Harris camp’s new policy page criticized for lacking specifics on border security: ‘There’s no there, there’
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign just released a new page on its website titled, “Issues,” which includes a 23-point policy platform that comes following weeks of criticism over its absence. Pressure has been building on the Harris campaign to put up a policy platform on its website, similar to how former President Donald Trump and others have done in the past. Upon its release this week, however, the platform was met with even more criticism over a lack of specifics. In particular, one conservative immigration hawk took issue with the policy platform’s failure to clarify Harris’ stance on border wall funding, and whether she still views illegal border crossings as a civil enforcement issue — or rather, a criminal one. HARRIS DOUBLES DOWN ON SUPPORT FOR LEFT-WING BENEFIT FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS: ‘SMART SOLUTIONS’ “The Harris campaign finally has an ‘Issues’ page, but — on immigration, at least — there’s no there, there,” Mark Krikorian, the executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, told Fox News Digital. “She doesn’t say if she’d build more border barriers. She doesn’t say whether she still wants to decriminalize border-jumping. The statement just repeats the vacuous nonsense about the ‘bipartisan’ Senate border bill, which was drafted by the Biden-Harris DHS to codify its unlawful schemes to import more illegal aliens.” Despite indicating a potential Harris-Walz administration would “bring back the bipartisan border security bill,” the new online policy platform did not indicate where Harris stands on funding additional border wall construction. Republicans have pointed to Harris’ public support for the failed bipartisan border bill as evidence she now backs a border wall after once calling it a “medieval vanity project.” But Harris campaign officials have said the border bill did not include any new money for border wall construction — it just extended the timeline to spend funds appropriated during Trump’s last year as president. The bill, however, has limits to ensure the money is spent on border barriers. “Americans should believe Harris’ prior statements and current policies as Vice President,” Lora Ries, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, told Fox News Digital in a statement Tuesday. “She has previously stated numerous times that she opposes a border wall. And on day one of the Biden-Harris Administration, they halted construction of the border wall system.” BERNIE SANDERS SAYS HARRIS DROPPING FAR-LEFT POLICIES ‘IN ORDER TO WIN THE ELECTION’ Meanwhile, while running for president in 2019, Harris indicated during a nationally televised debate that she would not go after illegal border crossings. In a segment on ABC’s “The View,” she reiterated her stance in a riff with the late-Sen. John McCain’s daughter, Meghan. “I would not make it a crime punishable by jail,” Harris said. “It should be a civil enforcement issue but not a criminal enforcement issue.” “Harris repeatedly said during her CNN interview that her values have not changed,” Ries highlighted in her statement to Fox News Digital. Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment on the criticism from Krikorian and others about a lack of specifics in its new online policy platform, but did not receive a response. Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt called the new policy platform “a late-night, half-ass, wish list of policies.” “If Kamala really wanted to lower costs and secure the border — why did she cast the tie-breaking vote to cause inflation and support the war on our energy industry, and why is she allowing an invasion of illegal immigrants through our southern border as we speak?” Not long after the Harris campaign’s “Issues” page was added to its website, social media users pointed out that the new web page contained metadata with language urging voters to reelect President Joe Biden, according to The New Republic. The Biden language was quickly removed, but not before leaving the impression that the Harris campaign copied and pasted from Biden’s documents, the outlet reported.
Dallas juvenile detention center isolated kids and falsified documents, state investigation says
A Texas Juvenile Justice Department report says Dallas County officers kept kids in their sleeping quarters for days at a time and faked school attendance logs.
