*By Christian Smith*
While President Trump and Florida Gov. Rick Scott continue to claim the recount in three tight Florida races is rampant with abuse, state law enforcement authorities say they have no concrete allegation of voter fraud to investigate.
"There is no allegation of fraud, and there's a legal definition that you have to meet in order for it to be voter fraud," Ana Ceballos, politics reporter for the USA Today Network in Florida, told Cheddar.
Scott, who is running for the U.S. Senate against Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson, has called on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate claims of voter fraud. The state's Attorney General, Republican Pam Bondi, echoed Scott's calls for an investigation, but FDLE has maintained that there are is no evidence to justify that step.
A mandatory machine recount was triggered in Florida's races for U.S. Senate, governor, and agriculture commissioner due to the razor-thin margins in those results.
According to unofficial results from Florida's counties on Saturday, Scott led Nelson in the senate race by about 12,500 votes, or about .15 percent of the total vote.
The race for governor isn't quite as close. Republican Ron DeSantis led Democrat Andrew Gillum by nearly 34,000 votes, or .41 percent.
The deadline for officials to complete the machine-recount is Thursday.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/usa-todays-ana-ceballos-discusses-the-controversies-surrounding-the-florida-recount).
The Trump administration significantly weakened the Endangered Species Act (ESA) this week, largely gutting its implementation mechanisms to allow for greater economic development in protected habitats. The decision — announced by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior on Monday — was widely condemned by critics who say the revised regulations will hurt biodiversity and wildlife at a most precarious time.
Argentina’s stock market and currency value plummeted this week following a shocking electoral defeat on Sunday for President Mauricio Macri, the nation’s conservative leader.
Markets soared Tuesday morning following the Trump administration's decision to delay and revise its latest round of punitive tariffs against China. The Dow jumped over 400 points while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both rose roughly 2 percent.
The Iowa caucus is still six months away but Democrats are not wasting any time in their effort to return the state to their side of the aisle. Yet the confidence is equally strong within the Republican party.
VineSight, an AI-based start-up, is working to detect misinformation attacks against candidates like Joe Biden or Kamala Harris early during their campaigns.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Monday, Aug. 12, 2019.
Hong Kong International Airport came to crippling halt on Monday with thousands of anti-government protesters occupying the airport’s main terminals. Authorities said operations have “been seriously disrupted” and cancelled all flights in and out of the major international hub.
Michael Sonnenshein, managing director of Grayscale, told Cheddar that recent developments in the U.S.-China trade war are proving to be evidence that Bitcoin has emerged as a safe-haven asset.
The company has announced that it is donating 5,000 units of the generic version of Plan B for women in need as part of a collaboration with the nonprofit Power to Decide.
2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls are bringing the gun debate to 165th annual Iowa State Fair.
