Consumer Confidence Index Hits Highest Point Since October 2000

Consumer confidence in the United States soared in August to an 18-year high and hit seldom-reached peaks, reflecting surging growth in the economy and the lowest unemployment rate in almost two decades. 

The consumer confidence index jumped to 133.4 from a revised 127.9 in July, the Conference Board said Tuesday. It’s the highest level since October 2000 and beats the previous post-recession peak of 130 in February.

Sen. Chuck Schumer on John McCain

In a rare show of bipartisanship, Senator John McCain’s colleagues paid tribute to the late lawmaker and his legacy Monday on the Senate floor as leaders from both parties fondly recalled the Arizona Republican’s fighting spirit and unwavering dedication to the United States. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), joked that he and McCain did not get along when Schumer first entered the Senate, but that the two formed a lasting friendship working to pass immigration reform. 

Schumer also cited McCain’s bravery and dedication to the armed forces, before calling on lawmakers to rename the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington after the late lawmaker. The Russell Building currently houses the Senate Armed Services Committee offices. 

“John’s dedication to the country and to the men and women who served it was unwavering,” Schumer said. “His life is a story of American heroism personified.”

Lanny Davis Admits to Being a Source for CNN’s Bombshell Report Trump Knew About Russia Meeting

Michael Cohen’s attorney, Lanny Davis, has acknowledged being an anonymous source for the disputed CNN Trump Tower story and also admitted lying on TV about his involvement. 

Lanny Davis told BuzzFeed News on Monday evening that he was a source for the story claiming that President Trump had personal prior knowledge of a controversial Trump Tower meeting with Russians, a story the Cohen camp has since repudiated. “I made a mistake,” Davis said. 

According to BuzzFeed News reporter Steven Perlberg: “Attorney Lanny Davis says he was an anonymous source in a July CNN story that reported his client, Michael Cohen, had privately claimed that President Trump had advance knowledge of the infamous Trump Tower meeting between his son and Russians — contradicting Davis's own words on CNN's air last week.” 

The Washington Post has also since outed Lanny Davis as its source while publishing an interview in which Davis backpedals.  

Davis told The Washington Post Sunday that he “should have been more clear” that he “could not independently confirm what happened.” Davis even told the Post he regrets his “error.” 

Davis admitted that he was behind an erroneous CNN report about the Trump Tower meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and Russian lawyer Natalya Veselnitskaya. On the July 26 edition of CNN’s Cuomo PrimeTime, the network’s reporters, Jim Sciutto and Carl Bernstein, rushed onto the program to proclaim they had the next major bombshell that would damage the Trump presidency. 

The next day, they wrote: “Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, claims that then-candidate Trump knew in advance about the June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower in which Russians were expected to offer his campaign dirt on Hillary Clinton, sources with knowledge tell CNN. Cohen is willing to make that assertion to special counsel Robert Mueller, the sources said.” 

Lanny Davis gave the details as an anonymous source, as well as confirming the story to the New York Post, also as an unidentified source. It’s now been revealed, however, that he recently admitted Michael Cohen had no information that would confirm when the president found out about the meeting. 

Then, during a CNN interview on Wednesday, August 22, with anchor Anderson Cooper, Lanny Davis said, “I think the reporting of the story got mixed up in the course of a criminal investigation. We were not the source of the story.” 

Despite serving as an anonymous source for CNN’s Trump Tower story, Davis was also cited on the record as having declined to comment, misleading readers into believing that Davis was not a source for the story.

Republicans Grill Bruce Ohr as Trump-DOJ Feud Escalates

Today, Justice Department official Bruce Ohr is testifying behind closed doors in the House today and gave Republicans a chance to examine how President Barack Obama's administration ultimately decided to investigate President Trump's campaign. 

At least seven GOP lawmakers, members of the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees attended. No Democratic lawmakers were on hand, but staffers of both parties attended. 

Rep. Gaetz (R-FL), emerging from the interview after nearly two hours, said Ohr appeared to be answering questions forthrightly but that his testimony about the timing of his contacts with Fusion appeared to conflict with answers given to lawmakers by Fusion GPS cofounder Glenn Simpson and former FBI attorney Lisa Page.

Ohr is expected to be in the closed-door interview most of the day. 

The closed-door session is expected to focus on Ohr's relationship with Christopher Steele, the British spy behind the dossier that included salacious and unverified intelligence on Trump and Russia.

Deaths from Drugs, Alcohol, and Suicide Now Outpace Diabetes

Deaths from self-injury, a category that includes drug and alcohol use and committing suicide, has surpassed diabetes as the seventh-leading cause of death in the U.S.

