All the news that fits
We did not have a news-free weekend.
-Special counsel Robert Mueller put another notch in his belt when former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort agreed Friday to cooperate fully with the special council's Russia probe. Manafort pleaded guilty before his second trial to reduced charges stemming from consulting work he did for pro-Russia political forces in Ukraine.
-Hurricane Florence and her attendant rains all but drowned the Carolinas as the storm crawled inland, sometimes dumping two and three feet of rain. Hundreds have been rescued and hundreds more await rescue. Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses are without power. Across the world, another big wind, Super Typhoon Mangkhut, stalked the Phillipines where a similar storm in 2013 claimed 6,000 lives.
Whew.
What does Manafort know?
When the home of the man who was a key figure in the Trump campaign for five months was raided by the FBI in August of 2017, Trump and his White House categorized Manafort simply as a campaign "volunteer."
Right. He was such a bit player that he was invited to the infamous Trump Tower meeting with a Russian promising "dirt" on Hillary Clinton in June 2016. Just days later, at the urging of Donald Trump Jr., Manafort was named chairman of Trump's campaign. Manafort literally led the campaign into, through and after the Republican National Convention before resigning amid growing scrutiny of his unregistered foreign agent work in Ukraine.
Manafort's resume actually included a decade of work in Ukraine on behalf of a Kremlin-friendly political party, and he helped elect former Ukraine president Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted from power amid public protests in 2014 and fled to Russia.
Trump folks have claimed that Manafort was under investigation and being tried for crimes "years ago" that didn't pertain to the Trump campaign or the president.
Yet during the Republican National Convention, the only GOP platform to be adjusted was one that called for the U.S. to supply weapons to Ukrainian government forces fighting Russian-backed separatists in the country's east. The proposal was mysteriously changed to vaguely call for "appropriate assistance" to Ukraine. And then there's the email Manafort sent to a Russian intelligence-linked, Ukraine-based employee of his consulting business, Konstantin Kilimnik. That April email sought a briefing with Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who is close to Vladimir Putin. In the email, Manafort wanted Deripaska to know about his new position with Trump as a campaign strategist, and he asked, "How do we use to get whole?"
Now it seems Manafort, who was convicted last month on federal bank and tax fraud charges but has not yet been sentenced, is asking that question in a somewhat different way to the special counsel.
The answer from Mueller likely is another question: What did the Trumps know and do, and when did they know and do it?
Manafort is now the fifth Trump campaign team member to plead guilty to criminal charges.
Witch hunt? Gee, the broom is getting crowded.
ChooChoo Navy to the rescue
As the Cajun Navy and government rescue workers race to save flood victims in North and South Carolina, people all over the country - including in Chattanooga - work to offer similar services and to prepare room for Hurricane Florence refugees.
From opening evacuation shelters to forming emergency response teams, reserving utility workers for deployment and making room for rescued dogs, the Volunteer State is volunteering.
The Brainerd Youth & Family Development Center at 1010 North Moore Road will open its doors for coastal residents fleeing Mother Nature's rage. The shelter, operated by the Hamilton County Office of Emergency Management, the American Red Cross and other organizations, opened Thursday and will remain open as long as necessary, said Julia Wright, executive director for the Red Cross' Southeast Tennessee region.
For anyone looking to offer support, Wright said the best way to help is through a financial donation through the American Red Cross' website at redcross.org/donate. A $10 donation also can be made via text message by sending FLORENCE to 90999. Donations also can be made in person at the local branch at 4115 South Access Road or by calling 423-265-3455.
There also is an Erlanger Health System Life Force helicopter on standby to aid with disaster relief efforts. Two flight nurses, two paramedics, a pilot and a mechanic are expected to deploy to wherever they're needed. Life Force was called on during Hurricane Harvey last year, and crews spent three weeks in Texas completing about 20 transports.
Nearly 200 electric utility linemen from across Tennessee also are moving into place to help restore power, with more on standby.