SEPTEMBER 13, 2018


NEWS AND VIEWS


THE WOODWARD BOOK FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bob-woodward-fear-trump-in-the-white-house-interview-tapes/
CBS NEWS September 13, 2018, 2:57 PM

Bob Woodward says he would release book interview tapes if strongly challenged

President Trump strongly criticized Bob Woodward's new book, "Fear: Trump in the White House," as "a total fraud," "work of fiction" and "totally discredited." But Woodward said he drew from hundreds of hours of interviews for his book, which is published by Simon & Schuster, a division of CBS. The book depicts a chaotic White House with details from participants and witnesses to the Trump administration.

Asked whether he would release any of the interview tapes, Woodward told "CBS This Morning" on Thursday: "Well, if somebody really wants to challenge me, of course. Of course. But I — again, I've made agreements with people that these sources are going to remain confidential."

Bob Woodward's "Fear" — some top takeaways
In the book, Woodward described a "nervous breakdown" in the administration. In an interview with "CBS This Morning" co-host Norah O'Donnell, FBI Director Christopher Wray told her he has "not seen a 'nervous breakdown' of executive power."

"I have also not read Mr. Woodward's book, and I'm not sure whether I'll ever find time," Wray added.

Woodward responded to Wray, saying, "His experience is limited with Trump." Wray was confirmed as FBI director in August 2017.

"I spent over a year on this. I have literally hundreds of hours of tapes with people who were there. If you've looked at the book, they're very specific incidents. And it is a kind of — it opens the window," Woodward said.

Various Trump administration officials have come forward to deny certain accounts in the story, including White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Defense Secretary James Mattis. Woodward addressed the various push-back he's getting.

"Look, going back to the Nixon case, any of these books you're going to have what I call this 'survival denial' by somebody who wants to be politically connected with the president. And that's fine," Woodward said. "But as the great editor of the Washington Post, Ben Bradlee said, the truth emerges. And it does. And I've done this time and time again where you get denials. Oh, 'Nixon and Kissinger did not pray on the eve of Nixon's resignation.'"

Watch the video above to see Woodward's response to the recent ousting of "60 Minutes" executive producer Jeff Fager.


© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.



SANDERS COMMENTS HERE ARE ON THE GATHERING OF FAR-RIGHT GROUPS WORLDWIDE, AND THE NEED TO CONFRONT THEM. I AGREEE WITH HIM 100%. IT IS A TIME OF CRISIS. HE ISN’T SPECIFIC ENOUGH FOR ME TO SEE CLEARLY WHERE HE IS HEADED, THOUGH, IN TERMS OF ACTION. HE OF COURSE IS NON-VIOLENT.

IT SOUNDS LIKE POSSIBLE COMMUNICATION TO THE POINT OF ORGANIZATIONS WITH OTHER PROGRESSIVE GROUPS IN OTHER COUNTRIES. IF SO, THERE WILL BE A HOWL COMING FROM THE CONSERVATIVES AROUND THE COUNTRY. IT SOUNDS TOO MUCH LIKE “THE NEW WORLD ORDER” I’M AFRAID. FROM WHAT I CAN SEE, THOUGH, VOTING THEM OUT OF POWER HERE IN OUR COUNTRY IS OUR FIRST BEST HOPE – BEGINNING WITH THE NOVEMBER PRIMARIES TWO MONTHS FROM NOW TO CHANGE THE BALANCE IN CONGRESS AND THE SENATE.

IF WE WERE TO SUCCEED IN THAT, I WOULDN’T FEEL SO NERVOUS. IT WON’T BE ENOUGH, BUT THE PULL TOWARD SEPARATENESS RATHER THAN TOGETHERNESS IS POWERFUL AT THIS TIME. AMERICANS TEND TO FEEL THAT IF WE ARE TOO CLOSELY LINKED WITH OTHERS OUR “SPECIALNESS” WILL DISAPPEAR, AND WE MAY HAVE TO BE TOO AGREEABLE.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/09/13/new-authoritarian-axis-demands-international-progressive-front
Published on
Thursday, September 13, 2018
by The Guardian
A New Authoritarian Axis Demands an International Progressive Front
We must take the opportunity to reconceptualize a genuinely progressive global order based on human solidarity, an order that recognizes that every person on this planet shares a common humanity, that we all want our children to grow up healthy, to have a good education, have decent jobs, drink clean water, breathe clean air and live in peace
byBernie Sanders

PHOTOGRAPH -- Our job is to reach out to those in every corner of the world who share these values, and who are fighting for a better world. (Photo: Sally Prevost/flickr/cc)

There is a global struggle taking place of enormous consequence. Nothing less than the future of the planet – economically, socially and environmentally – is at stake.

At a time of massive wealth and income inequality, when the world’s top 1% now owns more wealth than the bottom 99%, we are seeing the rise of a new authoritarian axis.

While these regimes may differ in some respects, they share key attributes: hostility toward democratic norms, antagonism toward a free press, intolerance toward ethnic and religious minorities, and a belief that government should benefit their own selfish financial interests. These leaders are also deeply connected to a network of multi-billionaire oligarchs who see the world as their economic plaything.

These leaders are also deeply connected to a network of multi-billionaire oligarchs who see the world as their economic plaything.

Those of us who believe in democracy, who believe that a government must be accountable to its people, must understand the scope of this challenge if we are to effectively confront it.

It should be clear by now that Donald Trump and the rightwing movement that supports him is not a phenomenon unique to the United States. All around the world, in Europe, in Russia, in the Middle East, in Asia and elsewhere we are seeing movements led by demagogues who exploit people’s fears, prejudices and grievances to achieve and hold on to power.

This trend certainly did not begin with Trump, but there’s no question that authoritarian leaders around the world have drawn inspiration from the fact that the leader of the world’s oldest and most powerful democracy seems to delight in shattering democratic norms.

Three years ago, who would have imagined that the United States would stay neutral between Canada, our democratic neighbor and second largest trading partner, and Saudi Arabia, a monarchic, client state that treats women as third-class citizens? It’s also hard to imagine that Israel’s Netanyahu government would have moved to pass the recent “nation state law”, which essentially codifies the second-class status of Israel’s non-Jewish citizens, if Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t know Trump would have his back.

