At least 8 dead in record-breaking freeze

Reports of minus 50 wind chills. No Images? Click here   By Paul Vale     Thursday, January 31 AT LEAST 8 DEAD IN EXTREME FREEZE A blast of polar air enveloped the Midwest Wednesday and headed for the East, debilitating cities with some of the lowest temperatures in a generation and killing at least eight people. Chicago dropped to a low of around minus 23 and similar conditions were recorded in Milwaukee. Minneapolis recorded minus 27, while Sioux Falls, South Dakota, saw minus 25. [AP] [Tweet | Share on Facebook] CLIMATE CHANGE IS HERE Temperatures in 2019 have already smashed records around the world, with the U.S. freeze matched by triple-digit high temperatures in Australia. [HuffPost] KENTUCKY GOVERNOR DISMISSES COLD Republican Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin responded to the deadly weather in his state by denouncing closing public schools. “I mean, what happens to America?” he said. “We’re getting soft.” [HuffPost] CONGRESS MOVES TO LIMIT TRUMP’S USE OF TARIFFS Lawmakers have introduced legislation to limit the president’s power to levy import tariffs for national security reasons. However, the bills face an uncertain future. [Reuters] TRUMP SLAMS HIS OWN INTEL CHIEFS President Donald Trump unleashed a stream of insults at the nation’s intelligence officials after they published a report directly contradicting some of his most frequent foreign-policy false claims. The president referred to “the Intelligence people” as “extremely passive and naive” and suggested they “should go back to school.” [HuffPost] FOXCONN BACKPEDALS ON WISCONSIN PLANT PROMISE Foxconn Technology Group is reconsidering plans to make LCD TVs at a $10 billion Wisconsin campus, despite a White House ceremony in 2017 in which the 20 million-square-foot facility was praised by Trump as proof of his ability to revive American manufacturing. [HuffPost]         CONGRESS WORKING ON DEAL TO AVOID SECOND SHUTDOWN Members of a congressional panel working on a deal to keep the government open past a Feb. 15 deadline all agree that both sides need to compromise. They also agree that security at the border must be bolstered. [HuffPost] FACEBOOK POSTS RECORD PROFIT DESPITE SCANDALS Facebook posted a record $6.9 billion profit for the final three months of 2018 — despite ongoing scandals over privacy. [CNN] NRA CHIEF WANTED PUTIN MEETING Former NRA president David Keene hoped to win access to Vladimir Putin on a trip to Moscow, according to an email from one of the trip’s organizers. The email, sent in November 2015, came just months before the Kremlin’s election interference went into full gear. [The Daily Beast] GOP HAPPY TO LET SCHULTZ BASH DEM POLICIES An independent presidential bid by former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz wouldn’t only threaten Democrats by siphoning anti-Trump votes, it could also hurt the party’s messaging on critical issues like health care, taxes and spending. [HuffPost] PRESS SECRETARY: TRUMP SENT BY GOD White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she believed God wanted Trump to become president. “I think God calls all of us to fill different roles at different times and I think that he wanted Donald Trump to become president,” Sanders said. [HuffPost] DOJ: RUSSIA PUSHING MUELLER DISINFORMATION The Justice Department said Russia is pushing online disinformation to discredit the American government, after a pro-Russian Twitter account spread confidential information from a criminal case brought by special counsel Robert Mueller. [CNN]       Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was awarded more than $580,000 in damages from a neighbor who attacked him in a dispute involving lawn care. An online petition with nearly 15,000 signatures asks Nike to recall its Nike Air Max 270 shoe, saying the logo resembles the word Allah in Arabic and “will surely be trampled, kicked and become soiled with mud or even filth.” The Chicago Police Department has released two images from surveillance video of “potential persons of interest” in the reported attack of “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett. A Florida man allegedly shot and killed his mother, father and brother after wiring a Bulgarian cam girl $200,000 that he stole from them. Here’s what is leaving and arriving on Netflix in February. Ariana Grande has suffered a major tattoo fail. A Pittsburgh TV station hit Super Bowl quarterback Tom Brady hard this week. Showing footage of Brady during a broadcast, CBS affiliate KDKA labeled the New England Patriots star a “Known Cheater” in a caption at the bottom of the screen. An eyewitness looks back at The Beatles last-ever concert. An undocumented worker who used to work at Trump’s golf club in New Jersey will attend the State of the Union address. There's a lot of cozy stuff on sale at Anthropologie today. Two of the Los Angeles Rams’ cheerleaders are about to make history as the first men on a cheerleading dance squad at the Super Bowl. For the first time in military history, the Navy is deploying a ceremonial flyover with only female jet pilots to honor the death of retired Capt. Rosemary Mariner, the Navy’s first woman to fly a tactical fighter jet. This 19-year-old is accused of faking his own kidnapping in order to blackmail his mother for $130. The racists on Gab are sharing obscene advice for cooking pasta. Here’s what we can learn from fictional female presidents ahead of 2020. Love this newsletter? Share it with a friend!      HuffPost is now a part of Oath and a part of Verizon. On May 25, 2018 we introduced a new Oath Privacy Policy which will explain how your data is used and shared. Learn More. Start your workday the right way with the news that matters most — all with a dash of signature Morning Email snark. Does somebody keep forwarding you this email? Get your own copy. It's free! Sign up here. Check out HuffPost Politics for more of the good stuff. ©2018 HuffPost | 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003 You are receiving this email because you signed up for updates from HuffPost Feedback | Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe     - - Preferences  |  Unsubscribe