Michigan’s governor pushes back against Trump rally chants
DETROIT — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Sunday that President Donald Trump is inciting “domestic terrorism” following “lock her up” chants at his rally in the state the night before.
Whitmer told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the rhetoric is “incredibly disturbing” a little more than a week after authorities announced they had thwarted an alleged plot to kidnap the Democratic governor.
“The president is at it again and inspiring and incentivizing and inciting this kind of domestic terrorism,” Whitmer said. “It is wrong. It’s got to end. It is dangerous, not just for me and my family, but for public servants everywhere who are doing their jobs-and-trying to protect their fellow Americans.”
At a rally Saturday evening in Muskegon, Trump urged supporters to push Whitmer to reopen the state following COVID-19 restrictions. Whenthe crowd starting chanting “lock her up” Trump added, “Lock ’em all up.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” said Trump’s statements were “irresponsible” and accused him of injecting fear tactics.
Several Republican and Trump campaign officials appeared on Sunday news shows to defend the president.
“He wasn’t doing anything, I don’t think, to provoke people to threaten this woman at all. Hewas having fun at a Trump rally, and, quite frankly, there are bigger issues than this right now for everyday Americans,” Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law and a senior campaign adviser, said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Democrats have sought to tie Trump to the alleged plot against Whitmer, pointing to the president’s tweet earlier this year to “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” after Whitmer restricted personal movement and the economy in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Michigan — particularly the Detroit area — was hit hard early during the pandemic. Many of the limits have since been lifted.
Authorities allege members of two anti-government paramilitary groups took part in plotting Whitmer’s kidnapping. Some were charged under federal law and others under state law.
China export law: China has passed a new law restricting sensitive exports to protect national security, allowing Beijing to reciprocate against the U.S. as tensions mount between the sides over trade and technology.
The law, which will apply to all companies in China, was passed Saturday and will take effect Dec. 1.
Under the law, China can take “reciprocal measures” toward countries or regions that abuse export controls and threaten its national security and interests.
Export controls under the law will apply to civilian, military and nuclear products, as well as goods, technologies and services related to national security. A list of controlled items willbe published “in a timely manner” in conjunction with relevant departments, according to the law.
The new law allows Beijing to retaliate against the U.S., which inrecent months has attempted to block Chinese technology firms such as telecommunications gear supplier Huawei, Byte dance’s Tik-Tok app and Tencent’s messaging app WeChat on grounds of posing a national security threat, including the data they may possess from operating in the country.
Rockies wildfires: Nearly 3,000 people were forced to flee from a fast-moving fire in north-central Colorado and authorities believe some buildings were lost.
The Cal Wood Fire started around Saturday near the Cal-Wood Education Center, about 17 miles from downtown Boulder. It was pushed by strong winds.
More than 1,600 residences and nearly 3,000 people were under evacuation orders, including the town of James town, Boulder County officials said.
The fire had burned nearly 14 square miles by Sunday, but more humid weather was expected to help fire crews.
The plan for Sunday was for aerial crewsto hit the fire “as hard as they can” before winds pick up, said Mike Wagner, the Boulder County sheriff’s division chief.
A fire that started Sunday about 20 miles northwest of Boulder led to the evacuation of the town of Ward, which has about 150 residents, Boulder County officials said.
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict:
Despite a second attempt at ac ease-fire, Armenia and Azerbaijan traded accusations Sunday of violating the new truce in their destructive conflict over the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The latest truce, which was announced Saturday and went into effect at midnight, was the second attempt to establish a ceasefire since heavy fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces broke out in Nagorno-Karabakh on Sept. 27.
Armenian military officials on Sunday reported artillery shelling and missile strikes by Azerbaijani forces in the conflict zone overnight.
In the morning, “the enemy launched an attack in the southern direction,” and there were “casualties and wounded on both sides,” Armenian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanian said.
Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry, in turn, maintained that Armenian forces used mortars and artillery in the conflict zone overnight despite the cease-fire and in the morning attempted attacks in several directions.
Bombing in Afghanistan:
A suicide car bombing Sunday killed at least 13 people and wounded around 120 others in Afghanistan’s western Ghor province, officials said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Aran said the bombing was near the entrance of the provincial police chief’s office and other nearby government buildings in the area.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes amid an uptick in attacks by the Taliban as representatives of the group and Afghan government officials hold their first-ever face-toface talks in Qatar, where the Taliban have had a political office for many years.
The negotiations are meant to end decades ofwar in Afghanistan.
Costly wind storm: Damage estimates from a wind storm that slammed Iowa and parts of the Midwest in August are growing, with the total now $7.5 billion, according to a new report.
The Aug. 10 storm hit Iowa hard but also caused damage in Illinois, Ohio, Minnesota and Indiana. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it's currently the second-U.S. disaster so far in 2020, although cost estimates for widespread wildfires along the West Coast aren't yet available.
The storm, known as a derecho, generated winds of up to 140 mph that flattened millions of acres of crops. The derecho also knocked out power to half a million Iowa residents and damaged homes, trees and power lines. Four people died as the storm moved across the Midwest.