WHAT'S BREWING
TRUMP SAID HE'D GIVE HIMSELF AN 'A' FOR HIS HANDLING OF COVID-19 Trump told journalist Bob Woodward in July that he deserved an A for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic that had already killed over 70,000 people by that time. Trump insisted that he’d begun “executing” his plans, saying “I will have immigration done ... I think we’re going to have vaccines soon. I think we already have them.” Woodward asked Trump what grade he would give himself for his handling of the pandemic. “An A,” said Trump. “If we come up with the vaccines and therapeutics, then I give myself an A-plus.” This comes as Trump receives a stark history lesson after comparing his pandemic response to Winston Churchill's handling of World War 2. [HuffPost]
TRUMP CALLED HIS GENERALS A 'BUNCH OF P**SIES' Woodward's book recounts an anecdote involving former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and an aide, Bradley Byers. While signing an executive order to assess how to strengthen the manufacturing and defense industrial base, Trump asked White House trader adviser Peter Navarro if he would take charge of negotiations on steel and criticized U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross as “weak negotiators.” Trump then added: “Not to mention my f**king generals are a bunch of p**sies. They care more about their alliances than they do about trade deals.” [HuffPost]
TRUMP INCITES PANIC ALL THE TIME For someone who claims to want to avoid panic, Trump has a deep record of drumming up fear to try to get his way. Trump continued to defend comments he made to Bob Woodward in March when he admitted to publicly downplaying the threat of the coronavirus because he didn’t “want to create a panic.” Though Trump claims as president he “can’t be jumping up and down and scaring people,” here’s a look back at his use of just such emotional tactics over the last several years. [HuffPost]
ACTUALLY, TRUMP LOVES WAR For all his fulminations against the military-industrial complex, the weapons industry is one of the big winners of the Trump era. The president has grown close to Boeing and Lockheed Martin, two defense giants he had previously accused of fleecing the American taxpayer. The companies benefit from his historically large Pentagon budgets and commitment to record arms sales — which he seeks to shield from congressional and expert oversight and concerns about morality, like when his administration forced through weapons to Saudi Arabia after its assaults on Yemen and murder of Jamal Khashoggi. [HuffPost]
CLIMATE CHANGE-FUELED FIRES ARE CHANGING LIFE IN CALIFORNIA Californians, now accustomed to devastating wildfire seasons year after year, have come up with both ordinary and dystopian methods of coping with evacuations, smoky air and extreme heat. This year alone, blazes have destroyed over 3,900 homes and other structures, and burned through a record 3.1 million acres across the state. In just over three weeks, the state has seen over 900 fires, which have killed at least 12 people and forced tens of thousands of residents to evacuate. Five of the fires currently burning are now among the top 10 largest in state history. Here's how Californians handle the threat. [HuffPost]
BLACK AND LATINO MEN KEPT ACCUSING A COP OF INVASIVE SEARCHES. THE NYPD KEPT PROMOTING HIM. Christopher McCormack is one of the New York Police Department’s highest-ranking officers. He was hand-picked for the promotion two years ago by his old friend James O’Neill, who was police commissioner. But ProPublica has pieced together just how much top officials had to look past to promote him. Like many other cops in the NYPD, he's accused of things like being destructive in searching a home or overly physical with someone on the street. What stands out, though, is how often Black and Latino men accused him of invasive, humiliating searches. [HuffPost] | 
