News and Headlines: In The News, Politics, World News, Commentary/Opinion.
In The News:
Pregnant Ohio Mom Was Murdered in Bedroom in Front of 2 Kids, and Killer Is Convicted
GOFUNDME
Brandon W. Leigh was found guilty by a Montgomery County jury of murder, in the Feb. 2018 death of 22-year-old Keyona Murray and her unborn child, Leigh’s attorney, David Miles, confirms to PEOPLE.
Leigh intentionally shot into the home but Murray and her unborn baby were not the intended targets, Detective Zachary Farkas of the Dayton Police Department tells PEOPLE.
The jury took less than a day to deliberate, according to the Daily News. Leigh is scheduled to be sentenced on April 23.
East St. Louis man accused of killing Illinois trooper now faces federal charges
A federal grand jury indicted Christopher R. Grant, 46, on eight counts, including use of a firearm to commit murder in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Grant also is charged with three counts of distributing crack cocaine from July 9 to Aug. 21, and other drug and gun charges.
Hopkins was killed Aug. 23 while executing a state search warrant at a home in East St. Louis. Grant was at the home in the 1400 block of North 42nd Street dealing crack cocaine and shot Hopkins with a Glock 9mm pistol, authorities said.
Grant maintained a “drug-involved premises” from Feb. 1 to Aug. 23 and had five pistols and three rifles, including an AK-47-style rifle and an AR-15 rifle, despite having a felony conviction, according to the indictment.
Texas court stays execution of 2nd inmate over coronaviru
The Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas said Tracy Beatty’s lethal injection will be delayed for 60 days, at which point a new execution date can be scheduled. The 59-year-old was originally scheduled to be executed Wednesday.
Beatty was convicted for killing his 62-year-old mother Carolyn “Callie” Click in 2003.
It’s the second stay of execution ordered in Texas due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The court ordered a stay for John Hummel, who was scheduled to die Wednesday.
American Michael White held in Iran since 2018 released on medical furlough
Michael White’s release on humanitarian grounds was conditioned upon him staying in Iran. He is now in the custody of the Swiss embassy where he will undergo a medical evaluation.
“The United States will continue to work for Michael’s full release as well as the release of all wrongfully detained Americans in Iran,” Pompeo said in a statement.
White’s family has said he traveled to Iran to visit his girlfriend — the two met online — and was arbitrarily detained. He previously served in the Navy for 13 years.
White, the first American known to be detained in Iran since President Trump took office, is accused of insulting Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and posting a photo on his social media.
Celebrities get virus tests, raising concerns of inequality
The concerns over preferential treatment underscore a fundamental truth about inequalities baked into the American health care system — those with the financial means can often receive a different level of service.
Asked about the issue Wednesday, President Donald Trump said the well-to-do and well-connected shouldn’t get priority for coronavirus tests. But the wealthy former reality star conceded that the rich and famous sometimes get perks.
“Perhaps that’s been the story of life,” Trump said during a briefing at the White House. “That does happen on occasion. And I’ve noticed where some people have been tested fairly quickly.”
‘Above and beyond’: Anonymous couple in Texas leave almost $10K tip to help pay restaurant staff
According to a story at KTRK-TV on Tuesday, the hefty $9,400 gratuity was left Monday just hours after local officials ordered restaurants to stop serving dine-in customers.
“We were amazed by their generosity. We didn’t expect it. They went above and beyond what was necessary,” restaurant owner Louis Galvan told the Houston Chronicle of the payout.
The newspaper adds that the tip came from a couple who eat at the restaurant regularly and was split between cash and a credit card.
Galvan says that the wait and kitchen staff will split the amount evenly, getting around $300 per person.
Kirtland AFB airman found with arsenal
Investigators said in a criminal complaint that Senior Airman Charles Brent Justice, 27, could be a “threat to the general public.”
The photographs found on his cellphone showed the names of mass shooters written on white ink on AR-15 compatible magazines.
Included among the names were Alexandre Bissonette, who shot and killed several people at a mosque in Quebec City, Canada, and Luca Traini, who targeted African migrants in Italy.
Federal law enforcement officers in Albuquerque have been paying close attention to gun parts coming out of China, including automatic conversion devices called auto-sears and silencers.
San Jose orders gun store to close in one of first enforcement against businesses open under shelter order
(Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
“We are having panic buying right now for food,” Liccardo said Wednesday. “The one thing we cannot have is panic buying of guns.”
Law enforcement officials confirmed Wednesday that they shut down the Bullseye Bishop with little fanfare, in one of the first enforcement actions taken in San Jose on the initial day of the shelter-in-place order.
Garcia said the owner of the store had told officers the business remained open because, under regulations from the California Department of Justice, they are limited in how long they can hold firearms that had already been purchased, and the buyers had to pick them up.
“We told them to go to DOJ and seek a waiver,” Garcia said. “There was no malicious intent. A lot of this stuff is going to happen.”
First lady Melania Trump to star in coronavirus PSA
(Olivier Douliery / Getty Images)
This will be the first lady’s first significant public engagement pertaining to the pandemic.
The PSAs will focus on ways Americans “can protect themselves and those most at risk” from contracting and spreading the novel virus.
