week was sufficient for a recovery from mild coronavirus symptoms.

How has the coronavirus outbreak affected you? Has your family been affected? What about your business or your travel plans? You can share your experiences by emailing .

Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:

Source Article from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51353279

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Trump Impeachment Trial Updates: What to Expect on Monday – The New York Times
Trump Impeachment Trial Updates: What to Expect on Monday – The New York Times

“As usual, our president scored another victory,” Toni Kramer, the supporter who organized the party for him, said in an interview. “He won the Super Bowl of Washington.”

But that sense of celebration appeared to be fleeting as the evening went on and Mr. Trump’s anger over impeachment, and his antipathy toward his possible 2020 election opponents — in particular, Michael R. Bloomberg — spilled into public view. There were more pressing matters at hand, including the global spread of the coronavirus and his State of the Union address on Tuesday, but he made little mention of them.

Sunday night the president and Mr. Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor and a latecomer to the Democratic race who is not on the ballot in the Iowa caucuses on Monday, would face off in costly Super Bowl ads. But Mr. Trump, who seems to be increasingly fixated on Mr. Bloomberg and the fortune he is vowing to spend on the election, apparently could not wait.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/trump-impeachment-trial-vote-02-03

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Biden: Impeachment hasn’t ‘shaken my faith’ in working with Republicans – NBCNews.com
Biden: Impeachment hasn’t ‘shaken my faith’ in working with Republicans – NBCNews.com

Former Vice President Joe Biden said the impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump haven’t “shaken my faith” with regards to working with Republicans, adding that “no one’s” found that his son Hunter Biden did anything untoward in Ukraine.

Impeachment “hasn’t shaken my faith in being able to work with at least” some Republicans, Biden told “TODAY” show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie in an exclusive interview ahead of Monday’s Iowa caucuses.

“I think you’re going to see the world change with [President Donald] Trump gone,” Biden added.

The Senate last week voted against calling witnesses in Trump’s impeachment trial, with just two Republicans voting in favor of additional testimony and documents. Some Republicans who voted against calling witnesses conceded that Trump acted improperly with regard to calling on Ukraine to announce investigations of the Bidens as he withheld nearly $400 million in aid.

The Senate is now expected to acquit Trump this week.

Meanwhile, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, told Bloomberg News Sunday that should Biden win the presidency, Republicans might “immediately” push to impeach him.

Biden has long insisted that he and his son did nothing wrong regarding Hunter’s position on the board of a Ukrainian gas company — which Trump asked his Ukrainian counterpart to announce an investigation into.

On Monday, Biden said, “It’s a good thing that no one’s found anything wrong with his dealing with Ukraine except they say it sets a bad image.”

Asked if it was “wrong” for his son to take the board seat “knowing that it was really because that company wanted access to you,” the former vice president said, “that’s not true.”

“You’re saying things you do not know what you’re talking about,” he said. “No one has said that — who said that?”

For months, Trump and allies have alleged that the younger Biden’s service on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company, at a time when his father oversaw Ukraine policy in the Obama administration was corrupt. Most notably, they have advanced the unsubstantiated claim that as vice president the elder Biden took steps to protect his son from an investigation of the company.

But Bloomberg News, citing documents and a former Ukrainian official, reported that the Burisma investigation had been dormant for more than a year before Biden called for Viktor Shokin, Ukraine’s top prosecutor at the time, to step down. PolitiFact, meanwhile, reported that it found no evidence to “support the idea that Joe Biden advocated with his son’s interests in mind.”

Shokin’s ouster was backed by the international community as he was seen as ignoring corruption in the country.

Heading into Monday’s caucuses, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., holds a four-point lead over Biden in the Hawkeye state, according to the RealClearPolitics average of several polls.

Biden said he sees his candidacy as “moving on from what we started” in former President Barack Obama’s administration.

“One of the reasons I’m running is because of my experience,” he said. “Who’s going to be ready on day one? To pick up the phone and call any world leader and they know who he is and he knows who they are.”

Source Article from https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/biden-impeachment-hasn-t-shaken-my-faith-working-republicans-n1128556

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Joni Ernst defends Trump but says President handled Ukraine ‘maybe in the wrong manner’ – CNN
Joni Ernst defends Trump but says President handled Ukraine ‘maybe in the wrong manner’ – CNN

Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what’s happening in the world as it unfolds.