All of this is not exactly a secret. As the US continues to grow further and further apart from our longtime democratic allies, the US ambassador to Germany recently made clear the Trump administration’s support for rightwing extremist parties across Europe.

In addition to Trump’s hostility toward democratic institutions we have a billionaire president who, in an unprecedented way, has blatantly embedded his own economic interests and those of his cronies into the policies of government.

Other authoritarian states are much farther along this kleptocratic process. In Russia, it is impossible to tell where the decisions of government end and the interests of Vladimir Putin and his circle of oligarchs begin. They operate as one unit. Similarly, in Saudi Arabia, there is no debate about separation because the natural resources of the state, valued at trillions of dollars, belong to the Saudi royal family. In Hungary, far-right authoritarian leader Viktor Orbán is openly allied with Putin in Russia. In China, an inner circle led by Xi Jinping has steadily consolidated power, clamping down on domestic political freedom while it aggressively promotes a version of authoritarian capitalism abroad.

We must understand that these authoritarians are part of a common front. They are in close contact with each other, share tactics and, as in the case of European and American rightwing movements, even share some of the same funders.

We must understand that these authoritarians are part of a common front. They are in close contact with each other, share tactics and, as in the case of European and American rightwing movements, even share some of the same funders. The Mercer family, for example, supporters of the infamous Cambridge Analytica, have been key backers of Trump and of Breitbart News, which operates in Europe, the United States and Israel to advance the same anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim agenda. Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson gives generously to rightwing causes in both the United States and Israel, promoting a shared agenda of intolerance and illiberalism in both countries.

The truth is, however, that to effectively oppose rightwing authoritarianism, we cannot simply go back to the failed status quo of the last several decades. Today in the United States, and in many other parts of the world, people are working longer hours for stagnating wages, and worry that their children will have a lower standard of living than they do.

Our job is to fight for a future in which new technology and innovation works to benefit all people, not just a few. It is not acceptable that the top 1% of the world’s population owns half the planet’s wealth, while the bottom 70% of the working age population accounts for just 2.7% of global wealth.

Together governments of the world must come together to end the absurdity of the rich and multinational corporations stashing over $21tn in offshore bank accounts to avoid paying their fair share of taxes and then demanding that their respective governments impose an austerity agenda on their working families.

It is not acceptable that the fossil fuel industry continues to make huge profits while their carbon emissions destroy the planet for our children and grandchildren.

It is not acceptable that the fossil fuel industry continues to make huge profits while their carbon emissions destroy the planet for our children and grandchildren.

It is not acceptable that a handful of multinational media giants, owned by a small number of billionaires, largely control the flow of information on the planet.

It is not acceptable that trade policies that benefit large multinational corporations and encourage a race to the bottom hurt working people throughout the world as they are written out of public view.

It is not acceptable that, with the cold war long behind us, countries around the world spend over $1tn a year on weapons of destruction, while millions of children die of easily treatable diseases.

In order to effectively combat the rise of the international authoritarian axis, we need an international progressive movement that mobilizes behind a vision of shared prosperity, security and dignity for all people, and that addresses the massive global inequality that exists, not only in wealth but in political power.

Such a movement must be willing to think creatively and boldly about the world that we would like to see. While the authoritarian axis is committed to tearing down a post-second world war global order that they see as limiting their access to power and wealth, it is not enough for us to simply defend that order as it exists now.

We must look honestly at how that order has failed to deliver on many of its promises, and how authoritarians have adeptly exploited those failures in order to build support for their agenda. We must take the opportunity to reconceptualize a genuinely progressive global order based on human solidarity, an order that recognizes that every person on this planet shares a common humanity, that we all want our children to grow up healthy, to have a good education, have decent jobs, drink clean water, breathe clean air and live in peace.

Our job is to reach out to those in every corner of the world who share these values, and who are fighting for a better world.

In a time of exploding wealth and technology, we have the potential to create a decent life for all people. Our job is to build on our common humanity and do everything that we can to oppose all of the forces, whether unaccountable government power or unaccountable corporate power, who try to divide us up and set us against each other. We know that those forces work together across borders. We must do the same.

© 2018 The Guardian



GOVERNOR SCOTT – “HEART WRENCHING”

IF IT HADN’T BEEN FOR THE SHEER HOSTILITY WITH WHICH TRUMP DEALT WITH CRUZ, OUR LACK OF HELP WOULD HAVE BEEN LESS DISTURBING TO ME. HURRICANES ARE REALLY TERRIBLE THINGS, AND THERE IS CONFUSION AT BEST. IT’S THE ATTITUDE THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-disputes-puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-death-toll-blames-democrats-for-making-him-look-bad/
By EMILY TILLETT CBS NEWS September 13, 2018, 11:19 AM
Trump disputes hurricane death toll in Puerto Rico, blames Democrats for making him "look bad"

President Trump is defending his administration's response to the devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico last year, disputing new findings that Hurricane Maria killed far more people than initially believed. It's the latest defense since Mr. Trump on Tuesday claimed that federal response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico was an "unsung success."


Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico. When I left the Island, AFTER the storm had hit, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths. As time went by it did not go up by much. Then, a long time later, they started to report really large numbers, like 3000...

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"3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico. When I left the Island, AFTER the storm had hit, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths. As time went by it did not go up by much. Then, a long time later, they started to report really large numbers, like 3000..." Mr. Trump tweeted.

In a subsequent tweet, Mr. Trump claimed that the reporting was "done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible when I was successfully raising Billions of Dollars to help rebuild Puerto Rico."

"If a person died for any reason, like old age, just add them onto the list. Bad politics. I love Puerto Rico!," he added.


Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
.....This was done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible when I was successfully raising Billions of Dollars to help rebuild Puerto Rico. If a person died for any reason, like old age, just add them onto the list. Bad politics. I love Puerto Rico!

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According to the independent analysis commissioned by the governor of Puerto Rico and conducted by researchers at George Washington University's Milken Institute School of Public Health, an estimated 2,975 more deaths than normal were recorded on the island from September 2017 to February 2018, compared to the government's first estimate of 64 deaths as a result of the hurricane.