They will also include appearances by members of the coronavirus task force including Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Deborah Birx, and Surgeon General Jerome Adams.
Wisconsin communities make plans to enforce coronavirus crowd, closing rules, including asking neighbors to report violators
In Madison, the city’s and county’s public health department has created a website where people can report their neighbors to the authorities if they break the rules.
The Report a Mass Gathering page gives people the option to inform on a restaurant or bar, a family, a church, a gym, a movie theater, or anyone else who is breaking the rules.
Winnebago County has a similar portal for people who want to report their neighbors.
Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services does not have any option to inform on anyone. Instead, DHS’ coronavirus information is focused on what people can do to keep themselves safe.
As expected, expanded testing leads to onrush of new coronavirus cases in New York
(The Center Square) – Newly diagnosed cases of coronavirus once again rose significantly in New York on Thursday, and the directive on companies to send much of their workforce home was expanded.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as he had predicted Thursday morning, announced that 1,769 new cases had been added to New York’s numbers, bringing the total to 4,152. Word emerged later in the day that the number of COVID-19 related deaths had risen from 20 to 26.
Numbers specific to New York City from Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office showed 3,615 cases there, with 22 deaths
As jarring as the number of cases in New York might be to some – the most of any state in the nation – Cuomo said the true number of infections is likely much higher.
President Trump Announces FDA Approval of Hydroxychloroquine for Treatment of Coronavirus
March 19, 2020: President Trump Announces FDA Approval of Hydroxychloroquine (plaquenil) for Treatment of Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Trump speaks talks coronavirus with governors at FEMA headquarters
President Trump will participate in a video teleconference with the nation’s governors at the FEMA headquarters in Washington, D.C.
President Trump & Members of the Coronavirus Task Force Hold News Conference 3/19/20
Coronavirus: Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it will delay arresting immigrants who don’t ‘pose public safety risk’
Homeland Security Investigations, another arm of the agency, said it will continue to carry out “mission critical criminal investigations and enforcement operations” that it deems vital to maintaining public safety and national security.
Those include probes into child exploitation, gangs, narcotics trafficking, human trafficking and human smuggling, according to the statement.
HSI also will continue to participate in the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.
The announcement is the first time the agency is prioritizing who is targeted for deportation since President Donald Trump’s executive order rescinding an Obama-era policy that prioritized violent criminals and suspected gang members.
National Guard call-ups may double by the weekend, chief says
More than 2,000 Guardsmen have already been deployed in 27 states to respond to the pandemic, Air Force Gen. Joseph Lengyel told reporters Thursday.
After possibly doubling in days, the number could rise to tens of thousands as the crisis deepens, he said.
In their current state-level Title 32 status, the country’s 450,000 Guardsmen can be deployed by their governor to transport medical supplies, help with drive-through testing, and assist local law enforcement with enforcing curfews and other tasks, Lengyel said.
He advised against federalizing the National Guard under Title 10 — one of the options the administration is considering — because doing so means the states would lose some of those authorities.
Politics:
‘Pop-up’ super PACs spent nearly $24 million on key primaries without disclosing donors: Report
Super PACs are required by law to disclose their donors, but by carefully timing their launch and quickly spending their war chest just before an election, they can skirt disclosing donors until after election day, leading campaign-finance watchers to tag them as “pop-up” operations.
The Center for Responsive Politics found ‘at least’ 11 different groups deploying this method in presidential, Senate, and House races leading into the March 17 primaries.
Persist PAC, a super PAC supporting Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s now-defunct presidential campaign, accounted for $14.8 million of the nearly $24 million tracked by the Center for Responsive Politics.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s since-shuttered presidential campaign benefited from the practice as well, with Kitchen Table Conversation spending $2.7 million and using similar methods, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
McConnell says stimulus checks would go to most Americans, as senators eye higher amount
“Senate Republicans want to put cash in the hands of the American people,” McConnell said Thursday, noting that lawmakers are currently finalizing a structure that can quickly send assistance to Americans.
An outstanding question has been whether the aid would be restricted based on income and work status.
McConnell indicated job status would not be a factor, and that the money would go to unemployed workers and those recently laid off; those still working; and retirees, even if they’re already receiving Social Security checks.
While officials have indicated the ultra-rich would not be eligible, McConnell said Thursday the checks would still go to everybody “from the middle class on down. Period.”
Judicial Watch: House Lawyers for Adam Schiff Assert Privilege over Schiff Subpoenas of Impeachment Phone Records
The phone records led to the publication of the private phone records of Giuliani, Congressman Devon Nunes, journalist John Solomon, Trump attorney Jay Sekulow, attorney Victoria Toensing, and other American citizens.
In their 14-page motion Schiff and the Committee claim “sovereign immunity;” “Speech or Debate Clause” privilege; immunity from FOIA and transparency law; that the records are secret; and that Judicial Watch and public do not need to see them.
“Schiff’s new court filing to try to avoid disclosing his abusive subpoenas of confidential phone records suggests he and Congress can secretly subpoena and publish the phone records of any American with zero accountability under law to the people,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
“Speaker Pelosi and every House member should be asked if they agree that they are above the law and can spy on any American.”
