Joe Biden won the coin flip for the June 27th debate on CNN. Biden’s campaign could select either podium placement or order of closing statements. “Biden’s campaign chose to select the right podium position, which means the Democratic president will be on the right side of television viewers’ screens and his Republican rival will be on viewers’ left,” CNN stated. Trump’s campaign then chose to deliver the final remarks of the debate. New: President Trump will get to have the final word at next week's presidential debate in Georgia hosted by CNN due to a coin flip. Via: CNN pic.twitter.com/uAJj4rVNWu — The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) June 20, 2024 CNN reports: Trump’s campaign then chose for the former president to deliver the last closing statement, which means Biden will go first at the conclusion of the debate. Biden and Trump are set to make history on June 27 in the first presidential debate between an incumbent and a former president. It will also be the first debate since 2020 featuring either Biden, who did not face a serious challenge for the Democratic nomination, or Trump, who skipped those held during the Republican primary race. CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash will host the 90-minute showdown in Atlanta. Both candidates have accepted the network’s invitation and agreed to accept the rules and format of the debate, as outlined in letters sent to the campaigns by the network in May. A coin flip guaranteed former President Donald Trump will get the last word at a June 27 debate with President Joe Biden. MORE: https://t.co/Dt64N1Ss3X pic.twitter.com/fAwRNSOxF8 — NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) June 20, 2024 Per ABC News: The CNN debate is being simulcast on ABC and ABC News Live with pre-coverage beginning at 8 p.m. ET on the network and 7 p.m ET on ABCNL. Earlier this week, other rules were announced by CNN such as muting the candidates’ microphone unless it is their turn to speak and allowing no props, only pen, paper and a bottle of water. There will be no opening statements, two commercial breaks and no studio audience. Biden and Trump will be given two minutes to answer questions posed by moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, followed by one minute each to respond and rebut. There will be a red light flashing to indicate to candidates they have five seconds remaining of their allotted time. When their time is over, the light will turn solid red. With exactly a week to go until the debate, both campaigns are beginning to prepare. President Biden will huddle at Camp David with former chief of staff Ron Klain and other longtime advisers and aides.

The Department of Defense Office of Inspector General stated the full extent of DoD funds provided to Chinese research laboratories is “unknown.” “Due to limitations in the DoD’s tracking systems, the full extent of DoD funds provided to Chinese research laboratories for research related to enhancement of pathogens of pandemic potential is unknown,” DoD Office of Inspector General wrote. Due to limitations in the DoD's tracking systems, the full extent of DoD funds provided to Chinese research laboratories for research related to enhancement of pathogens of pandemic potential is unknown. Read our new report now: https://t.co/Ts7V7C15V9 — DoD Office of Inspector General (@DoD_IG) June 20, 2024 From the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General: The purpose of this management advisory is to inform Congress and DoD leadership of the results of our review required in response to Public Law 118‑31, “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024,” section 252, “Audit to Identify Diversion of Department of Defense Funding to China’s Research Labs. Section 252 of the FY 2024 NDAA requires that the DoD Inspector General submit a report to the congressional defense committees within 180 days of December 22, 2023. The legislation requires a report on the amount of Federal funds awarded by the DoD, directly or indirectly, through grants, contracts, subgrants, subcontracts, or any other type of agreement or collaboration, to Chinese research labs or to fund research or experiments in China or other foreign countries that could have reasonably resulted in the enhancement of pathogens of pandemic potential, from 2014 through 2023. In addition, the legislation specifically named Chinese government entities, affiliates, and one government contractor, as being part of the study. The report was sparked from a ‘pressure campaign’ by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA). The New York Post reported: The Pentagon’s watchdog agency will audit more than $50 million in grants the US provided to Chinese pandemic pathogens research institutions between 2014 and 2023, The Post has learned, following a pressure campaign by Sen. Joni Ernst. The Department of Defense Office of Inspector General informed Ernst (R-Iowa) and Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) that it was formally investigating the funding to Chinese research labs or other nations “designed to enhance pathogens of pandemic potential,” a letter exclusively obtained by The Post shows. “We will keep you apprised of our progress on this reporting requirement,” the letter from Inspector General Robert P. Storch reads, referencing an amendment put by the lawmakers into the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The audit covers any US taxpayer funding “used to fund research or experiments that could have reasonably resulted in the enhancement of any coronavirus, influenza, Nipah, Ebola, or other pathogen of pandemic potential or chimeric versions of such a virus or pathogen in the People’s Republic of China or any other foreign country” — money which Ernst accused the Pentagon of “blindly giving away.” “The Department of Defense should defend the nation, not support research with the potential to do us harm,” she told The Post in a statement. “The Defense Threat Reduction Agency identified 13 projects, totaling $46.7 million, awarded to EcoHealth Alliance, Inc. from 2014 through 2023. However, none of this funding was allocated to China, its affiliates, or for research involving enhancement of pathogens,” the report read. “The identified projects focused on pathogen‑related biosurveillance studies and training in various foreign countries. Specifically, of the $46.7 million, $44.5 million was awarded to EcoHealth Alliance, Inc. as the prime grant awardee and $2.2 million was awarded to EcoHealth Alliance, Inc. as a subawardee. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency also provided $7.4 million in funds to EcoHealth Alliance, Inc. for research to understand and develop a capability called the Global Rapid Identification Tool System. This system facilitated rapid, high probability diagnosis of outbreaks to pinpoint disease threats faster than current public health systems and diagnostics,” it continued. "Sen. Joni Ernst and Rep. Mike Gallagher are demanding the Defense Department’s inspector general probe…$50 million in defense grants to Chinese pandemic research institutions — including those based in Wuhan, the city where COVID-19 emerged in 2019."https://t.co/6x0XwyaXmi — Richard H. Ebright (@R_H_Ebright) January 25, 2024 “Throughout our review, we discovered significant constraints with the accessibility and comprehensiveness of data housed within, or maintained by, the DoD’s information systems. These limitations hindered our ability to conduct a thorough examination of DoD funds allocated for research activities, including those activities related to enhancement of pathogens of pandemic potential. The limited time frame prescribed by Congress also restricted the procedures we performed,” the report read. “In addition, the DoD did not track funding at the level of detail necessary to enable us to completely and accurately determine if the DoD provided funding to Chinese research laboratories or other foreign countries for research related to the enhancement of pathogens of pandemic potential. For example, when the DoD awards funds to an entity, the entity often provides some of those funds to other organizations for subawards or contracted services. DoD officials stated that during the initial grant application process, they have visibility over who the subaward recipients are intended to be. However, we found that DoD organizations lacked visibility of subaward information over the life of contracts and grants,” it continued. “Finally, it was not possible for us to identify a single source that encompasses all pathogens of pandemic potential. This is primarily because the various authoritative sources we consulted employed different criteria to define what constituted a pandemic. As a result of these discrepancies and the lack of comprehensive authority outlining the definitive characteristics of pandemic‑potential pathogens, we were unable to conclusively determine which pathogens fell under this designation,” it added. Well this seems kind of important. How about stopping the funding of all virology research until you've established that it is not being used to produce viruses paid for by the US taxpayer to impose biotyrannies under the guise of "protection"?https://t.co/J5eutGUweV — Jikkyleaks (@Jikkyleaks) June 21, 2024 The report’s conclusion read: We found significant limitations with the adequacy of data, similar to the observations the GAO found in its reports. Specifically, the DoD did not track funding at the level of detail necessary to determine whether the DoD provided funding to Chinese research laboratories or other foreign countries for research related to enhancement of pathogens of pandemic potential. In addition, DoD organizations did not have visibility of subaward information throughout the life of contracts and grants. In addition, except for the CDMRP electronic grants system, DoD organizations could not effectively search award systems to identify all contracts, subcontracts, grants, and subgrants that may have been related to pathogen research performed by China and other foreign countries. As a result, DoD organizations could not produce a complete population of pathogen research grants and subawards necessary for us to conclude on the use of DoD funds provided for pathogen research. Yet, the Department of Defense has a fiscal year 2024 budget of $825 billion. Read the full report from the U.S. Department of Defense Office of Inspector General HERE.

The kawaii metal idols were recently joined by Polyphia’s Tim Henson and Scott LePage at their festival, Fox Fest

Collabs, dirty pop and queer anthems: Pvris' Lyndsey Gunnulfsen joins us in Louder's first cover interview to give us the exclusive story on how their new mixtape, F.I.L.T.H, came together

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who wants Donald Trump imprisoned for his free speech and not committing any crimes, never met a Democrat criminal he wouldn’t free. He just released the radical Islamist supporters arrested at Columbia University and dropped all charges against more than 30 of them. Woke, racist Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg dropped […] The post DA Bragg Drops Charges for 30+ Radicals Who Stormed Columbia appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

After months of speculation from fans, actor Kevin Costner clarified that he won’t return to the Paramount Network hit drama series “Yellowstone.” The 69-year-old posted a video to social media on Thursday night making his intentions clear. “I just want to reach out and let you know that after this long year and a half of working on Horizon and doing all the things that’s required, and thinking about ‘Yellowstone,’ that beloved series that I love, that I know you love. I just realized that I’m not going to be able to continue, season five or into the future,” Costner said. He continued, calling the Yellowstone series “something that really changed me.”  The actor said, “I loved it and I know you loved it, and I just wanted to let you know that I won’t be returning. I love the relationship we’ve been able to develop, and I’ll see you at the movies.”   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Kevin Costner (@kevincostner) The “Dances with Wolves” star ignited speculation earlier this week during an appearance on TODAY. At the time, Costner made it sound like he was open to returning to the series if it made sense to do so, as The Daily Wire previously reported.  CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP “I’ve supported that thing and I’ve loved it,” he said of the Taylor Sheridan-directed drama series. “It’s been really important to me. I would love to go back under the right circumstances I think that all of us want. For me, it really needs to be the right circumstances.” “Saying there’s a chance, there’s always a chance,” he added. “I love the thing. You’ve got to be really clear about that.” Last spring, Costner said he wasn’t ruling out returning to his role as family patriarch John Dutton after rumored fights over contract obligations. The actor told GQ that he had initially agreed to film seasons five, six, and seven of the show but didn’t think it was fair for season five to get split into two parts, essentially turning it into an additional season.   Most recently, the actor has been all in on his passion project that has been decades in the making. “Horizon” part one got mixed reviews at its Cannes debut and is set to hit theaters nationwide on June 28. The second installment will follow close behind on August 16.

Actor Ben Affleck appeared on the season 4 premiere of Kevin Hart’s Peacock Network talk show, “Hart to Heart,” on Thursday and explained why he often has a sour look on his face and talked about his wife Jennifer Lopez’s fame. It’s not known when the episode was taped, but Affleck did refer to Lopez as his “wife” during the show. Recently, fans have been speculating about the state of Affleck and Lopez’s two-year marriage, especially after it was revealed that their $61 million Beverly Hills mansion was listed for sale.  The 51-year-old celebrity didn’t mention the current status of his marriage. But Affleck did offer an explanation for why he often looks grumpy.  He started by responding to Hart’s question about whether he’s happier in front of the camera or behind it, per People. Affleck said he considers himself a director and added that he’s “a little bit shy.” “I also don’t like a lot of attention,” he said during the conversation. “This why people see me [and] they’re like, ‘Well, this dude always mad…’ Because somebody has their camera and sticking to my face.” Affleck continued, “I don’t mind you taking my picture about a club, a premiere, whatever. My wife, I don’t give a f***. Go ahead. Knock yourself out. I don’t notice you,” he said. “My children, that’s a different thing.” The actor shares three children with his ex-wife Jennifer Garner: Violet, 18, Seraphina, 15, and Samuel, 12. He’s also now stepdad to Lopez’s 16-year-old twins. The Oscar-winning actor recalled one experience demonstrating Lopez’s extreme popularity with her fans. “We went somewhere with [Jennifer]—I can’t remember because she’s so famous, and she creates this—people love her. And she really represents something important to people,” he said. “[To me,] people are like, ‘Hey, I like your movie,’ and then they’re like ‘AHHHH! J-LO!’” he added. “It’s amazing, you know what I mean?” CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP Affleck recalled another story about a time they visited Times Square. “We get out of the car, we were going to a play, and I was like, ‘F*** it, babe, we’re going to be late, we gotta walk a block and a half.’ [Lopez] was like, ‘Alright,’ she didn’t say s***,” he explained. “We get out with her, all the kids, through Times Square, and the s*** was like f***ing bananas,’“ Affleck went on. “I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ There was a lady, she was smoking weed, in a full purple skintight suit—she’s a heavy lady—and she starts running backwards filming, going ‘J-LO!!’ Like a herald. Then gets everyone else, they’re all tourists, whatever, just moving.”  “Then I’m moving. We got, like, our five kids, me and Jen, and it’s, it’s like, it feels like hundreds of people and now screaming,” he said.  “By the way, in that moment, you got to be oblivious to act like it’s all okay,” Hart interjected. “Totally. Yeah, that’s why I put my bitch face on,” Affleck replied.