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/02/politics/joni-ernst-trump-ukraine-wrong-manner-comment-cnntv/index.html

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SARS Stung the Global Economy. The Coronavirus Is a Greater Menace. – The New York Times
SARS Stung the Global Economy. The Coronavirus Is a Greater Menace. – The New York Times

Apple disclosed much wider volatility in its potential revenues for the current quarter in the face of uncertainties around factory production and sales of its products.

Those uncertainties deepened on Saturday. Apple, which derives about one-sixth of its sales from China, announced that it would close its 42 stores in the country.

Walmart buys vast volumes of its products from Chinese factories while operating 430 stores in the country, including in areas shut down by quarantine. The company has reduced hours at some stores, a Walmart spokeswoman said.

“We may still be in the early stages,” of the coronavirus crisis, Judith McKenna, who runs Walmart’s International business, wrote in an internal memo on Friday.

China is the world’s largest manufacturer of toys. At the International Toy Fair in Nuremberg, Germany, many Chinese suppliers expressed confidence that their factories would soon reopen, said Rick Woldenberg, chief executive of Learning Resources, a family-owned manufacturer of educational products and toys in Illinois.

“But no one’s quite sure how much of this information can be relied upon,” Mr. Woldenberg said.

Because of the trade war, the toy industry was effectively prepared for a moment in which its access to Chinese suppliers was imperiled, Mr. Woldenberg said. In December, when the Trump administration was threatening to impose an additional 15 percent tariff on Chinese imports, many toy companies sped up their orders to beat the deadline. Some shifted production to Thailand and Vietnam to avoid the tariffs altogether.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/03/business/economy/SARS-coronavirus-economic-impact-china.html

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Iowa caucuses: Race to decide election candidates begins – BBC News
Iowa caucuses: Race to decide election candidates begins – BBC News

Image copyright
Getty Images

Image caption

The spotlight is on Sanders in Iowa: will he shine?

The first event that will help decide the candidates for US president is to take place with Monday’s Iowa caucuses.

Democratic and Republican voters will choose their preferred nominees for the White House race.

While victory in Iowa doesn’t guarantee anyone the nomination, it can help give them crucial momentum.

The path appears clear for Donald Trump to be the Republican nominee, but there are still 11 people running for the Democratic nomination.

Many have spent the past few weeks vigorously campaigning in the Midwest state, which is always the first to vote. The primaries contest goes on until early June, and moves on to New Hampshire next Tuesday.

Here’s the story of what to expect in Iowa, broken down.

One person to watch

Polls suggest that Bernie Sanders has risen to be the favourite in Iowa (or – depending where you look – the joint-favourite, with former vice-president Joe Biden).

He is one of four senators running for president who have had to stay behind in Washington to attend Mr Trump’s impeachment trial, but his supporters, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have been energetically campaigning on his behalf in Iowa.

Four years after losing out to Hillary Clinton, could this be the 78-year-old’s time? He is backed by a huge pot of donations and a team of hundreds. But if he won the nomination, would moderate Democrats really rally around a candidate for the White House who identifies as a democratic socialist?

Some of the other big names including Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg will be hoping Mr Sanders doesn’t have it all his own way in Iowa.

Media captionHow Iowa is like the luge: An unconventional guide to the caucuses

There are also Republican caucuses on Monday, and two people are running against Mr Trump, but the president’s popularity within his own party is such that his nomination is all but a formality.

One piece of context

Iowa, to some extent, provides a glimpse of what went wrong for Democrats in 2016.

In the last election, more than 200 US counties flipped from supporting President Barack Obama in 2012 to backing Mr Trump – and 31 of those counties were in Iowa.

Democrats will be hoping to lure back those floating voters in 2020. And while we won’t know until November whether they have been successful, we may get a glimpse of where the land lies on Monday.

Howard County in northern Iowa flipped by 41 percentage points in 2016, the largest change in the US. The BBC’s Angélica Casas and Marianna Brady went there to ask people whether they would vote for a Democrat in 2020.

