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Thursday, July 21, 2022

Wake-Up Call: Jan 6 Committee Hearing Goes Prime Time

The House committee investigating the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol will hold its final hearing of the summer tonight, which will take place in prime time for the first time since the initial hearing in early June. Tonight's hearing will focus on what then-President Donald Trump did and did not do during the hours while the Capitol was being attacked. Included in the nearly two-hour hearing will be live testimony from two former White House aides, Matt Pottinger, who was deputy national security adviser, and Sarah Matthews, who was a press aide, both of whom resigned on January 6th after the events of the day. While this is the last planned hearing, the committee has said its investigation is continuing, and other hearings are possible. It plans to create a preliminary report this fall, and a final report by the end of this session of Congress.


➤UKRAINIAN FIRST LADY SPEAKS AT CAPITOL, U.S., ALLIES SENDING MORE MILITARY AID: Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska spoke in the U.S. Capitol Wednesday (July 20th) as part of her visit to the U.S. this week, making the case for the U.S. to send more air defense systems to Ukraine to stop Russia missiles. Before an audience of Republican and Democratic lawmakers, Zelenska showed photos of Ukrainian children killed and wounded by Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities, saying, "We want no more airstrikes. No more missile strikes. Is this too much to ask for?" On the same day yesterday, the U.S. and allies committed to sending more rocket systems, ammunition and other military aid to Ukraine. Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, described the current state of the conflict as a "grinding war of attrition," saying, "[U]nless there’s a breakthrough on either side -- which right now the analysts don’t think is particularly likely in the near term -- it will probably continue as a grinding war of attrition for a period of time until both sides see an alternative way out of this, perhaps through negotiation or something like that.”

➤BIDEN ANNOUNCES MODEST ACTIONS ON CLIMATE CHANGE, SAYS MORE ON WAY TO FIGHT 'EMERGENCY': President Biden announced modest new steps to fights climate change yesterday, and said that stronger action would be coming, saying, "This is an emergency and I will look at it that way." Some Democrats and environmental groups have been calling for Biden to declare a climate emergency, and while he didn't do that yesterday, he suggested he might still take that step. If he does declare a climate emergency, it would allow him to redirect federal resources to boost renewable energy programs that would help speed up the transition from fossil fuels. It could also be used to block oil and gas drilling or other projects, but such actions would likely be challenged in court. The executive actions announced yesterday will help the domestic offshore wind industry in the Gulf of Mexico and Southeast, and spend $2.3 billion to help communities cope with soaring temperatures.


➤TOP UVALDE SCHOOL OFFICIAL RECOMMENDS FIRING DISTRICT POLICE CHIEF: The top school official in Uvalde, Texas, has recommended firing school district police Chief Pete Arredondo, who's been the focus of blame for the botched law enforcement response to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in May that left 17 children and two teachers dead. The Uvalde school board said yesterday that it will consider firing Arredondo at a special meeting on Saturday. School officials have previously resisted calls to fire Arredondo, but they've come under heavy pressure and criticism from the community, including the parents of the children who were killed.


➤CA. THEME PARK IMPLEMENTS 'CHAPERONE' POLICY:  The Southern California theme park Knott’s Berry Farm is implementing a chaperone policy after repeated fights among younger visitors, including multiple fights that broke out this past Saturday, leading the park to close three hours early. Under the new policy, which will be in effect on Fridays and Saturdays, all guests age 17 or younger will need to be accompanied by a chaperone who is at least 21 years old to get into the park. One chaperone may accompany no more than three guests age 17 or younger per day. The code of conduct says, "Chaperones must accompany their party during entry, remain with their party at all times during their visit to the park, and be available by phone throughout their stay."

➤ONE SOLDIER KILLED, NINE INJURED IN GEORGIA LIGHTNING STRIKE: One soldier was killed and nine others were injured by a lightning strike while they were carrying out a military field training exercise at Fort Gordon in Georgia late yesterday morning. A garrison spokesperson, public affairs officer Anne Bowman, told CNN that the extent of the nine soldiers' injuries was unknown. The name of the soldier who died wasn't released, pending family notification.

➤FUNERAL HELD IN NYC FOR IVANA TRUMP: A funeral was held in New York City yesterday for Ivana Trump, the businesswoman first wife of former President Donald Trump and mother of his three oldest children, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric. Donald Trump, his wife Melania Trump, and all of his children were there, including Tiffany, his daughter with second wife Marla Maples, and Barron, his son with Melania. The funeral mass was held at St. Vincent Ferrer Roman Catholic Church, just a few blocks from Ivana's home near Central Park. The former president wrote on his Truth Social social media platform, "A very sad day, but at the same time a celebration of a wonderful and beautiful life." Ivana was found dead at her home last Thursday, with her death ruled an accident from injuries she suffered as a result of a fall. She was 73.