The study explains that the initial tally only took into account deaths directly attributed to causes like flying debris, floods and drownings — not the increase in mortality from other causes related to the storm and conditions in its aftermath. "Damaged infrastructure and power and telecommunication outages presented major challenges" for residents, medical workers and officials to report these deaths at the time, the report states.

The death records were provided by the Puerto Rico Vital Statistics Records division of the Puerto Rico Department of Health. The study found that those in low-income areas, and elderly men, were at greatest risk of dying as parts of the island remained without power and electricity for months after the storm.

In an interview with CBSN Thursday, Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello addressed the president's comments: "I have to say that neither the people of Puerto Rico nor the victims, deserve their pain to be questioned." He also pushed back against the administration's account of its response to Hurricane Maria: "There could be no 'fantastic' response as long as we are treated as second class citizens."

Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott refuted the president's tweeted claims and voiced support for Rossello, tweeting, "I disagree with @POTUS– an independent study said thousands were lost and Gov. Rosselló agreed. I've been to Puerto Rico 7 times & saw devastation firsthand. The loss of any life is tragic; the extent of lives lost as a result of Maria is heart wrenching. I'll continue to help PR."

San Juan mayor and frequent Trump critic Carmen Yulín Cruz also tweeted in response to the president, "This is what denial following neglect looks like: Mr Pres in the real world people died on your watch. YOUR LACK OF RESPECT IS APPALLING!"

View image on Twitter
View image on Twitter

Carmen Yulín Cruz
✔
@CarmenYulinCruz
This is what denial following neglect looks like: Mr Pres in the real world people died on your watch. YOUR LACK OF RESPECT IS APPALLING!

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House Democrats responded to the president's accusation on Twitter, saying "President Trump won't acknowledge the thousands of Americans who died on his watch. And even worse, Republicans have no interest in holding this administration accountable and ensuring that Congress is prepared to respond to these disasters."


House Democrats
✔
@HouseDemocrats
President Trump won't acknowledge the thousands of Americans who died on his watch.

And even worse, Republicans have no interest in holding this administration accountable and ensuring that Congress is prepared to respond to these disasters.

Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico. When I left the Island, AFTER the storm had hit, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths. As time went by it did not go up by much. Then, a long time later, they started to report really large numbers, like 3000...

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9:20 AM - Sep 13, 2018
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The president's comments come as his administration prepares to battle yet another potentially life-threatening storm with Hurricane Florence approaching the Carolina coast. Mr. Trump appeared confident that the federal response would be on par to his other "A pluses" in Texas and Florida, assuring those in the path of the storm: "We'll handle it, we're ready, we're able."

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.



FLORENCE IS EVEN MORE UNPREDICTABLE THAN MOST STORMS, ACCORDING TO A METEOROLOGIST, MARSHALL SHEPHERD. HE CALLS IT “A STRANGE BIRD.” I WANTED TO FIND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT IN WHAT WAYS, SCIENTIFICALLY, IS THIS STORM SO UNUSUAL, AND WHAT MAY BE CAUSING IT. DOES HE THINK IT IS UNUSUALLY THREATENING? HE DIDN’T SAY HERE, THOUGH, AND MY QUICK SEARCH FOR MORE WAS UNSUCCESSFUL.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hurricane-florence-horrific-nightmare-for-meteorologists-tracking-the-storm-today-2018-09-13/
CBS/AP September 13, 2018, 12:10 PM
Hurricane Florence is a "horrific nightmare" for meteorologists tracking the storm

WASHINGTON -- Oddly, the closer Hurricane Florence gets to land, the murkier its future gets. Usually when a storm approaches the coast, forecasters can tell with ever-increasing accuracy who will get walloped. Not with Florence.

That's because the weather systems that usually push and pull a storm are disappearing as Florence nears land around the border between North and South Carolina. The center is slowing down and is expected to stall and perhaps wander around just off shore on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

"This is a horrific nightmare storm from a meteorological perspective," University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall Shepherd said. "We've just never seen anything like this. ... This is just a strange bird."

Florence is becoming more of a threat to more people -- now including some in Georgia -- in more ways. The more it stalls, the more it rains. The National Hurricane Center is calling for 20 to 30 inches of rain in North Carolina, with spots up to 40 inches. The more it hovers just off shore, the more potentially deadly storm surge it could push on-shore.

"For a meandering storm, the biggest concern -- as we saw with Harvey -- is the huge amount of rainfall," said Chris Landsea, chief of tropical analysis and forecast branch at the National Hurricane Center.

CBS New York chief weathercaster Lonnie Quinn reports the worst part of the storm is the front right quadrant because you get the highest winds and the storm pushes that water onto the shore. Water could rise up to 15 feet.

The wide storm has weakened to a Category 2 hurricane and forecasters expect top winds to drop more as it nears the shore, but they're sharing a giant dose of uncertainty.

"It certainly is a challenge forecasting precise impacts when its exact track won't be known until a day in advance," Landsea said: There's "a huge difference" in the size and type of damage Florence inflicts if it stays 50 miles off shore versus heading inland immediately.

The storm has pretty much followed the forecast track through now, but the issue will be Thursday or Friday as it nears the coast and the steering currents collapse.

"It's going to coming roaring up to the coast Thursday night and say 'I'm not sure I really want to do this and I'll just take a tour of the coast and decide where I want to go inland,'" said Jeff Masters, meteorology director of the private Weather Underground.

Steering currents -- around clear-weather high-pressure systems and stormy low-pressure systems -- redirect hurricanes, with the clear-weather systems acting as walls that storms have to go around. Forecasts show those currents giving Florence no sense of direction in a day or so.

Masters said there's a tug-of-war between two clear-skies high-pressure systems -- one off the coast and one over Michigan. The more the Great Lakes one wins, the more southerly Florence will be.

Hurricane Florence
PHOTOGRAPH -- This satellite image provided by NOAA shows Hurricane Florence off the eastern coast of the United States on Thu., Sept. 13, 2018. NOAA

Computer simulations -- especially the often star-performing European model -- push the storm further south, even into South Carolina and Georgia. The hurricane center also adjusted its projected track, but kept it north of what most computer models were showing, to provide some continuity with past forecasts.

