Monday morning news - October 12, 2020

Trump says he’s ready to return to the campaign trail » President Trump says he feels great and is ready to get back on the campaign trail. 

That after his chief physician, Dr. Sean Conley, declared on Saturday that the president “no longer poses an infection risk” to others. 

TRUMP: It looks like I’m immune for, I don’t know, maybe a long time, maybe a short time, it could be a lifetime, nobody really knows, but I’m immune. So the president is in very good shape.  

Conley said Trump met the CDC criteria for ending his isolation. Those guidelines state that those who test positive for COVID-19 must quarantine for 10 days. But after that, they can leave isolation if symptoms have improved or disappeared and they’ve been fever-free for more than 24 hours. 

The Presidential Debate Commission cancelled this week’s scheduled debate between Trump and campaign rival Joe Biden. 

The town hall format debate was slated to take place Thursday in Miami. But after the president’s COVID-19 diagnosis, the commission declared the debate would be held virtually. President Trump said he had no interest in participating remotely. 

Senate Judiciary Committee begins Barrett confirmation hearing » Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing begins today in the Senate Judiciary Committee. 

But it appears every member of that committee already has their mind made up. Democrats, including Delaware Senator Chris Coons, plan to vote “no.”

COONS: She has taught at a well regarded law school. She clerked for Justice Scalia, but she has views that make her not qualified to serve on the Supreme Court. 

Democrats say she’s been critical of Obamacare in the past and they plan to call on her to recuse herself from any ruling pertaining to the law. They’re also concerned that she may have a pro-life perspective on abortion restrictions. 

But Democrats don’t have the votes to block her, and Republicans on the Judiciary panel—like Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse—insist Barrett is qualified in every way. 

SASSE: She’s an originalist and she’s a textualist, which means when she puts on her black robe in the morning, she knows what it is to be a judge, and that is to cloak your personal preferences. Our judges don’t wear red or blue jerseys. 

On Sunday, several media outlets posted the text of her opening statement online. The 48-year-old Barrett is expected to say that courts must “enforce the rule of law,” but they “are not designed to solve every problem or right every wrong in our public life.” 

She’ll tell lawmakers that political branches elected by the people must make those decisions. 

Lousianans survey damage in wake of second hurricane in 6 weeks » In southwestern Louisiana, residents and officials are cleaning up after another hurricane ripped through the region. And as they survey the wreckage, Governor John Bel Edwards said they may have trouble figuring out which storm was to blame. 

EDWARDS: We already know that there will be damage in southwest Louisiana that will be very difficult to differentiate between what was caused by Hurricane Laura and what was caused by Hurricane Delta. 

Many Louisianans found themselves trudging through knee-deep water over the weekend and more than half-million people lost power. 

Delta made landfall Friday evening with top winds of 100 mph. It then moved over Lake Charles, a city that the Category 4 Hurricane Laura devastated just weeks earlier. Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter…

HUNTER: We had a Category 4 storm, the strongest storm to hit Louisiana in 150 years, the fifth-strongest hurricane on record to hit the United States of America.  When you put that together six weeks ago with what we just had, it’s like a category 6!

While Delta was a weaker storm than Laura, it caused more flooding.

Hunter estimated that hundreds of already battered homes across the city took on water. He said recovery from the double impact will be long.

Delta was the 10th named storm to hit the U.S. mainland this year, breaking a record set in 1916.

Lakers win NBA championship » The Los Angeles Lakers closed out the NBA Finals last night, beating the Miami Heat 106-to-93. 

GAME: And that’s it, it’s over. This historic 2020 NBA Championship belongs to the Los Angeles Lakers! 

The sixth and final game of the series was never really close. The Lakers led the Heat by nearly 30 points at halftime. 

LeBron James led the way with a triple-double—28 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists. 

For the Lakers, it is their 17th NBA Championship.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon) President Donald Trump gives thumbs up, as he departs after speaking from the Blue Room Balcony of the White House to a crowd of supporters, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020, in Washington. 

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