“I was in Phoenix, Arizona on a business trip — and this was, uh, either January 8th or 9th, 2009 — I had just returned to my hotel room traveling solo, having dinner, turned on the TV, and they’re showing the U.S senators getting nominated. Or not nominated — sworn in. “And I looked at the TV and I said, …

Media Matters reports: Less than two years ago, right-wing commentator and Republican House candidate Marjorie Taylor Greene shared an anti-refugee video and claimed that “this is what the UN wants all over the world.” The Greene-promoted video features anti-Muslim propaganda, quotes an anti-Semitic Holocaust denier saying that “Zionist supremacists have schemed to promote immigration and miscegenation” and, as one reporter …

ABC News reports: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) on Wednesday lauded first lady Melania Trump’s keynote speech at the Republican National Convention (RNC), adding “no mother in this country” wants to raise children in Democratic-led cities. Noem told Fox News’s “America’s Newsroom” host Sandra Smith that the president’s wife delivered a “powerful” speech showcasing “her mother’s heart” Tuesday night …

The Weather Channel reports: Hurricane Laura has strengthened into a Category 4 as it heads for a destructive landfall near the Texas and Louisiana border Wednesday night into early Thursday morning. A catastrophic storm surge and damaging winds will batter the region and a threat of flooding rain and strong winds will extend well inland. Residents along the upper Texas …

CNN reports: A sudden change in federal guidelines on coronavirus testing came this week as a result of pressure from the upper ranks of the Trump administration, a federal health official close to the process tells CNN. “It’s coming from the top down,” the official said of the new directive from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new …

Update to the post below: Michael Estevez of Burson Cohn & Wolfe, a public relations firm representing Goya, subsequently told The Hill that Unanue would not be speaking at the RNC. The campaign did not respond to further questions about Unanue’s potential appearance during the program. Unanue was not named among the group of speakers issued by the campaign earlier …

The Daily Dot reports: Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, of Antioch, Illinois has been charged with first-degree murder according to documents reviewed by the Daily Dot. According to the Lake County, Illinois Clerk of Courts public records, obtained by the Daily Dot, Rittenhouse has been charged with first-degree murder in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and labeled a “fugitive from justice.” The complaint states that …

Courthouse News reports: Federal prosecutors filed criminal charges Tuesday against a California man who fatally shot a northern elephant seal on a beach on the Central Coast. In September 2019, authorities discovered the corpse of a northern elephant seal on a beach near San Simeon. The animal had been shot in the head. The beach — located off California Highway …

The Associated Press reports: Rapper and producer Kanye West will be on Tennessee’s presidential ballot in November, the state election’s office confirmed. The secretary of state’s office announced this week that West cleared the 275 verified signature threshold to qualify as an unaffiliated presidential candidate. He will appear on the ballot with running mate Michelle Tidball, a 57-year-old spiritual coach …

“Did you know if you took the capital letter J — just imagine the capital letter J in your mind — now think of the next letter in ‘Joe.’ It’s an O. “Now just move with your mind the O to the left until it’s on top of the J. It’s a backward six. “Now suppose the next letter is …

The Daily Beast reports: Donald Trump Jr. has denied that he prepared for his big Republican National Convention speech by snorting cocaine, blaming his glassy eyes and sweaty forehead on unflattering lighting conditions. Appearing on Fox & Friends on Wednesday morning, the president’s oldest son was asked about social-media speculation that he might have been high when addressing the RNC …

Mediaite reports: White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows shrugged off criticisms for the second night of the Republican National Convention, saying “nobody” cares if the ceremonial pomp violated the Hatch Act. Meadows gave an interview on Wednesday for POLITICO Playbook, during which, Anna Palmer brought up Secretary of State Mike Pompeo giving a speech to the convention in the …

The New York Post reports: Becki Falwell claimed today that she and the husband she cheated on, evangelical leader Jerry Falwell Jr., are “more in love than ever” — and insists he never watched her have sex with her much younger lover. “We have the strongest relationship, and Jerry is the most forgiving person I’ve ever met,” said Becki, 53, …

The Christian Post reports: Some Christian leaders, including a couple of prominent conservative evangelicals, have denounced the conspiracy theory movement gaining traction in conservative circles known as QAnon. The theory has garnered criticism from multiple Christian leaders, including Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler Jr. On an episode of his podcast, “The Briefing,” posted online on Monday, Mohler compared …

The New York Times reports: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quietly modified its coronavirus testing guidelines this week to exclude people who do not have symptoms of Covid-19 — even if they have been recently exposed to the virus. Experts questioned the revision, pointing to the importance of identifying infections in the small window immediately before the onset …

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports: Kenosha Police said early Wednesday morning that two people had been shot and killed and a third injured during protests over the shooting of Jacob Blake; authorities were looking for a man armed with a long gun. Earlier Wednesday, Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that one victim had been shot in …

USA Today reports: Hurricane Laura is growing and “rapidly” strengthening off the Gulf Coast, with “no signs it will stop soon.” It is forecast to bring life-threatening storm surge, fierce winds winds and flash flooding to eastern Texas and Louisiana on Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center says. Laura will “rapidly strengthen to a Category 4 hurricane” as it barrels toward …

Talking Points Memo reports: Liberty University may owe its former president Jerry Falwell Jr. roughly $10.5 million over the next two years following his resignation from the evangelical institution after a series of scandals. The Wall Street Journal reports that a source familiar with Falwell’s contract said the former university president is due his $1.25 million salary for two years. …

Dallas’s CBS News affiliate reports: Following 46 cases of bleach ingestions in the North Texas Poison Center region since the start of August, experts are again warning people that drinking the chemical won’t prevent COVID-19. The organization pointed to “misleading and inaccurate information circulating online about how to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” for an uptick in poisonings. The FDA …

The Washington Post reports: Trump arrived at a lectern set up in the White House’s Great Hall. There, acting homeland security secretary Chad Wolf waited, along with five candidates for naturalization: two men and three women, one in a headscarf and another in a traditional Indian sari. The five were presented to Wolf. “On behalf of everyone here today,” Wolf …