Ilhan Omar Lauds Trump’s ‘Incredible’ Response to Coronavirus — ‘Unprecedented Leadership’
Freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is offering rare praise for President Donald Trump’s leadership, calling his response to the coronavirus outbreak “incredible.”
“Politics aside, this is incredible and the right response in this critical time,” Omar, a member of the progressive “Squad,” wrote Wednesday evening in response to a list of Trump’s actions in response to the virus and its devastating economic impact.
Those actions, shared by the Intercept’s Lee Fang, include “suspending mortgage foreclosures” and “demanding cash payments to Americans.”
“This is a great start and hope others will be part of a united front to push for good policies that will help us work through the economic anxiety the country is feeling right now,” she concluded.
Tulsi Gabbard announces that she will suspend her presidential campaign and endorse Joe Biden
Gabbard made the announcement in a video message posted on Twitter.
“After Tuesday’s election, it’s clear that Democratic Primary voters have chosen Vice President Joe Biden to be the person who will take on President Trump in the general election,” Gabbard said.
“Although I may not agree with the Vice President on every issue, I know that he has a good heart and is motivated by his love for our country and the American people,” Gabbard said.
World News:
Israel shuts its borders to all foreigners; Urges Arab public’s adherence – TV7 Israel News 19.03.20
1) In spite of relentless efforts to thwart the highly contagious coronavirus from spreading throughout the state of Israel, the number of contaminated individuals continues to rise progressively, with more than 530 confirmed cases, as of this afternoon – including 26 babies.
2) Joint patrols by Russian and Turkish forces in the northwestern Jihadist-plagued Idlib region, as part of the cessation-of-hostilities arrangement that was reached between the leaders of both powers, are facing increased challenges.
3) As part of efforts to contain the spreading coronavirus throughout Turkey, Ankara authorities announced the immediate closure of its borders with Greece and Bulgaria.
China targeting U.S. Navy warships with electromagnetic weapons
The report followed China’s potentially dangerous use of a laser against a Navy P-8A maritime patrol aircraft near Guam last month, and an earlier lasing two years ago of C-130 aircraft near China’s military base in Djibouti on the coast of Africa.
The article was published Tuesday, the same day the Pacific Fleet announced on Twitter that the aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and the USS America, an amphibious assault carrier and leader of an expeditionary strike group, were conducting exercises in the South China Sea.
The large-scale military maneuvers are a direct challenge to China’s claims to control 90% of the South China Sea, despite an international court ruling several years ago rejecting those claims.
The Global Times report said the carrier operations marked the third time in the past week that U.S. warships have “trespassed” into the sea.
Italy’s death toll from the coronavirus overtakes China’s
The death toll in China, where the coronavirus started in Wuhan, in Hubei province late 2019, currently stands at 3,249, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Health officials in Italy said Thursday that the death toll had risen by 427 in the last 24 hours, with 475 deaths recorded the day before.
The country, like many others in Europe, remains under lockdown as authorities attempt to stem the human cost of the virus.
And closures will have to be extended beyond the current end-date of April 3, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte confirmed earlier in the day.
Holding China’s Communist Party Responsible for the Global Spread of Coronavirus—Maura Moynihan
Commentary/Opinion:
With the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, what are the dangers of accepting official information from China as fact? And how are Chinese leaders trying to control the narrative surrounding coronavirus?
How exactly was the Chinese Communist Party “normalized” in the West? What impact did this have on the movement to secure human rights for Tibet?
And why is associating coronavirus with the Chinese regime and Wuhan not only legitimate, but also important?
In this episode, we sit down with China watcher Maura Moynihan, an author and journalist who has worked extensively with Tibetan refugees.
Commentary/Opinion:
Demanding Reciprocity from China’s Communist Party—Dave Brat [CPAC 2020] | American Thought Leaders
In this episode of American Thought Leaders 🇺🇸, we sit down with Dr. Dave Brat, dean of Liberty University’s School of Business and former U.S. Representative for Virginia’s 7th District, to discuss the populist revolutions occurring in America, the threat of communist China, and the importance of demanding reciprocity from the Chinese Communist Party.
We also discuss the work of Liberty University’s new Falkirk Center for Faith and Liberty.
Can You Define Socialism?
How many socialism supporters would change their minds completely once they learned what socialism and capitalism actually are?
Watch to see what happened when they talked to Will Witt!
The Useful Idiots Just Won’t Go Away Yet
The case is no different when it comes to the issues of abortion, birth control, and sterilization, beginning with democrat party racist, Margaret Sanger and her evil Negro Project.
When she wrote her vile letter to Clarence J. Gamble on December 10, 1939 admitting she needed black ministers with engaging personalities to spread her evil mission of eugenics, true agenda: to eliminate as many blacks as possible.
So now our beloved republic is saturated with useful idiots in almost every area of influence and commerce.
Because useful idiot adults ranging from unwise parents to demonically driven educators and misguided preachers, almost half of all American millennials have never, ever heard or were properly instructed in the areas of morality, family, economics, GOD, the United States, proper parenting, etc.