WEST WING READS 08/31/2020

How Long Will Democrats Pretend the Chaos in Portland Is Normal? “Sunday morning’s headlines brought news of yet another death,” Kaylee McGhee writes for the Washington Examiner. “Rioters continue to loot Portland’s businesses and destroy private property, setting cars on fire, attempting to burn down federal property, and encouraging others to do the same . . . And the one time law enforcement was able to contain the unrest, Oregon Democrats demanded that the federal officers assisting Portland police leave.” Click here to read more.

“The United States expects to have four coronavirus candidate vaccines in large-scale clinical trials by the middle of September, a remarkable timeline considering the SARS-CoV-2 virus was only discovered in December,” Elizabeth Weise and Karen Weintraub write. “We feel we are absolutely on track–if not a little bit ahead–in terms of our overall objective,” HHS Deputy Chief of Staff Paul Mango said. Read more in USA Today.

“A Star of David-adorned El Al plane flew from Israel to the United Arab Emirates on Monday, carrying a high-ranking American and Israeli delegation to Abu Dhabi in the first-ever direct commercial passenger flight between the two countries. The Israeli flag carrier’s flight marked the implementation of the historic U.S.-brokered deal to normalize relations between the two nations,” Aron Heller writes in The Associated Press.

“President Trump on Saturday toured damage from Hurricane Laura in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and Orange, Texas–two of the hardest-hit areas. Mr. Trump vowed assistance for both cities.” As of Saturday, FEMA had delivered millions of liters of water and more than a million meals to those affected by the storm. Read more in CBS News.