NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight’s 7 p.m. ET show. Subscribe to War Notes here.
Mayday Call
Dateline: Baltimore Harbor
- We’ll be live tonight at 7 p.m. E.T. from where the 1.6 mile long bridge collapsed after a cargo ship crashed into it.
The bridge collapse in Baltimore is a microcosm of how fragile things in America are.
Bridges built in the 1970s are not updated with protective concrete pilings to protect the bridge supports in the shipping channel.
- Even the electrical lines next to bridge had the protective buffers
- Some engineers say that might not even be enough due to the sheer size of the cargo ship. Business Insider writes, “Engineers would probably have been unable to protect against such a huge impact.”
There are insane conspiracy theories online that this was an intentional attack. Video shows the ship losing power twice and then crashing into the bridge.
- Thought bubble: If you were trying to kill a bunch of people, you would do this during the morning at rush hour rather than at 1:30 a.m.
- Considering how many bridges, cargo ships and harbors there are in America, it’s surprising this doesn’t happen more often. It’s kind of like a plane crash (but not Boeing).
The 13th busiest port in America will shut down for months if not years — it’s the single busiest port for car shipments and farm and construction machinery and agricultural products, according to a factbox from U.S. News.
- If you are the Chinese ahead of invading Taiwan, sinking a few of Chinese ships outside of west coast ports to shut them down would be an awfully easy way to stop U.S. military resupply before it could start.
Forbes reports, “The Port of Baltimore also handles the largest volume of heavy farm and construction machinery in the country, according to the state… A number of major companies also have distribution warehouses in an industrial park on the north end of the bridge, including Amazon, BMW, Home Depot, FedEx and Under Armour, Bloomberg reported.”
The bridge is the hazardous material route for trucks to avoid the tunnels. Without the bridge, they have to take a detour around the western section of I-695 now.
What worked:
- A mayday call from the boat gave officials enough time to shut down traffic on the bridge.
- The New York Times reports the construction workers stayed on the bridge despite the mayday call. It is unclear whether they had time to get back to their vehicles.
You’re Never Caught Your First Time
If the feds charge Sean “Diddy” Combs with sex trafficking associated crimes (as the investigation seems to indicate), everyone will ask how he got away with it for so long.
He has been accused of a variety of sexual misconduct cases going back to the 1990s and early 2000s.
Spotted: TMZ says he was reportedly seen at the private Miami airport despite his private jet flying to Antigua.
Look back: Some of his past music videos have new context now, including this one from 1997, previewing a guy escaping in his gulfstream.
Look forward: As Sam Rubin told us last night, a lot of Hollywood folks will have some uncomfortable questions to answer about attending his parties in Los Angeles and his famous “white” party in the Hamptons.
- Is this the next Jeffrey Epstein-type scandal?
Ground truth: The decision to publicly raid a major celebrities’ homes with SWAT teams isn’t taken lightly nor at the beginning of an investigation. They likely had to have had something pretty significant to get not only a search warrant, but approval from the Department of Justice for this.
Who Am I? Why Am I Here? Take Two
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is expected to announce former businesswoman Nicole Shanahan as his vice president pick.
The last time a third party presidential candidate mattered, Ross Perot’s VP Vice Admiral James Stockdale famously asked during the debate, “Who am I, why am I here?”
Shanahan might as well say the same thing.
Missed opportunity: Yes she has the money, but this was a huge missed opportunity to pick someone to show he’s serious rather than crazy.
- Be fair: Would anyone serious have said yes?
Bloom off the rose: Biden’s poll numbers seem to be improving, according to reporting from Alex Thompson.
- These are some of the first polls since the DNC started its hit jobs on RFK Jr.
- Watch: Kurt Bardella talking during “On Balance” last week about the well-funded operation against RFK Jr.
Tune into “On Balance with Leland Vittert” weeknights at 7/6C on NewsNation. Find your channel here.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation.