First responders transient Trump in Kerr county
Donald Trump was greeted in Kerrville, Texas, by Governor Greg Abbott. The president is there to watch restoration efforts after lethal flooding within the space. It has been pleasant territory to Republican presidents.
Kerr county is in Texas hill nation, about 65 miles – an hour’s drive – north-west of San Antonio, in Republican congressman Chip Roy’s district. About 54,000 individuals dwell within the county, with a bit lower than half dwelling within the county seat of Kerrville. Republican voters outnumber Democrats about three to 1 within the county.
Donald Trump and Texas’s governor, Greg Abbott, obtain a briefing from first responders as they go to a scene of devastation in Kerr county, Texas. {Photograph}: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
A couple of quarter of Kerr county residents are Latino. The median family revenue within the county was about $68,000 in 2023, in line with US census figures.
The Kerrville Customer’s Bureau has promoted the Guadalupe River as a vacationer vacation spot for hikers, kayakers and canoeists, with gallery house and eating places alongside the riverbank. Kerrville has hosted a people pageant for greater than 50 years as a serious customer draw.
Particles from the flooding will be seen towering above first responders as they transient Trump and Abbott. {Photograph}: Kevin Lamarque/ReutersShare
Up to date at 15.03 EDT
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Farm employee dies of accidents sustained throughout immigration raid in California, union says
A farm employee “has died of accidents they sustained on account of yesterday’s immigration enforcement motion” in Ventura county, California, the United Farm Staff union stated in an announcement posted on social media on Friday afternoon.
Federal immigration officers, supported by nationwide guard troops, raided two licensed, authorized hashish farms in Carpinteria and Camarillo on Thursday, arresting about 200 individuals they stated have been suspected of missing authorized standing to dwell and work in america. A whole lot of protesters who gathered to oppose the raids have been later attacked by the officers with chemical munitions.
Earlier on Friday, the union reported that “farm employees have been critically injured yesterday throughout chaotic raids in Ventura County”.
“Many workers-including US residents, have been held by federal authorities on the farm for 8 hours or extra. US citizen employees report solely being launched after they have been compelled to delete pictures and movies of the raid from their telephones,” the union wrote.
“These violent and merciless federal actions terrorize American communities, disrupt the American meals provide chain, threaten lives and separate households” the union assertion added. “There is no such thing as a metropolis, state or federal district the place it’s authorized to terrorize and detain individuals for being brown and dealing in agriculture. These raids should cease instantly.”
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Up to date at 17.57 EDT
Trump departs scene of lethal flooding in Texas, having praised native and state officers
Donald Trump and his spouse Melania have now left Kerrville, Texas, after finishing a roundtable dialogue with officers concerned within the restoration effort in Kerrville, Texas, which additionally featured what the president referred to as some “phrases of knowledge” from Phil McGraw, the previous daytime talkshow host generally known as Dr Phil whose pro-Trump cable community simply declared chapter.
The Trumps at the moment are en route by helicopter again to Kelly Area airbase in San Antonio the place they are going to board Air Pressure One.
Based on the pool reporter touring with them, the president and first girl walked alongside a rope line of dozens of emergency employees earlier than they left Kerrville.
“That is as robust as we’ve seen,” Trump instructed the primary responders. “The governor is doing an excellent job, you’re doing an exceptional job and we respect it,” he added.
These remarks summed up the message that the president repeated time and again all through the go to. Everybody, he stated, had carried out an incredible job and nobody in elected workplace may very well be blamed remotely for the scores of deaths from the catastrophic flooding.
These speaking factors, and Trump’s unwillingness to even reply a query about why so many individuals in hurt’s manner had obtained no emergency warning upfront of the flood waters sweeping them away, oddly echoed the assured assertion a former president, George W Bush, made 20 years in the past within the speedy aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, earlier than its lethal toll was clear.
Talking on 2 September 2005 in Cellular, Alabama, then president Bush effusively praised the response led by Fema director Michael Brown. “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job,” Bush instructed him. “The Fema director” and his employees, the president added, as different officers burst into applause “are working 24 hours a day”.