➤MORTGAGE DEMAND FALLS TO 22-YEAR LOW: Mortgage applications in the U.S. fell a seasonally adjusted 6.3 percent last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly survey, putting mortgage demand at its lowest point since 2000. MBA economist Joel Kan cited several reasons for the decline, including "the weakening economic outlook, high inflation, and persistent affordability challenges." Interest rates are two percentage points higher than a year ago, as the Federal Reserve has been hiking rates to try to bring down high inflation, and average home prices are still at historic highs in many markets across the country.

💸CEOs' AVERAGE PAY 324 TIMES HIGHER THAN EMPLOYEES': The average pay of the CEOs of the top 500 companies in the U.S. was 324 times higher than their employees in 2021, according to an AFL-CIO report. Executive compensation rose $2.8 million in the past year on average, according to the report, while worker wages fell 2.4 percent in 2021 after adjusting for inflation. CEO pay went up 18.2 percent last year, with the average compensation for the top CEOs in the country at $18.3 million, up more than $5 million over the past decade. Workers earned $58,260 on average last year, about a $1,300 increase annually over the past decade.


➤CURRY, RAPINOE, KING SPEAK ABOUT GRINER AS ESPYS AWARDED: Several athletes spoke about the continued detention in Russia of WNBA star Brittney Griner as The ESPYs awards ceremony last night in Los Angeles, including host Stephen Curry of the NBA's Golden State Warriors, WNBA players Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith, U.S. women's soccer star Megan Rapinoe, and tennis great Billie Jean King. They urged support for Griner and doing all that's possible to keep urgency for getting her home, with Curry saying, "we urge the entire global sports community to continue to stay energized on her behalf."

The night's big winners included the NBA champion Golden State Warriors for best team, MLB's Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shoehi Ohtani winning best athlete in men's sports, and Olympic swimming champion Katie Ledecky, who won two golds and two silvers at the Tokyo Games last year, winning best athlete in women's sports. In addition to winning best team with the rest of the Warriors, Curry also won best NBA player and best record-breaking performance, for setting the mark for most three-pointers made in league history.

 
Former heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, who's the mayor of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, in a country at war since Russia's February invasion, was given the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage. ESPN college basketball broadcaster Dick Vitale received the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance, after having undergone multiple surgeries and six months of chemotherapy for lymphoma over the last year.
 

🏀HARDEN REACHES TWO-YEAR, $68.6 MILLION DEAL WITH 76ERS: Philadelphia 76ers free agent star James Harden has reached a two-year, $68.6 million deal to stay with the 76ers, ESPN first reported yesterday. The new deal pays him about $33 million this season with a $35 million player option for the 2023-24 season. The 10-time All-Star gave himself a pay cut, after having declined a $47.4 million player option for next season, wanting to give the 76ers salary-cap flexibility.

🏀HORNETS' BRIDGES PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CHARGES: The Charlotte Hornets' Miles Bridges pled not guilty at arraignment Wednesday to felony domestic violence charges in Los Angeles County after he was accused of assaulting his girlfriend in front of their two children late last month. District Attorney George Gascon said Tuesday that they'd filed one felony charge against Bridges of injuring a child’s parent and two felony counts of child abuse under circumstances or conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death. Bridges was arrested on June 29th and released on bond.

🏀WNBA'S SKY CLINCH PLAYOFF SPOT WITH 78-74 WIN OVER STORM: The Chicago Sky became the first WNBA team to clinch a playoff spot with a 78-74 win over the Seattle Storm yesterday. Allie Quigley led Chicago with 18 points and Emma Meesseman had 16 points. The Sky have a league-leading 20-6 record.

🏌STENSON REMOVED AS RYDER CUP EUROPE CAPTAIN AFTER JOINING LIV GOLF: Swedish pro golfer Henrik Stenson was removed by Ryder Cup Europe as captain for the 2023 matches yesterday after he joined the controversial new Saudi-backed LIV Golf league. Stenson became captain just four months ago, and the 2023 matches are still 14 months away. Stenson tweeted that he was "hugely disappointed" at being removed. Both the European tour and PGA Tour have suspended players who signed up with LIV Golf.
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