Media caption‘We voted for Obama, then Trump’

One key question

Does Iowa actually matter? It depends how you look at it.

As the primary season curtain-raiser, Iowa can help shape perceptions among voters. A win here can help give a candidate momentum early in the race (as it did in 1976 with Jimmy Carter) and erase any doubts about their viability.

While Iowans have a good record at picking the eventual Democratic nominee, their record when it comes to the Republican candidate is more mixed. When it’s an open Republican race (unlike this year, for example), none of the winners of Iowa has become the Republican nominee since 2000.

It’s worth pointing out that Iowa isn’t the most diverse of states either – the rest of America will vote very differently in upcoming primaries and caucuses.

One quote

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Ann Anhalt
Des Moines, Iowa

So says Ann Anhalt, from Des Moines, who plans to vote for tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang on Monday. But this is exactly what a caucus involves – they are essentially internal party meetings, scattered across the state, that might last a few hours.

At some point during the meeting, you have to show your support for a candidate. You do this by standing next to others who also support that candidate, and a count takes place.

What’s at stake is delegates – 41 Democratic ones in Iowa – distributed according to how well candidates performed in the caucuses. If candidate A is awarded 10 delegates, those delegates would later vote for candidate A as the Democratic nominee at the summer convention – the aim for any candidate is to gain as many delegates as possible over the primary season.

One voter’s view

Gina Weekley, 36 – Youth advocate from Waterloo, Iowa

I’m married to a woman, so my livelihood and happiness is at stake in this election. My family’s future is at stake in this election. And our freedom as Americans is at stake.

We need a strong leader to emerge as the Democratic nominee. Someone with great passion and energy who can unify the United States.

The division and hate messages that we’ve seen under the Trump presidency needs to end. We don’t currently have a leader that works for all Americans.

I’m caucusing so that future generations can access quality education. We need a president who helps “at risk” youth get the proper services they need so they don’t fall victim to the school-to-prison pipeline.

One thing to look out for

At each of the 1,677 locations across the state, a candidate must have the support of at least 15% of voters in order to qualify for a chance to win Iowa delegates to the national convention in July – when the candidate is ultimately picked.

After a first round of tabulations, those who support a candidate that doesn’t reach “viability” have the opportunity to switch sides.

Complicating everything is the new reporting system the Democratic Party has instituted for the Iowa caucus results.

In the past, the party has only released one number – the final tabulation of support after all the caucus horse-trading and support swapping takes place. This time, however, there will be two sets of numbers – the final tally as well as a count of each candidate’s support in the first round of balloting.

That means two – or more! – candidates could be on stage declaring victory on Monday night.

It has the makings for a long, chaotic night – the first of what could be many for the candidates still standing after the Iowa dust settles.

  • Read more from Anthony
Media captionSurrogates campaign for Senators stuck in Washington

Source Article from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51302248

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Trump Claims Pelosi Didn’t Want Impeachment, Says ‘Her Worst Nightmare Has Happened’ in Super Bowl Interview – Newsweek
Trump Claims Pelosi Didn’t Want Impeachment, Says ‘Her Worst Nightmare Has Happened’ in Super Bowl Interview – Newsweek

President Donald Trump claimed that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi didn’t want impeachment and is now living out her “worst nightmare” in an interview with Fox News during the Super Bowl LIV pre-game show on Sunday.

Speaking to host Sean Hannity, a close friend and on one of his most vocal allies, the president suggested that Pelosi was pressured by the Democratic party to announce a formal impeachment inquiry into him last September.

“I think she’s a very confused, very nervous woman,” he said in reference to the top Democrat. “I don’t think she wanted to do this.”

“I think she really knew what was going to happen, and her worst nightmare has happened,” the president continued. “I don’t think she’s gonna be there too long, either. I think that the radical left—and she’s sort of radical left too, by the way—but I think the radical left is gonna take over.”

Trump went on to condemn the numerous investigations—including impeachment and former special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia report—into his conduct in the White House and during the 2016 presidential election. He has previously dismissed all probe accusing him of misconduct a “witch hunt” and “hoax.”

“Well, it’s been very unfair. From the day I won,” he said, “from the day I came down from the escalator…it probably started from there. It’s been a very, very unfair process.”