Brown resigned 10 days later and Bush’s reward for the failed federal response was broadly ridiculed, together with by Will Ferrell in a section of the comic’s later one-man present about Bush’s failed presidency.
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Up to date at 17.38 EDT
Trump calls reporter ‘evil’ for asking about lack of warnings forward of flood
Donald Trump simply berated a CBS Information Texas reporter who stated that households of the useless are saying that their family members might have been saved had emergency warnings gone out earlier than the flooding. “What do you say to these households?” the reporter requested the president.
“Properly, I believe everybody did an unimaginable job underneath the circumstances,” Trump stated with a shrug of his shoulders. He then urged that the severity of the flooding was unforeseeable and stated he had solely “admiration” for the native officers.
“Solely a foul particular person would ask a query like that, to be sincere with you. I don’t know who you’re, however solely a really evil particular person would ask a query like that,” Trump stated. “I believe this has been heroism. This has been unimaginable, the job you’ve all carried out.
“It’s straightforward to take a seat again and say, ‘Oh, what might’ve occurred right here”, Trump added in a mocking tone.
Donald Trump scolded a reporter in Kerrville, Texas who requested in regards to the lack of warnings forward of lethal flooding.
The president then turned to ask for a query from a extra pleasant corespondent, calling on Brian Glenn, who covers the White Home for the pro-Trump community Actual America’s Voice, and is the boyfriend of Marjorie Taylor Greene, the far-right Republican congresswoman from Georgia.
“Brian, go forward please,” the president stated.
Glenn’s query on who had first alerted Trump to the catastrophe was adopted by a remark from the correspondent who stated that as a local Texan he had obtained lots of of messages thanking Trump for his response. Glenn talked about that he had already instructed this to the president, referring to having made the identical assertion earlier this week throughout a televised cupboard assembly, however stated he needed to repeat it to verify everybody within the room had heard it. “Thanks on behalf of Texas,” Glenn concluded.
“Thanks very a lot.” Trump stated. “Properly that’s a pleasant reporter.”
A short while later, one other pro-Trump correspondent used the chance to additional politicize the occasion by asking Trump to touch upon the criticism of the catastrophe response from “ghouls on the left like Jasmine Crockett”, in reference to the Texas congresswoman who has lately been main Republican senator John Cornyn in polls forward of his race for re-election subsequent yr.
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Up to date at 17.01 EDT
Texas Governor Greg Abbott stated that the federal authorities’s emergency declaration of a serious catastrophe was the quickest he was conscious of, addressing a spherical desk of native officers about flooding in Kerrville.
“Each time there’s a catastrophe or disaster, the very first thing we concentrate on is saving lives, prioritizing these lives each minute,” Abbott stated, “Each hour counts.”
Trumpcriticized the earlier administration’s response to Hurricane Helene in his remarks whereas praising Fema’s present management. Notably, requests for federal help in western North Carolina have been denied underneath the Trump administration.
Abbott cited the response by the Coast Guard in Texas, “actually saving lives proper and left”. Abbott stated he was dedicated to long-term restoration for the group. “We’re right here for the long term, to take care of our operations to look and discover everyone that we will, in addition to make sure that we’re going to rebuild this group … not simply to rebuild, however to rebuild in a greater manner.
He famous that the Texas legislature would reconvene in 10 days.
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Up to date at 16.22 EDT
In uncommon public feedback, First Girl Melania Trump expressed her sympathy with flood victims at a spherical desk in Kerrville, Texas.
“All dad and mom misplaced stunning younger souls. Sympathy from all of us to the group, to everyone who misplaced a cherished one. We’re grieving with you. Our nation is grieving with you. We simply met with the fantastic households. We pray with them. We hug. We maintain arms. They share the tales.”
Melania Trump stated she was there to honor misplaced lives.
“And I shall be again. I promise to them. I simply pray for them and am giving them my energy and love.”
