The Daily Moth 10-28-19
ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi killed in Syria; Wildfires in Northern and Southern California; Impeachment inquiry updates; Rep. Katie Hill resigns; Deaf survivor of Dallas tornado shares experience
[Transcript] Hello, welcome to The Daily Moth! It is Monday, October 28. I’m back in the studio after traveling last week in Northern California and Washington, D.C. There were some of you who did not get email subscriptions. We had some issues with our internal eblast services but we’re back to normal today. I posted a video of Mavrick Fisher’s preliminary hearing on Saturday, so check that out if you haven’t seen it.
Ready for news?
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ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi killed in Syria
Yesterday morning President Trump announced that the U.S. military killed the founder and leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria.
A Vox article explained that an ISIS member told a Kurdish soldier in Syria about where Baghdadi was, who then shared this information with U.S. intelligence. The U.S. also got intel from an ISIS courier and one of Baghdadi’s wives after they were arrested and questioned.
Two weeks ago, someone from the CIA and Iraqi and Kurdish intelligence spotted him in northwestern Syria in a town called Barisha.
The raid took place around 5 pm Eastern time on Saturday. 50 to 100 US commandos rode in eight helicopters and flew low for about 70 minutes. They were fired upon but made it to the compound where Baghdadi was. Soldiers then called for Baghdadi to leave the building, but he remained inside. A few adults and 11 children did leave the building.
US commandos then blew holes into the side of the building to force their way in and to avoid booby-trapped doors. They then killed five enemy fighters inside.
Baghdadi, wearing an explosive vest, took three of his children and ran into tunnels under the compound. US soldiers sent in a dog to chase him.
Baghdadi detonated his vest and killed himself and his three children. President Trump said he was crying and whimpering and screaming and died like a dog and a coward.
A DNA test said it was Baghdadi and a US soldier said, “jackpot” to confirm that they completed their mission.
US soldiers then collected material and information from Baghdadi’s compound and arrested two males. At least two of Baghdadi’s wives also died after their explosive vests detonated.
The US military dog was injured. Its name is unknown. It is a Belgian Malinois. The dog is expected to recover fully.
The compound was fully razed so it would not become a shrine for future ISIS or Baghdadi supporters.
https://www.vox.com/2019/10/28/20936137/isis-baghdadi-raid-military-dog
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/military-dog-injured-al-baghdadi-raid/story?id=66592479
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Wildfires in Northern and Southern California
In California, there are two large wildfires that are spreading because of very strong winds and dry vegetation.
The Kincade Fire near Santa Rosa in Northern California has burned more than 100 square miles and is only 5% contained. More than 180,000 people living in the area were ordered to evacuate. About 80,000 structures are threatened. Over 4,000 people are fighting the fire and two were injured.
The Getty Fire, west of Los Angeles, has burned over 600 acres and has forced over 3,000 people to evacuate, including LeBron James and the former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. More than 600 firefighters are fighting it.
There was another fire last weekend in Southern California called the Tick Fire. It burned 7 square miles in Santa Clarita Valley and forced 50,000 people to be evacuated.
There are other smaller wildfires in different places.
Electric utility PG&E shut off electricity to almost a million residents to reduce the risk of sparks that could ignite more wildfires.
https://weather.com/news/news/2019-10-27-california-wildfires-kincade-tick-evacuations-death
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Impeachment inquiry updates; Rep. Katie Hill resigns
Here are political news briefs.
The first -- the U.S. House of Representatives will vote this week on procedures on the impeachment inquiry against President Trump. It will be a resolution that will outline the next steps. The inquiry started with an announcement by House Speaker Pelosi and some critics said the investigation is illegitimate because there was no vote. The resolution will be the first time the House has voted on the impeachment inquiry.
In related news, the House Judiciary Committee got an approval from a federal judge that they can look at the evidence from the Mueller report that was redacted. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ordered the Justice Department to hand it over to them, but the Trump administration has appealed that ruling by saying the material is supposed to stay top-secret.
