Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. I’m Bill Thomas, we’ve got some fascinating stories to share with you today, and here’s what’s going on.
A U.S. senator is warning former President Donald Trump to stay focused, Goldman Sachs is more optimistic on the economy, and an international banker with Morgan Stanley remains missing after a superyacht sinks. Also, an early October surprise may be in the works, and the head of the UC system says campus encampments will lead to consequences.
Sen. Graham Urges Trump to Focus on Policy in Bid to Win 2024 Election
In an interview with NBC’s’ “Meet the Press,” the South Carolina lawmaker was asked whether the former president’s current strategy to win the 2024 presidential race is working. Graham said that Trump can win the election so long as he focuses on policy, saying Trump’s programs are good for the American people, but that he could lose to Democratic candidate Kamala Harris if he makes the race about himself.Graham went on to say that in the remaining days of the campaign, he’s looking for Trump to define what he’ll do for the country in order to fix the borders and lower inflation. As for Harris, he says her policies on the economy are “a nightmare” for her to defend, and that is what Trump should target as he reaches out to voters.
By the way, Graham also said that other Republicans, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin should hit the campaign trail in support of Trump in the coming weeks.
A side note: similar comments about Trump’s strategy were also made by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who stepped down from office in December 2023 after being voted out of the speakership role.
Echoing McCarthy, former Trump adviser and 2016 campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said that the winning formula for President Trump is “fewer insults, more insights, and that policy contrast” between him and Harris.
Trump has not publicly responded to Graham, Conway, or McCarthy, but you should know that during a news conference last week, Trump told reporters that he’s “entitled to personal attacks” during the current presidential race.
Goldman Sachs Revises US Recession Probability Down to 20 Percent
Earlier this month, Goldman Sachs raised the odds of a recession in the United States from 15 to 25 percent following the unemployment rate hitting a three-year high just last month. Now, Jan Hatzius, the chief U.S. economist for Goldman Sachs, has changed the probability of a recession from 25 percent to 20 percent, mainly because the data for July and early August shows no sign of recession.You should know that the data he’s using, which was released last week, showed a drop in the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits from the previous week. Meanwhile, retail data was also positive because it showed that sales rose by the most in 1 1/2 years last month.
Therefore, Hatzius says, if the jobs report for August turns out to be “reasonably good,” he could further scale back the possibility of a U.S. recession to just 15 percent.
While Goldman Sachs is cautiously optimistic, JP Morgan is not. Last week, it announced that the probability of a U.S. and global recession happening before the end of 2024 is up from 25 percent in July to 35 percent based on current market conditions. Its chief global economist is also keeping the probability of a recession by the end of 2025 unchanged at 45 percent.
Interesting to note that concerns about an American recession come as the U.S. Federal Reserve says that the economy is showing signs of softening, including pullbacks in consumer spending and a weakening in the labor market. Of the 12 districts tracked by the Fed, five reported “flat or declining activity,” which was three more than the prior report.
Now this is really interesting: some experts say that the United States could already be in a recession and it may have started as early as this past March.
Morgan Stanley Executive, Tech Magnate Among 6 Missing After Superyacht Sinks
The chairman of Morgan Stanley International and a British technology entrepreneur are still missing 24 hours after their luxury boat sank off the coast of Sicily.Jonathan Bloomer, who has chaired Morgan Stanley’s London-based international arm, is feared to have drowned, along with his wife, as well as tech magnate Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah.
The two others who are missing from the superyacht Bayesian are Chris Morvillo, a lawyer with the international law firm Clifford Chance, and his wife.
Morvillo represented Lynch during his 12-week criminal trial in a federal court in New York earlier this year, which ended in his acquittal. Interesting to note that it’s thought that Lynch, his family, and friends were celebrating that acquittal on board the Bayesian.
Lynch, who has been the CEO of software firm Autonomy, had been accused of deceiving Hewlett-Packard about the company’s financial health prior to its 2011 acquisition for $11.7 billion.
The superyacht, which was reportedly owned by Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares—who survived—was carrying 22 people and was anchored about half a mile from shore when the incident happened.
Divers have been searching the wreckage of the 160-foot superyacht, which sank after it was apparently capsized by a waterspout early Monday morning.