He added: “The Mueller Report, Russia, Russia, Russia, as you say, which was total nonsense—it was all nonsense, the whole thing. It was very unfair, and mostly it was unfair to my family. I mean, my family suffered because of all this. And many other families suffered also.”

Senators on Friday voted against allowing witness testimonies and new evidence to be president in Trump’s Senate impeachment trial. The move prompted outrage from Democrats and the president’s critics who wanted new evidence to bolster the case against him. Trump is just the third U.S. president to face impeachment and will likely be acquitted by Senate Republicans on Wednesday when the vote on the two articles of impeachment—abuse of power and obstruction of Congress—will take place.

Despite the near certainty of the upper chamber’s impending decision, half of registered American voters have indicated they want Trump to be removed from office, according to a new Morning Consult and Politico poll, conducted between January 29 and 30.

When asked about Michael Bloomberg’s 2020 presidential campaign, Trump attacked the former New York mayor for wanting to stand on a box during the next Democratic debate.

“Uh, very little. I just think of little,” the president said. “You know, now he wants a box for the debates to stand on. OK, it’s OK, there’s nothing wrong. You can be short. Why should he get a box to stand on, OK? He wants a box for the debates. Why should he be entitled to that? Really. Does that mean everyone else gets a box?…I would love to run against Bloomberg.”

Newsweek reached out to the White House and Bloomberg’s campaign for comment.

Hannity also asked Trump to briefly offer his thoughts on the other Democrats running for the party’s 2020 nomination. The president used the opportunity to use his derogatory nicknames, usually reserved for his opponents.

“I just think of ‘Sleepy.’ I just watch him. He’s sleepy. Sleepy Joe,” he said of former Vice President Joe Biden, before calling Senators Bernie Sanders a “communist” and Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas.”

Trump also confirmed that the State of the Union (SOTU) will be held on Tuesday, despite the ongoing impeachment proceedings against him. The Republican-led Senate is expected to acquit him one day later.

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Source Article from https://www.newsweek.com/trump-claims-pelosi-didnt-want-impeachment-says-her-worst-nightmare-has-happened-super-bowl-1485313

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Trump congratulates wrong state for Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl win – The Guardian
Trump congratulates wrong state for Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl win – The Guardian

Donald Trump was among the first to laud the Kansas City Chiefs in the wake of their 31-20 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl, taking to Twitter to congratulate the newly crowned NFL champions and the ‘Great State of Kansas’.

The only problem: the Chiefs are, and have always been, based in Kansas City, Missouri.

“Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs on a great game, and a fantastic comeback, under immense pressure. You represented the Great State of Kansas and, in fact, the entire USA, so very well. Our Country is PROUD OF YOU!” Trump wrote.


Illustration: @realDonaldTrump

The US president was quick to remedy his mistake, deleting the tweet and re-posting it moments later with the correct state – but not before his error was noticed by a wide audience.

Former Missouri senator Claire McCaskill was among those who noticed, screenshotting Trump’s tweet and adding: “It’s Missouri you stone cold idiot.”

Adam Steinbaugh
(@adamsteinbaugh)

pic.twitter.com/qcgsIRSQQR


February 3, 2020

Although there are parts of Kansas City metropolitan area that do cross the state line into Kansas, it is Missouri’s largest city and widely associated with the Show-Me State, not least because it’s where the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium is located.

Matt Oswalt
(@MattOswaltVA)

this tweet is shocking. I can’t believe Trump knew Kansas was located in the USA pic.twitter.com/WHc4pct73E


February 3, 2020

One user on Twitter also compared his mistake to Mike Pompeo’s attempts to embarrass a reporter over whether she knew where Ukraine was on a map. Pompeo is from Kansas.

Allan Smith
(@akarl_smith)

This tweet comes amid an ongoing news cycle where Trump’s Secretary of State — who is very prominently from Kansas — claimed a reporter couldn’t find something on a map pic.twitter.com/0ipt6MCaWi


February 3, 2020

The US president has become infamous for making blunders on Twitter.

Last year, in what was dubbed Sharpiegate, the president used a weather map to show the path of hurricane Dorian which was falsely extended using a sharpie marker to include Alabama.