Private meteorologist Ryan Maue of Weathermodels.com in an email called the overnight European computer simulation "another model run for the ages. So many weird/outlandish solutions -- but that's what happens when the steering currents collapse."

The European computer model has Florence veering before landfall and hovering for a couple days off the coast.

If the European model is true or the overall trend persists, University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy said it "is exceptionally bad news, as it smears a landfall out over hundreds of miles of coastline, most notably the storm surge. The rainfall has been and continues to be a very substantial threat over the entire area."

And if Florence weren't enough, other storms out there are threatening people. Tropical Storm Olivia has made landfall in the Hawaiian islands, the Philippines are bracing for the powerful typhoon Mangkhut, and Tropical Storm Isaac is nearing the Leeward Islands. Hurricane Helene and Subtropical Storm Joyce were off in the Atlantic, posing no threat.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.



SEE THIS LONG AND COMPLICATED DESCRIPTION OF WHAT HAPPENED IN PUERTO RICO. IT’S THE USUAL COMEDY OF ERRORS, EXCEPT THAT THIS WAS NOT FUNNY. AT LEAST NO PEOPLE DIED OF THIRST DURING THE STORM. THREE ARTICLES. MAYBE THEY’LL MAKE A MOVIE ABOUT THIS ONE.

10:07 AM

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/puerto-rico-water-bottles-possibly-millions-for-hurricane-maria-victims-sitting-on-tarmac/
CBS NEWS September 13, 2018, 10:07 AM
Possibly millions of water bottles meant for Hurricane Maria victims left on tarmac in Puerto Rico

The federal government's response to Hurricane Maria is under fresh scrutiny over photos showing what appear to be millions of water bottles meant for victims still sitting on a runway in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, more than one year after the storm.

The Puerto Rican government has placed much of the blame for mismanagement of resources on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). A senior FEMA official told CBS News' David Begnaud that "if [FEMA] put that water on that runway there will be hell to pay ... If we did that, we're going to fess up to it."

The images of huge stacks of bottled water began circulating on social media Tuesday, the same day President Trump called the government's response to Maria an "unsung success" during a meeting on hurricane preparedness in the Oval Office. Nearly 3,000 people died in Puerto Rico because of the storm.

The photos were taken by Abdiel Santana, who works with the United Forces of Rapid Action agency of the Puerto Rican Police. Santana said he snapped the photos because he was angry to still see them sitting there, nearly a year after he first spotted them. Santana told CBS News he took pictures of the bottles last fall, but has not provided those photos yet.

water bottles Puerto Rico
A photograph, taken Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018, of the stockpiled water in Ceiba, Puerto Rico. ABDIEL SANTANA

Marty Bahamonde, director of disaster operations at FEMA, confirmed that the agency delivered the bottled water to the island but said the agency didn't track specific shipments. It's not clear what became of the bottles after the delivery. FEMA is investigating whether or not the agency placed the water bottles on the runway.

Carlos Mercader, the executive director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, outlined in a statement what he saw as FEMA's missteps in handling the water bottles. Mercader said FEMA should have distributed the water to victims on the island, since they were in the agency's possession. He said the runway in Ceiba is federally managed land, and that FEMA should have deemed the water bottles "excess inventory" months ago.

The General Services Administration in Puerto Rico (GSA) says it requested FEMA's inventory of excess water through a federal program on April 17 and was given approval to use the supplies on April 26. In total, documents show the GSA claimed about 20,000 pallets of bottled water.

water bottles Puerto Rico

A photograph, taken Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018, of the stockpiled water in Ceiba, Puerto Rico. ABDIEL SANTANA

The GSA administrator for Puerto Rico, Ottmar Chávez, said FEMA reported it had the excess bottled water before he took control. Chávez said he only became aware of the bottled water on Tuesday and does not know why it is there, how it got there or how long it has been there. He now says he would like FEMA to take responsibility for the water, because his agency has received two complaints about the taste and smell of the water.

Barceloneta is one of the municipalities that complained about the taste and odor of the water. Mayor Wanda Soler Rosario office said her office was "surprised by the reports" and denied having ever made a complaint. "I want to clarify that at no time was any verbal or written information submitted that represented a complaint about the water we received," Rosario said in a statement to CBS News.

Chávez, the GSA administrator, said he was in contact with FEMA and the Department of Health to test the water.

Puerto Rico's governor last month raised the U.S. territory's official death toll from Hurricane Maria from 64 to 2,975. The storm, which devastated the territory last September, is also estimated to have caused $100 billion in damage.

Below is the full statement from Mercader, the executive director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration:

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


1:49 PM

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/puerto-rico-water-bottles-were-moved-to-runway-to-save-money-fema-official-says/
By DAVID BEGNAUD, STEFAN BECKET CBS NEWS September 13, 2018, 1:49 PM
FEMA official says bottled water in Puerto Rico was moved to runway to save money

PHOTOGRAPHS –
CLOSEUP -- A photograph, taken Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018, of the stockpiled water in Ceiba, Puerto Rico. ABDIEL SANTANA
DISTANCE -- A photograph, taken Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018, of the stockpiled water in Ceiba, Puerto Rico. ABDIEL SANTANA

The federal government's response to Hurricane Maria is under fresh scrutiny over photos showing what appear to be millions of water bottles meant for victims still sitting on a runway in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, more than one year after the storm.

The Puerto Rican government has placed much of the blame for mismanagement of resources on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). A senior FEMA official told CBS News' David Begnaud that "if [FEMA] put that water on that runway there will be hell to pay ... If we did that, we're going to fess up to it."

The images of huge stacks of bottled water began circulating on social media Tuesday, the same day President Trump called the government's response to Maria an "unsung success" during a meeting on hurricane preparedness in the Oval Office. Nearly 3,000 people died in Puerto Rico because of the storm.

The photos were taken by Abdiel Santana, who works with the United Forces of Rapid Action agency of the Puerto Rican Police. Santana said he snapped the photos because he was angry to still see them sitting there, nearly a year after he first spotted them. Santana told CBS News he took pictures of the bottles last fall, but has not provided those photos yet.


