October 01, 2018 12:33 PM UTC

Get More Smarter on Monday (October 1)

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• by: Colorado Pols

The Colorado Rockies play the Los Angeles Dodgers at 2:09 pm today for the NL West Division Title. It’s time to Get More Smarter. If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example). If you are more of a visual learner, check out The Get More Smarter Show.

TOP OF MIND TODAY…

► Two weeks.

Mail ballots start going out in Colorado two weeks from today. Go to GoVoteColorado.com for more on voter registration and other election-related information.

► The Washington Post has more on President Trump’s new trade agreement with our North American neighbors:

President Trump on Monday hailed the major revisions he was able to extract from Canada and Mexico to the 25-year-old North American trade agreement, as business executives, labor leaders, and lawmakers began poring over details.

Speaking at a Rose Garden news conference, Trump called the pact that would replace the North American Free Trade Agreement “the most important trade deal we’ve ever made by far.”

“We have succesfully completed negotiations on a brand new deal to terminate and replace NAFTA and the NAFTA trade agreements with an incredible new U.S.-Canada-Mexico agreement,” Trump said, pledging that “it will transform North America back into a manufacturing powerhouse.”

Since President Trump calls everything he does the greatest thing ever accomplished, it’s hard to tell from the rhetoric just how important this deal really becomes. Here’s more from the Washington Post on the details of the new NAFTA.

Also, we have no suggestion for how to pronounce “USMCA” instead of “NAFTA.” As Politico reports, this might be a moot point should Democrats retake the majority in the House of Representatives.

► President Trump claims that it will be up to the U.S. Senate to set parameters of an investigation into sexual assault and misconduct charges against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. From Politico:

Effectively the president is putting the onus of the investigation on three undecided GOP senators who requested the FBI investigation and will determine Kavanaugh’s fate in the Senate: Jeff Flake of Arizona, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

“My White House will do whatever the senators want. I’m open to whatever they want,” Trump said. “I’m guided by the senators.”

The president denied limiting the breadth of the probe in a midday press conference on his new trade deal, though he acknowledged he has the power to define how broad the investigation is. Trump said he wants the FBI “to be comprehensive. I think it’s actually a good thing for Judge Kavanaugh.”

He added that “it wouldn’t bother” him if the FBI interviews the third Kavanaugh accuser, Julie Swetnick, who has alleged Kavanaugh was present during an alleged gang rape. He also said he’d be fine with the FBI interviewing Kavanaugh after he and Christine Blasey Ford testified last week about Ford’s allegation that Kavanaugh assaulted her in 1982.

There has been plenty of speculation that an FBI investigation into Kavanaugh might ultimately be handcuffed by the White House. Trump also made it clear — again — that he thought Kavanaugh was the real victim here.

Meanwhile, NBC News reports that at least one former Yale classmate will talk to the FBI today about Kavanaugh’s “violent drunken behavior” in college.

► It’s looking like it could be a rough couple of weeks for Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Aurora), whose chances of winning re-election appear to be getting dimmer by the day. On Friday, news broke that House Speaker Paul Ryan’s Super PAC — Congressional Leadership Fund — was pulling out of CO-6 because of Coffman’s fading hopes.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Saturday Night Live kicked off its new season over the weekend with Matt Damon playing the role of Brett Kavanaugh for the show’s “cold open.” If you haven’t seen it, stop what you’re doing and watch below:

► Today is the one year anniversary of the mass shooting in Las Vegas that killed 58 people. We still don’t know much about the motive behind the attacks.

► The Colorado Sun takes on the Herculean task of explaining all of the ballot measures in Colorado in 2018.

► Legislation from Congressman Ed Perlmutter (D-Jefferson County) that would allow people recovering from cancer treatments to pause their student loan obligations has been signed into law, according to a press release from Perlmutter’s office.

► The Trump administration plans to sue the State of California over its passage of new “net neutrality” legislation.