In June 2019, Trump confused the world with his tweet to Nasa advising them to focus on “Mars (of which the moon is a part), Defence and Science!”

According to research conducted by Factba.se, Trump has made 188 spelling mistakes since being elected to office, which is roughly one spelling mistake every five days.

Arguably, Trump’s most viral tweet was the “covfefe” fumble that made global news when he tweeted his criticism against the press in 2017.

The typo now has a Wikipedia page.

Trump made his presence felt throughout Sunday’s coverage. He spent an estimated $11.2m on two half-minute advertisements during the broadcast following a pre-game interview with Fox News pundit Sean Hannity, during which he took aim at Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg, accusing the former New York City mayor, who is 5ft 8in, of making a special request for a box to stand on if he qualifies for future presidential debates. (Bloomberg’s campaign denied that and called Trump a “liar”.)

“Why he should he get a box to stand on?” the president asked. “Why should he be entitled to that, really? Then does that mean everyone else gets a box?”

The president hosted his annual Super Bowl watch party at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, before returning to Washington late Sunday ahead of Tuesday’s state of the union address.

Source Article from https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/feb/02/trump-kansas-city-missouri-super-bowl-tweet

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The Wuhan coronavirus death toll in mainland China has overtaken SARS – CNN
The Wuhan coronavirus death toll in mainland China has overtaken SARS – CNN

Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what’s happening in the world as it unfolds.

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/03/asia/wuhan-coronavirus-update-intl-hnk/index.html

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John Kerry overheard discussing possible 2020 bid amid concern of ‘Sanders taking down the Democratic Party’ – NBC News
John Kerry overheard discussing possible 2020 bid amid concern of ‘Sanders taking down the Democratic Party’ – NBC News

DES MOINES, Iowa — Former Secretary of State John Kerry — one of Joe Biden’s highest-profile endorsers — was overheard Sunday on the phone at a Des Moines hotel explaining what he would have to do to enter the presidential race amid “the possibility of Bernie Sanders taking down the Democratic Party — down whole.”

Sitting in the lobby restaurant of the Renaissance Savery hotel, Kerry was overheard by an NBC News analyst saying “maybe I’m f—ing deluding myself here” and explaining that to run, he’d have to step down from the board of Bank of America and give up his ability to make paid speeches. Kerry said donors like venture capitalist Doug Hickey would have to “raise a couple of million,” adding that such donors “now have the reality of Bernie.”

Asked about the call later Sunday, Kerry said he was “absolutely not” contemplating joining the Democratic primary race. He reiterated the sentiment in a tweet later, saying “any report otherwise is f—ing (or categorically) false.” Minutes later, he deleted the tweet and reposted it without the expletive.

He told NBC News later Sunday: “This is a complete and total misinterpretation based on overhearing only one side of a phone conversation. A friend who watches too much cable called me wondering whether I’d ever jump into the race late in the game if Democrats were choosing an unelectable nominee. I listed all the reasons I could not possibly do that and would not — and will not under any circumstances — do that.”

It’s not clear how serious Kerry was on the call about jumping into the race. But that he would even discuss the possibility suggests that prominent members of the Democratic Party remain deeply unsettled by the current field, Sanders’ strength in the polls and the ability of any candidate to defeat President Donald Trump.

It also suggests that Kerry, who has campaigned with Biden in Iowa and New Hampshire, may be nervous about the former vice president’s chances ahead of Monday’s first-in-the-nation primary caucuses. At a campaign event in North Liberty on Saturday, Kerry spoke after Biden did, and longer.

The Biden team denied any concerns. “Everyone knows that John Kerry is all in for us,” said Symone Sanders, a senior adviser to the campaign.

Kerry was the Democratic nominee in 2004, losing to President George W. Bush. He got 251 electoral votes, compared to Bush’s 286.

Kerry has served as one of Biden’s top surrogates in the 2020 race. Biden leads Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont, by less than 4 points in the RealClearPolitics average of national Democratic primary polls, but he trails Sanders in the Iowa and New Hampshire polling averages.

Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politics

NBC News asked Kerry last month whether he regretted not entering the 2020 race.