3:25 PM

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/puerto-rico-water-bottles-were-moved-to-runway-to-save-money-fema-official-says/
By DAVID BEGNAUD, STEFAN BECKET CBS NEWS September 13, 2018, 1:49 PM
FEMA official says bottled water in Puerto Rico was moved to runway to save money
Last Updated Sep 13, 2018 3:25 PM EDT

A senior official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) says millions of bottles of water were moved onto a runway in Puerto Rico in January as a cost-saving measure as regular water service was restored to the island in the months after Hurricane Maria.

Marty Bahamonde, director of disaster operations for FEMA's Office of External Affairs, said in an interview Thursday that the agency had been storing the water in more than 1,100 containers on the island at a cost of about $300,000 per day before moving the supplies outdoors in January.

"FEMA put that water out on that airstrip for the purpose of getting it out of containers, so that there would be no cost to us and no cost to the taxpayer," he said, echoing comments made by FEMA deputy administrator Daniel Kaniewski on "CBS This Morning" on Thursday. "In hindsight, it saved us tens of millions of dollars."

Photos of dozens of pallets of bottled water sitting on the runway emerged this week and raised fresh questions about the federal government's handling in the aftermath of Maria, which devastated the island and was responsible for nearly 3,000 deaths. President Trump defended his administration's response earlier this week, calling it an "unsung success." He cast doubt on the official death toll in tweets on Thursday.

water bottles Puerto Rico

A photograph, taken Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018, of the stockpiled water in Ceiba, Puerto Rico. ABDIEL SANTANA

Bahamonde said FEMA decided to move the bottled water to the runway in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, and make them available on a government contract in January, as demand for the water from the Puerto Rican government decreased.

"As the water started to come back through the regular water system, and that started to increase, 90, 95 percent of people had water in their homes, there was less and less of a demand for the bottled water that was on the island," Bahamonde said. He added that shipping the supplies back to the U.S. for use in future disasters was "cost prohibitive," and said, "Anytime we waste water, that's something we try absolutely not to do."

FEMA typically transports emergency supplies to areas affected by natural disasters and relies on local authorities to distribute those goods. However, FEMA took on the bulk of responsibility for distributing supplies in Puerto Rico in the wake of Maria, given the extent of the destruction of the island's infrastructure from the storm.

The General Services Administration (GSA) in Puerto Rico took possession of the supplies in April and began distributing the water in May, Bahamonde said. Documents show about 20,000 pallets of water were handed over to the GSA. The agency stopped distributing the water after two complaints from municipalities about its unusual taste and smell.

Bahamonde said the excess supply of bottled water was a result of FEMA's efforts to make sure the island had adequate supplies after the storm.

"We will never apologize for erring on the side of having too much of a commodity in a place, because that's what we're supposed to do," he said.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


ARE THE REPUBLICANS ABOUT READY TO START THOSE IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS? I DOUBT IT. THEY’RE LIKE THE PERSON (I CAN’T REMEMBER WHO), IN THE LAST YEAR OR TWO WHO SAID IN FRONT OF A CAMERA, WHEN ASKED IF HE CARED ABOUT SOME VERY IMPORTANT THING, SAID “I CARE, BUT I DON’T CARE CARE.” SO WELL PUT. STILL GOT MY SILVER SPOON, SISTER. PLEASE GO AWAY.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2018/09/13/republicans-good-luck-getting-trump-out-of-the-news/?noredirect=on
Republicans: Good luck getting Trump out of the news
By Jennifer Rubin
Opinion writer
September 13 at 9:00 AM

Jennifer Rubin
Jennifer Rubin writes reported opinion from a center-right perspective for The Washington Post.

PHOTOGRAPH -- President Trump and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) attend a White House meeting with Republican lawmakers last week. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The irony is delicious. The candidate so expert in dominating the news cycle and exploiting his base’s unhinged anger is now a drag on his own party — and hence a threat to his presidency — by virtue of those exact same behaviors.

The traditional midterm analysis is that the popularity of the president is the critical factor in determining his party’s prospects. Gallup notes, “In Gallup’s polling history, presidents with job approval ratings below 50% have seen their party lose 37 House seats, on average, in midterm elections. That compares with an average loss of 14 seats when presidents had approval ratings above 50%.” When the president’s approval drops to 40 percent or lower, losses have ranged from a low of 29 seats (in 1950 with Harry S. Truman in the White House) to a high of 55 when he was the incumbent four years earlier.

However, it is fair to say that the anti-Trump reaction may be much stronger given a president whose “strongly disapprove” number is so high and whose base of support is far narrower than the coalition of opposition. Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report puts it this way:

[T]he “all me all the time” messaging is exactly what makes him radioactive in the swing, suburban seats that Republicans need to hold in the House. The more Trump keeps the focus on himself, it means less oxygen and space for issues that are important to these voters; the economy, the Supreme Court and de-regulation. This is especially true during these last few weeks when the spotlight has been on everything that’s gone/is going wrong with the Trump White House (the New York Times op-ed; the Bob Woodward book; the Manafort/Cohen drama), and very little on what’s going right.

This week underscores the GOP’s dilemma. A week after good jobs numbers (that was just last Friday?!), the top news items include Trump’s insistence that 3,000 casualties don’t mean he messed up the Hurricane Maria recovery; Paul Manafort is looking to flip (an if he doesn’t another batch of convictions may occur before the midterms); another TV executive taken down in the #MeToo era (bad topic for Trump); the ongoing trade wars; and former Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt possibly going to work as a coal lobbyist (you cannot make this stuff up).

Trump and Trump-related scandals, muffs* and outrages blanket the news. All of these are salt in the wounds for Democrats and Democratic leaders. Trump’s base is so narrow (thanks to his antics and radical views) and so few persuadable voters will get on board the Trump train at this point that his shtick doesn’t pack the punch it once did. And he won’t go away.

[TO THOSE OF YOU WHO, LIKE ME, HAD NO IDEA WHAT MUFF IN THIS SENTENCE COULD MEAN, I DID JUST GOOGLE IT. THE SECOND MEANING IS VERY VULGAR AND DISGUSTING, SO I’LL SKIP THAT ONE. THE SECOND IS TO DROP THE BALL IN A BASEBALL GAME. RIGHT! THAT’S SOMETHING TRUMP DOES ALL TOO FREQUENTLY. I HAVE DONE IT OFTEN, TOO, BUT I HAVE BETTER SENSE TO THINK FOR A MOMENT ABOUT BEING PRESIDENT.