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Up to date at 16.21 EDT
Trump likens flooding to ‘large wave … greatest surfers on the planet can be afraid to surf’
Donald Trump praised regulation enforcement officers and first responders to lethal flooding in Texas whereas holding a roundtable dialogue in Kerrville with administration leaders and native officers.
“Each American must be impressed by what has taken place,” Trump stated. The president stated he had hung out talking with individuals in the neighborhood who’ve been affected by the flooding.
“All throughout the nation, Individuals hearts are shattered,” Trump stated. “We’re full of grief and devastation, the lack of life, and sadly, they’re nonetheless trying. They’re nonetheless trying. There’s plenty of lacking youngsters, presumably, largely, we don’t know, however they’re nonetheless trying, and so they’ll discover everyone. But it surely’s not a simple factor.”
Trump likened the flooding to “an enormous, large wave within the Pacific Ocean that the perfect surfers on the planet can be afraid to surf”.
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Up to date at 16.20 EDT
Trump says he and first girl are in Texas to ‘specific love and help’
“Properly, it is a robust one … It’s laborious to imagine the devastation,” stated Donald Trump stated as a roundtable dialogue about flooding started in Kerrville, Texas.
“Timber which can be 100 years outdated simply ripped out of the bottom,” he stated. “I’ve by no means seen something prefer it. I’ve seen plenty of dangerous ones. I’ve gone to plenty of hurricanes, plenty of tornadoes. I’ve by no means seen something like this. It is a dangerous one.”
Trump is assembly with native officers and first responders, observing the injury which he stated had “claimed at the least 135, 140 lives,” up to now.
“We simply visited with unimaginable households that – I imply, look – they’ve been devastated. They misplaced their baby or two youngsters, and simply laborious to imagine. I’ve by no means seen something like a bit of slim river that turns into a monster, and that’s what occurred. However the first girl and I are right here in Texas to precise the love and help and the anguish of our whole nation within the aftermath of this horrific and lethal flood. No one has any concept how and why a factor like this might occur.”
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Up to date at 16.13 EDT
Donald Trump is about to take a seat down for a spherical desk discussing flood aid and restoration with first responders and native officers on the Joyful State Financial institution Expo Corridor in Kerrville.
Questions have arisen in regards to the alert system employed by native security officers and a sluggish federal response to the flooding. Fema information obtained by NBC Information in Dallas investigative reporters present that Kerr county officers in Texas didn’t use Fema’s Built-in Public Alert & Warning System to ship warnings with security directions to all cellphones within the affected space throughout crucial hours on 4 July.
And bureaucratic hurdles created by a concentrate on cost-cutting seem to have saved some federal emergency responders from instantly deploying property within the wake of the flood, CNN reported.
The homeland safety secretary, Kristi Noem, agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins and Texas senators Tex Cruz and John Cornyn spoke with officers within the corridor whereas ready for Trump and the primary girl to reach for the roundtable.
Earlier than arriving on the corridor, the presidential motorcade stopped at an space close to the Guadalupe River in Kerrville close to an overturned tractor trailer and downed timber. Injury seemed to be extra in depth close to the riverbank. Trump, his spouse and Texas governor Greg Abbott took a briefing about flooding there from native officers.
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Up to date at 15.45 EDT
Border czar: Ice don’t want possible trigger to seize somebody
White Home border czar Tom Homan instructed Fox Information on Friday morning that Ice brokers can ignore possible trigger and profile individuals suspected of unlawful migration based mostly on their bodily look.
A federal decide is predicted to situation a ruling on Friday on a restraining order aimed toward curbing immigration enforcement operations in southern California. Requested about constraints on the crackdown, Homan replied, “Folks want to grasp, Ice officers and border patrol, they don’t want possible trigger to stroll as much as any person, briefly detain them and query them. Get our typical information based mostly on the situation, the occupation, their bodily look, their actions …”
Homan has made a string of statements exhibiting contempt for authorized norms in immigration enforcement, at one level claiming {that a} decide’s order to forestall a deportation was invalid as a result of planes have been already within the air.
“Brokers are skilled what they should detain any person quickly and query them isn’t possible trigger, it’s cheap suspicion,” he stated. “We’re skilled on that. Each agent will get fourth modification coaching again and again.”
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Up to date at 15.29 EDT
First responders transient Trump in Kerr county
Donald Trump was greeted in Kerrville, Texas, by Governor Greg Abbott. The president is there to watch restoration efforts after lethal flooding within the space. It has been pleasant territory to Republican presidents.
Kerr county is in Texas hill nation, about 65 miles – an hour’s drive – north-west of San Antonio, in Republican congressman Chip Roy’s district. About 54,000 individuals dwell within the county, with a bit lower than half dwelling within the county seat of Kerrville. Republican voters outnumber Democrats about three to 1 within the county.
Donald Trump and Texas’s governor, Greg Abbott, obtain a briefing from first responders as they go to a scene of devastation in Kerr county, Texas. {Photograph}: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
A couple of quarter of Kerr county residents are Latino. The median family revenue within the county was about $68,000 in 2023, in line with US census figures.
The Kerrville Customer’s Bureau has promoted the Guadalupe River as a vacationer vacation spot for hikers, kayakers and canoeists, with gallery house and eating places alongside the riverbank. Kerrville has hosted a people pageant for greater than 50 years as a serious customer draw.
Particles from the flooding will be seen towering above first responders as they transient Trump and Abbott. {Photograph}: Kevin Lamarque/ReutersShare
Up to date at 15.03 EDT
Jeffrey Epstein case blowback from the suitable roils FBI, justice division management
A round firing squad has reportedly fashioned contained in the White Home as administration officers react to fallout from rightwing supporters of conspiracy theories in regards to the demise of Jeffrey Epstein and officers’ dealing with of the investigation.
Laura Loomer, a far-right influencer, stated on X that FBI deputy director Dan Bongino is clashing with Legal professional Normal Pam Bondi and FBI director Kash Patel. Loomer is asking for Trump to fireside Bondi over her dealing with of the case.
Observe-up reporting by Axios stated Bondi and Patel confronted Bongino with a NewsNation article that stated he and Patel would have launched details about Epstein earlier, however have been held again by the DoJ. Bongino denied leaking that concept and didn’t present up for work on Friday, main some insiders to imagine Bongino had stop. Administration officers say he stays on the FBI.
The dispute is over a surveillance video launched at the side of a joint FBI-DoJ report that decided Epstein had not been holding a shopper listing for blackmail and had dedicated suicide as earlier investigations had concluded. The ten-hour video from outdoors of Epstein’s cell was strongly touted by Bongino as proof nobody had entered the room earlier than he killed himself.
However the video was discovered to have a minute of lacking footage. Administration officers attribute the lacking minute to the recording system altering over to a brand new tape at midnight.
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Up to date at 13.49 EDT
Trump has landed in Texas
Donald Trump and first girl Melania have arrived in Texas. Air Pressure One landed at Kelly Area air base in San Antonio, Texas, simply earlier than midday native time, in line with a press pool report. Trump will now head to Kerrville to survey flood injury.
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Up to date at 13.42 EDT
Zelenskyy hails ‘good indicators’ from US and EU on weapons shipments
Replace: Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenkiy stated on Friday that he had obtained “good indicators” from the US and the European Union on weapons shipments.
In a video on X, he stated: “We now have obtained political indicators on the highest stage – good indicators – together with from america, from our European buddies. Based on all stories, assist shipments have been restored.”
Reuters earlier reported Zelenskiy had that the US has resumed army provides. Zelenskiy additionally stated his military leaders would work subsequent week with US particular envoy Keith Kellogg. Ukrainian media reported that Kellogg will arrive in Kyiv on Monday for a week-long go to.