“I’d be a liar if I didn’t say I don’t come out here and have fun and your juices don’t get going,” he said. “But right now, they’re entirely focused on helping Joe Biden become president, and I’m very happy doing what I’m doing.”

Jonathan Allen reported from Des Moines, and Allan Smith reported from New York.

Source Article from https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/john-kerry-overheard-discussing-possible-2020-bid-amid-concern-sanders-n1128476

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Just-Freed Terrorist Killed by Cops After London Stabbing Spree – The Daily Beast
Just-Freed Terrorist Killed by Cops After London Stabbing Spree – The Daily Beast
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Coronavirus Closes China to the World, Straining Global Economy – The Wall Street Journal
Coronavirus Closes China to the World, Straining Global Economy – The Wall Street Journal

SHANGHAI—China’s isolation amid the coronavirus outbreak, a rare freeze out for such a vital economic center, is rippling across the world.

Uncertainty over the virus—which has infected more than 14,500 people— has disrupted worldwide trade and supply chains, depressed asset prices, and forced multinational businesses to make hard decisions with limited information.

The…

Source Article from https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-closes-china-to-the-world-straining-global-economy-11580689793

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John Kerry overheard discussing possible 2020 bid amid concern of ‘Sanders taking down the Democratic Party’ – NBC News
John Kerry overheard discussing possible 2020 bid amid concern of ‘Sanders taking down the Democratic Party’ – NBC News

DES MOINES, Iowa — Former Secretary of State John Kerry — one of Joe Biden’s highest-profile endorsers — was overheard Sunday on the phone at a Des Moines hotel explaining what he would have to do to enter the presidential race amid “the possibility of Bernie Sanders taking down the Democratic Party — down whole.”

Sitting in the lobby restaurant of the Renaissance Savery hotel, Kerry was overheard by an NBC News analyst saying “maybe I’m f—ing deluding myself here” and explaining that in order to run, he’d have to step down from the board of Bank of America and give up his ability to make paid speeches. Kerry said donors like venture capitalist Doug Hickey would have to “raise a couple of million,” adding that such donors “now have the reality of Bernie.”

Asked about the call later on Sunday, Kerry said that he was “absolutely not” contemplating joining the Democratic primary race. He reiterated this sentiment in a tweet later, saying that “any report otherwise is f—ing (or categorically) false.” Minutes later, he deleted the tweet and reposted it without the expletive.

He told NBC News later on Sunday that, “This is a complete and total misinterpretation based on overhearing only one side of a phone conversation. A friend who watches too much cable called me wondering whether I’d ever jump into the race late in the game if Democrats were choosing an unelectable nominee. I listed all the reasons I could not possibly do that and would not — and will not under any circumstances — do that.”

It’s not clear how serious Kerry was on the call about jumping into the race. But that he would even discuss the possibility suggests that prominent members of the Democratic Party remain deeply unsettled by the current field, Sanders’ strength in the polls, and the ability of any candidate to defeat President Donald Trump.

It also suggests that Kerry, who has campaigned with Biden in Iowa and New Hampshire, may be nervous about the former vice president’s chances ahead of Monday’s first-in-the-nation primary caucuses. At a North Liberty, Iowa, campaign event on Saturday, Kerry spoke both after and for longer than Biden did.

The Biden team denied concerns about Kerry’s support. “Everyone knows that John Kerry is all in for us,” Symone Sanders, a senior adviser to the Biden campaign, told NBC News.

Kerry was the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, losing to President George W. Bush. He got 251 electoral votes, compared to Bush’s 286.

Kerry has served as one of the former vice president’s top surrogates in the 2020 race. Biden holds a less than 4-point lead over Sanders in the RealClearPolitics average of national Democratic primary polls but trails the Vermont senator in the Iowa and New Hampshire polling averages.

NBC News asked Kerry last month whether he regretted not entering the 2020 race.

“I’d be a liar if I didn’t say I don’t come out here and have fun and your juices don’t get going,” he said. “But right now, they’re entirely focused on helping Joe Biden become president, and I’m very happy doing what I’m doing.”

Jonathan Allen reported from Des Moines, Iowa and Allan Smith reported from New York.

Source Article from https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/john-kerry-overheard-discussing-possible-2020-bid-amid-concern-sanders-n1128476

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