“For the last eight years, Republicans have had effective foils in Obama and Hillary Clinton,” Walter writes. “This year, however, their biggest impediment to keeping control of the Congress is their own party leader. There’s only so much traction that Obama-bashing will get Republicans if Trump remains as unpopular and polarizing as he is right now.” And what’s more, there is a significant segment of the electorate (the Mitt Romney-Hillary Clinton voters) who’d take Barack Obama back if they could (just as there are Democrats who’d take back George W. Bush, if it meant getting rid of Trump).

Finally, the entire GOP argument that if Democrats are elected, the Democrats will investigate corruption, obstruction, his fitness to govern, etc., is getting more nutty by the day. Democrats’ response is increasingly effective: That’s right, it’s about time someone held Trump and his cronies accountable.

Stoking fear that Congress would do its job without spineless Republican majority leaders somehow doesn’t “sing” as a GOP campaign message. And if ever there was a felt need to keep Trump in check, his constant media presence surely will remind voters that an unchecked Trump is a dangerous Trump.


Jennifer Rubin
Jennifer Rubin writes reported opinion from a center-right perspective for The Washington Post. Follow
Stories from The LilyThe Lily, a publication of The Washington Post, elevates stories about women.
What’s at stake in the Rhode Island, New Hampshire and New York primaries this week



THE AUTHOR OF THIS ARTICLE THOMAS NEUBURGER POINTS TO THE NEED TO GET THE KAVANAUGH PAPER TRAIL, AT LEAST THE 200,000 PAGES THAT THE DEMS DO HAVE ACCESS TO OUT INTO THE PUBLIC EYE. HE SUGGESTS SIMPLY RELEASING THEM TO THE PUBLIC AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. THE GOAL IS TO ALLOW THEM TO BE READ FOR MORE PREVARICATIONS ON HIS PART, HOPEFULLY TO MAKE THE PUBLIC SEE THAT HE IS NOT, NOT GOOD HONEST SUPREME COURT MATERIAL.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/09/13/democrats-should-release-all-committee-confidential-kavanaugh-documents-now
Published on
Thursday, September 13, 2018
by Common Dreams
Democrats Should Release All "Committee Confidential" Kavanaugh Documents Now
In normal times a Supreme Court nominee who lies under oath would be automatically disqualified. These are not normal times.
byThomas Neuburger

PHOTOGRAPH -- Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh speaks after US President Donald Trump announced his nomination in the East Room of the White House on July 9, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo: MANDEL NGAN/ AFP/ Getty Images)

Under Democratic pressure, Republicans have given almost 200,000 pages of Brett Kavanaugh documents to the Senate Judiciary Committee, but they have not released them to the public. These documents cover, at a minimum, his long period of service in the Bush administration. Whatever else is contained in them is unknown.

Democratic Sens. Cory Booker, Mazie Hirono, and Dick Durbin have selectively released a few of those documents. They show that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was less than honest when he said publicly that Roe v. Wade was "settled law." It's clear from the documents he privately thinks Roe can be overturned, and likely that it should be.

The documents released also show he lied under oath during his confirmation hearings for the D.C. Circuit Court "and did so repeatedly." That in itself is quite a revelation. In normal times a Supreme Court nominee who lies under oath would be automatically disqualified. These are not normal times.

"If Democrats don't put up the strongest possible resistance, using every weapon they have, an electoral darkness may descend on them as well, since they will be — and be seen to be — complicit in the damage to come."

As damning as these revelations are, however, what they’ve released are just a small part of what Democrats possess. Almost 200,000 pages are in their hands. Democrats have these pages; the press and public do not.

If they are truly serious about preventing Kavanaugh’s confirmation, Democrats will release all of this material en masse, and do it now — including the apparent #MeToo letter now held by Senator Feinstein of California. Such a release will not only help to fully inform the public about this critical nomination, but it will also put Republicans under pressure, forcing them to be reactive for a change, not proactive, and leaving them no good choices.

To explain, let’s start with the schedule. The Judiciary Committee has finished hearings and started deliberations. The Supreme Court opens its fall session on October 1, and committee chair Chuck Grassley wants Kavanaugh confirmed by then or "soon after." He expects a committee vote on September 20 and a floor vote the following week.

This gives Democrats little time to derail a nomination that will arguably change the course of the Court for a generation and radically transform our government in the process. According to Bloomberg, confirming Judge Kavanaugh "could create the most conservative Supreme Court since the 1930s." In context, that means before 1937 when a highly conservative Court struck down almost all New Deal legislation it reviewed. Bloomberg, in other words, anticipates a return to an anti-New Deal judicial era.

The key to stopping the nomination is in the documents. Republicans withheld them precisely because they are afraid of what they contain. These documents were released only to the committee, only after Democrats insisted on seeing them, only after Chuck Schumer, who may have paid a very high price, bargained for them, and even then, delivered just "hours before the hearing," making careful examination next to impossible.

What's in those documents clearly frightens Republicans. Releasing them would change the game.

First, a full and sudden document release will create a furor in the press, refocusing the public on the nomination.

Second, a full release will "crowd-source" the research into what they contain. Two hundred thousand pages is a lot to go through, far more than committee Democrats can hope to do on this tight schedule. It's unlikely Democratic senators, even today, know all that they contain. If Republican have reason to be afraid of their release, that search will not go unrewarded. Prior to being confirmed for the D.C. Circuit, Kavanaugh worked for Ken Starr, was a principal author of the Starr Report, then loyally toiled in the Bush administration through 2006, ending as White House Staff Secretary. If even a part of that history is covered in these documents, they contain a wealth of information — not just about his perjuries, but about years of activity by a man widely considered a far-right ideologue to the core.

Third, if these documents do contain bombs, public rejection of his confirmation will build continuously. If those bombs are sufficiently explosive, if the public is sufficiently shocked by this nominee’s behavior — if Kavanaugh did more than repeatedly perjure himself, but also has a significant gambling addiction problem, for example — he could become repugnant to the mass of voters just as the Senate sits down to confirm him.

