(CNN) –– El expresidente Donald Trump amenazó el sábado con procesar y condenar a “largas penas de prisión” a funcionarios electorales y operadores políticos que, según sugirió, podrían hacer trampa en las elecciones de 2024 si vuelve a ganar la presidencia en noviembre.

Trump, quien volvió a afirmar falsamente que los demócratas tuvieron un comportamiento fraudulento en 2020, dijo que él, los abogados y los académicos legales están “observando muy de cerca la santidad de las elecciones presidenciales de 2024”.

“CUANDO GANE”, escribió Trump en una publicación en su red social, Truth Social, que luego también compartió en X, “aquellas personas que HICIERON TRAMPA serán procesadas con todo el peso de la ley”.

Los contrastes entre Harris y Trump se muestran plenamente en sus preparativos para el debate de la próxima semana

Las amenazas de enjuiciamiento de Trump —parte de sus reiterados esfuerzos por poner en duda la integridad de las elecciones de 2024— se producen cuando pronto comenzará la votación anticipada en varios estados. Trump ha sugerido sistemáticamente que utilizará el sistema judicial como arma para perseguir a sus oponentes políticos si los votantes lo devuelven a la Casa Blanca, amenazas que comenzaron después de que fuera acusado por primera vez en su caso de dinero para silenciar a sus oponentes en Manhattan hace más de un año.

Trump, quien regularmente difunde teorías conspirativas sobre las elecciones de 2020 y afirma falsamente que hubo un fraude electoral generalizado, agregó este sábado: “Sé, mejor que la mayoría, las trampas y las traiciones desenfrenadas que han tenido lugar por parte de los demócratas en las elecciones presidenciales de 2020. ¡Fue una desgracia para nuestra nación!”.

A pesar de las reiteradas afirmaciones de Trump, las elecciones de 2020 fueron sumamente seguras y perdió ante Joe Biden por más de 7 millones de votos. No hay evidencia de fraude electoral lo suficientemente generalizado como para haber cambiado el resultado de las elecciones en ningún estado.

Los funcionarios electorales han sido víctimas de amenazas generalizadas a medida que se acercan las elecciones de 2024, informó CNN, y las operaciones electorales reforzaron la seguridad ante el acoso a los trabajadores electorales y la desinformación sobre el proceso de votación.

Trump arremete contra mujeres que lo han acusado de agresión sexual tras asistir a una audiencia para apelar veredicto en caso de Carroll

Trump dijo este sábado que vigila a todos, desde abogados y donantes hasta votantes. “CUANDO GANE, aquellas personas que HICIERON TRAMPA serán procesadas con todo el peso de la ley, lo que incluirá largas penas de prisión para que esta depravación de la justicia no vuelva a suceder”, escribió. “Tengan en cuenta que esta exposición legal se extiende a abogados, agentes políticos, donantes, votantes ilegales y funcionarios electorales corruptos. Aquellos involucrados en un comportamiento inescrupuloso serán buscados, capturados y procesados ​​a niveles, lamentablemente, nunca antes vistos en nuestro país”, agregó.

Trump aún enfrenta sus propios cargos por interferencia electoral derivados de los intentos de subvertir las elecciones de 2020, incluida una acusación formal de cuatro cargos en su caso federal. Un caso separado de interferencia electoral contra él en el condado de Fulton, Georgia, fue suspendido indefinidamente .

–– Daniel Dale, Kristen Holmes, Ethan Cohen, Dianne Gallagher, Aaron Cooper y Aaron Pellish de CNN contribuyeron a este informe.

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By Oscar Holland, CNN

(CNN) — During a routine house call to a private estate in Camden, Maine, auctioneer Kaja Veilleux made an unexpected discovery in the property’s attic: A 17th-century painting of a young woman wearing a cap and ruffled collar.

“On house calls, we often go in blind, not knowing what we’ll find,” said Veilleux, the founder of Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, in a press release. “The home was filled with wonderful pieces, but it was in the attic, among stacks of art, that we found this remarkable portrait.”

The artwork appeared to have been painted in the style of Dutch master Rembrandt — and a label on the frame’s reverse claimed it was by him. The paper slip, which appears to have been issued by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, also suggested the painting was loaned to the museum in 1970.

Very little is known about the portrait, however, and it is not widely recognized by scholars as part of Rembrandt’s oeuvre. While the auction house told CNN it believes the label to be genuine, the Philadelphia Museum of Art was unable to confirm whether it had ever borrowed the portrait. (A museum spokesperson added, via email, that “generally… a slip or label doesn’t necessarily verify a work of art — certainly more work would be required.”)

Thomaston Place would not disclose whether it consulted a Rembrandt expert about the attribution, but it proceeded to list the painting with an estimate of just $10,000 to $15,000. The portrait was described in sale materials as “After Rembrandt,” terminology denoting that a painting is believed to be a copy of — or was modeled on — a known artist’s style, and is not an autograph work.

But not everyone, it seems, was so sure.

After an opening offer of $32,500, more than double the high estimate, bidding at an auction last Saturday soon skyrocketed into six figures. Almost a dozen potential suitors, some of whom joined via phone from Europe, participated in the sale, according to Thomaston Place. Three telephone bidders remained until $900,000, before the last two pushed the final sale price up to $1.41 million.

The auction house believes this to be the highest sum ever paid for an artwork at a Maine auction. And the figure suggests that several collectors (including the winning bidder, identified only as a “private European collector”) believe there is enough chance that it is a genuine Rembrandt to be worth the gamble.

Lost from the records

Rembrandt scholar Gary Schwartz said a potential buyer had earlier sought his opinion on the Maine portrait. He advised the unidentified collector (who was not the winning bidder) to “go for it,” he said. The art historian told CNN he believes there is an “extremely large” chance the portrait was painted by the Dutch master.

While Schwartz stressed it is impossible to properly judge the work without seeing it in person, he pointed to a strikingly similar Rembrandt portrait, also depicting a young woman in a white cap, at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.

“The resemblance … is so strong that I am amazed that people accept one and simply dismiss the other,” he said on a video call from his home in the Netherlands, adding that he is “not surprised that somebody paid (over) a million when it came up to auction.”

Schwartz also points out that the Maine artwork featured in a catalog of Rembrandt’s work as recently as 1969. Listed under the title “Portrait of a young girl,” the painting is described as belonging to a private collector in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Although the catalog’s author notes that the attribution to Rembrandt is “doubtful,” Schwartz believes its inclusion is significant — and that the painting was simply never researched, as it was in private hands and inaccessible to scholars.

“When paintings fall out of interest, they just disappear into dark space,” said Schwartz, who published a 2022 book arguing that another downgraded painting, “Rembrandt in a Red Beret,” is in fact a genuine self-portrait.

Art historian Volker Manuth, who authored publisher Taschen’s 2019 monograph “Rembrandt: The Complete Paintings,” told CNN he was also approached by a potential buyer of the Maine portrait. He had only encountered it as a “poor black-and-white reproduction” in the aforementioned 1969 catalog, adding via email that he has “more doubts about the attribution to Rembrandt than not” (though he, too, stressed that attributions “should not be given without a thorough investigation of the original painting”).

“The price paid… might indicate that somebody has hopes that the cleaning of the rather dirty painting might turn it into a portrait with the qualities attributed to Rembrandt,” added Manuth, who is an art history professor at Radboud University in the Netherlands. “This happens more and more often. I would not be surprised to (see) the painting back on the market soon as ‘Rembrandt.’”

A matter of opinion

There is no single authority on questions of attribution, and the influential Rembrandt Research Project ceased operations in 2014 (having not, in Schwartz’s view, ever considered the Maine portrait). Over the past century, the number of paintings broadly accepted by scholars as genuine Rembrandts has fallen dramatically, with hundreds reattributed to followers or otherwise downgraded to “after Rembrandt” status.

But inclusion in a major catalog, or the backing of a big auction house, can increase a painting’s value manyfold. Take “The Adoration of the Kings,” which was valued at just $17,000 by Christie’s in 2021 but sold for almost $13.8 million last year after new research led Sotheby’s to declare it an authentic Rembrandt, not the work of an artist associated with him.

Schwartz suggested that, should the Maine portrait receive similar endorsement, it might be revalued at up to $5 million. Speaking to the New York Times, authentication expert Mark Winter meanwhile estimated a figure “in the area of $15 million.”

In either case, the painting may, one day, be worth significantly more than the amount paid at the Thomaston Place auction. Though this may only transpire if the portrait’s new owner invites scholars to inspect it.

“The great thing, really, would be to go to Vienna with this painting, hold it up there (next to the similar portrait and) have a discussion with a few experts,” Schwartz said, adding. “It (was painted) on panel, so you can date the panel, and very often you find that the wood is from the same slabs that have been used by other paintings form the Rembrandt workshop.”

“Nobody should express a definitive opinion without studying the object,” Schwartz said.

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(CNN Español) –– José Vicente Haro, el abogado del candidato presidencial de la mayoría opositora venezolana en las elecciones del 28 de julio, Edmundo González, desmintió este domingo al fiscal general de Venezuela, Tarek William Saab, quien dijo en entrevista con CNN que el opositor no había asistido a los citatorios del Gobierno venezolano debido a “presiones externas”.

Según Saab, González Urrutia tenía “un impulso real” de cumplir, primero, con un llamado ante la Sala Electoral del Tribunal Supremo de Justicia y también pensaba asistir al Ministerio Público.

“Él iba a ir a la primera citación. A última hora también recibió presiones externas, dicho por el propio José Vicente Haro, ajenas al propio apoderado legal que le sugería que debía ir y también estaba de acuerdo el propio Edmundo González Urrutia”, indicó el fiscal sin entrar en mayores detalles.

Fiscal general de Venezuela dice que caso contra González será cerrado tras su salida del país

Haro, en una entrevista posterior con CNN, aseguró que lo dicho por el fiscal no es cierto y que, al contrario, él había aconsejado al candidato no asistir en persona.

“Él señaló que ya con respecto a las citaciones para la investigación fiscal, la investigación de carácter penal, supuestamente se le habría recomendado o yo le habría recomendado al señor Edmundo González Urrutia asistir a la primera citación. Y en modo alguno ocurrió eso”, dijo Haro.

“Esto lo digo para que quede claro que, con respecto a las comparecencias del Ministerio Público, nunca hubo un consentimiento de asistir a ese proceso judicial, porque primero, los hechos que se le pretendían atribuir no revisten carácter penal. Segundo, él no ha cometido delito alguno”.

Fiscal dice que salida de González Urrutia es una fractura en la oposición venezolana

Durante la entrevista con CNN de este domingo, el fiscal general de Venezuela evitó mencionar por nombre o referirse directamente a la líder opositora María Corina Machado, pieza clave en la movilización de la oposición alrededor González para las elecciones del 28 de julio, en las cuales el Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) adjudicó la victoria al presidente Nicolás Maduro en medio de acusaciones de fraude.

Respecto a ese tema, Tarek William Saab dijo que la salida del candidato crea una fractura en la oposición.

“El candidato de la oposición que finalmente apoyó la plataforma unitaria y la Mesa de la Unidad Democrática, entre otros candidatos que tuvo la oposición, es Edmundo González Urrutia. Y él, como diría la canción de José Luis Perales, se marchó. Es una decisión voluntaria de él y que el Gobierno de Venezuela, a través del Poder Ejecutivo, respetó. Nosotros como Ministerio Público, igualmente”, dijo el fiscal.

Agregó que “hay una fractura absoluta en ese sector extremista de la oposición que se evidenció el día de hoy, cuando el candidato opositor de mayor —vamos a decir—protagonismo en esa plataforma opositora se marchó del país por voluntad propia. Es la verdad. Y se marcha como un ciudadano común que firma una carta como ciudadano común. Es decir, él se asume perdedor”.

¿Quién es la cara de la oposición en Venezuela según William Saab? 3:47

Máximo diplomático de la Unión Europea califica de “día triste para la democracia” la salida de Edmundo González de Venezuela hacia España

Haro respondió y dijo que González Urrutia “no ha suscrito ningún documento, no ha reconocido los resultados electorales emanados del CNE” que le adjudicaron el triunfo a Nicolás Maduro sin mostrar cifras detalladas como requisito para obtener el salvoconducto que le permitió viajar a España, donde tramita asilo político junto a su esposa.

CNN ha contactado al equipo de prensa de Machado y está a la espera de comentarios.

Más temprano, la opositora se solidarizó con González Urrutia en un mensaje en X, en el que dice que el dirigente salió del país porque “su vida corría peligro, y las crecientes amenazas, citaciones, orden de aprehensión e incluso los intentos de chantaje y de coacción de los que ha sido objeto, demuestran que el régimen no tiene escrúpulos ni límites en su obsesión de silenciarlo e intentar doblegarlo”.

–– Osmary Hernández y Manuel Cobela colaboraron con este reporte

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(CNN Español) –– La Suprema Corte de Justicia de México anunció este domingo la propuesta “Reforma integral al sistema de justicia en México: desafíos y propuestas”, justo el mismo día en que el Senado inició la discusión de la reforma al Poder Judicial propuesta por el presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

El documento fue anunciado por Norma Lucía Piña, la ministra presidenta del Poder Judicial, quien, sin nombrarla directamente, cuestionó la propuesta que se discute en el Congreso y que ya fue aprobada por la mayoría oficialista en la Cámara de Diputados. Estos cambios, entre otras cosas, establecen que los cargos de jueces y magistrados deberán obtenerse por voto popular.

Suprema Corte de Justicia de México consulta la posibilidad de suspender discusión de la reforma judicial

“La demolición del Poder Judicial no es la vía como se pretende”, dijo Piña en un video publicado en internet mientras anunciaba la nueva propuesta. “Si tenemos el valor y la voluntad real, hoy mismo podríamos dar pasos firmes para hacer los cambios profundos y necesarios para construir la paz, la justicia y la reparación que México tanto necesita”.

“Nuestra historia no se puede definir a partir de la narrativa fácil de que todos los problemas de seguridad y justicia en el país son culpa de los jueces. Quienes así lo crean no conocen México”, agregó la funcionaria.

Una propuesta de reforma sin cargos por elección popular

El documento que la Suprema Corte de Justicia dio a conocer este domingo contempla 66 propuestas de reforma en varias áreas para mejorar la ética y legitimidad judicial, fortalecer los poderes judiciales locales, la seguridad pública, la investigación criminal y la atención a víctimas de delitos, entre otras áreas.

Sobre la elección de personal del poder judicial, esta propuesta no hace mención del voto popular y apuesta por “estandarizar” las reglas de la carrera judicial en los poderes judiciales de México.

No hay poder sobre la Tierra que pueda detener la reforma judicial en México, dice el presidente del Senado

Al respecto, el documento de la Suprema Corte propone que se emita “una Ley Nacional de Carrera Judicial que unifique las reglas y procedimientos de la carrera judicial en los poderes judiciales del país, para asegurar que el acceso y la promoción en los cargos, incluida la designación de magistrados, se realice a través de procedimientos objetivos que evalúen el perfil, conocimiento y competencias de los candidatos. Este proceso debe ser llevado a cabo por órganos independientes, como los Consejos de la Judicatura Estatales y sus institutos judiciales, en colaboración con expertos de la academia y la sociedad civil, a fin de garantizar la legitimidad y el profesionalismo del sistema judicial”.

La propuesta de la Suprema Corte se da a conocer cuando este domingo las comisiones de Puntos Constitucionales y de Estudios Legislativos, que presiden las senadoras oficialistas Ernestina Godoy y Citlalli Hernández, iniciaron en el Senado de México la discusión del proyecto de Reforma que impulsa López Obrador.

La discusión de esta propuesta se da también luego de semanas de protestas por parte de trabajadores del Poder Judicial y organizaciones de la sociedad civil que temen que el proyecto, entre otras cosas, represente un riesgo para la independencia judicial.

El Gobierno de López Obrador no se había pronunciado públicamente sobre esta nueva propuesta de la Suprema Corte y CNN ha solicitado comentarios a la Presidencia.

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(CNN) –– El fiscal general de Venezuela, Tarek William Saab, dijo este domingo que el caso contra el opositor Edmundo González será cerrado, luego de que el excandidato presidencial saliera a España, donde solicitó asilo.

Saab dijo que la salida de González del país trae un “cambio” al proceso judicial en su contra en Venezuela por presuntos delitos asociados al terrorismo. González ha negado las acusaciones.

“Esto trae un cambio en el estatus procesal que está evaluando el fiscal”, dijo Saab en entrevista con Ana María Mejía de CNN.

Edmundo González dejó Venezuela por hostigamiento, dice Antonio Ledezma

“Nosotros, con el apoderado judicial de González Urrutia, José Vicente Haro, en las próximas horas, en los próximos días estableceremos la forma, tiempo, modo y lugar de cómo ese caso va a quedar de alguna forma cerrado judicialmente”, afirmó, y agregó que el resultado será en estricto apego a la ley venezolana.

Saab dijo que González solicitó un salvoconducto directamente al fiscal general en una carta, lo que le permitió viajar a España.

¿Quién es la cara de la oposición en Venezuela según William Saab? 3:47

Cuando se le preguntó sobre la “coerción y amenazas” que González dijo que llevaron a su decisión de solicitar asilo en España, Saab dijo que la presión y las amenazas vinieron de la líder opositora María Corina Machado.

“González fue víctima de presiones de su partido que lo obligaron a tomar decisiones (…) hay una fractura absoluta en esa oposición extremista”.

CNN se comunicó con María Corina Machado para obtener comentarios. En su declaración anterior, González no dio más detalles sobre de quién provenían las amenazas y la coerción, y en qué forma.

Sin dar más detalles ni proporcionar pruebas, el fiscal general también dijo que González fue presionado por su equipo para que no se presentara a su citación relacionada con la investigación de los presuntos delitos asociados con las disputadas elecciones presidenciales de julio. Las autoridades venezolanas emitieron una orden de arresto contra González después de que no respondiera a tres citaciones relacionadas con la investigación.

Minutos después, el abogado de González dijo que esto no era cierto. “De ninguna manera eso sucedió”, dijo José Vicente Haro a CNN.

William Saab niega que Corina Machado sea la cara de la oposición

“Nuestra decisión había sido no comparecer ni a la citación número uno, ni a la citación número dos, ni a la citación número tres (…) nunca hubo consentimiento para acudir a ese proceso judicial porque, primero, los hechos que se le pretendían atribuir no eran de naturaleza penal. Segundo, él no ha cometido ningún delito”, dijo el abogado.

Haro reiteró que González estaba lidiando con “persecución constante y amenazas” a su vida antes de decidir pedir asilo en España y dijo que la salida de su cliente no significa que reconozca los resultados publicados por el Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) de ese país, que declaró a Nicolás Maduro ganador de las elecciones presidenciales.

El abogado dijo que el proceso de asilo de González en España es muy meticuloso administrativamente y que podría tardar hasta una semana en completarse.

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(CNN) — La madre del adolescente sospechoso de matar a cuatro personas durante el tiroteo en la escuela secundaria Apalachee, en Winder, Georgia, llamó para advertir a un consejero escolar antes del ataque, según la tía y el abuelo del sospechoso.

Colt Gray, de 14 años, se disculpó con su madre Marcee Gray la mañana del tiroteo masivo en la secundaria Apalachee, enviando un mensaje de texto alarmante y oscuro el miércoles que llevó a la madre a advertir a la escuela que algo podría estar mal, dijo su abuelo a CNN, lo que confirmó la información que primero proporcionó al New York Post.

“Lo siento, mamá”, decía el mensaje de texto, según el padre de Marcee Gray, Charles Polhamus, quien dijo que estaba cerca de su hija en su casa en Fitzgerald, Georgia, cuando recibió el mensaje.

La madre llamó a la escuela sobre una “emergencia extrema” no especificada que involucraba a Colt en algún momento antes de que comenzara el tiroteo, dijo la hermana de Marcee Gray, Annie Brown, al Washington Post y luego confirmó a CNN.

¿Quiénes son las 4 víctimas que murieron tras el tiroteo en una escuela de Georgia?

Se realizó una llamada de 10 minutos desde el teléfono de Marcee Gray a la escuela a las 9:50 a.m., informó el Washington Post, aproximadamente 30 minutos antes de que la policía fuera notificada del tiroteo.

Según el Post, Brown tiene un plan telefónico compartido con la familia, lo que le permitió ver un registro de las llamadas realizadas por su hermana.

Después de una conversación telefónica de 10 minutos, dijo Polhamus, su hija y su madre comenzaron el viaje de 320 kilómetros desde Fitzgerald a Winder.

Marcee Gray luego confirmó la llamada al Washington Post, que informó que “se negó a dar detalles sobre lo que la llevó a llamar para advertir a la escuela, pero dijo que había compartido esa información con las autoridades”.

“Lo siento mucho y no puedo imaginar el dolor y el sufrimiento que están pasando en este momento”, dijo al Washington Post en un mensaje de texto.

Colt Gray fue acusado de cuatro cargos de homicidio agravado después de cometer el tiroteo masivo, dijeron los fiscales. Será juzgado como adulto y se espera que enfrente cargos adicionales en relación con las víctimas heridas.

Marcee Gray habló por primera vez el sábado, disculpándose con los afectados por el “absolutamente horrible” tiroteo.

El Distrito Escolar del Condado de Barrow no respondió a la solicitud de comentarios de CNN. La Oficina de Investigación de Georgia remitió la solicitud de comentarios de CNN a la Oficina del Fiscal del Circuito Judicial de Piedmont.

CNN se comunicó con la Oficina del Fiscal del Circuito Judicial de Piedmont el sábado por la noche. CNN también se comunicó con el sheriff del condado de Barrow, Jud Smith, quien anteriormente dijo que no tenía conocimiento de ninguna llamada telefónica a la escuela antes del tiroteo.

Colt Gray el 6 de septiembre se sienta en el tribunal del condado de Barrow durante su primera comparecencia por el tiroteo masivo en la escuela secundaria Apalachee, en Winder, Georgia. (Foto: Brynn Anderson/Reuters)

Esto es lo que sabemos sobre el tiroteo, el 45º tiroteo escolar de 2024 y el tiroteo escolar más mortífero en EE.UU. desde la masacre de marzo de 2023 en The Covenant School en Nashville:

Las cuatro personas asesinadas: el tiroteo en la escuela secundaria Apalachee cobró la vida de dos estudiantes de 14 años, Christian Angulo y Mason Schermerhorn, así como de dos maestros, la profesora de matemáticas de 53 años Cristina Irimie y el entrenador asistente de fútbol de 39 años Richard Aspinwall, quien también enseñaba matemáticas. Las autoridades dicen que Irimie celebraba su cumpleaños con sus estudiantes el día que fue asesinada, según un amigo de la familia. Nueve heridos se espera que se recuperen completamente: de las nueve personas heridas, siete de ellas, seis estudiantes y un maestro, fueron baleadas, dijo la Oficina de Investigación de Georgia (GBI, por sus siglas en inglés) el jueves. Los otros dos, ambos estudiantes, sufrieron otras lesiones, dijo el GBI. El sospechoso había sido interrogado sobre amenazas en línea: en mayo de 2023, las autoridades interrogaron a Colt Gray y a su padre sobre “amenazas en línea de cometer un tiroteo escolar” que incluían fotos de armas, según una declaración conjunta del FBI Atlanta y la Oficina del Sheriff del Condado de Jackson. Colt Gray, que tenía 13 años en ese momento, dijo a los investigadores durante esa entrevista que “alguien lo está acusando de amenazar con disparar en una escuela, afirmando que nunca diría tal cosa, ni siquiera en broma”, dijeron las autoridades. Las autoridades no pudieron corroborar las amenazas y la investigación se cerró, según la oficina del sheriff. Acusan al padre del sospechoso: dos fuentes policiales con conocimiento directo de la investigación dijeron que Colin Gray, de 54 años, dijo a las autoridades que compró el rifle estilo AR utilizado en el tiroteo escolar como un regalo de Navidad para su hijo en diciembre de 2023, solo meses después de que las autoridades contactaran inicialmente al padre sobre las amenazas en línea. Colin Gray enfrenta cuatro cargos de homicidio involuntario, dos cargos de homicidio intencional sin premeditación y ocho cargos de crueldad hacia los niños. El sospechoso tenía escritos sobre tiroteos escolares pasados: durante el interrogatorio, Colt Gray dijo a los investigadores: “Yo lo hice”. Mientras las autoridades registraban su casa, encontraron documentos que creen que escribió haciendo referencia a tiroteos escolares pasados, incluidas referencias a la masacre de 2018 en la escuela secundaria Marjory Stoneman Douglas en Florida, dijo una fuente policial a CNN. Muestras de apoyo: antes del inicio del partido de los Georgia Bulldogs contra los Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles el sábado, se observó un momento de silencio para honrar a los afectados por el tiroteo. También el sábado, frente a la escuela secundaria, más de 100 motociclistas de diferentes clubes organizaron un evento para mostrar su apoyo. Estudiantes relatan el aterrador tiroteo: en un aula, una niña de 14 años dijo que impidió que el sospechoso entrara por la puerta cuando lo vio sacar un arma. Y después de que un maestro en otra aula fuera baleado, los estudiantes dicen que lo arrastraron de vuelta al interior y usaron las camisetas de sus espaldas para tratar de detener su sangrado mientras bloqueaban la puerta con escritorios y sillas. Un adolescente dijo que corrió a cerrar la puerta de su aula para evitar que el atacante entrara, solo para darse cuenta de que había sido baleado.

El sospechoso de tiroteo escolar en Georgia será juzgado como adulto 2:20

Una comunidad de luto

Las familias de las víctimas se limpiaron las lágrimas o abrazaron animales de peluche mientras se sentaban en la sala del tribunal del condado de Barrow el viernes durante la lectura de cargos de Colt Gray, donde se negó a presentar una declaración de culpabilidad a los cargos en su contra. Los fiscales alegan que Colt Gray disparó un rifle estilo AR en el campus el miércoles por la mañana, matando a cuatro personas.

Debido a su corta edad, la pena máxima que Gray podría enfrentar es cadena perpetua con o sin posibilidad de libertad condicional, dijo el juez Currie Mingledorff al adolescente en el tribunal. En 2005, la Corte Suprema de EE.UU. dictaminó que nadie puede ser condenado a muerte por crímenes cometidos antes de los 18 años.

El siguiente paso en el caso contra Colt Gray será una reunión del jurado investigador el 17 de octubre. Esto será seguido por una lectura de cargos programada antes de que comience el proceso de juicio, dijo el fiscal del condado de Barrow, Brad Smith. Su audiencia preliminar está programada para el 4 de diciembre, dijo Mingledorff.

Por separado, el padre de Colt Gray, Colin Gray, enfrenta una sentencia máxima de 180 años de prisión por los cargos presentados en su contra. Una orden de arresto para Colin Gray alega que le dio a su hijo un arma de fuego “con conocimiento de que era una amenaza para sí mismo y para los demás”.

“Solo trato de usar las herramientas en mi arsenal para procesar a las personas por los crímenes que cometen”, dijo el fiscal del distrito Smith.

Colin Gray también se negó a presentar una declaración de culpabilidad en su primera comparecencia ante el tribunal el viernes, y ni él ni su hijo solicitaron que se fijara una fianza en sus audiencias.

CNN buscó comentarios de los defensores públicos que representan a Colt Gray y a su padre.

Para los sobrevivientes y otros, un centro de recuperación comunitaria abrirá en el condado de Barrow el lunes para ofrecer asistencia financiera, servicios legales y atención espiritual y de salud mental, anunció el viernes la Agencia de Manejo de Emergencias y Seguridad Nacional de Georgia.

Mientras tanto, se desconoce cuándo se reanudarán las clases en la escuela secundaria Apalachee. Las autoridades aún determinan los próximos pasos, aunque se están finalizando los planes para que las personas recojan sus pertenencias de la escuela el lunes, dijo la directora Jessica Rehberg en una carta a los padres de los estudiantes, una copia de la cual fue obtenida por CNN.

“Determinamos la manera correcta de avanzar y planificamos compasivamente los detalles de nuestro futuro”, escribió Rehberg en la carta este domingo.

Se espera que el resto del sistema escolar del condado de Barrow regrese a clases el martes.

Miembros de la comunidad, estudiantes y personal de la escuela secundaria Apalachee se reúnen para una vigilia el 6 de septiembre de 2024 en Monroe, Georgia. (Foto: Megan Varner/Getty Images)

Una estudiante dice que no abrió la puerta después de ver un arma

Bri Jones, de 14 años, estaba en la segunda hora el miércoles cuando Colt Gray salió del aula, dijo Jones. “No nos dimos cuenta de que se fue”, dijo, agregando que él “siempre estaba callado”.

Pero Colt Gray regresó y llamó a la puerta, dijo Jones.

Bri dijo que miró por la puerta antes de abrirla porque eso es lo que su madre le enseñó a hacer.

“Mientras miraba la puerta, él estaba sacando su arma, y luego me paralicé, como que me paralicé y me dije ‘no’ a mí misma”, dijo.

La maestra pidió que se abriera la puerta, dijo Bri, “porque no sabía que él tenía un arma porque estaba en su escritorio”. Cuando fue a abrir la puerta, “dije, ‘No, él tiene un arma’”, dijo Jones.

Luego, el atacante los miró antes de darse la vuelta y disparar, dijo Jones.

“Nos estaba mirando a mí, a mi maestra, y luego a alguien que estaba en el pasillo”, dijo. “Giró la cabeza y simplemente comenzó a disparar”.

Estudiante se encontró cara a cara con el tirador de Georgia 2:51

Los estudiantes luego corrieron al fondo del aula y la maestra apagó las luces, dijo Bri.

“Una vez que comenzó a disparar es como si siguiera, eran tantos disparos tras disparos”, comentó. “Parecía que estaba disparando para siempre”.

Si hubiera abierto la puerta del salón, Bri dijo que cree que el sospechoso “nos habría atrapado a todos en esa clase”.

Otro estudiante, Ronaldo Vega, de 14 años, se cubrió inmediatamente debajo de su escritorio cuando comenzó el tiroteo en su clase de matemáticas de segunda hora, dijo, creyendo haber escuchado de cuatro a seis disparos. Después, se levantó y rápidamente cerró la puerta del aula para que el atacante “no pudiera regresar”, dijo.

Solo después de ver una de las balas detrás del escritorio del maestro se dio cuenta de que había sido baleado y estaba sangrando, dijo Ronaldo.

El senador Raphael Warnock habla con miembros de la comunidad, estudiantes y personal de la escuela secundaria Apalachee que se reunieron para una vigilia el 6 de septiembre en Monroe, Georgia. (Foto: Megan Varner/Getty Images)

Los estudiantes se quitaron las camisetas para tratar de salvar a su maestro de matemáticas

Richard Aspinwall, un maestro de matemáticas, escuchó conmoción fuera de su aula y salió al pasillo para ver qué estaba pasando. Cuando lo hizo, fue baleado en el pecho por el sospechoso de 14 años, según la amiga de la familia Julie Woodson, quien citó relatos de los estudiantes de Aspinwall.

“Tuvimos que ver a nuestro maestro regresar al aula sosteniéndose como si hubiera sido baleado, y cayó al suelo”, dijo Malasia Mitchell, de 17 años. “Y mientras seguía, mi maestro fue baleado de nuevo”.

Los estudiantes en la clase dicen que arrastraron a Aspinwall de vuelta al aula y usaron las camisetas de sus espaldas para tratar de detener el sangrado de su maestro, según Woodson.

Mientras tanto, los estudiantes cerraron la puerta y se protegieron con escritorios y sillas, dijo Mitchell.

Woodson dijo que Aspinwall “murió como un héroe tratando de salvar la vida de sus estudiantes”.

“Si no hubiera salido y recibido la bala… quién sabe qué habría pasado”, dijo Woodson.

Malasia recordó a su maestro como un “gran tipo” con “un espíritu tan feliz”, alguien que no querría que ella se rindiera nunca.

“No quería que dejara de venir a la escuela”, dijo. “Quería que siguiera adelante”.

Scott Glover, Keith Allen, Ashley R. Williams, Rebekah Riess, Holly Yan, Mark Morales, Ryan Young, Isabel Rosales, Chelsea Bailey, Sara Smart, Jaide Timm-García, Raja Razek, Jade Gordon y Steve Sorg de CNN contribuyeron a este artículo.

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By Hamdi Alkhshali, CNN

(CNN) — Israeli airstrikes in central Syria have killed five people and injured at least 19 others, state-run Syrian news agency SANA reported Sunday.

SANA said there had been several explosions and “air defense engagements” in the central region of Syria, including in the Tartous and Hama governorates, that resulted in multiple civilian casualties.

Asked about the report by CNN, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it did not comment “on reports in the foreign media.”

The Syrian news agency cited a military source as saying “the Israeli enemy launched an air aggression from the direction of northwest Lebanon, targeting a number of military sites in the central region” shortly before 8.30 p.m. local time on Sunday.

The source said Syrian air defenses had intercepted and shot down some of the missiles.

SANA quoted the director of the National Hospital in Masyaf, Dr. Faisal Haidar, as saying some of the injured were in “critical condition.”

It said the strikes had damaged the Wadi al-Uyun highway in Masyaf and caused a blaze that firefighters were working to control.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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By Jennifer Hansler and Kylie Atwood, CNN

(CNN) — Republicans and Democrats will release dueling documents on the deadly August 2021 US withdrawal from Afghanistan on Monday, as former President Donald Trump’s campaign seeks to make the decisions surrounding the exit a key issue in the final weeks before the presidential election.

The release — after years of investigation by the Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee — of the report by Republican Chairman Rep Michael McCaul and a minority memorandum by Democratic Ranking Member Rep. Gregory Meeks underscore how partisan the debate over the frenzied US exit from Afghanistan has become. The reports also thrust the evacuation back into the spotlight during the lead-up to the election as the GOP has used the evacuation to attack Vice President Kamala Harris.

The documents are the latest in a series of examinations of the withdrawal, which saw the deaths of 13 US service members and left behind thousands of Afghans who had worked with the United States.

Accusations of culpability have fallen largely along party lines, with Republicans pointing fingers at the Biden administration for hastily pulling the US out of the country and Democrats, including the White House, casting blame on the Trump administration for striking a deal with the Taliban that set the US withdrawal into motion.

The conclusions of both documents, obtained by CNN ahead of their release Monday, continue that pattern. Although there were some new details revealed, the overarching findings largely align with what was already known.

The Republican report is highly critical of the Biden administration and pins the blame for the chaotic exit exclusively on its decisions. It also aims to implicate Harris, now the Democratic nominee for president, in its accusations by referring to the current government as “the Biden-Harris administration.”

“The Biden-Harris administration misled and, in some instances, directly lied to the American people at every stage of the withdrawal, from before the go-to-zero order until today,” the more than 350-page long Republican report alleges.

It lays out 23 recommendations, including the passage of resolutions condemning President Joe Biden, Harris, and other key members of the national security team.

The recommendations also focus on making future non-combatant evacuation operations (NEO) successful, calling for Congress to put into place standard operating procedures for such a drawdown and requirements for the State Department and DOD to brief congress on NEO plans when an embassy has been designated as a high threat post.

The long list also calls for the declassification of information related to the deadly Abbey Gate terrorist attack that killed 13 service members and dozens of Afghans and the establishment of eyewitness portals for after-action reviews.

“Anyone who reads this report will be able to see that we conducted this investigation with integrity, not drawing conclusion ahead of time but rather looking at the facts and evidence we collected. The report is simply a recitation of those facts and evidence,” McCaul said in response to accusations from his Democratic colleagues and the administration that the report was politicized.

“This is not about politics to me — it never has been. It’s about getting to the bottom of what happened so we can make sure it never happens again,” he said in a statement. “And it’s about finding who was responsible for this catastrophe so they can finally, after three long years, be held accountable.”

Meeks, the Democratic ranking member on the committee, accused McCaul of pursuing a “predetermined, partisan narrative about the Afghanistan withdrawal” and asserted that “Republicans’ partisan attempts to garner headlines rather than acknowledge the full facts and substance of their investigation have only increased with the heat of an election season.”

The White House also denounced McCaul’s report.

“Everything we have seen and heard of Chairman McCaul’s latest partisan report shows that it is based on cherry-picked facts, inaccurate characterizations, and pre-existing biases that have plagued this investigation from the start,” said Sharon Yang, a White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations.

Republicans accuse Biden admin of pursuing withdrawal ‘no matter the cost’

McCaul formally launched his investigation after assuming the chairmanship of the committee in January 2023, vowing to scrutinize the State Department’s planning, decision-making, and execution of the withdrawal.

The Republican probe included multiple hearings, transcribed interviews with 18 former and current officials, and the review of thousands of pages of documents from the US government.

The resulting report comes away with five conclusions.

It claims the Biden administration was “determined to withdraw from Afghanistan, with or without the Doha Agreement” – an agreement brokered under the Trump administration for a phased but eventual full withdrawal from Afghanistan – “and no matter the cost.” It accuses the administration of ignoring “the conditions in the Doha Agreement, pleas of the Afghan government, and the objections by our NATO allies, deciding to unilaterally withdraw from the country.”

It also accuses the administration of prioritizing “the optics of the withdrawal over the security of U.S. personnel on the ground.” It takes aim at the administration’s delay in ordering a NEO – a fact that has been well-scrutinized and documented. The report said that “Afghanistan once again became a haven for terrorists, including al Qaeda and ISIS-K” following the US withdrawal.

Among the other findings of the report, it said that Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad – who was appointed under the Trump administration – was negotiating a succession plan for the Afghan government that included the Taliban, and the committee claims he was “wedded to the idea.”

While the negotiations led by Khalilzad had been widely covered in news reports – and never resulted in an agreement due to the Taliban moving to military take Kabul – the details of what was being pursued remained unclear at times.

Khalilzad, who participated in a transcribed interview with the committee, said that “the power-sharing demand increased from 50-50, to 60-40 in favor of the Taliban, to 70-30 in favor of the Taliban,” the report writes. Khalilzad noted in his interview: “As the balance shifted on the ground … the negotiations on the government continued, but the dollar demand with it increased.”

The report also cites comments that Biden administration officials made to the public around the time of the withdrawal which contradicted the information that the US government had about the situation on the ground.

For example, in October 2021, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki claimed it would have taken 5,000 troops to protect the Bagram Air Force Base, which the US handed over to the Afghans in July of 2021. Yet General McKenzie testified to the committee that “at 2,500 U.S. forces, if you also assume that will allow the Afghans to stay in the fight, you can maintain a viable base at Bagram.” He added that he had believed maintaining Bagram was critical to stability in the country. Psaki also made public comments stating that no one could have assessed that the Afghan military would fall as quickly as it did, despite existing US government assessments at the time predicting that a fall could happen swiftly.

The Democratic memorandum outlines its separate takeaways from the hearings, documents, and transcribed interviews. It argues that the Trump administration set the withdrawal in motion and “failed to plan for executing it.” It also claims that the Biden administration initiated a “robust” process to review the evacuation. The memorandum argues that the fall of Kabul to the Taliban “precipitously changed the situation in Kabul and prompted a dynamic and unprecedented U.S. government response that protected Americans, our allies, and our interests.”

Moreover, Meeks’ memorandum argues that the findings are not new —”it comports with what Administration officials, the State Department’s own After-Action Review on Afghanistan (AAR), and extensive press reporting have already said repeatedly over years about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.”

“This narrative is also not without points of debate – such as over whether to retain a small force in Afghanistan, whether U.S. analysts should have better anticipated the fall of the Afghan government and rapid speed of the Taliban’s takeover, or the precise timing of shifting from civilian-led evacuation flights to a NEO – but no thorough policy process would be, nor do any Commander-in-Chief’s decisions satisfy everyone,” it says.

Democrats’ memorandum on the report

Meeks said he released his own memorandum because “American taxpayers have funded this Committee’s oversight, and the American people deserve the truth.”

The New York Democrat also accused his Republican colleagues of further politicizing the matter ahead of the election.

“With the ascendance of Vice President Kamala Harris to the top of the Democratic presidential ticket, the GOP performance has reached a crescendo — Republicans now claim she was the architect of the U.S. withdrawal though she is referenced only three times in 3,288 pages of the Committee’s interview transcripts,” Meeks charged.

Even with the release of the report, McCaul has made clear that he continues to pursue his probe as Election Day nears and even after.

“We have a lot of unanswered questions regarding the” Department of Defense, McCaul told CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday, ahead of the report’s publication. He said “didn’t reach any conclusions” regarding the Abbey Gate attack at the Kabul airport. That deadly attack, which was claimed by ISIS-K has been the subject of multiple investigations.

The Republican Chairman has subpoenaed Secretary of State Antony Blinken to testify on the report. Some of the recommendations of the report call for the testimony of officials like national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

“Congress has a responsibility to ensure those at fault during the Afghanistan withdraw are finally held accountable,” the report says.

On the eve of the report’s release McCaul said that the conduct of the withdrawal amounted to “moral negligence of the administration.”

“This was one of the deadliest days in Afghanistan. It could have been prevented if the State Department did its job by law and executed the plan of evacuation. They did not do that until, until the day that the Taliban invaded and overran Kabul. By that time, it was too late,” McCaul said on CBS.

McCaul also claimed that the release of the report at this time was not an effort to play politics, pointing to the many roadblocks that the committee faced as they tried to gather information and conduct interviews.

But State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement to CNN that “it remains deeply disappointing that House Foreign Affairs Committee Republicans used this process to politicize Afghanistan policy instead of working on legislative solutions to strengthen our country.”

“They have done a disservice by relying on false information and presenting inaccurate narratives meant only to harm the Administration, instead of seeking to actually inform Americans on how our longest war came to an end,” Miller said. “The State Department remains immensely proud of its workforce who put themselves forward in the waning days of our presence in Afghanistan to evacuate both Americans and the brave Afghans who stood by over sides for more than two decades.”

Yang, the White House spokesperson, also defended the administration’s decisions and cast blame on Trump and the Doha agreement brokered under his presidency, saying Biden “inherited an untenable position.”

“As we have said many times, ending our longest war was the right thing to do and our nation is stronger today as a result,” Yang said in a statement to CNN. “Bringing our troops home after 20 years put us in a stronger position by allowing us to redirect our resources to confront threats to international peace and stability, such as Russia’s war in Ukraine, an ongoing crisis in the Middle East, China’s increasingly aggressive actions, and terror threats that exist around the world.”

In June 2023, the State Department released its long-awaited Afghanistan After Action Review report, which found that both the Trump and Biden administrations’ decisions to pull all US troops from Afghanistan had detrimental consequences, and detailed damning shortcomings by the current administration that led to the deadly and chaotic US withdrawal from that country after nearly two decades on the ground.

The report made recommendations for the future, mostly related to the Department’s crisis response and preparedness. Both the State Department report and the Republicans’ report recommended putting a single point person in charge at the department when there is a complex crisis unfolding.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

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(CNN) –– El posible ciclón tropical seis se formó sobre las cálidas aguas del sur del Golfo de México cuando faltan más de dos meses para que finalice la temporada de huracanes del Atlántico de 2024, dijo este domingo el Centro Nacional de Huracanes de EE.UU. (NHC, por sus siglas en inglés).

La tormenta que se formó en la Bahía de Campeche, en el Golfo, estaba ubicada a unas 925 kilómetros al sur de Port Arthur, Texas, con vientos máximos sostenidos de 80 km/h, según la actualización de las 5 p.m. ET del NHC.

“El sistema se está moviendo hacia el noroeste a cerca de 8 km/h y se espera un movimiento lento hacia el noroeste seguido de un giro más hacia el norte durante el próximo día o dos”, dijo el NHC.

Esta temporada de huracanes en el Atlántico está confundiendo a los expertos y desafiando las previsiones. ¿Qué está pasando?

“Según la trayectoria pronosticada, se espera que la perturbación se mueva cerca de la costa norte del Golfo de México el martes y se acerque a la costa superior de Texas y Louisiana el miércoles”, agregaron los meteorólogos.

El Gobierno de México emitió un aviso de tormenta tropical desde Barra del Tordo hacia el norte hasta la desembocadura del Río Grande ante posibles impactos.

Vista satelital del golfo de México en la tarde del domingo 8 de septiembre. Crédito: NOAA.

El Centro de Huracanes dijo que también podrían emitirse alertas para el sur de Texas más tarde este domingo y que es probable que se emitan alertas adicionales a lo largo de la costa de Texas y Louisiana más tarde el domingo o el lunes.

Se espera que el sistema se convierta en tormenta tropical este lunes y se intensifique de manera significativa este martes. Se prevé que se fortalecerá hasta alcanzar la categoría de huracán antes de llegar a la costa noroeste del Golfo de Estados Unidos, según el NHC.

La próxima tormenta con nombre se llamará Francine.

Un área extensa de baja presión sobre el suroeste del Golfo de México continuó produciendo lluvias y tormentas eléctricas este domingo, dijo el NHC.

A las 2 p.m. ET, el sistema aún no desarrollado ya producía vientos de 64 a 72 km/h en su ala occidental.

La tormenta se produce durante una temporada de huracanes en el Atlántico inusualmente activa, que hasta mediados de agosto produjo cinco tormentas con nombre, tres de las cuales se convirtieron en huracanes. También se produce días antes del pico estadístico de la temporada de huracanes en el Atlántico el 10 de septiembre.

Los datos de los investigadores de la Universidad Estatal de Colorado muestran que aproximadamente el 68% de toda la actividad tropical del Atlántico ocurre típicamente después del 1 de septiembre. La reciente actividad en el Golfo sigue a un raro período de calma en el Atlántico, sin la formación de tormentas con nombre desde Ernesto a mediados de agosto.

Las cálidas aguas del sur del Golfo, donde las temperaturas rondan los 32 ºC y alrededor de 3 grados por encima del promedio, contribuyeron al fortalecimiento temprano de la tormenta durante el fin de semana.

Un avión cazahuracanes de la Reserva de la Fuerza Aérea estaba en camino para investigar el sistema este domingo por la tarde antes de que se convirtiera en tormenta tropical, dijo el NHC.

Las débiles condiciones de dirección en la atmósfera superior podrían causar movimientos erráticos y es demasiado pronto para determinar la fuerza potencial del sistema o dónde podría tocar tierra.

Sin embargo, “los intereses a lo largo de la costa del Golfo de México, la parte superior de Texas y las costas de Louisiana deben vigilar de cerca el progreso de este sistema”, dijo el Centro de Huracanes.

Mira estas impactantes imágenes de una casa arrasada por las corrientes generadas por el huracán Ernesto

Algunas partes de la costa noroeste del Golfo podrían experimentar fuertes vientos, peligrosas marejadas ciclónicas e inundaciones debido a las fuertes lluvias que comenzarán este martes.

La tormenta podría afectar muchas de las áreas de Texas que ya fueron duramente afectadas en julio por el huracán Beryl, que tocó tierra al suroeste de Houston como categoría 1 y causó grandes inundaciones y daños por el viento, y generó importantes pérdidas de energía en Houston y sus alrededores.

Como referencia, la última temporada en la que dos tormentas con nombre tocaron tierra en Texas fue en 2020, cuando el huracán Hanna de categoría 1 azotó cerca de Brownsville y la tormenta tropical Beta azotó Port Lavaca.

La última tormenta con nombre que azotó directamente Louisiana fue el huracán Ida, de categoría 4, en 2021.

Crédito: NOAA.

Los meteorólogos vigilan otros dos sistemas en el Atlántico

El Centro Nacional de Huracanes también monitorea otros dos sistemas en el Atlántico oriental.

Las lluvias y tormentas eléctricas asociadas con un área alargada de baja presión sobre el Atlántico tropical central continúan mostrando algunos signos de organización.

Sequías, tormentas e inundaciones aumentan la migración climática en América Latina

Las condiciones ambientales parecen favorables para que este sistema se desarrolle más. “Podría formarse una depresión tropical mientras el sistema serpentea sobre el Atlántico tropical central hasta el lunes y luego comienza a moverse en general hacia el oeste durante el resto de la semana”, dijo el NHC, que estima que las probabilidades de formación durante los próximos siete días son del 60%.

Más al este, una baja presión a varios cientos de kilómetros al suroeste de las islas de Cabo Verde está produciendo una amplia zona de lluvias y tormentas eléctricas desorganizadas.

Se espera que este sistema se mueva muy poco durante los próximos días hasta que potencialmente interactúe con una onda tropical que se pronostica que se moverá hacia la costa oeste de África este lunes.

Se podría formar una depresión tropical a mediados o finales de la semana, mientras el sistema comienza a moverse lentamente hacia el noroeste. El Centro de Huracanes dijo que este sistema tiene un 50% de posibilidades de formarse.

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(CNN) –– Las ambiciones de Ties van der Hoeven son, cuanto menos, grandes. El ingeniero neerlandés quiere transformar una enorme extensión de desierto inhóspito en una tierra verde y fértil llena de vida salvaje.

Su mirada está puesta en la península del Sinaí, en Egipto, una extensión árida y triangular que conecta África con Asia. Hace miles de años estaba llena de vida, dijo, pero años de agricultura y otras actividades humanas contribuyeron a convertirla en un desierto.

Van der Hoeven está convencido de que puede devolverle la vida.

Pasó años perfeccionando una iniciativa destinada a restaurar la vida vegetal y animal en aproximadamente 35.000 kilómetros cuadrados de la península del Sinaí, un área apenas más grande que el estado de Maryland en Estados Unidos. El objetivo: absorber el dióxido de carbono que calienta el planeta, aumentar las precipitaciones y llevar alimentos y empleos a la población local.

¿Puede el ser humano cultivar nuevas islas en el país más bajo del mundo?

Van der Hoeven cree que es la respuesta a una serie de enormes problemas globales. “Estamos destruyendo nuestro planeta de una manera que da miedo”, le dijo a CNN. “La única salida holística de esta situación es con una regeneración ecológica a gran escala”.

Los llamados proyectos de reforestación de los desiertos no son nuevos, y este es uno de los muchos que se están llevando a cabo en todo el mundo para transformar los paisajes áridos. Muchos de ellos tienen como objetivo detener la desertificación (la degradación progresiva de las tierras secas), un fenómeno que las Naciones Unidas denominan “una crisis silenciosa e invisible que está desestabilizando a las comunidades a escala mundial”.

Pero el concepto también es controversial: los críticos dicen que la transformación de los desiertos no está probada, es enormemente compleja y podría afectar negativamente al agua y al clima en formas que no podemos predecir.

El surgimiento del plan

El pasado de Van der Hoeven puede parecer raro para alguien que tiene la intención de salvar el mundo. Mientras ejercía como ingeniero hidráulico en la empresa belga de dragado DEME, trabajó en proyectos como la construcción de islas artificiales en Dubai.

Pero en 2016, el rumbo de su carrera cambió cuando se involucró en una empresa para ayudar al gobierno egipcio a recuperar las menguantes poblaciones de peces en el lago Bardawil, una laguna de agua salada en el norte del Sinaí, separada del Mediterráneo por un estrecho banco de arena. Solía ​​tener más de 30 metros de profundidad, pero ahora tiene menos de 3 metros en algunas partes, además de ser caliente y salada.

En pocas semanas, van der Hoeven ideó un plan para abrir la laguna mediante la creación de entradas de marea y limpieza de “barrancos de marea” para permitir que fluyera más agua de mar, de forma que sea más profunda, más fría, menos salada y más llena de vida marina.

Pescadores en el lago Bardawil en el norte del Sinaí, Egipto, el 27 de abril de 2024. Crédito: Ali Moustafa/Getty Images.

Pero cuanto más investigaba, más lejos quería llegar.

Al examinar el terreno con Google Earth, vio el contorno de una red de ríos ahora secos que cruzaban el Sinaí como vasos sanguíneos, lo que sugería que esta tierra alguna vez fue verde. Estudió modelos meteorológicos e investigaciones ecológicas y comenzó a ver conexiones.

Podría utilizar los sedimentos extraídos del lago Bardawil para ayudar a reverdecer la zona circundante. “Son salados, pero contienen muchos nutrientes y minerales, que son necesarios para comenzar a restaurar la tierra”, dijo.

El proceso comenzaría con la ampliación de los humedales alrededor del lago para atraer a las aves y los peces.

Luego, se adentraría más en las montañas de la región para bombear los sedimentos del lago y colocarlos en capas para crear suelos donde pudieran crecer diferentes variedades de plantas tolerantes a la sal. Esto ayudaría a revitalizar los suelos, dijo van der Hoeven, reduciría los niveles de sal y haría que la tierra sea capaz de soportar una mayor variedad de plantas.

La idea central de Van der Hoeven es que al añadir vegetación al paisaje, habrá más evaporación, más formación de nubes y más lluvia. Incluso podría cambiar los vientos, ya que reverdecer la región puede traer de vuelta corrientes de aire cargadas de humedad, dijo.

“Esto podría cambiar completamente los patrones climáticos”.

Una imagen satelital de la península del Sinaí en 2020 frente a una maqueta de cómo podría verse después de la reforestación en 2050. Crédito: The Weather Makers.

Nada de esto será rápido.

Van der Hoeven estima que se necesitarán entre cinco y siete años para revitalizar completamente el lago, y entre 20 y 40 para una reforestación más amplia.

“Es realmente la naturaleza la que nos dice la velocidad”, afirmó.

Restauración “a escala planetaria”

La idea de Van der Hoeven puede parecer muy ambiciosa, pero ya se ha ejecutado antes.

Mientras planificaba febrilmente el proyecto del Sinaí, se encontró con la película “Green Godl”, realizada por el camarógrafo convertido en ecologista John Liu, que documenta un enorme proyecto de reforestación del desierto en la meseta de Loess, en el norte de China.

La región, casi del tamaño de California, había sido gravemente degradada por años de uso y pastoreo excesivo. Con una vegetación escasa y cubierta de un suelo fino de color amarillo ocre, era muy propensa a la erosión.

El iceberg más grande del mundo gira en un torbellino oceánico del que parecería no salir pronto

En un intento por transformar la tierra, el gobierno de China y el Banco Mundial lanzaron en la década de 1990 un programa de reforestación a gran escala, en la que plantaron árboles y arbustos e implementaron restricciones al pastoreo.

En las décadas transcurridas desde entonces, la meseta de Loess floreció. Algunas partes de la tierra están ahora cubiertas de verde, la erosión del suelo se redujo y fluyen menos sedimentos hacia el río Amarillo de la región, lo que disminuye los riesgos de inundaciones.

La meseta de Loess en la provincia de Gansu, China, en 1993. Crédito: Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket/Getty Images.

Montañas verdes y aguas azul verdosas del río Amarillo en la meseta de Loess en Yongjing, provincia de Gansu, China, 24 de julio de 2023. Crédito: Costfoto/NurPhoto/Getty Images.

Para van der Hoeven, fue una prueba más de que su plan podía funcionar.

Buscó a Liu, quien se sumó de inmediato. La idea de reverdecer lo que una vez fue una “tierra de leche y miel” era “muy emocionante”, le dijo Liu a CNN. “La escala alcanza un nivel que ayuda a demostrar que la restauración se puede hacer a escala planetaria”.

Este se sumaría a otros grandes proyectos de reforestación del desierto que también están en marcha.

La Gran Muralla Verde en África, por ejemplo, se puso en marcha en 2007 para ayudar a combatir la desertificación.

La iniciativa, que originalmente iba a ser un cinturón de árboles plantados a lo largo de miles de kilómetros en la región del Sahel del continente, se transformó en un “mosaico de paisajes verdes y productivos” en 11 países, dijo Susan Gardner, directora de la división de ecosistemas del Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente en Nairobi.

Los esfuerzos de restauración son esenciales para enfrentar la crisis climática, la pérdida de la naturaleza y la contaminación, le dijo Gardner a CNN. “No tenemos otra opción. Tenemos que hacerlo; tenemos que escuchar a la ciencia y actuar ahora”.

¿Una “distracción llamativa”?

Pero los ecosistemas son increíblemente complejos y cuando se trata de proyectos enormes y transformadores como reverdecer un desierto, algunos expertos están preocupados por las consecuencias no deseadas.

En la búsqueda de un proyecto que llegue a buen puerto, existe el riesgo de que se opte por especies no autóctonas de rápido crecimiento que no sobrevivan o se vuelvan invasivas, superen a las plantas autóctonas circundantes y dañen la vida silvestre, dijo Alice Hughes, profesora adjunta de la Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas de la Universidad de Hong Kong. Otras requieren de mucha agua, lo que puede causar conflictos con las necesidades de las personas.

Durante las primeras etapas del proyecto de la Gran Muralla Verde de África, muchos de los árboles murieron por falta de agua, por negligencia o porque no eran aptos para esa tierra.

Incluso en la meseta de Loess, ampliamente considerada como un éxito asombroso, hay evidencia de que la vegetación puede estar acercándose, o incluso superando, lo que el suministro de agua local puede soportar.

