Senate candidates spar over key issues in Pennsylvania debate

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Wednesday 10.26.22

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By Alexandra Meeks

Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania's first and only Senate debate on Tuesday.

Senate race

The two candidates competing in arguably the highest profile Senate race of the year faced off in a televised debate Tuesday. Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz are vying for votes in Pennsylvania in a race that is considered the Democrats' best chance of flipping a seat in the Senate, with Republican Sen. Pat Toomey retiring at the end of the term. During the debate, Fetterman's delivery was at times halting and repetitive, dropping words during answers and occasionally losing his train of thought. He is currently recovering from a stroke he suffered in May. Much of the attention heading into the debate focused on how Fetterman's struggle with auditory processing and speech could impact the conversation against Oz, a celebrity doctor who rose to fame by hosting a daily television show for years. But the debate ultimately emphasized the deep policy differences between the candidates, with the two sparring over energy policy, abortion and the economy.

January 6

The Justice Department is asking a federal judge to force two of former President Donald Trump's White House lawyers to testify about their conversations with the former President, according to three people familiar with the investigation. The move to compel additional testimony from former White House counsel Pat Cipollone and deputy White House counsel Patrick Philbin just last week is part of a set of secret court proceedings. Trump has been fighting to keep former advisers from testifying before a criminal grand jury about certain conversations about the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, citing executive and attorney-client privileges to keep information confidential or slow down criminal investigators. Separately, Hope Hicks, who served as Trump's communications director, is being called back for a formal interview with the House select committee investigating the insurrection, a source familiar with the details told CNN.

Iran

Anti-government protests have gripped Iran since the September death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died after being taken by morality police to a "re-education center" for apparently not wearing her hijab properly. Today marks the 40th day since her death and in Iranian culture, the 40-day mark of a person's passing is an important day of mourning. According to Iran's state-run media IRNA, Amini's family will not hold a gathering for her passing today in an effort to quell the violence. "Considering the circumstances and in order to avoid any unfortunate problem, we will not hold a ceremony marking the 40th day," the family's statement said, according to IRNA. On Sunday, President Biden threw his support behind the demonstrators in the country, saying the US stands with the "brave women of Iran who right now are demonstrating to secure their basic rights." In response, Iran said it will sue the US, alleging "direct involvement" in the protests.

Voting machines

Two counties in the Western battleground states of Arizona and Nevada are moving forward with plans to hand count ballots in this year's consequential midterm elections -- a sign of the deep distrust of electronic vote tallying machines in some pockets of the country. Officials in the two communities still plan to use machines for the tallies, but experts worry the additional hand counts could result in two different totals and could further undermine public trust in elections. Critics also say hand counting thousands of ballots is not likely to produce accurate results. Meanwhile, local election workers are leaving their posts in droves due to continued threats and harassment as the November midterms draw closer due to continued threats and harassment. In some places, the exodus has opened the door to election deniers seeking roles in county elections offices.

LinkedIn is rolling out new features to catch bots and fake accounts on its site. While often thought of as a tamer social platform for professionals and job seekers, LinkedIn is not immune to inauthentic behavior, which experts say can be hard to detect and is often perpetrated by sophisticated bad actors on the site. The professional networking company has in the past year faced criticism over accounts with artificial intelligence-generated profile photos used for marketing or pushing cryptocurrencies, and other fake profiles listing major corporations as their employers for applying for high-profile job openings. In the second half of 2021, the company removed 11.9 million fake accounts at registration and another 4.4 million before they were ever reported by other users, according to its latest transparency report. The company told CNN Business this week that the new features will soon help users evaluate the authenticity of accounts before engaging with them.

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in memoriam

Ash Carter, who served as President Barack Obama's final defense secretary, has died, his family said. He was 68. Carter, who led the Defense Department from February 2015 to January 2017, suffered a "sudden cardiac event" on Monday in Boston, his family said in a statement. In leading the Pentagon, Carter oversaw the final years of US involvement in Afghanistan under Obama's presidency and US efforts to combat the rise of ISIS in the Middle East. His tenure also saw efforts to expand the available roles of women in combat as well as lifting a ban on transgender people being able to serve openly.

7,560

That's how many pounds of sausage produced by Bob Evans Farms has been recalled due to possible contamination, according to the FDA. The item, labeled "Bobs Evans Italian Sausage," was recalled after some consumers reported finding small pieces of thin blue rubber in the product. The USDA has recommended that customers should not consume the sausage if it has a "use by" date of 11/26/22.

Unfortunately, we are working with our outside partner to add into our curriculum, gun safety, of all the things to add.

-- St. Louis Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Kelvin Adams, on adding gun safety to the system's curriculum after a gunman killed two people and wounded several others in a school shooting Monday. "Not just reading, writing, and arithmetic, but reading, writing, arithmetic and gun safety," Adams said. The 19-year-old gunman graduated from the school last year and returned Monday with an AR-15-style rifle, over 600 rounds of ammunition and more than a dozen high-capacity magazines, police said. He died at a hospital after a gun battle with officers.

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