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TODAY'S HEADLINES:

Confirmed cases of coronavirus are rising in forty states, according to the Associated Press. Trump will speak at Mount Rushmore today, once again, we expect, without a mask.

Meanwhile, a new study finds that up to sixty percent of fish face extinction due to climate change, if nothing is done. The consequences to the ecosystem would be catastrophic.

And lastly, federal prosecutors in New York arrest Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged accomplish. She was in hiding in New Hampshire, in a luxury home.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Trump Rally Insults Sioux

Donald Trump will be holding another of his hate rallies tonight, this time at Mount Rushmore. Masks will be optional. South Dakota’s Republican Governor, Kristi Noem (NOAM), says wearing a mask – or not – is a personal choice. Public health officials fear another surge in cases as a result of the rally. There will also be a large pyrotechnics display. About that: the former superintendent of Mount Rushmore National Memorial, who retired last year, told PBS that it is not a good idea to light fireworks in the middle of a forest! Native American groups are not pleased about Trump’s decision to come and spread a deadly disease on their sacred lands. Tribal members from the area plan to protest Trump’s rally. In a statement this week, Harold Frazier, chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux (SOOH), said the faces on Mount Rushmore serve as a constant reminder of deceit and oppression. He said QUOTE We are now being forced to witness the lashing of our land with pomp, arrogance, and fire, hoping our sacred lands will survive... Visitors look upon the faces of those presidents and extoll the virtues that they believe make America the country it is today. Lakota see the faces of the men who lied, cheated, and murdered innocent people, whose only crime was living on the land they wanted to steal ENDQUOTE. Frazier volunteered to take down the monument by himself, if necessary. Honestly I don’t see why anyone should stop him.

Vice President Mike Pence made a personal choice to wear a mask at a rally yesterday. More and more Republican officials, minus Trump, are wearing masks in public as coronavirus case numbers spiral out of control. Pence was visiting Florida just as state health officials confirmed ten thousand new cases in a single day. Former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain also made a personal choice to not wear a mask at Trump’s rally two weeks ago in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Yesterday Cain confirmed that he tested positive for COVID-19. Cain was hospitalized with serious symptoms but, per his statement, remains confident that with god’s help he will soon resume hosting duties for the two talk shows he hosts, one on his personal website and another on Newsmax TV.

Ocean Life in Peril

A new study published in the journal Science suggests sixty percent of fish species will die off by the end of the century. The reason? Climate change. The researchers examined how warming water temperatures affected seven hundred different fish species, both those freshwater and seawater varities. The expected rates of exctinction are so dire because higher water temperatures interfere with fish embyos, as well as with the development of young fish. Sixty percent was a worst-case scenario in the study, based on global temperatures that are seven to nine degrees Farenheit higher than pre-industrial levels. But it’s also a conservative measure of how fish might be effected by climate change, because it doesn’t take into account several other related problems, such as ocean acidification and overfishing. In the best-case scenario in the study, only ten percent of fish species went extinct by the end of the century. However, scientists told the Guardian that best-case scenarios was especially difficult to model. That’s because losing one species can throw the whole ecosystem out of whack – not just underwater but on land, as well. Some of the at-risk species are commercially harvested, including Atlantic cod, swordfish, Pacific salmon, and Pacific cod, which, as the Guardian notes, is used to produce frozen fish sticks.

Separately, Gizmodo reported that ongoing wildfires in Siberia have released record amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. So maybe don’t sweat the best-case scenario too much.

SDNY Charges Ghislaine Maxwell

Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, has been in hiding since before the late sex trafficker died in prison last year. But today, she is in federal custody. Maxwell was arrested yesterday by agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, at the direction of Audrey Strauss, Acting US Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Her case is a sordid tale of conspiracy and corruption. Maxwell allegedly helped Esptein recruit, groom, and abuse girls as young as fourteen for his elite sex trafficking ring. Dozens of girls were abused by Epstein, Maxwell, and their associates at properties in New York City; Palm Beach, Flordia; Santa Fe, New Mexico; London, England and elsewhere. Maxwell herself has been photographed with an astonishingly long list of the wealthy, powerful, and famous. She is the daughter of a British media tycoon, Robert Maxwell.

Prosecutors also provided some insight as to how Maxwell has been living this past year since Epstein’s death. Using shell companies and cash transfers, she purchased a luxury home on a large property in small-town Bradford, New Hampshire. She was reportedly arrested there without incident yesterday morning. Later in the day, a judge reportedly remanded her to the custody of the US Marshals service. During the telephonic hearing, a woman with a British accent, whom several reporters said could be Maxwell, was heard pleading and sobbing. Before the line was muted, the woman said, QUOTE, I don’t understand, I don’t understand ENDQUOTE, according to the Miami Herald.

Epstein’s victims praised Maxwell’s arrest. One attorney representing more than twenty victims told the Herald that her arrest was a long time coming, and that his clients feel relieved that justice is being served.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

Several countries – notably the US, Britain, Taiwan, Australia – are making preparations to take in refugees from Hong Kong as China arrests hundreds of dissidents there. Thousands more await trial. Advocates told the Washington Post that they don’t know what to expect with China’s new security law in Hong Kong, and they’re advising protesters who catch serious charges to leave the country if they can.

The German government this week disbanded a special forces unit riddled with Nazi ties. The parliamentary commissioner for defense said urgent action was needed to not only disband the KSK but to root out the extent of fascist influence in the armed forces. Twenty KSK commandos from the force of fourteen-hundred are being investigated for far-right ties. But the scandal goes deeper, as large quantities of explosives and ammunition are missing...

The US government is attempting to seize four gasoline tankers en route from Iran to Venezuela, in an escalation of sanctions, lawfare, and other destabilizing measures by the right-wing superpower against the left-leaning oil state. US prosecutors filed a lawsuit seeking court permission to seize the tankers on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal first reported. Yesterday that suit was followed by allowing US forces to seize more than a million gallons of gas onboard the four ships. Next, expect a US court to order Venezuela to stop hitting itself_._

Police in Fort Lauderdale, Flordia, released body camera footage this week showing cops laughing and celebrating after shooting protesters with rubber bullets, NBC reported. Among other outrageous remarks, an officer can be heard bragging, did you see me eff up up those mother-effers? No, missed that – but can’t wait to see you lose your job!

That’s all for the AM Quickie. Join us this afternoon on the Majority Report.

July 3, 2020 - AM Quickie

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Corey Pein

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn