'60 Minutes' under attack for Kamala Harris video editing

The alleged favorable editing of VP Kamala Harris by “60 Minutes” is coming under attack with the election less than a month away.

The New York Post is reporting today the Democratic presidential candidate’s answer to a question from “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker about Israel that aired during a special episode on Monday was starkly different from the “word salad” the vice president served up in a clip to promote the interview shown by “Face the Nation” the day before.

As the Herald and others are reporting, her Nov. 5 rival former President Donald Trump is lashing out at “60 Minutes” for what he says they did for Harris — “sliced and diced” her responses. Trump turned down the show’s invitation to come on.

The NY Post reports former CBS journalists are calling for an outside investigation into the editing of the show. Others want the unedited footage to be made public.

—Boston Herald

At Hurricane Milton’s ground zero on Siesta Key, a double whammy of damage

MIAMI — Standing on a thick layer of sand, Adam Robinson’s head nearly reached the ceiling of his beachfront condo in Siesta Key — ground zero for Hurricane Milton.

The storm had dumped much of the beach into the living room and rearranged the furniture. The leather recliner was jammed between the wall and the kitchen counter by the front door. A piece of what used to be a wooden walkway to the beach lay in his living room.

This is what a double whammy of major hurricanes did to this stretch of Florida’s Gulf Coast renowned for its fine white beach sand and gorgeous Gulf of Mexico views.

Two weeks before Milton made landfall on this barrier island off Sarasota late Wednesday night, Hurricane Helene had churned some 100 miles offshore on its way to a landfall far to the north in the Big Bend.

—Miami Herald

LA's quake mystery: 2024 brings the most seismic activity in decades. Why now?

LOS ANGELES — It's not your imagination: The ground beneath Southern California has been particularly unsteady as of late, with the region experiencing more moderate-sized earthquakes this year than it has in decades.

What precisely is fueling the sequence of shakers is not entirely clear, and officials warn that prior seismic activity does not necessarily mean more powerful temblors are imminent. But the series of modest shakers have many wondering what is going on.

"Earthquakes pop off around the state, and it's a little bit like popcorn that they hit — sometimes they bunch up for reasons that we don't understand," said Susan Hough, seismologist for the U.S. Geological Survey.

By the count of seismologist Lucy Jones, a Caltech research associate, Southern California has felt 15 independent seismic sequences this year, with at least one magnitude 4 or higher earthquake. That's the highest annual total in the last 65 years, surpassing the 13 seen in 1988.

—Los Angeles Times

US to sell up to $2.2 billion in weapons to UAE, Saudi Arabia

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration approved the sale of billions of dollars in weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, a fresh show of support to two allies that are crucial to the U.S. pushback against Iran and its proxies as conflict escalates in the Middle East.

The State Department notified Congress it approved the sale of Does Hellfire and Sidewinder missiles, along with artillery, tank and machine gun ammunition to Saudi Arabia in a deal valued at more than $1 billion. In August, President Joe Biden lifted limits on the sale of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia as a way to pressure Riyadh to wind down its war against Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The Houthis have gone on the offensive targeting commercial shipping in the Red Sea in the year since Hamas, labeled a terrorist group by the U.S. and the European Union, attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Both groups get funding from Iran, which is in an escalating conflict with Israel.

The State Department also notified lawmakers that it has approved the potential sale of GMLRS guided-rocket systems, long-range ATACMS missiles, and training and support for both systems, in a deal valued at as much as $1.2 billion, to the United Arab Emirates.

—Bloomberg News