BE AFRAID: President Trump in a prime time speech last night made shopworn claims about vulnerability of US voting systems and foreign attempts to sway American elections in what was ultimately an argument for passage of his Save America Act that would make voting more difficult for millions of Americans.

  Citing unclassified documents, Trump said, “This evidence shows that the election system we have dangerously exposes and really exposes, like levels never thought possible, to hacking, exploitation, and foreign interference.” What he did not claim was that any foreign attempts to sway elections or non-citizen voting have made any difference.

  His speech was laced with conspiracy theories, that non-citizens are registered to vote, that the Obama administration intended to burn bags full of secret information, and that China had collected voter information, much of which is already public. “Compounding the travesty,” he said, “the second set of documents we are releasing reveals that members of the Deep State — a very, very famous group of people, in many cases — in our intelligence agency, worked to actively suppress and downplay information about the extent of China’s sinister election meddling, covering it up from both the president and the American people like nobody thought was possible.”

  Trump claimed that efforts were made against him to cripple his presidency. “They wanted to just make you sound like your president wasn’t so hot, when actually your president has done a great job,” he said. 

  He denounced ABC and NBC for not breaking away from their prime time schedules to air the speech “because of the fact that they don’t like the topic, because they know how corrupt our system is and they don’t want to reveal it.” He said, “They and others in the media are part of a plot.”

THE WAR ROOM: The US military says their latest round of attacks “hit dozens of Iranian military targets” but Iran says at least six bridges, a rail station, and a port were attacked.

  US Central Command said that the American attacks “hit dozens of Iranian military targets such as coastal surveillance and air defense sites, military logistics infrastructure and maritime capabilities.” The statement did not mention civilian infrastructure.

BATHROOM BREAK: Investigators say they have identified a single supplier of iceberg lettuce in Mexico as responsible for the outbreak of explosive diarrhea in five states.

  The outbreak that has made at least 1,644 people sick has been linked to Taco Bell restaurants in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia. Ninety-four people went to the hospital.

  The ailment is caused by the parasite cyclospora, likely contaminating the lettuce through irrigation water containing fecal matter. 

THE POWER BROKER: Under the orders of Donald Trump without any review, construction has begun on what is to be a black granite helipad on the south lawn of the White House. Trump did not ask Congress or the Fine Arts Cmmission to consider the cost or the aesthetic effect upon the White House of the 100-foot diameter pad. Trump is re-making the White House for his convenience and in his personal taste.

   Like the New York developer that he is, Trump knows that if you don’t ask permission and just do things, it’s too late to stop him. A White House spokesman told The NY Times in an email that “operational upgrades to the White House grounds, such as the helipad installation, do not require commission reviews.”

  The South Lawn was recently destroyed by construction of the arena for Trump’s UFC cage fights.

INFINITE SCROLL:

— President Trump’s teleprompter operator has been suspended after having been found to have made more than $100,000 on the prediction markets with advance information gleaned from the President’s speeches.

  Gabriel Perez has been operating Trump’s teleprompter since 2016. The online prediction market Kalshi flagged what it considered to be suspicious bets about Trump speeches.

IT’S POLITICAL: Former mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has been installed as leader of the British Labour Party, putting him in position to become Prime Minister. Burnham would face the same intractable problems as the outgoing Keir Starmer; slow economic growth, high government debt, the struggling national health service, and deep political divisions.

SHAKEN, NOT STIRRED: Scientists have grown concerned about California’s 800-mile San Andreas fault, not because it is moving but because it has gone silent.

  The Los Angeles Times reports that because of a dearth of major quakes, the San Andreas and the smaller San Jacinto faults are building up pressure that could result in monumental quakes if they rip. The Times says, “The San Andreas, in other words, is locked, loaded and inevitable.”

THE SPIN RACK: As many as 500 people are missing and presumed dead after two ships in the bay of Bengal carrying  Rohingya refugees from Myanmar were lost in stormy seas. — Hundreds of people have needed rescue and two have died in Texas hill country flooding along the Guadalupe River. Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott said, “We are dealing with and responding to a flood that is likely going to break records in Texas history.” — The trail of wildfire smoke from Ontario continues to linger over Detroit and Chicago and southeast to New York and Boston. Detroit, Chicago, and Washington DC were listed as some of the world’s most air-polluted cities this morning. More than 100 wildfires are burning in Ontario. — “Saturday Night Live” funny girl Chloe Fineman is leaving the show after seven seasons. She has lined up worked shooting a Netflix show.

BELOW THE FOLD: Twenty years ago Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi as a member of the BC Barcelona soccer team posed holding a baby for a charity UNICEF calendar shoot. That baby was 6-month-old Lamine Yamal, now 19 and considered one of the best players in the world, who will face off representing Spain against Argentina and the 39-year-old Messi in Sunday’s World Cup final in New Jersey.