Good Friday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 218th day of the year. There are 148 days left in 2016.
Hillary Clinton sprints to a big national lead over Donald Trump. Barack Obama mocks Trump’s claim the election will be “rigged” against him. Outdoor industry leaders join the call to declare Bears Ears as a new national monument.
The clock:
- 95 days until the 2016 presidential election – (11/8/2016)
- 171 days until the first day of the 2017 Utah Legislature – (1/23/2017)
- 216 days until the final day of the 2017 Utah Legislature – (3/9/2017)
Ten talking points for Friday:
- Will Utah be a swing state in the 2016 election? Can Donald Trump get his campaign back on track? Watch our political week in review for answers [Utah Policy].
- Poll Roundup: Hillary Clinton jumps to a nine-point national lead in one national survey [NBC News]. Another national poll has Clinton leading Donald Trump by a whopping 15-points [Politico]. Republican pollster Frank Luntz didn’t mince words, saying Trump’s campaign is “cratering” [Bloomberg].
- President Barack Obama pushes back against claims that a $400 million payment to Iran was a “ransom” to win the freedom of four detained Americans who were released the same day [Bloomberg]. Donald Trump‘s campaign is now admitting he did not see video footage from the Iranian government of the U.S. unloading the money from an airplane in Tehran as he previously claimed [ABC News].
- President Barack Obama mocked Donald Trump‘s claim that the election was going to be “rigged” against him, saying the GOP nominee needs to start “acting like a president” [Politico].
- Secret Service agents rush the stage at a Hillary Clinton campaign event in Nevada to protect the Democratic nominee from protestors [CNN].
- An LDS Church official urged members of the faith to eschew today’s “hyperpolarized rhetoric” in favor of empathy for each other [Tribune].
- Outdoor industry leaders join the call for President Barack Obama to declare Bears Ears as a new national monument [Tribune].
- Utah Democratic Rep. Brian King wants to make it harder for those convicted of domestic abuse to own guns [Tribune].
- Utah bar and restaurant owners are furious after a change in the DABC inventory software messed up quite a few liquor orders [Tribune].
- Utah prosecutors and law enforcement officials say the state needs a hate crime statute “with teeth” because it’s nearly impossible to prosecute such offenses under existing statute [Deseret News, Tribune].
On this day in history:
- 1861 – President Abraham Lincoln approved the first federal income tax.
- 1884 – The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty was laid on Bedloe’s Island in New York Harbor.
- 1962 – Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her Los Angeles home at age 36.
- 1974 – President Richard Nixon admitted ordering the Watergate investigation halted six days after the break-in. Nixon said he expected to be impeached.