If so, Republicans will be faced with a problem, and a tough but simple choice — to brute-force the nomination through the Senate anyway (they do have the votes), or to withdraw his name in favor of someone else, a person who cannot possibly be confirmed before the November election.

If Republicans do force the confirmation anyway, in spite of what these now-hidden documents reveal, they will have achieved a right-wing Holy Grail — complete and unstoppable control of the U.S. Supreme Court far into the next generation.

But to get it they risk a lot. An electoral backlash could start immediately, further influencing the 2018 election, and could last through the 2020 presidential election as well. Already a minority, Republicans would not just be seen as the party of Trump, whom only Republicans like, but as the nakedly brute-force party — an arrogant uncaring elite eager to shove hated decisions down the throat of a public that, let’s not forget, voted in bipartisan numbers in 2016 for anyone they thought would overthrow arrogant elites. Voters were in high revolt in that election. They have not grown more complacent.

Make no mistake, a Roberts-Gorsuch-Kavanaugh court, as radical as their rulings are certain to be, will force an electoral backlash anyway — and once voters realize what’s been done to them, it will be of tsunami proportions. But do Koch-captured Republican office holders want that tsunami to arrive quickly and forcefully starting in November, or to play out much more slowly, preserving their control of government? A tough choice indeed.

Republicans will be forced to make that choice if committee Democrats release all documents they're now holding. It's by far their strongest next move. It doesn’t even require a consensus to make that decision, or any unanimity at all — a single Democratic senator, acting bravely and alone, can do it today.

It's been argued by many that adding Kavanaugh to the Court would be the final brick in the radical right-wing wall — the "one ring to bind them" if you will. If his nomination is not stopped, the nation could cross a constitutional line to a darkness it may never return from. If Democrats don't put up the strongest possible resistance, using every weapon they have, an electoral darkness may descend on them as well, since they will be — and be seen to be — complicit in the damage to come.

Democrats, release those documents now, and let the public help you help us all.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License


GO, DEMS!!

https://www.commondreams.org/further/2018/09/12/long-may-she-wave-redux
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
Long May She Wave Redux
byAbby Zimet, staff writer

PHOTOGRAPH -- The finger seen round the world. Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty

Among the historic numbers of women running for office this year - at least 575 women are aiming for the House, Senate or governorships, with hundreds more in local races - now count Juli Briskman, the defiant Virginia cyclist who gained fame, and lost her job, when she flipped off the idiot pretender's motorcade last year. Briskman, a 51-year-old marketing executive and community volunteer who's also worked in public relations, announced she’s taking her first step into local politics by runningfor District supervisor in Loudoun County, where she raised her kids and her infamous middle finger against tyranny. On Wednesday, she launched her campaign on @Crowdpac.

Briskman, whose Twitter profile reads, "Resister. Flipper. Cyclist. Trail Runner" lost her government contracting job after photos of her spontaneous act of mutiny went viral, prompting both acclaim and the occasional charge she was a "nasty lefty woman." She sued and won a severance claim, but her wrongful termination lawsuit was dismissed. Now, she hopes to unseat the GOP incumbent as part of an effort to shift the county from red to blue, focusing on more school funding, responsible growth and increased transparency in local government. "I do not back down when I see something is not right,” she wrote on her campaign page. Besides, sweet Jesus look what's going on, and "if not now, when?"

PHOTOGRAPH -- Juli Briskman -- finger_juli_ygnom4op.jpg
JULI’S FACEBOOK ACCOUNT: https://www.facebook.com/LongMaySheWave/


SANDERS WEIGHS IN ON TWO MORE NEW PROGRESSIVE CANDIDATES

Published on
Monday, September 10, 2018
byCommon Dreams
While Staying Out of NY Governor's Race, Sanders Endorses Zephyr Teachout and Jumaane Williams
"The progressive movement today is transforming American politics from coast to coast. This Thursday, New York state voters can take us a major step forward."
byJake Johnson, staff writer

PHOTOGRAPHS -- "This Thursday, New York state voters can take us a major step forward by supporting all those candidates who are prepared to transform the Democratic Party and fight for economic, social, racial, and environmental justice," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said in a statement. (Photos: Getty Images)

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Monday waded into New York's upcoming statewide primary elections to offer enthusiastic endorsements of Zephyr Teachout for attorney general and Jumaane Williams for lieutenant governor, but progressives were quick to notice that one prominent name was absent from the Vermont senator's announcement: Cynthia Nixon*.

"I was proud to support Bernie Sanders when he started a rising progressive tide in 2016. That tide is now a blue wave, and I'm honored to receive his endorsement as we ride that wave to defeat an establishment afraid of the real change we can create."

—Jumaane Williams While Sanders said in a statement that "we need to elect all the progressives running" in New York, the nation's most popular politician didn't mention or endorse Nixon, a self-described democratic socialist who is fighting an uphill battle against Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic gubernatorial primary.

"The progressive movement today is transforming American politics from coast to coast. This Thursday, New York state voters can take us a major step forward by supporting all those candidates who are prepared to transform the Democratic Party and fight for economic, social, racial, and environmental justice," Sanders said. "I would like to offer specific endorsements to two candidates I have known for many years, who are leaders of the progressive movement in New York and who stood with us in 2016: Jumaane Williams for lieutenant governor and Zephyr Teachout for attorney general."

Williams, who is Nixon's running mate, "has shown himself to be a bold and independent leader who will fight for working people in every corner of the state," Sanders noted. "Zephyr's work to reform our campaign finance system demonstrates her commitment to ensuring that the government works for all people and not just the wealthy and the powerful."

Teachout and Williams both took to Twitter to welcome Sanders' endorsement, which comes just three days before New Yorkers head to the polls.

"I was proud to support Bernie Sanders when he started a rising progressive tide in 2016," Williams wrote. "That tide is now a blue wave, and I'm honored to receive his endorsement as we ride that wave to defeat an establishment afraid of the real change we can create.

According to a new Siena College survey out on Monday, the attorney general primary is still a tossup, with Teachout currently polling in third place—just seven points behind frontrunner and Wall Street favorite Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.).