The second news brief — Rep. Katie Hill (D-Calif) will resign from her position after there were reports that she had inappropriate sexual relationships with staffers both in her office and on her campaign team.
Hill said the resignation is the hardest thing she’s had to do but that it is the best thing to do. She accused her estranged husband of whipping up a smear campaign.
Hill has admitted to being in an inappropriate relationship with a staffer in her campaign before she was elected to Congress, but has denied being in a relationship with a staff of her congressional office, which is illegal according to House rules. There is a House Ethics investigation.
RedState.com and British tabloid Daily Mail first made the reports and published nude photos of Hill. Hill’s lawyers have taken legal action.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/10/28/impeachment-inquiry-house-vote-formal-procedures/2488814001/
https://www.axios.com/katie-hill-resigning-congress-7edb9b56-e283-4895-8434-3e5299d44921.html
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Deaf survivor of Dallas tornado shares experience
This recent Tuesday, we had a news story related to the tornado that plunged through the northern part of Dallas. This tornado was categorized as EF-3 and had winds of 140 mph.
A deaf survivor, Christopher Nelson, who lives in that area explains his experience of what it was like when the tornado passed by his home.
CHRISTOPHER NELSON:
At 9 o’clock, we were warned to please take shelter due to the current tornado warning in effect in the Dallas area. I was really confused because it wasn’t windy outside. There was no raining either. There’s only lightning right now. I didn’t pay it much mind. My friend texted me and then about 10 minutes later, at around 9:20-ish, I went outside in the back on the second-floor patio.
My friend urged me to go hide. I asked where the tornado was now. They said, “it’s on the road in your neighborhood.”
I was pretty shocked because it looked fine outside! All of my neighbors were keeping watch too. I was feeling very uneasy because I’d never experienced this before. I mean I grew up in Florida, in DC and it wasn’t until now that I’d experienced this. The tornado was right in our neighborhood! So, in that moment, I took my dog and saw through my window that the nearby tree started swaying about violently. The rain started to pour. Then a few minutes later, I went into my closet and looked at my bedroom with the lights shut off. So, I was already getting chills then. I was getting worried because I knew the tornado had the potential to wipe out our home. I didn’t know which direction the tornado was coming from. I started to feel the house shake. It felt like a train was passing nearby. There were multiple successive flashes at the windows because of the lightning. Then suddenly, it stopped…
I decided to leave my dog in my closet and closed the door. As I was walking out of my condo and initially, I didn’t see any obvious damages yet. But when I walked further out, everything looks so different. The trees and everything was destroyed. Debris from other houses were everywhere. The pool was completely filthy and everything. I walked down from the patio, still confused, and everything was dark too. The only light we saw were from the sirens from police cars and ambulances. It looked like the end of the world to me. It felt really overwhelming for me. Of course, I got pretty upset, cried a bit, trying to process all this because I’d never experienced this before.
The next day I found out that, if you know what` a ‘tornado scar’ is, my house was right in the tornado’s path. But the tornado changed direction right before it hit my house. There was a 50/50 chance that the tornado would either hit my house or change direction. That just gives me chills thinking about it. Wow, I’d never experienced this. I know I keep saying this, but I’m just in shock. It’s like a tornado being right in your home area instead of it being a safe distance away from you. It just happened to be my turn. I’m still in shock.
There was one moment, between 9:20 to 9:30, there was a 50/50 chance that I’d either survive or die. Like, you don’t have the chance to prepare yourself within that moment. You can’t predict these things or commit to anything then. I think I’m blessed. That experience has changed my perspective for the rest of my life.
RENCA:
Thank you, Nelson, for sharing your story.
The Insurance Council of Texas estimates $2 billion in losses for north Dallas which is one of the state’s costliest weather event.
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/weather/2019/10/23/with-2-billion-in-losses-dallas-area-tornadoes-are-north-texas-costliest-weather-event-insurance-council-says/
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That is all for today! See you tomorrow and stay with the light!
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