Rising Wave: With 47,000 new cases, yesterday was the fourth day in a week that the US set a one-day record for new coronavirus cases. 

  Testifying before Congress, epidemiologist Dr. Anthony Fauci said the daily count could reach 100,000 if the country doesn’t get the virus under control.

  While some states and local governments push forward with re-opening their economies, some of those that have done it are experience a dramatic rise in coronavirus cases. Fauci said, “I can’t make an accurate prediction, but it is going to be very disturbing, I will guarantee you that, because when you have an outbreak in one part of the country, even though in other parts of the country they are doing well, they are vulnerable.”

  With hospitals filling up, Arizona just activated a rule rationing healthcare for people with less expectation of living five or more years beyond having the virus. Basically they are throwing people who are old and unwell out of the lifeboat. The state’s Doug Ducey has been one of the governors who has been reluctant to impose strict closure and social distancing rules, approaching the pandemic with a political bent on personal freedom.

  This morning Arizona has had 1,645 deaths; Florida, 3,505.

  Across the country, new coronavirus cases are up 80 percent over the past 14 days and 127,425 Americans are dead. 

  While the crisis grows, President Trump was tweeting about political vandalism. “We are tracking down the two Anarchists who threw paint on the magnificent George Washington Statue in Manhattan.”

  Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said yesterday, “America needs a president.” 

The Russia Bounty: The White House says president Trump has now been briefed on Russia’s offer of bounty money to the Taliban for killing American soldiers. They say he previously didn’t know about it despite intelligence sources telling news outlets that he was told.

   The Associated Press reports that President Trump was briefed on Russian bounties back in March 2019, a full year than earlier reported. The AP  says, “The intelligence in 2019 and 2020 surrounding Russian bounties was derived in part from debriefings of captured Taliban militants.” 

  The US seems to have a lot of information about this. The NY Times reports that, “Officials intercepted electronic data showing large financial transfers from a bank account controlled by Russia’s military intelligence agency to a Taliban-linked account.”

   Trump has  a reputation for not paying attention during intelligence briefings and not reading the daily report. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters that President Trump “does read” and “This president, I’ll tell you, is the most informed person on planet earth when it comes to the threats that we face.”

  But just this morning Trump tweeted, “The Russia Bounty story is just another made up by Fake News tale that is told only to damage me and the Republican Party.” 

Top Gun: Former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath survived a late surge by opponent Charles Booker to face Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in the fall election. 

  McGrath just barely beat Booker, a black state lawmaker who rose to contention over anger about two fatal police shootings in Louisville. Booker’s surge was evidence of the progressive movement in Democratic politics.

  Mostly though, the moderates are winning. Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper won the Democratic nomination to face Sen. Cory Gardner, a Republican target for Democrats trying to win control of the Senate.

The Bulletin Board: Citing a 40 percent drop in aircraft sales and expecting a long slump, European Airbus says its laying off  15,000 people. — Amidst the “defund the police” movement, The New York city council voted to cut $1 billion from the police budget and shift it to education and social services. The city itself has lost $9 billion in revenue during the pandemic. — The former Atlanta police officer who faces murder charges for shooting Rayshard Brooks in the back has been released on a half million dollar bond. — Mississippi’s governor signed the bill retiring the state flag with the insert of the Confederate flag.

The Obit Page: Carl Reiner, the comedian, writer, and director who made people laugh for 70 years and was a defining influence on American comedy, died Monday night at age 98.

  He was the father of Carl Reiner, also an influential comic voice in television and movies. 

  Reiner starred in the early days of television as Sid Caesar’s straight man on “Your Show of Shows,” for which he was also a writer. He created the long-running “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” although he originally envisioned himself as the star. He wrote and acted until the last years of his life.

  He even joked about death. He once told an interviewer that the first thing he did in the morning was read the obituaries, and if he wasn’t in them, he had breakfast. 

  Some of the funniest stuff he ever did was playing the straight man in partnership with Mel Brooks as “The 2000-year-old man,” a routine with a Jewish spin. 

  Reiner: Who was the person who discovered the female?

  Brooks: Bernie.

  Reiner: How did it happen?

  Brooks: He said hey, there’s ladies here.

  Reiner:  Could you give us the secret of your longevity?

  Brooks: The major thing, the major thing, is I never eat fried foods.

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