‘You are culpable’: Stefanik demands Cuomo apologize for COVID nursing home deaths in heated exchange
Lawmakers grilled former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo regarding his handling of controversial COVID-era nursing home policies, demanding he apologize to families who lost loved ones during the coronavirus pandemic. Cuomo testified before the House select committee investigating coronavirus on Tuesday regarding elderly deaths after patients were being admitted into nursing homes without COVID-19 testing. On March 25, 2020, the New York State Department of Health issued an advisory under Cuomo’s leadership stating nursing homes “are prohibited from requiring a hospitalized resident who is determined medically stable to be tested for COVID-19 prior to admission or readmission.” Cuomo claimed during the hearing that it was ultimately up to the nursing homes to decide whether they could take care of the patients, but lawmakers counterclaimed that the advisory prevented nursing homes from denying COVID positive patient admission. TAXPAYERS LOST MORE THAN $100B TO COVID UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE FRAUD, COMMITTEE FINDS “After months of inquiry and investigation, we now know irrefutable what New Yorkers have known for years that Governor Cuomo himself and his most senior aides ordered, directed and executed this deadly executive order counter to CMS and CDC guidance,” Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., said. “You are culpable for this,” Stefanik told the former governor. “There are families sitting here. I want you to turn around, look them in the eye, and apologize, which you have failed to do. How do you do it?” The former New York governor also testified during the hearing that he did not speak to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) before or after the advisory was sent. ANDREW CUOMO WILL FINALLY FACE QUESTIONS OVER COVID DEATHS. WILL MY FAMILY AND OTHERS LEARN THE TRUTH? “And they never called me after. You would think if they had a problem with the directive, they would have called if it was so outrageous you didn’t even call it.” Cuomo told the committee, adding that the advisory was “in total compliance with federal guidelines.” Cuomo was blamed for thousands of COVID-related deaths that occurred in nursing homes, which a 2023 report from the NYS Department of Health calculated to be 826 in Suffolk County, 813 in Erie County – which includes Buffalo – and 623 in Queens County. The former governor directed blame to former President Donald Trump during the hearing, saying that the investigation is part of “old diversions to blame New York and other states for the culpability of the federal response, which was malpractice.” Republican members on the committee railed Cuomo for shifting the blame on the issue. “I was hoping that we would see a Governor Cuomo that was less defensive and that was remorseful over what happened in New York. But I see that that person has not shown up today,” Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, said. In closing, Chairman Wenstrup added that he was “deeply skeptical of the abdication of responsibility on to others that we’ve witnessed, not only here, but publicly.” “It appears there’s to be no soul-searching from you, governor. I’m sorry. No self- critique of what could have been done better and improved upon. Just doubling down, blaming others,” Wenstrup said. Fox News’ Charles Creitz contributed to this report.
East Timor turns out in force for mass with Pope Francis
Pope Francis has celebrated a mass for hundreds of thousands of faithful in East Timor, rallying nearly half the population of the world’s most Roman Catholic country outside the Vatican in stifling tropical heat. Pilgrims clamoured to catch a glimpse of the 87-year-old pontiff who appeared in good spirits on Tuesday, greeting him with a rapturous reception in a wide coastal area of the capital Dili. Approximately 600,000 people out of a population of 1.3 million attended the mass, the Vatican said in a statement, citing local authorities, in the biggest turnout for a papal event by population proportion outside the Holy See. “I am so happy for everyone in East Timor. Now I want to see Papa Francisco here and give my present to Papa Francisco. I am so emotional,” said Mary Michaela, 17, who attended the service. The mass was the main event of the third leg of Francis’s 12-day Asia Pacific tour, which has already taken in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, and will conclude in Singapore. Francis used it to hail East Timor’s birthrate. “How wonderful that here in Timor-Leste there are so many children. We can see every corner of your land teeming with life,” he said. He then went off-script once the mass ended, turning to the country’s rising rate of crocodile attacks to seemingly make a point about imposing values on other nations. “Be careful, because I was told that crocodiles are coming to some beaches,” he told the crowd. “Be attentive to those crocodiles that want to change your culture, your history. And stay away from those crocodiles because they bite, and they bite a lot.” As night fell, the elderly pontiff toured the crowd in his popemobile as the crowd shouted, “Viva Papa Francesco!”. Many pilgrims had arrived hours before his address to get a prime spot, waiting in the heat. They held white-and-yellow Vatican umbrellas to protect themselves from the glaring sun, while firefighters sprayed devotees with water. Adblock test (Why?)
