The Morning Briefing: Florence, Google and Much, Much More

Good Thursday morning.

Here is what’s on the president’s agenda today:

The president has no public events scheduled today.

Hurricane update:

Hurricane Florence has been downgraded to a Cat 2 storm, but she is still a deadly, life-threatening storm. Don’t be a hero and don’t put other people’s lives at risk when they have to come save you. If you’ve been told to evacuate, you should find somewhere safe.

NOAA’s National Weather Service said in a tweet that its “weakening” only refers to maximum winds. The wind field has expanded and “storm surge potential are still at catastrophic levels.”

“Do you want to get hit with a train or do you want to get hit with a cement truck?” said Jeff Byard, an administrator with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The storm is expected to make landfall tonight and early tomorrow.

But the National Hurricane Center said Wednesday evening that the storm is expected to bring life-threatening storm surge and rainfall to the Carolinas as it approaches the coast Thursday and Friday.

Even though there are millions of people in the path of a deadly storm and cities faced with ruin, the media and the Democrats are hard at work finessing an anti-Trump angle and here it is:

“This is a scandal. At the start of hurricane season—when American citizens in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are still suffering from FEMA’s inadequate recovery efforts—the administration transferred millions of dollars away from FEMA,” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said in a paper statement released Tuesday night – points he reiterated in an interview Wednesday morning.

Not so fast says FEMA.

The $10 million from FEMA did not come from the agency’s disaster relief budget, the agencies noted. “DHS/FEMA stand fiscally and operationally ready to support current and future response and recovery needs,” said FEMA spokesman Tyler Q. Houlton.

And again:

“It does not come out of the disaster relief fund that funds everything behind me and in the field so it’s a non-issue for us at this moment,” administrator Brock Long said this morning on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” gesturing to workers at computers at FEMA headquarters in Washington.

And now a word from Google

Think about how much information Google has about you, either through your Android phone, your gmails, your internet searching, and You Tube watching–to name a few Google properties. Now watch this video from Breitbart and ask yourself if you are comfortable with this much communication power vested in one giant entity…who hates you.

https://youtu.be/E5gPdrlyc84

KavaNOPE roundup:

$1 million pledged against Collins if she backs Kavanaugh

Sen. King to vote ‘no’ on Kavanaugh

Not really. New emails show Kavanaugh’s involvement in controversial nomination

LOGAN ACT ALERT

Kerry admits to meeting Iranian officials over nuclear deal

Kerry: ‘We Knew That Assad Had Kept Some’ Chemical Weapons

Historical picture of the day:

LOVE THESE GUYS! Members of the rap group Run-DMC pose at the second Annual MTV Video Music Awards, Sept. 13, 1985. Left to right: DMC, Run, and Jam-Master Jay. (AP Photo/Mario Suriani)

Other morsels:

FDA takes ‘historic action’ on youth e-cigarette ‘epidemic’

6 people are dead after shooting spree in California

Pussy Riot activist reportedly being treated for possible poisoning

‘Unconstitutional on its Face’: Judge Slaps Down Nearly 100-Year-Old Gun Law in California

F-22 stealth fighters intercept Russian strategic bombers near Alaska for the second time this month

Video shows Weinstein’s hands-on encounter with rape accuser

Willie Nelson to headline rally for Beto O’Rourke

Joy Behar quickly backtracks after saying ‘God forbid’ ‘sociopath’ Trump ‘lives another 20 years’

Norm Macdonald: Jimmy Fallon Said His Producers Were Crying About His ‘Tonight Show’ Appearance

Slaughterhouse Owner Avoided $1.3 Million In Federal Payroll Taxes By Hiring Illegal Immigrants

Mollie Tibbetts murder suspect wants taxpayers to fund legal battle