Media stoking flames of racial hatred, Trump says

"We stand for so much, including Martin Luther King's dream of a nation where our children are judged not by colour of their skin but by the content of their character," Trump says.

"The radical left's effort to divide everyone by their race tears us apart, there's so much racial hatred and it's put there by CNN, MSDNC, they stoke the flames and they know it."

'They don't know who George Floyd is' - Donald Trump says DC protestors are just bad people

At his rally in New Hampshire today, Donald Trump said protestors outside the White House during the RNC were just "bad people, troublemakers".

"Today's Democratic party is filled with hate. Just look at Joe Biden's supporters on the streets screaming and shouting at bystanders with unhinged, manic rage," he said. 

He said the protestors in Washington, who would have assaulted Rand Paul and his wife if not for police, were a "disgrace".

"Protestors. You know what I say, protestors your arse. I don't talk about my arse. They're not protestors. Those are anarchists, agitators, they're rioters, they're looters," Trump said. 

"Has nothing to do with George Floyd, has nothing to do with anything. They don't even know who George Floyd is... they have no idea. If you asked them who George Floyd is they couldn't even tell you. These are just bad people, troublemakers."

Trump begins campaign rally in New Hampshire

"The poll numbers have swung, if you go back six months before the plague flew in from China this election was over," Trump said as he renewed his campaigning following last night's RNC.  "Today it was announced that Joe Biden is coming out of the basement because the poll numbers have totally swung."

"But here's what I don't get, Sleepy Joe's coming out he said, in 10 days! That's a long, 10 days, that's like an eternity in Trumpville," he continued.

Hurricane Laura: Four die from carbon monoxide poisoning in Louisiana

Four people in Louisiana have been killed by carbon monoxide poisoning in "hurricane-related deaths", the state's department of health has announced.

The news comes after Hurricane Laura hit the territory this week with 150 mph winds as a Category four storm, becoming one of the strongest ever to hit the US.

"The Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) is sadly verifying an additional four storm-related deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning. We do not have other details at this time," the department posted on Twitter.

Over 850,000 people were left without power across Louisiana and east Texas, in many cases forcing people to turn to the use of alternate power sources such as gasoline generators

Louise Hall has the latest from the storm watch.

Trump: 'Are you listening Portland?' Portland: 'No'

Portland gave Donald Trump and answer to his question of whether the city was listening to the National Guard roll into Wisconsin to quell the violence flowing from the shooting of Jacob Blake.

"No thanks," mayor Ted Wheeler wrote.

House committee to hold Pompeo in contempt for amplifying 'Putin's debunked conspiracy theories'

House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Eliot Engel has announced that the panel will carry out contempt proceedings against US secretary of state Mike Pompeo.

In a statement on Friday, Mr Engel said that the committee will begin drafting a resolution of contempt, after Mr Pompeo has repeatedly refused to provide subpoenaed documents as part of an investigation to determine whether he has misused government resources for political purposes, according to The Hill.

The committee is beginning proceedings against Mr Pompeo as he is still yet to hand over documents relating to Ukraine that were subpoenaed for president Donald Trump's impeachment enquiry in 2019.

Mr Engel and the committee are also drafting the resolution because Mr Pompeo provided Republican-controlled senate committees documents subpoenaed by his panel, for an investigation into Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his son.

In July, Mr Engel issued a subpoena for more than 16,000 pages of documents the State Department sent to the Republican backed Senate Finance and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committees, but the State Department has refused to provide them.

On Friday, Mr Engel wrote: "The Secretary's ongoing defiance of two duly authorised subpoenas on matters directly linked to American foreign policy towards Ukraine has left the committee no further option but to begin drafting a resolution finding Secretary Pompeo in contempt of Congress."

The committee's chairman added: "He seems to think the office he holds, the department he runs, the personnel he oversees, and the taxpayer dollars that pay for all of it are there for his personal and political benefit."

James Crump has more on this.

Trump vs Musk in side-by-side of very stable geniuses

So there are two streams to watch starting at 6pm EST: Trump's New Hampshire campaign rally and Elon Musk's live demonstration of Neuralink technology -- the bleeding-edge of human-machine intelligence interfacing.

Whether the timing is sharp commentary or pure coincidence, following along with both at the streams below.

Michelle Obama urges protests to continue following Kenosha shootings

In a long post to her social media accounts on Friday, Michelle Obama encouraged people to continue protesting after the shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin.

"I'm just devastated by the shootings in Kenosha. Then, two nights later, the bullets that killed two protestors, with a young man only 17 years old arrested and charged with homicide," she said.

Ms Obama continued that she's exhausted and frustrated, and that while the protests that erupted following the shooting of Mr Black wouldn't make him walk again or bring back anyone who has been killed, "they will do something" -- open eyes and rattle consciences.

"So I want to encourage you all to keep using your bullhorns and your ballots to reform police in our cities and our neighbourhoods," she said.

Top US general foresees no military role in resolving disputed election

The top US general told lawmakers that he did not foresee the military playing a role in the election process or resolving disputes that may come during the November presidential election, according to a document released on Friday.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley's comments are largely a reiteration of the military's apolitical position but come amid questions about what would happen if the election results were disputed.

President Donald Trump has made unsubstantiated allegations that voting will be rigged and has refused to say whether he would accept official election results if he lost.

"In the event of a dispute over some aspect of the elections, by law U.S. courts and the U.S. Congress are required to resolve any disputes, not the U.S. military," Milley told Democratic Congresswomen Elissa Slotkin and Mikie Sherrill in a written response to questions obtained by Reuters.

"I foresee no role for the U.S. armed forces in this process... We will not turn our backs on the Constitution of the United States."

Trump heading to New Hampshire to continue barrage against Biden 

The president is on his way to a campaign rally in New Hampshire where he's expected to continue his warnings against a Joe Biden presidency.

Attacks against Biden were a key feature of his Republican presidential nominee acceptance speech on Thursday, name-checking the Democrat nominee 41 times in his 70-minute speech.