In the study, researchers used previously available data from the CDC to estimate the number of deaths due to self-injury and compared it to the number of deaths from diabetes. Using data from 2016, the researchers showed that 29.1 people per 100,000 died from self-injury compared with 24.8 per 100,000 from diabetes. The true number of deaths may be grossly underreported, the researchers said, as risk factors and reporting methods vary and are often difficult to determine. In 2017, 72,306 people died from drug overdoses in 2017. In 2016, 63,632 people died from drug overdoses.

Study Raises Concerns about Pot Smoking by Breastfeeding Mothers

Marijuana's main mind-altering ingredient was detected in nursing mothers' breast milk in a small study that comes amid evidence that more U.S. women are using pot during pregnancy and afterward. 

Experts say the ingredient, THC, has chemical properties that could enable it to disrupt brain development and potentially cause harm, although solid evidence of that is lacking. 

The new study involved 50 nursing mothers who were using pot and provided breast milk samples to researchers at the University of California San Diego. Lab testing found small amounts of THC, the psychoactive chemical that causes marijuana's "high," in 34 of 54 samples up to six days after they were provided. 

Another form of THC and cannabidiol, a pot chemical touted by some as a health aid, were detected in five samples. 

The study authors said it "is reasonable to speculate" that exposing infants to THC or cannabidiol "could influence normal brain development," depending on dose and timing. 

The results echo findings in case reports from years ago, when pot was less potent than what's available today, said study co-author Christina Chambers, a pediatrics professor. 

Marijuana is legal for recreational use in nine states and Washington, D.C., and for medical use in 31 states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. 

According to U.S. government data, about 1 in 20 women report using marijuana during pregnancy. Estimates for use among breastfeeding mothers vary, but a study in Colorado, where recreational marijuana is legal, put the number at almost 20 percent among women in a government supplemental food program.

Study: Only Two Percent of Teens Read Newspaper, One-Third Have Not Read Book in Last Year

A study released Monday shows just two percent of American teens read a newspaper on a regular basis. The "nationally-based lifestyle survey studying teens" by researchers at San Diego State University also found that one-third of the teenagers polled had not read a book in the last year. That number includes reading on an electronic device. 

Overall, more than one million teens provided information for the study. The meteoric rise of internet-based activities cannot be understated: between social media, texting, gaming, and surfing the web, the average high school senior spent six hours a day online in 2016 — double the time from a decade earlier. 

The study also found that teen viewership of TV is falling. In the 1990s survey, 22% of eighth graders reported watching five or more hours of TV a day. That number fell to just 13% in 2016.

1 in 3 Americans Have Less Than $5,000 Saved for Retirement

78% of Americans, say they're “extremely” or “somewhat” concerned about not having enough money for retirement, according to Northwestern Mutual's 2018 Planning & Progress Study. 21% of Americans have nothing at all saved for the future, 10% have less than $5,000 saved. 

16% of the people surveyed have between $75,000 and $199,999 and 25% of the people surveyed reported having $200,000 or more saved. 

Overall, Northwestern Mutual found that Americans with retirement savings have an average of $84,821 saved, which is far from enough. Experts typically recommend trying to accumulate at least $1 million. 

Additional findings show that one in three Baby Boomers (33%), the generation closest to retirement age, only have between $0-$25,000 in retirement savings, 24% of Americans believe it is "not at all likely" or only 51% say it is "somewhat likely" that Social Security will be available when they retire and nearly half (46%) of adults have taken no steps to prepare for the likelihood that they could outlive their savings.

Mail Time!

• Saw your tweets about John McCain, a war hero, and can't understand why you felt compelled to use it as an opportunity to go after the president. What was the purpose? McCain attacked Trump before Trump's unfortunate comments and continued well after Trump won. Even on foreign soil.

• Bill, thanks for explaining the history between Donald Trump and John McCain that led up to Mr. Trump's comment about the senator not being a hero. That explains a lot. I'm glad you showed the clip of your interview with candidate Trump on The Factor in 2015 after his "hero" comment about Sen. McCain. I remember that interview, and it reminded me of how fortunate The Factor viewers were to get your take on the presidential campaign, particularly because of your relationship with Mr. Trump. 

• I want to know your opinion on a college professor's lecture today. My friend had to sit through a lecture today, in which the professor claimed, “parents shouldn’t raise their kids to be heterosexual.” This offends my entire beliefs. I am paying $30,000 for a college education for this? Schools, from primary to colleges, need a revamp. If this is all I am getting for debt, it is not worth it.

Word of the Day: Sycophant