Friday, November 15
Read of the Day:
Mike Bloomberg Launches $100 Million Anti-Trump Online Ad Blitz (New York Times)
Michael R. Bloomberg still has not declared whether he is running for president in 2020. He is about to become the single biggest spender in the presidential race anyway.
Ahead of a potential campaign announcement, Mike Bloomberg is beginning a $100 million digital campaign designed to attack and define President Trump in the top battleground states seen as likely to decide the 2020 election.
The ads go online today in four states — Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — and run through the end of the primary season, even if Bloomberg is not in the race.
The spending is an unprecedented financial show of force and a pre-emptive strike to undercut the expected Democratic complaints that Mr. Bloomberg’s money would be best spent on Democratic priorities, rather than his own presidential ambitions. It also delivers the unsubtle message that if Democrats were to nominate Mr. Bloomberg, his immense wealth could tilt the financial playing field of 2020 in their favor.
“We’re very clear: A case that we make for Mike is that he is the best candidate to take on Trump, and one of the reasons he is the best candidate is he can take the fight to him immediately and robustly,” said Howard Wolfson, a top political adviser to Bloomberg.
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Impeachment Update.
Brexit Latest.
Free Broadband! U.K. Labour Plans to Nationalize BT’s Broadband Unit (Bloomberg)
Britain’s Labour party pledged to offer all consumers free fiber broadband within a decade by nationalizing phone carrier BT Group Plc’s Openreach unit.
Hong Kong Update.
Climate Finance Today.
Good News For Public Health.
Apple to Remove Vaping Apps From Store (Axios)
Apple will remove all 181 vaping-related apps from its mobile App Store this morning. The move comes after at least 42 people have died from vaping-related lung illness, per the CDC.
Weekend Arts.
Critic’s Pick: At 88, Agnes Denes Finally Gets the Retrospective She Deserves (New York Times)
Click here for a stunning image of Agnes Denes standing amid her 1982 public work, “Wheatfield — A Confrontation,” in Lower Manhattan on the landfill from the World Trade Center. The exhibit is on view at The Shed in New York City through March 22, 2020.
Best of late night.
“The world’s largest Starbucks opens tomorrow in Chicago. The place is huge! It’s 35,000 square feet. Five stories high. And best of all: it has two charging outlets.”
— Jimmy Fallon
“Divers in Europe have announced the discovery of a new shipwreck from 1917 which contained 900 bottles of liquor. Also a shipwreck that contains liquor, your Aunt Carol on Thanksgiving.”
— Seth Meyers
“Two Republican officials are proposing that Staten Island secede from the rest of New York City, calling it a forgotten borough. Forgotten? You guys have your own boat! The rest of us are riding around in underground rat tunnels!”
— Seth Meyers