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Up to date at 14.37 EDT
‘A galaxy far, far-off’… coming quickly to a protest close to you
Members and leaders of the progressive activist group Indivisible noticed followers of the Disney+ collection “Andor” on the large No Kings protests in June. They carried posters referencing the present, and the group noticed discussions about attending the protests on completely different fan websites.
Now, Indivisible is making an attempt to explicitly attain followers of the present, an origin story of the Insurgent Alliance that fights towards the Empire, discovering analogies between the present and the rising Trump resistance.
The group is working advertisements on Fb, concentrating on Star Wars followers with a graphic of a protester carrying a “We now have buddies in all places” signal, a line from the present. They’re additionally working podcast advertisements on a fan podcast. The advertisements invite individuals within the fandom to coaching classes or to their native Indivisible group and are designed to spice up identify recognition of Indivisible amongst individuals who may very well be politically aligned however in locations that aren’t explicitly political.
“Andor is perhaps going down in a galaxy far far-off, however the connections to what’s taking place on this nation are inescapable,” an advert working on the podcast “Storm of Spoilers” says. “We’re seeing a gentle march by a tyrannical regime towards our communities and our rights.”
The general cash spent isn’t massive – but it surely’s an experiment in reaching out to new demographics, a typical theme on the left after the 2024 losses. Prior to now, the group has focused Taylor Swift followers and individuals who learn romance novels.
Ezra Levin, the co-founder of Indivisible and an Andor fan, stated followers of the present are discovering inspiration from it on this “second of creeping authoritarianism”.
“Identical to on the present, we need to assist individuals transfer from private frustration and occasional protest, to extra sustained and inter-connected defiance – although in contrast to the present, clearly, our ‘rise up’ isn’t one which entails violence,” Levin stated. “At Indivisible, we’re consultants on serving to new individuals get entangled in activism – and we actually have ‘buddies in all places,’ since there are 2,600+ native Indivisible teams across the nation. So this looks like a pure match.”
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Missouri’s governor Mike Kehoe has signed the repeal of a regulation that assured paid sick go away – simply eight months after voters authorized it.
Kehoe signed the repeal of a regulation on Thursday that had assured paid sick go away to employees and inflationary changes to the minimal wage.
The transfer marked a serious victory for the state’s largest enterprise group and a irritating defeat for employees’ rights advocates, who had spent years – and hundreds of thousands of {dollars} – constructing help for the profitable poll measure, which additionally granted inflationary changes to the minimal wage. The repeal will take impact on 28 August.
Kehoe, who additionally signed a package deal of tax breaks on Thursday, described the paid sick go away regulation as an onerous mandate that imposed burdensome record-keeping.
“At this time, we’re defending the individuals who make Missouri work – households, job creators, and small enterprise house owners – by reducing taxes, rolling again overreach, and eliminating pricey mandates,” Kehoe, a Republican, stated in an announcement carried by AP.
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Up to date at 12.41 EDT
United Airways tie-up with JetBlue raises anti-competition issues
Senator Richard Blumenthal described a proposed partnership between United Airways and JetBlue Airways as anti-competitive, questioning the CEOs of each corporations about their information and plans in a letter seen on Friday by Reuters.
United is the second-largest airline by income and the fourth by passengers carried in 2024 in america. JetBlue is a low-cost competitor with a few quarter of United’s capability. Shares of each companies have been decrease on the information of Blumenthal’s issues.
JetBlue has been in search of partnerships for years and has been thwarted twice by competitors rulings. JetBlue’s partnership with American Airways led to 2023 after a federal decide blocked it. JetBlue and Spirit broke off a deliberate $3.8bn merger final yr after a US decide blocked the deal on anti-competition grounds.
Within the letter to United CEO Scott Kirby and JetBlue CEO Joanna Geraghty, the Democratic senator requested about their “Blue Sky” settlement to share bookings throughout web sites and factors in every airline’s frequent flyer applications. Blumenthal expressed concern about any deal “which will hurt full and honest airline competitors and result in fewer and costlier choices for vacationers, significantly within the New York Metropolis space”.
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Up to date at 12.43 EDT