Ukraine blames Russian air force commander for children’s hospital attack
Russia’s Sergei Kobylash is named as a suspect in the July 8 attack on Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv. A Russian air force commander is suspected of ordering a deadly missile strike on a Ukrainian children’s hospital in July, according to Ukraine’s prosecutor general. The Russian commander directed forces to fire an air-launched cruise missile on the morning of the July 8 strike, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said at a news conference on Tuesday. In a post on Telegram, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) named the commander as Lieutenant General Sergei Kobylash. The attack on the Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv killed two people and injured 16 while wrecking much of the facility, including collapsing the roof of its toxicology department, where children receive dialysis. After the attack, Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko accused Russia of trying to wipe out Ukraine’s population. “Right now, the whole world can see how Russian missiles and kamikaze drones killed Ukrainian citizens in our peaceful city,” he said at the time. ‘Investigation continuing’ While Kostin did not directly identify the Russian commander suspected in the strike, the SBU named Kobylash, chief of Russia’s long-range aviation forces at the time of the attack. Kobylash is already wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes, including ordering strikes on Ukraine’s energy systems. ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan, who also attended Tuesday’s news conference, did not single out Kobylash but joined Kostin in saying a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile was the likely projectile used in the hospital attack. “It does seem from a number of sources and the work that’s been done that a missile, a Kh-101 cruise missile, has been identified,” Khan said. “A number of factors have to be looked into further.” Kostin added: “We are continuing the investigation to find other people responsible for the strike on Okhmatdyt.” Russia denies committing war crimes in Ukraine and says it does not target civilians. It has dismissed ICC war crime arrest warrants as part of a biased Western campaign to discredit Russia. The ICC has issued arrest warrants for six Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin. Adblock test (Why?)
Thousands flee homes in Vietnam as Typhoon Yagi death toll climbs to 127
Fifty-four people are still missing, authorities say, as the typhoon threatens to bring destruction to the capital Hanoi. Tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes as floods inundated northern Vietnam in the wake of Typhoon Yagi, while the death toll from Asia’s worst storm this year reached 127. Landslides and floods triggered by the typhoon have killed at least 127 people in northern Vietnam and 54 others were missing, the disaster management agency said on Tuesday in its latest update on the situation. Most of the victims were killed in landslides and flash floods, the agency said, adding that 764 people have been injured. The typhoon made landfall on Saturday on Vietnam’s northeastern coast, devastating a swath of industrial and residential areas. It had previously hit the Philippines and the southern Chinese island of Hainan. More than 59,000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes in Yen Bai province, local authorities said, after the floodwaters engulfed almost 18,000 homes. Floodwaters in the capital, Hanoi have reached levels not seen since 2008, state media reported, citing a senior local official, and forecasters have warned more is expected in the city’s historic centre. “I have to leave everything behind as the water is rising too fast,” said Nguyen Thi Tham, a 60-year-old resident living in the flood-prone area near the Red River in Hanoi, by phone. She had only been able to take her dog with her. She was among a number of people evacuated by boat to a safe shelter early on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear how many Hanoi residents needed to be evacuated. Several rivers in northern Vietnam have risen to alarming levels, leaving villages and residential areas inundated, according to the disaster agency and state media. A 30-year-old bridge over the Red River in the northern province of Phu Tho collapsed on Monday, leaving eight people missing. Authorities across the north on Tuesday subsequently banned or limited traffic on other bridges across the river, including Chuong Duong Bridge, one of the largest in Hanoi, according to state media reports. “Water levels on the Red River are rising rapidly,” the government said on Tuesday in a post on its Facebook account. Warning from loudspeakers Using loudspeakers that broadcast Communist propaganda in the past, officials warned residents of the capital’s riverside Long Bien district to be on alert for