Wednesday, August 21
Bulletin: France Says It Now Sees No-Deal Brexit as the Likeliest Scenario (Bloomberg)
U.S. Ally Watch: Trump Snubs Danish Queen as State Visit Postponed Over Greenland (Bloomberg)
Trump blamed Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in a tweet for her unwillingness to discuss the purchase of Greenland. He’d been due to visit Denmark — a NATO ally — in two weeks. “Deeply insulting,” thundered former premier Helle Thorning-Schmidt. Morten Ostergaard, leader of a party within the government bloc, tweeted that “reality has surpassed fantasy.”
Today in Deficits: U.S. Budget Gap to Top $1 Trillion in 2020 Amid Election Year (Bloomberg)
Who’s Afraid of the NRA? NRA Gets Results in One 30 Minute Phone Call With the President (New York Times)
President Trump spent at least 30 minutes on the phone Tuesday with Wayne LaPierre, the chief executive of the National Rifle Association, the latest conversation in an aggressive campaign by gun rights advocates to influence the White House in the weeks since the back-to-back mass shootings in Texas and Ohio.
The call ended the way that LaPierre had hoped it would: with Mr. Trump espousing N.R.A. talking points in the Oval Office and warning of the radical steps he said Democrats wanted to take in violation of the Second Amendment.
Fighting Back: Parkland Students Unveil Sweeping Proposals; Hope for Youth Voting Surge in 2020 (Washington Post)
Raw emotions have hit many 2020 Democratic presidential candidates as they have met advocates from Moms Demand Action, Everytown for Gun Safety and other groups whose members have been affected by gun violence.
Mike Bloomberg tweeted Tuesday: “We will not let this moment pass” and urged Americans to contact their representatives, tweeting “It’s key that our representatives hear from us – at rallies and on the phones” on supporting background checks and strong Red Flag laws.
G-7 Preview: Boris Johnson Needs Something From Everyone at the G-7 in Attempt to Sell Brexit (Bloomberg)
Needing a Friend: Trump Wants Russia to Rejoin the G-7, Putting Him Further at Odds of U.S. Allies (Axios)
2020 Watch: CNN National Poll on Democratic Primary (via Hindsight 2020)
Biden 29 (+7)
Sanders 15 (+1)
Warren 14 (-1)
Buttigieg 5 (+1)
Harris 5 (-12)
O’Rourke 3 (0)
Letter of the Day: Bloomberg will make a Great President (SI Live)
Today in Financial News.
Job Safety: The One Job in Banking the Robots Can’t Take – The Compliance Officer (Bloomberg)
China Is Cracking Down on Inflated Bond Trading Numbers (Bloomberg)
Glimmer of Hope: Two Homegrown Companies Defy Argentina’s Gloom (Bloomberg Opinion – Matt Winkler)
Climate News.
Brazil’s Amazon Rainforest is Burning at Record Rate (CNN)
The Amazon is often referred to as the planet’s lungs, producing 20% of the oxygen in the earth’s atmosphere, and it’s considered vital in slowing global warming.
The White House Saw Riches in Drilling in Arctic Refuge, Reality May Fall Short (New York Times)
Farmers in Parched Loire Valley Grapple with Climate Change Threat as Drought Prompts Water Restrictions (Financial Times)
Ten Democratic Presidential Candidates will Participate in CNN Climate Town Hall Sept. 4 (CNN)
Space section.
Historic Indian Mission to Moon’s South Pole Enters Lunar Orbit (Bloomberg)
India will become the fourth nation after the former Soviet Union, the U.S. and China to make a soft landing on the moon.
A successful mission will solidify its position as a pioneer of low-cost exploration in a global space race that’s seeing the U.S., China and Japan, as well as billionaires Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Richard Branson, competing to launch satellites, and send astronauts and paying-tourists into space.
Dining section.
Beyond Meat: The Hottest Thing in Food Is Made of Peas, Soy, and Mung Beans (Bloomberg Businessweek)
Impossible Foods has Burger King. Beyond Meat has Whole Foods. The ultimate prize, McDonald’s, is still up for grabs.
Best of late night.
“Instagram announced it is changing its name to Instagram by Facebook. Even ‘Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw’ was like, ‘That’s a bit wordy.’”
— Jimmy Fallon
“Ben and Jerry’s has released a new ice cream flavor inspired by Bernie Sanders. Yes! It’s called ‘Cookies and Creamed Corn’.”
— Conan O’Brien
“I just saw a new study that found that people who left their phones at home during vacation experience symptoms of withdrawal. Yeah, eventually they just start pointing at random objects and yell ‘Like!’, ‘Like!’, ‘Friend?’”
— Jimmy Fallon