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License


WHO IS CYNTHIA NIXON? WHILE THIS ARTICLE IS CUTE, IT DOESN’T SHOW ME WHAT SHE WOULD DO AS A SERIOUS PERSON. ALSO, IT’S A BIT ON THE YOUNG UPPER MIDDLE CLASS ELITE SIDE FOR ME. TOO FROU FROU. STILL, SHE’S A DEMOCRAT.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cynthia-nixon-bagel_us_5b97e2efe4b0511db3e68957
POLITICS 09/11/2018 01:54 pm ET Updated 1 day ago
Cynthia Nixon Orders Cinnamon Raisin Bagel With Lox And Onions
The New York gubernatorial candidate sparked culinary controversy at Zabar’s deli.
By Ron Dicker headshot

VIDEO – [TWO YOUNG GUYS TASTING HER BAGEL AND NEWS FOOTAGE]
VIDEO -- Cynthia Nixon ordering a lox sandwich on a cinnamon raisin bagel

Cynthia Nixon’s sweet talk got her flak on the campaign trail.

The “Sex and the City” actress and New York gubernatorial candidate was filmed recently ordering a cinnamon raisin bagel with lox at a famous New York City deli. That sparked outrage from foodies who wouldn’t dare upset the savory balance of a traditional bagel and schmear, especially when paired with lox, onions, capers and tomato as Nixon requested.

A video shot by Gothamist on Sunday (see below) captured the action at fine-foods emporium Zabar’s. Rebecca Katz, an adviser for Nixon, tried “with good reason, to dissuade us from filming the harrowing scene,” the site wrote.

The 52-year-old candidate, who’s challenging incumbent Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary on Thursday, later said it was her “go-to” and “it’s pretty delicious.”

A recent poll has Nixon trailing Cuomo by a large margin. Her bagel preference didn’t score her points with culinary critics either. “Lox her up,” Canada’s National Post wrote.

Progressive or repulsive, people?

Here’s a spread of Twitter reaction:


Miriam Elder
✔
@MiriamElder
I will not tweet about the dill in Cynthia Nixon’s bagel photo I will not tweet about the dill in Cynthia Nixon’s bagel photo I will not tweet about the dill in Cynthia Nixon’s bagel photo I will not tweet about the dill

64
11:06 PM - Sep 10, 2018
See Miriam Elder's other Tweets
Twitter Ads info and privacy

Rachel Ayn Konick
@MsRachelAyn
Has Cynthia Nixon apologized for her bagel order yet?

2
1:06 PM - Sep 11, 2018 · Washington, DC
See Rachel Ayn Konick's other Tweets
Twitter Ads info and privacy

Natalie Shure
✔
@nataliesurely
my takeaway from the Cynthia Nixon bagel drama is that sweet and savory flavors very rarely belong together and cultural narratives that assert otherwise have tyrannically reigned for far too long

71
12:14 AM - Sep 11, 2018


FORGIVE ME FOR ASKING WHO CYNTHIA NIXON IS. I WAS ALWAYS TURNED OFF BY THE TRAILER TO SEX AND THE CITY, SO I TURNED THE CHANNEL AS SOON AS I SAW THE INTRO COMING ON. AGAIN, IT’S CUTE, BUT LACKING IN SUBSTANCE, I THOUGHT. NOW, HAVING WATCHED THIS SCENE JUST NOW, I FEEL THAT I MAY HAVE MISSED A GREAT DEAL BY NOT WATCHING IT. SHE’S A TALENTED ACTRESS. WILL SHE BE A POLITICAL WINNER? BERNIE EITHER SIMPLY FAILED TO MENTION HER, OR DOESN’T CARE FOR HER? TAKE A LOOK AT HER ACTING IN THIS SCENE: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/cynthia-nixton-sex-and-the-city-scene-devastated-carrie-mr-big-new-york-governor-latest-a8289811.html.


BBC:

SEE ALSO: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latin-america/u-s-officials-suspect-russia-mystery-attacks-diplomats-cuba-china-n908141. THIS IS YESTERDAY’S PROBABLE MICROWAVE ATTACK.


ANOTHER RUSSIAN POISONING?

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45505064
Pussy Riot activist Pyotr Verzilov 'in hospital'
SEPTEMBER 12, 2018 1 hour ago (AT 9:30)

PHOTOGRAPH -- Pyotr Verzilov was one of those jailed for invading the World Cup final pitch
Image copyrightREUTERS

Pyotr Verzilov, an activist with Russian protest group Pussy Riot, is reported to have been taken to hospital in a serious condition.

Relatives speaking to the Meduza website said they believed he may have suffered poisoning but there is no official word on his condition.

He reportedly fell ill after a court hearing on Tuesday for fellow Pussy Riot activist Veronika Nikulshina.

Mr Verzilov was one of the activists who invaded the World Cup final pitch.

The story of Pussy Riot's 2012 jailing

Ms Nikulshina told Meduza that Mr Verzilov had complained of losing his sight, "then the ability to talk, then the ability to walk".

Mr Verzilov is married to Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, the Pussy Riot member who was sentenced in 2012 to two years in jail for a performance at a Moscow cathedral.

Ms Tolokonnikova tweeted: "My brother Pyotr may have been poisoned. In the toxicology department in a very serious condition."

Maria Alyokhina, another Pussy Riot member who was jailed along with Ms Tolokonnikova, also tweeted that Mr Verzilov was in intensive care.

Image copyrightREUTERS
Image caption
PHOTOGRAPH -- Croatia's Dejan Lovren squared up to Mr Verzilov during the World Cup pitch invasion in July REUTERS

Meduza said Mr Verzilov was in the toxicology department of a hospital in Moscow's Sokolniki district.

It said Mr Verzilov's mother had not been allowed to see her son.

Mr Verzilov, who also holds Canadian citizenship, was part of the Voina performance art group with Ms Tolokonnikova before it split in 2009 and then acted as spokesperson for Pussy Riot during the 2012 trial.

He was jailed for 15 days this year along with three women activists after invading football's World Cup final in Moscow on 15 July wearing police uniforms.

How Pussy Riot managed to burst into final

They said the action, under the name of Pussy Riot, was a protest against human rights abuses in Russia.

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