Friday, October 26
U.S. Midterm Update:
Mike Bloomberg Spends Another $10 Million to Boost Democrats in Final Days of Midterms (CNN)
Watch the ad here.
In Addition: Mike Bloomberg Drops $9.5 Million on Ads Targeting GOP Reps. Rohrabacher and Knight in Midterm Election (Los Angeles Times)
Plan Your Vote: Kevin Bacon, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ashley Nicole Black & More Stars Encourage Voters to ‘Make a Plan’ for Election Day (People)
The Bloomberg founded and funded Everytown for Gun Safety has released a video featuring more than 20 celebrities and influencers encouraging fans to hit the polls for the midterms. Watch the video here.
Pipe Bomb Terror Continues: 11th and 12th Pipe Bombs Found – Addressed to Senator Cory Booker and Former U.S. Intelligence Chief James Clapper at CNN (New York Times)
Meanwhile, this is what happens when Twitter deletes Russian bots:
President Trump just tweeted at 10:05am ET: “Twitter has removed many people from my account and, more importantly, they have seemingly done something that makes it much harder to join – they have stifled growth to a point where it is obvious to all. A few weeks ago it was a Rocket Ship, now it is a Blimp! Total Bias?”
Banking Today:
-German Banks Look to Kickstart Mergers With Plan for No.2 Lender (Bloomberg)
A long-awaited consolidation of Europe’s largest and most fragmented banking market may finally be about to start. Under the plan, Helaba and NordLB would combine in a first step, and then merge with DekaBank and LBBW at a later stage, the people said. Deka is a central institution for the savings banks, or Sparkassen, that acts mainly as an asset manager. The people asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private.
-Mark Carney, Eco-Warrior: The Bank of England Governor is Pushing Banks and Investors to Take Climate Change Seriously (Politico)
Carney’s work is being driven through the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TFCD) which was set up in 2015 by Carney and overseen by Mike Bloomberg.
Sunday Elections in Brazil and Georgia:
-Georgia’s Presidential Election May Be a First for Women (Bloomberg)
-Brazil Poll Confirms Dip for Bolsonaro But Lead Still Strong (Bloomberg)
Metro section.
Bill de Blasio is learning education (and governing) is tougher than it looks: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is poised to end a program that sent children to poorly performing schools even as officials knew they had little hope of improving.
New York Knew Some Schools in Its $773 Million Plan Were Doomed. They Kept Children in Them Anyway. (New York Times)
Weekend reflection.
Sources: MTA tells Task Force that System-wide Repairs Could Run $60B (Politico)
The New York City subway system, and the MTA’s railroads and bridges and tunnels, are often described as the “lifeblood” of New York City. But that lifeblood is in trouble, and the estimated cost to save it has just skyrocketed. Officials at the MTA told a specially convened task force that resurrecting the nation’s largest and most important mass transit system may require a five-year plan costing some $60 billion.
Flashback to 2008: Mayor Mike Bloomberg said: “A sad day for New York City. Not only won’t we see the realization of a plan that would have cut traffic, spurred our economy, reduced pollution and improved public health, we will also lose out on nearly $500 million annually for mass transit improvements and $354 million in immediate federal funds.”
The mayor had furiously advocated a congestion pricing plan to state and city officials for nearly a year and worked to assemble a coalition of business, transportation, environmental and labor groups to support it. It was rejected by the State Legislature. The plan would have collected revenues which would have gone directly to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s capital budget.
Best of late night.
“According to The New York Times, President Trump has two official iPhones: one that is used for calls and one that is used for Twitter and other apps. He also has an android that he uses mainly as his vice president.”
— Seth Meyers
“A woman had to be removed from a flight from Scotland to London yesterday after attempting to sneak an emotional-support cat onto the plane. Fortunately, when the woman broke into tears the cat was there to not care at all.”
— Seth Meyers
For more best of late night from the New York Times, click here.