possible flooding, and to be ready to evacuate the area. Other northern areas, including the industrial hubs of Bac Giang and Thai Nguyen, were also facing severe flooding, state media reported. It was not immediately clear if Samsung Electronics and Apple supplier Foxconn, based in Thai Nguyen and Bac Giang, respectively, were affected. Evacuations were also taking place from flood-prone areas in Bac Giang province, the government said, where the typhoon and floods have caused damage estimated for now to be worth 300 billion dong ($12.1m). A man checks boats damaged after Super Typhoon Yagi hit Ha Long Bay, in Quang Ninh Province [Nhac Nguyen/AFP] More than 4,600 soldiers have been deployed in the province to support the evacuation and support flood victims. Vietnam’s foreign ministry asked China to notify it in advance of any release of dam water upstream. Lao Cai province has reported at least 19 people killed and 36 missing, mostly in landslides, according to the disaster management agency. The government has yet not provided estimates of the cost of the damage caused by the typhoon, but residents in the coastal cities of Haiphong and Quang Ninh, where the storm first hit Vietnam, said they “lost everything”. Floods have also inundated 162,828 hectares (402,357 acres) and 29,543 hectares (73,002 acres) of cash crops and damaged nearly 50,000 houses in northern Vietnam, according to the agency. Adblock test (Why?)
Abbott says potential power outages from Tropical Storm Francine will be restored within hours
Texas isn’t expected to take a direct hit when the storm makes landfall as a hurricane. But storm surge and dangerous winds are possible.
Texas Senate race is not a top priority, national Dem group says
U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, is challenging Sen. Ted Cruz this November, but the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee has vulnerable incumbents to defend first.
Back on the trail: Top Biden surrogate Newsom now campaigning for Harris
PHILADELPHIA — California Gov. Gavin Newsom is back on the presidential campaign trail. The high-profile Democrat and two-term governor was one of the top surrogates for President Biden during the president’s re-election campaign. But other than an appearance – but no speaking role – at last month’s Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, Newsom has mostly been off the campaign trail since fellow Californian Vice President Kamala Harris replaced Biden atop the party’s 2024 ticket seven and a half weeks ago. Until now. Newsom will be one of four Democratic governors – along with Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Roy Cooper of North Carolina and Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico – who will be in the debate spin room on behalf of the vice president. WHY THE HARRIS-TRUMP DEBATE SHOWDOWN IS SO CRUCIAL Ahead of his stop in Philadelphia, Newsom was in New York on Sunday to headline a fundraiser for Harris and also made media appearances on behalf of the vice president and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, her running mate. “What Kamala Harris has done in the past eight weeks is unprecedented in U.S. history. She’s closed the gap. We’re not just in the margin of error. We’ve expanded the map of the United States,” Newsom emphasized early Tuesday in an interview on “CBS Mornings.” HARRIS-TRUMP DEBATE BEING HELD IN EXTREMELY CRUCIAL 2024 BATTLEGROUND Newsom was a prominent Biden surrogate and defended him after the president’s disastrous performance in his late June debate against former President Trump, the GOP presidential nominee. Biden’s halting debate delivery instantly fueled questions about his physical and mental abilities to serve another four years in the White House and spurred a rising chorus of calls from within his own party for the 81-year-old president to end his bid for a second term. Facing increased pressure from fellow Democrats, Biden, in a blockbuster announcement on July 21, ended his re-election campaign and endorsed his vice president. KAMALA HARRIS, DONALD TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: LIVE UPDATES When asked if he would be as voracious for Harris on the campaign trail as he was for Biden, Newsom pointed to his longtime friendship and working relationship with the vice president. “We knew each other a decade before we both got into politics. One of my oldest friends. So it’s a no brainer,” Newsom told Fox News Digital during the first night of the DNC at Chicago’s United Center arena. “I’m as needed. But obviously all in.” However, Newsom, who is thought to have long harbored national ambitions of his own, added at the time that he may not be asked by the Harris campaign to hit the trail on behalf of the vice president. “We’ll see. Because everybody’s out there. Everybody’s doing everything,” the governor said. Fast-forward three weeks, and Newsom’s back on the campaign trail. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
