Friday, March 29, 2024

3/29 WAKE-UP CALL: Biden Cashes-In, Trump Attends Wake

➤TRUMP GRIEVES WITH FAMILY OF SLAIN OFFICER: Former President Trump honored fallen hero NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller as “top of his class” at his Long Island wake Thursday — as three other living presidents rubbed elbows with celebrities at a $25 million fundraiser that shut down Midtown, Manhattan.


 “In life some things just capture a moment and this captured a moment,” Trump told The Post after leaving the emotional wake at Massapequa Funeral Home. “This particular great officer, top of his class — he captured a moment. The perfect family has been so tragically altered, forever altered.” The Republican presidential nominee flew into Long Island to meet with grieving relatives and hundreds of uniformed officers. He said he spoke with Diller’s widow Stephanie and met his 1-year-old son, Ryan.

Outside the funeral home, Trump railed to mourners that cop slayings are “happening all too often” in America.“We have to do a lot of things differently because this is not working,” Trump said. “The only thing we can say is maybe something’s going to be learned,” he continued. “We’ve gotta toughen it up and strengthen it up. Things like this shouldn’t take place and take place so often.”

➤DEMS RALLY FOR CASH: President Joe Biden and his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, headlined a star-studded fundraiser with former President Bill Clinton on Thursday, offering a robust defense of the White House's handling of the Gaza crisis as protesters interrupted the event. Biden, who traveled with Obama on Air Force One to New York, took part in a discussion with Clinton moderated by "The Late Show" host Stephen Colbert at the iconic Radio City Music Hall in front of thousands of guests. Organizers say the event raised more than $25 million for Biden's U.S. reelection campaign. 

But the fundraiser was punctuated by several protests inside the massive auditorium, with attendees rising at several different moments to shout over the discussion, referencing Biden's backing of Israel in the Hamas war that has killed more than 30,000 people in Gaza.

➤CRYPTO KING NOW COMMON CON: Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for what prosecutors called one of the largest financial frauds in U.S. history. 

The federal judge said the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX also owes $11 billion in financial penalties and ordered the government to use his seized properties and assets to compensate victims. Bankman-Fried last year was convicted of stealing billions of dollars from FTX customers and defrauding investors and lenders to his crypto investment firm Alameda Research. “I’m sorry about what happened at every stage,” he told the court. “At the end of the day, I failed everyone I cared about.”

➤MARYLAND GETS EMERGENCY FUNDING:  The U.S. government awarded the state of Maryland an initial $60 million in emergency funds on Thursday to clear debris and begin rebuilding the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, an extraordinarily fast disbursement after such a disaster. The bridge came tumbling down early on Tuesday after a massive cargo freighter that had lost power plowed into the structure in Baltimore Harbor. Two bodies have been recovered and four others are missing and presumed dead, believed to be trapped in a vehicle beneath concrete and steel that fell into the water.

➤LEGAL FIGHT JUST STARTING: The legal fight over who will pay for the damage and loss from the Baltimore bridge collapse will likely start in the next few days, insurance academics say. The battle could take a decade, but insurance payouts, such as money to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge, will come much faster. Other big claims center on the port’s lost revenue, the ships stuck in the port and the businesses affected by the resulting supply-chain woes. The Singaporean owner of the cargo ship that hit the Patapsco River span is expected to invoke a 19th-century law limiting ship owners’ and insurers’ liability. The Dali’s owner didn’t respond to a request for comment.


➤HOUSE REPUBLICANS WANT TO OUST MAYORKAS: House Republicans moved ahead with their effort to oust Alejandro Mayorkas. Speaker Mike Johnson notified the Senate that the chamber will formally transmit the articles of impeachment against the Homeland Security secretary on April 10. The bid to remove Mayorkas from office comes as Republicans highlight their disapproval of President Biden’s record on immigration ahead of this fall’s election. Mayorkas in February became the first sitting cabinet official in U.S. history to be impeached. Meanwhile, three Democratic presidents with a complex past—Biden, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama—are teaming up to defeat Donald Trump. And overseas, Russian troll farms linked to the late Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin will likely continue peddling disinformation to sway opinions on the 2024 U.S. elections and the Ukraine war, according to new research.

