An Ignoble Experiment: Mayor rips Florida's Ron DeSantis as 'pied piper' of COVID-19

By Liza Hearon

TOP STORIES

Monday, Aug. 2

MIAMI BEACH MAYOR RIPS DESANTIS Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber ripped Florida's Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis as the "pied piper" of COVID-19 who is "leading everybody off a cliff." He spoke as Florida recorded 21,863 cases in a single day, the most ever, and its highest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in more than a year, at 10,207 people. [HuffPost]

FAUCI SHARES COVID-19 PROJECTIONS Dr. Anthony Fauci said he expects "things are going to get worse" in the U.S., while stopping short of predicting future lockdowns. He pointed to cases consistently rising since late June. "The solution to this is get vaccinated and this would not be happening," he said on ABC News. [HuffPost]

IT'S IN -— AND BIG After much delay, senators unveiled a nearly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package, wrapping up days of painstaking work on the inches-thick bill and launching what is certain to be a lengthy debate over President Joe Biden's big priority. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act clocked in at some 2,700 pages, and senators could begin amending it soon.[AP]

GIULIANI REPORTEDLY BROKE Donald Trump's former personal attorney Rudy Giuliani is almost broke and Trump doesn't seem to care all that much, sources have told The New York Times. Giuliani, with his law license suspended in New York and Washington, is struggling under a mountain of legal fees as he attempts to fend off a major federal investigation and answer a $1.3 billion lawsuit. Trump isn't pitching in a dime. [HuffPost]

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WHAT'S BREWING

BELARUS RUNNER TO SEEK ASYLUM IN TOKYO Belarus track sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya alleged her Olympic team tried to remove her from Japan in a dispute that led to a standoff Sunday evening at the airport. A group supporting her said she believed her life was in danger in Belarus and would seek asylum in Tokyo. [AP]

MCCARTHY JOKES ABOUT HITTING PELOSI House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) made a twisted joke about how it would be "hard" not to strike Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) with her own gavel if he ever replaced her as speaker of the House. The remark was met by laughter from the 1,400 gathered GOP donors. Pelosi's spokesperson condemned McCarthy's comment. [HuffPost]

DEMS MAKE CLOSING PITCH IN HOTLY CONTESTED OHIO PRIMARY With days to go before a special election that both the moderate Democratic establishment and the progressive left see as a referendum on the future of the Democratic Party, key national spokespeople for each faction converged on Cleveland this weekend to pitch voters on their preferred candidates. Former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner will battle Cuyahoga County Council member Shontel Brown for Ohio's 11th Congressional District. [HuffPost]

MARK MEADOWS CLAIMS HE HAS BIG PLANS Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has been meeting with former President Donald Trump and "Cabinet members" about plans to "move forward in a real way," he claimed in a Newsmax interview. It was unclear if he was referring to Trump's former Cabinet members or if some new group has been formed. [HuffPost]

EVICTIONS EXPECTED TO SPIKE AS MORATORIUM ENDS Evictions, which have mostly been on pause during the pandemic, are expected to surge after the expiration of a federal moratorium as housing courts take up more cases and tenants are locked out of their homes. The Biden administration announced it will allow a nationwide ban to expire, saying its hands are tied. [AP]