Trump heads to Kenosha after Biden accuses him of ‘stoking violence’

Tuesday, September 1, 2020 Good morning, NBC News readers.    President Donald Trump heads to Kenosha, Wisconsin, a day after Joe Biden accused him of fomenting violence in the country.     Here's what we're watching this Tuesday morning.  Trump heads to Kenosha while local police reform activists demand answers More than a week after police shot a Black man seven times in the back, sparking protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and across the country, President Trump is headed to the city today.    Local officials aren't exactly rolling out the welcome mat.   On Sunday, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian, both Democrats, asked the president not to come. There is a sense among local authorities that the president will not calm tensions in the battleground state, but rather inflame them.   The president plans to meet with law enforcement officials and tour businesses damaged by rioting while in Kenosha, but has no plans to meet with the family of Jacob Blake, the Black man who is now paralyzed from the waist down after the shooting incident.    On Monday, Trump said he had spoken to the Blake family's pastor, but that he was not going to meet with the family because "they wanted to have lawyers involved."   Meantime, local activists say the need for police reform in Kenosha may not have gained national attention until last week, but that they have been pressing for changes in their city for years.    "This isn't the first shooting of an unarmed Black man. It's been happening over and over and over again," said Kara Baylor, campus pastor at Carthage College in Kenosha. "But we cannot unsee it anymore, because it's now not happening somewhere else. … It's right here."   Still, the advocates for change will likely face an uphill battle. Wisconsin Republican leaders convened a special session of the Legislature on Monday to discuss police reform — but it lasted for less than a minute.  Video: Trump to visit Kenosha, Wisconsin, over objections of some state leaders Biden says Trump can't stop violence he has 'fomented' for years Joe Biden on Monday accused Trump of "sowing chaos" and argued the president "can't stop the violence" that has arisen in cities across the United States "because for years he has fomented it."   In the speech in Pittsburgh — his first in months outside the area near his Wilmington, Delaware, home — Biden responded to Trump's accusations that he would be soft on crime by strongly condemning the spate of recent violence in multiple U.S. cities.    "Rioting is not protesting. Looting is not protesting. Setting fires is not protesting," Biden said.   "It's lawlessness," he added. "Violence will not bring change, it will only bring destruction."   Meantime, Trump defended the actions of his supporters in Portland over the weekend during a press briefing at the White House Monday.  He also suggested that Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old accused of killing two people at a protest in Kenosha last week, was acting out of self defense.    News analysis: Now that he's out of the "basement," Trump might need to be careful about challenging Biden to come out and fight, NBC News Jonathan Allen writes.   Video: Biden says Trump is 'poisoning' U.S. democracy in Pittsburgh speech 'This elevates it to angry': Doctors say CDC, FDA missteps cross the line into politics Dr. Stephen Hahn, the embattled head of the Food and Drug Administration, offered an assurance Monday: Any vaccine for public use will be approved "on the basis of science and data."   Hahn made the pledge after a series of recent public missteps involving the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — two of the federal agencies critical to the U.S. coronavirus response — which have damaged their reputations at a time when they are needed the most, according to seven prominent doctors and scientists who spoke to NBC News.   "It's an enormous scandal," said Carl Bergstrom, a biologist at the University of Washington who has become an outspoken critic of the U.S. pandemic response. "What it looks like at this point is you have a White House altering public health advice to improve election chances to the detriment of American lives." Video: FDA chief willing to fast track COVID-19 vaccine before clinical trials end Want to receive the Morning Rundown in your inbox? Sign up here. Plus   Delta, American, joined United Airlines and said they would permanently scrap domestic ticket-change fees.  'I wish we had more time': Actor Michael B. Jordan opened up about the death of his friend and co-star Chadwick Boseman. They had 'dreams and plans': Detroit honored the city's 1,500-plus COVID-19 victims with a massive funeral procession. THINK about it  A dark secret tore apart ESPN reporter Lauren Sisler's family. She's sharing it now to help others avoid the same pain. Live BETTER  Getting sober led to weight gain. These small steps helped this woman shed 90 pounds. One fun thing  Attention shoppers! Bear in the produce aisle!   Shoppers at the Kings Beach Safeway by Lake Tahoe, California found more than apples in the produce aisle last week.    An inquisitive bear was looking around, video footage posted online showed.   He left without incident. But, apparently a bear visited the same store earlier in August and left with a bag of tortilla chips. Video: Bear browses produce aisle in Lake Tahoe supermarket Thanks for reading the Morning Rundown.    If you have any comments — likes, dislikes — send me an email at: petra@nbcuni.com   If you're a fan, please forward it to your family and friends. They can sign-up here.    Thanks, Petra Cahill Download the NBC News Mobile App Follow NBC News Privacy Unsubscribe