➤ISRAEL STYMIED IN HOSTAGE RELEASED: Israel set out to destroy Hamas and free hostages but now worries it can’t do both. While the country seeks wartime unity, many residents see the two main war aims as irreconcilable. Most of the 130 hostages, including more than 30 dead, are hidden deep in Hamas’ tunnels and can’t be freed by force. To release them, the U.S.-designated terrorist organization is demanding that Israel allow it to survive and let go thousands of Palestinian prisoners, some of whom Israel sees as deadly terrorists. The divisions are more pronounced amid cease-fire negotiations that threaten to collapse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

➤U-S..RUSSIA WAS WARNED: The U.S. had warned Russia "in writing" about the terrorist attack at the Moscow concert venue that left at least 143 dead, the White House said Thursday. The warning: John Kirby, a White House spokesman on national security, condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin for blaming others even after the Islamic State had claimed responsibility for the attack. He said the U.S. provided "clear, detailed information" about a terrorist threat in Russia two weeks before the March 22 massacre at Moscow's Crocus City Hall.

➤STABBING SUSPECT CHARGED: At least four people are dead and seven others were injured, including one in critical condition, after a man went on a stabbing rampage Wednesday in northern Illinois, authorities said. Carla Redd, the police chief in Rockford, a city about 94 miles northwest of Chicago, said police received a medical call at 1:14 p.m. Authorities then received additional calls for paramedics and police, who responded to the area and discovered multiple crime scenes. 

"This is a pretty painstaking event," Redd said. "My heart goes out to the families right now who are suffering a loss."

➤45 DIE IN SO. AFRICA BUS ACCIDENT: Forty-five people aboard a bus to Easter church service in South Africa's Limpopo province died in a fiery crash, authorities said Thursday. Only an 8-year-old child survived the crash and has been transported to a nearby hospital, the Limpopo Department of Transport and Community Safety said. The bus was reportedly transporting people from Botswana, a landlocked country in Southern Africa, to the Limpopo town of Moria for the Easter weekend church service, according to the department. The driver appeared to have lost control, and the bus fell roughly 55 yards down before catching fire, according to officials. Some bodies were burned “beyond recognition,” the department said, while others were trapped in the debris.

🏀CHAOTIC HOOPS: Sweet 16 action delivered a dose of chaos in the West Region Thursday night. No. 2 seed Arizona entered as a seven-point favorite against No. 6 seed Clemson, and No. 1 seed North Carolina entered as a five-point favorite against No. 4 seed Alabama. But it's called March Madness for a reason, and the event lived up to its name inside Crypto.com Arena as both underdogs emerged with surprise victories.

The Tigers outlasted the Wildcats 77-72 to reach their first Elite Eight since 1980. Not to be outdone, the Crimson Tide erased a six-point deficit over the final 8:19 to beat the Tar Heels 89-87 and reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 2004. Neither Alabama or Clemson has ever reached the Final Four, but one of the southern football powers is guaranteed to make a major hoops breakthrough on Saturday when they square off in the West Region final.

🏀SWEET SIXTEEN (THURSDAY)

  • (6) Clemson 77  vs. (2) Arizona 72 
  • (5) San Diego State 52 vs. (1) UConn 82                          
  • (4) Alabama 89 vs. (1) North Carolina 87                  
  • (3) Illinois 72 vs. (2) Iowa State 60                        

⚾MLB SEASON UNDERWAY: Hope sprung eternal with Major League Baseball's Opening Day on Thursday, the first full day of action in this new 2024 season. Some highlights included Juan Soto's winning Yankees debut, the Dodgers stars coming together for their home opener, Corbin Burnes dominating as the Orioles kicked off their AL East title defense and Tyler O'Neill setting a record with a fifth consecutive Opening Day home run. There are 10 games scheduled for Friday, including the Braves-Phillies and Mets-Brewers openers that were postponed due to weather.

⚾CUBS' STEELE INJURED: The Cubs’ Opening Day took a disastrous turn when ace Justin Steele exited in the fifth inning with a hamstring injury. Steele bolted off the mound to field a bunt from Rangers center fielder Leody Taveras with one out and a runner on first, but after a couple of strides — where he picked up the ball, shifted it to his left hand and flipped it to Michael Busch at first base — toward the baseline, Steele tumbled over and grabbed behind his left thigh.The 28-year-old then exited, ending his first outing of 2024 at 4 ⅔ innings with one earned run, three hits, six strikeouts and one walk. After the Cubs’ extra-inning loss, manager Craig Counsell said Steele suffered a hamstring strain and will likely be heading to the injured list.

➤FRIDAY'S WEATHER MAP:



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