THE WAR ROOM: Israeli forces say they destroyed 100 Hezbollah rocket launchers overnight as the conflict in Lebanon heats up.  The strikes were described as Israel’s most violent in the past year of back and forth attacks. 

  Israel is on the brink of all-out war on a second front.

  Following two days of killing members of Hezbollah with explosives inserted into electronic devices, the Israel military yesterday hit targets from the air. The IDF said Hezbollah had “weaponized civilian homes, dug tunnels beneath them and used civilians as human shields—having turned southern Lebanon into a war zone.”

  Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah charged that the wireless attacks crossed a “red line,” saying the devices exploded in public areas, wounding and killing civilians as well as Hezbollah members. “Even if they wanted to target Hezbollah men and fighters, they were targeting everyone around them,” he said.  Nasrallah vowed revenge.

ECON 101: Stocks hit record highs yesterday, a day after the Federal reserve cut interest rates by half a point. The cut was double the standard quarter percent.

  Lower interest rates usually spur the markets, but despite complaints about high rates, the S&P 500 is already up roughly 20 percent this year.

  The 30 year mortgage rate hit 6.09 percent. It was 7.8 percent last year.

THE OPRAH SHOW: Oprah Winfrey yesterday hosted an intimate and sometimes emotional livestream forum “Unite for America” in Michigan with presidential candidate Kamala Harris seen by hundreds of thousands of people.

  Harris spoke about illegal immigration, the devastation of fentanyl, and listened to the mother of a young woman who died of sepsis when she was unable to get an abortion in a state that bans it. 

  The event brought together online groups including White Dudes for Harris, Cat Ladies for Kamala and Latinas for Harris. Also joining virtually were celebrities including Chris Rock, Ben Stiller, Jennifer Lopez, Tracee Ellis Ross and Meryl Streep.

SOME OF HIS BEST FRIENDS: Former President Donald Trump yesterday at a Washington campaign event focused on denouncing antisemitism in the US said that “if I don’t win this election,” then “the Jewish people would have a lot to do with a loss.” Trump denounced Jews who vote for Democrats and said that he should be getting “100 percent” of Jewish votes because of his policies on Israel.

THE HATEFUL CANDIDATE: CNN discovered that Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson of North Carolina, the Republican nominee for governor, once called himself a “black NAZI!” on a pornographic messaging board and advocated re-instating slavery. In advance of the CNN report Robinson, who is Black, issued a video denial vowing to stay in the race.

  He called the details of the CNN report “salacious tabloid lies” generated by artificial intelligence and that this is the new form of lynching. 

  CNN reports that despite a recent history of anti-transgender rhetoric, Robinson posted that he liked to watch transgender pornography. The remarks were posted before Robinson became Lt. Governor.

 The network reports that many of Robinson’s posts were so distasteful they would not repeat them.  CNN says the posts were made between 2008 and 2012 on the porn website “Nude Africa under the username “minisoldr,” which Robinson has used online. The network also reports that Robinson listed his full name on his Nude Africa profile as well as an email address he used on numerous websites.

  Robinson is behind in his race and revelations about his posts have spurred Republican fears that he might drag down Donald Trump in the North Carolina’s critical presidential vote.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST: New York Magazine announced that its star political reporter Olivia Nuzzi has been placed on leave after revealing a personal relationship with a major figure in the presidential race. The New York Times says the other party was Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Democrat turned independent who dropped out and endorsed Donald Trump.

  Nuzzi told The NY Times in a statement that “some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal” earlier this year. “The relationship was never physical but should have been disclosed to prevent the appearance of a conflict,” Nuzzi’s statement said. “I deeply regret not doing so immediately and apologize to those I’ve disappointed, especially my colleagues at New York.”

  The New York Post described the messages between Nuzzi and Kennedy as “sexting.”

  Kennedy is married to the actor Cheryl Hines: Kennedy’s representative told the Times, “Mr. Kennedy only met Olivia Nuzzi once in his life for an interview she requested, which yielded a hit piece.”

CATS AND DOGS: The mayor of Springfield, Ohio has claimed temporary emergency powers “to mitigate public safety concerns” as Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance continue to feed false reports about Haitian immigrants stealing and eating household pets. As many as 30 bomb threats have been called in to schools and public buildings while Trump says he plans to visit Springfield in coming weeks.  

  Mayor Rob Rue’s proclamation said, “This will enable departments to respond more efficiently to emerging risks, including civil unrest, cyber threats, and potential acts of violence.”

THE SPIN RACK:  A 76-year-old convicted drug dealer from Alaska has been arrested after threatening to kill, drown, torture or lynch six unnamed Supreme Court justices and two of their family members. — The sheriff of rural Letcher County in Kentucky turned himself in to face murder charges after shooting Judge Kevin Mullins in his chambers. There’s no explanation what the dispute was about. —  Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani has become the first major league player to exceed 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season. He hit three homers and stole two bases just last night.

BELOW THE FOLD:  Candidate Kamala Harris in her forum with Oprah Winfrey mentioned once again that she’s a gun owner and that, “If somebody breaks into my house they’re gonna get shot.”

  She followed up with, “I probably shouldn’t have said that.”

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