House GOP doubts grow as Johnson digs in on funding fight: ‘Playing with a government shutdown’
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is plowing full steam ahead on his plan to avert a partial government shutdown at the end of the month, despite growing uneasiness within the House GOP. Johnson’s plan involves a six-month extension of the current fiscal year’s government funding levels, known as a continuing resolution (CR), and combining it with a GOP bill to require proof of citizenship in the voter registration process. As of Tuesday afternoon, House Republican leaders are expected to hold a vote on the measure Wednesday – despite at least half a dozen GOP lawmakers already expected to vote against it. “We’re not looking at any other alternative or any other step. I think it’s the right thing to do,” Johnson told reporters about pairing the CR with the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. CLUB FOR GROWTH POURS $5M INTO TIGHT HOUSE RACES AS GOP BRACES FOR TOUGH ELECTION It passed a key test vote on Tuesday to allow for debate and then a vote on final passage of the measure. It passed 209 to 206 with Reps. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., and Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., in opposition; the latter is one of six Republicans publicly against it. Multiple GOP lawmakers told Fox News Digital that Johnson made similar comments during a closed-door meeting earlier that morning – the House Republican Conference’s first time in one room since returning from their six-week recess. Some, like Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., applauded his resolve. “He is ready to fight,” Norman, who said he normally opposes CRs, told Fox News Digital. “Certain things I don’t like, but overall, it’s a good thing.” But House Republicans granted anonymity to speak freely said they saw little point in taking a vote on a measure that, if it passed their chamber, is virtually guaranteed to be a nonstarter in the Democrat-controlled Senate. JOHNSON UNVEILS TRUMP-BACKED HOUSE GOP PLAN TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN, SETS UP BATTLE WITH SCHUMER “Doesn’t have the votes, no solution to the problem,” one GOP lawmaker told Fox News Digital in a text message. Another House Republican said, “I don’t think it’s a good idea.” “It’s not going to become law and Biden will never sign it,” they said, pointing out that it would have no effect on this year’s election. “So if anything, you could do this a day after the election, and it would be applied to the following term in the next election, which would be the most reasonable thing to do.” “Because now we’re playing with a government shutdown that’s, what, eight weeks before a presidential election?” Several of the GOP defectors are against CRs as a matter of principle, believing it’s an unnecessary extension of government bloat. Others expressed national security concerns about how a six-month extension with no increases to military funding would affect national security. MCCARTHY’S ‘FINAL STRUGGLES’ THREATEN TO HAUNT JOHNSON’S GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN FIGHT Meanwhile, at least two more lawmakers, Reps. John Rutherford, R-Fla., and Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., expressed skepticism but did not outright oppose it. “I’m a lean no, but I’m never going to vote to shut the government,” Rutherford told reporters, citing defense funding concerns. Spartz said she opposed the “omnibus spending” she sees CRs representing, and questioned whether Johnson was serious about gambling with a shutdown. “Are we really planning to take that hill? Because we’d better bring the American people with us and communicate what’s going to happen,” Spartz said. And while Johnson insisted on holding firm to his plan, which was also advocated for by former President Trump, others in his conference signaled they’re looking for the next step. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., suggested Republicans would eventually agree to a funding extension without other legislation attached, and one that would likely only extend until December – something senior GOP lawmakers and Democrats have advocated for months. “There’ll be an agreement across the aisle, but probably a short-term CR, I imagine,” Bacon said. When asked whether congressional negotiators were already working on a Plan B, House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., told Fox News Digital, “We always have multiple, you know, things available.” With just a four-seat majority and at least six defections, Johnson’s bill will almost certainly need Democratic votes to pass the House. Five Democrats voted for the SAVE Act when it passed earlier this year, but with opposition from their leaders in the House, Senate and White House, it’s not clear whether they would support pairing the bill with a stopgap spending bill.