Good morning, and welcome to RedState's "Morning Minute" — a brief glimpse at which stories are trending at the moment and a look ahead at what the day may bring. Consider this your one-stop shop for news to kickstart your day. 

TOP O' THE MORNIN'

Elon Musk's Crazy, Side-Splitting Shark Story Showcases Gov't Inefficiency at Its Worst

He said they told him SpaceX had to do a study to see if Starship would hit a shark. I'm like "It's a big ocean, there's a lot of sharks. It's not impossible, but it's very unlikely."

Catherine Herridge Holds CBS' Feet to the Fire Over Passive Aggressive Statement on Harris Edit Scandal

So when CBS doesn't release the transcript following their own precedents, you have to think there's a big reason that they don't want to release it. What are they hiding if they cut out  24 minutes?

'60 Minutes' Finally Makes a Statement on the Harris Interview Scandal, Gets Roasted in Response

CBS News is a joke. It is a dumpster of a network that no Republican should ever appear on again. Deny them the credibility and let them languish as a broadcast version of MSNBC.

WHAT'S ON TAP?

Today on Capitol Hill...

Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) has the Senate Majority PAC fighting mightily for him to hold onto his seat, but the odds don't appear to be in his favor as Tim Sheehy (R) has mounted a solid lead in the polling. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) was on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday with Jake Tapper, noting his concern over the leak of highly classified information regarding Israel's retaliation plan against Iran.  

White House What's Up

Back from his jaunt to Germany, President Joe Biden will deliver remarks at a National Arts and Humanities Reception alongside First Lady Jill Biden on Monday evening in the East Room of the White House. 

The Homestretch

With two weeks left in the race, Vice President Kamala Harris is hitting McDonald's — wait, no, that's wrong. She's hitting multiple campaign stops on Monday: Malvern, Pennsylvania, Birmingham, Michigan, Brookfield, Wisconsin, and then back to D.C. Second (not a) Gentleman Doug Emhoff is speaking at events in Lackawanna County and Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Harris' running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, will join the ladies of "The View" on Monday. Won't that be fun?! He'll also join Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show" Monday evening. Minnesota First Lady Minnesota First Lady Gwen Walz will also be campaigning in Pennsylvania on Monday. 

Former President Donald Trump holds a rally Monday afternoon in Greenville, North Carolina. In the evening, it's the "11th Hour Faith Leaders Meeting," featuring Trump himself, along with Eric Trump and Dr. Ben Carson in Concord, North Carolina. Multiple Trump surrogates are also out and about in Pennsylvania on Monday, including West Virginia Governor Jim Justice (and Babydog, of course), Lee Zeldin, Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN), and others. 

Full Court Press...

We're awaiting the New York appellate court ruling on Trump's civil fraud appeal. That could very well be issued Tuesday.

Sean "Diddy" Combs' lawyers have filed a motion with the court in his Southern District of New York criminal case asking the court for an order "prohibiting further extrajudicial statements from prospective witnesses and their lawyers that substantially interfere with Mr. Combs' right to a fair trial." Will a gag order be forthcoming?

If you're interested in a full rundown of legal goings on lately, you can check that out here. 

MORNING MUSING

I shared this on X/Twitter Sunday evening, but here's some more food for thought on McDonaldsgate:

I kind of love that we're two weeks out from the election, and folks are in a tizzy about McDonald's. Had Harris never claimed she worked there, Trump wouldn't have made the play. She set the ball; he spiked it. That's retail politics, and he's gotten pretty good at it.

Maybe she did briefly work there in the 80s. If so, bully for her. So far, all we have to go on is her word. 

I worked at Fashion Gal and Ups 'n Downs when I was in high school. I worked as a summer school secretary in college. I both clerked at a law firm AND worked at Pizza Hut in law school. (Plus several other jobs along the way.) I don't have pictures of myself at any of those jobs, and I'd be hard-pressed to find W-2s, tax returns, or resumes from that far back to "prove" any of it. 

You know what I do have, though? Family and friends who knew me then who'd back me up. And fairly detailed memories of each job that would enable me to describe my work tasks as more than just "worked clothes" or "did filing" or "delivered pizzas." Oh, and I could tell you the exact location of each of those places.

LIGHTER FARE 

A McDouble to start your Monday:

Choose your fighter…. pic.twitter.com/CUzIuUYeQu

— Carol Roth (@caroljsroth) October 21, 2024

Trump nailed it… pic.twitter.com/RdM0uUjyfr

— @amuse (@amuse) October 21, 2024