RFK Jr. Campaign May Join Forces With Trump or Form New Party, Running Mate Says
Nicole Shanahan, the running mate of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., says their campaign has not received a fair chance at winning the election.Shanahan, an entrepreneur and attorney, was interviewed by the podcast Impact Theory. She says the challenges the campaign is facing—including what she describes as being shadow-banned from social media platforms, being kept off stages, and facing legal actions—greatly diminish the chances that a third-party candidate, like Kennedy, will win.
So, she says they’re now considering two different scenarios. The first would be to join forces with Republican presidential candidate Trump, and the second would be to consider forming a new party.
Shanahan said that by forming a new party, they run the risk of a Harris–Walz administration because they draw votes from Trump. On the other hand, she says, they would walk away right now and join forces with Trump, and explain to their voter base why they’re making that decision.
In the interview, Shanahan said that she believes Trump is genuinely interested in the Kennedy campaign’s policies around chronic disease and that he takes it seriously, but she isn’t sure that he’ll do the right thing and help end chronic disease, balance the budget, and end forever wars.
By the way, if Kennedy does decide to drop out of the race and endorse Trump, it’s not clear that his supporters would back the former president. Some polls have suggested that Harris could be stronger against Trump if Kennedy remains in the contest.
Interesting to note that Kennedy’s campaign has faced a number of hurdles in recent days. While the Kennedy campaign says it has obtained enough signatures to be on the ballot in every state, a judge ruled that he cannot appear on ballots in New York because of disputed claims of his residency there. His campaign says they’re appealing that ruling.
University of California Bans Encampments, Face Masks
UC President Michael Drake said this week that the 10-campus system would enforce policies banning encampments and the wearing of masks to conceal identity in response to all the pro-Palestinian protests that happened across the country this past spring.In a letter to the university community, Drake said that his office and campus leaders found that while the “vast majority” of protests held on UC campuses were peaceful and nonviolent, some activities were not.
Drake said that “consistent application of policies and laws” is needed to balance protecting free speech rights with ensuring the safety of students and maintaining critical university operations.
He went on to say that the university will also develop a framework for consistent enforcement of its policies and responses to policy violations, along with launching a campus climate initiative.
By the way, in a separate letter to campus leaders, Drake said the university will implement a “consistent tiered response” for those who violate institutional policies.
A first violation will receive a warning. If the conduct persists, the UC police department or campus fire marshal will assess the situation and may issue an unlawful assembly notice. As for those who continue to break the law, they “may be cited, detained and arrested for unlawful behavior, or subject to other police actions.”
Drake went on to say that stay-away orders may be issued for “higher severity violations” and repeat offenses.
You should know that just last week, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit filed by three students, prohibiting UCLA from providing programs and access to buildings if Jewish students were blocked. The judge, in his 16-page ruling, described the situation at UCLA as “unimaginable” and “so abhorrent to our constitutional guarantee of religious freedom.”
And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re going to call it a wrap for the Wednesday edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.
Thanks for checking out the program today, and next time you stop by for a listen, please bring a friend or two. The News Brief is best when shared with friends and family.
We heard from Marcia Knobel, who says she loves the News Brief program. We also heard from Mahmoud, and Gayle sent over a note from Whittier, California, to let us know she enjoys getting briefed each morning as she prepares to take on her day.
*(Don’t forget the News Brief Motto): We’re portable, affordable, and always on-demand.
And finally, as we do each and every day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote, and this one comes to us from Elbert Hubbard, who said: “No man needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one.”
Before we go, today is National Spumoni Day. Spumoni is a delicious frozen treat that comes to us from southern Italy.
Today is also National Senior Citizens Day. Celebrate the day by spending a bit of time with the senior citizens you know. Let them know they are loved and appreciated. It might even be a good day to take part in some volunteer work at a retirement home, which is very rewarding.
For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.
Thank you for making us your one-stop source for a concise, accurate, and unbiased daily synopsis of many of the news stories you need to know about.
Enjoy the remainder of your Wednesday, and we’ll see you right back here next time for another edition of The Epoch Times News Brief. For now, let’s all continue to watch out for one another, and have an absolutely superb day today! Bye for now.