Un estudio de la región realizado en 2020 concluyó que los niveles más altos de evaporación de árboles y plantas tenían poco impacto en términos de aumento de las precipitaciones e incluso condujeron a una “menor disponibilidad de agua para la agricultura u otras demandas humanas”.

Diez especies salvadas de la extinción que demuestran la capacidad del ser humano de reparar aquello que ha roto

Modificar el ecosistema también podría significar “cambiar potencialmente los patrones climáticos, lo que podría reducir la humedad y provocar sequías en otras partes”, dijo Hughes. La evaporación puede enfriar un lugar pero simplemente depositar ese calor en otros lugares.

La plantación de vegetación podría incluso acabar teniendo un efecto de calentamiento. Los desiertos de colores claros pueden reflejar más energía solar hacia el espacio que la vegetación más oscura. “Los desiertos en realidad enfrían el planeta”, dijo Raymond Pierrehumbert, profesor de física de la Universidad de Oxford.

Pierrehumbert le dijo a CNN que si bien reverdecer las zonas áridas podría tener efectos de enfriamiento local, podrían terminar “dejando al resto del planeta en una situación peor”.

“También tenemos que preguntarnos por qué lo hacemos”, afirmó Hughes. Estos proyectos pueden actuar como “distracciones llamativas”, agregó. “Suenan mucho más emocionantes que el trabajo básico de proteger los sistemas intactos existentes, que siguen desapareciendo a un ritmo asombroso”.

Sin embargo, para Liu existe una gran diferencia entre los desiertos naturales y aquellos que los seres humanos ayudaron a crear. El argumento de que no se deben tocar los desiertos generados por los seres humanos, incluso los que existen desde hace miles de años, no le parece “lógico”, afirmó.

Van der Heoven admitió que el proyecto es complejo, pero cree que es vital intentarlo. “Debemos proteger la naturaleza con todo lo que tenemos, pero también debemos restaurarla con todo lo que tenemos”, comentó.

Está estudiando exactamente qué plantas podrán atraer la vida silvestre y sobrevivir a los impactos futuros del cambio climático. También cree que el cambio del clima en la península del Sinaí tendrá un efecto dominó positivo para la región.

Quizás uno de los mayores obstáculos actuales es la inestabilidad regional mientras continúa la guerra en Gaza.

A finales de 2022, el gobierno egipcio firmó un acuerdo para iniciar la investigación y la planificación de la restauración del lago Bardawil. El proyecto debía comenzar en diciembre, pero el conflicto lo retrasó, afirmó van der Hoeven.

Todavía confía en que esto sucederá y piensa que la situación actual “crea un argumento aún más sólido” a favor de la reforestación como una forma de ayudar a generar más oportunidades y prosperidad.

Lo que está claro es que el cambio climático y la pérdida de biodiversidad, dos crisis globales interrelacionadas, están empeorando, y en la lucha por resolverlas, la idea de reverdecer las tierras áridas gana terreno.

Como ocurre con muchas ideas convincentes y descabelladas para abordar problemas enormes y complejos, hay quienes llaman a la cautela y advierten de las peligrosas consecuencias de apresurarse, y hay quienes sostienen que la situación es ahora tan urgente que no hay otra opción que intentarlas.

Van der Hoeven está firmemente en este último campo.

La regeneración del mundo natural “es la única salida al caos en el que nos encontramos”, afirmó. “Ya no hay tiempo para no actuar. Debemos actuar y aceptar que no lo sabemos todo”.

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(CNN) — Potential Tropical Cyclone Six has formed over the warm waters of the southern Gulf of Mexico with over two months left of 2024’s Atlantic hurricane season, the National Hurricane Center said Sunday.

The storm that formed in the Gulf’s Bay of Campeche was located about 320 miles south of Brownsville, Texas late Sunday with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph, according to the hurricane center’s 11 p.m.ET update.

“The system is moving toward the northwest near 5 mph and a slow northwestward motion followed by a turn more northward is expected over the next day or two,” the hurricane center said.

“On the forecast track, the disturbance is expected to move just offshore ofthe northern Gulf Coast of Mexico throughTuesday, and approach the Upper Texas and Louisiana coastline on Wednesday,” forecasters added.

Mexico’s government issued a tropical storm watch from Barra del Tordo northward to the mouth of the Rio Grande ahead of potential impacts.

The National Weather Service in the United States added a Tropical Storm watch from the mouth of the Rio Grande to Port Mansfiled, about 60 miles up the coast.

The hurricane center said watches could also be issued for more areas of southern Texas and Louisiana Monday.

The system is expected to become a tropical storm on Monday with more significant intensification expected on Tuesday as a result of very warm Gulf waters. It is forecast to strengthen to hurricane status before it reaches the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast, according to the hurricane center.

The next named storm will be called Francine.

An elongated area of low pressure over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico continued producing a large area of showers and thunderstorms on Sunday, the hurricane center said.

The storm’s title, Potential Tropical Cyclone Six, is a designation used by the hurricane center to denote a storm that has not yet formed but is expected to soon and will bring impacts within the 48-hour window requiring alerts to be issued.

The storm comes during an already unusually active Atlantic hurricane season which has so far produced five named storms by mid-August – three of which became hurricanes. It also comes days before the statistical peak of the Atlantic hurricane season on September 10.

Data from Colorado State University researchers show about 68% of all Atlantic tropical activity typically occurs after September 1. The latest activity in the Gulf follows a rare quiet period in the Atlantic, with no named storms forming since Ernesto in mid-August.

The warm waters of the southern Gulf, where temperatures are in the low 90s Fahrenheit and around 5 degrees above average, contributed to the storm’s early strengthening over the weekend.

An Air Force Reserve hurricane hunter plane investigated the system Sunday afternoon, still unorganized and not yet reaping the benefits of those warm water fuels.

Weak steering conditions in the upper atmosphere could cause erratic movements and it’s too early to determine the system’s potential strength or where it may make landfall.

However, “interests along the Gulf coast of Mexico, upper Texas, and Louisiana coasts should closely monitor the progress of this system,” the hurricane center said.

Portions of the northwestern Gulf Coast could potentially see strong winds, dangerous storm surge and flooding from heavy rainfall starting as early as Tuesday.

Tropical downpours are expected to bring 4 to 8 inches of rain, with up to 12 inches possible from the coast of far northeast Mexico northward along portions of the Texas coast and into Louisiana through Thursday. This rainfall would lead to the risk of flash and urban flooding.

Storm surge and rough surf could cause minor coastal flooding along the Mexican coastline. Tropical storm conditions are possible within the watch area along the northern coast of Mexico beginning Tuesday.

The storm could affect many of the same areas of Texas hit hard in July by Hurricane Beryl, which made landfall southwest of Houston as a Category 1 and brought extensive flooding and wind damage, causing significant power losses in and around Houston.

For reference, the last season to have two named storms make landfall in Texas was 2020, when Category 1 Hurricane Hanna struck near Brownsville and Tropical Storm Beta struck Port Lavaca.

If the storm hits the Texas coastline as a hurricane, it would be the first double punch in 16 years. The last time two hurricanes struck Texas in the same year was 2008 with Dolly in Corpus Christi and Ike in Galveston and Houston.

The last named storm to directly hit Louisiana was Category 4 Hurricane Ida in 2021.

Forecasters monitor 2 other systems in Atlantic

The National Hurricane Center is also monitoring two other systems in the eastern Atlantic.

Showers and thunderstorms associated with an elongated area of low pressure over the central tropical Atlantic continue to show some signs of organization.

Environmental conditions appear favorable for this system to develop further. “A tropical depression could form while the system meanders over the central tropical Atlantic through Monday and then begins to move generally westward through the rest of the week,” the hurricane center said, putting chances of formation over the next seven days at 70%.

Further east, low pressure several hundred miles southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands is producing a broad area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms.

This system is expected to move very little during the next couple of days until it potentially interacts with a tropical wave forecast to move off the west coast of Africa on Monday.

A tropical depression could form by the middle or latter part of the week while the system begins moving slowly northwestward. The hurricane center said this system has a 50% chance of forming.

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By Eric Bradner, Jeff Zeleny, Alayna Treene and Arit John, CNN

(CNN) — The most important moment in the race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump comes this week, as the vice president prepares for what could be her only opportunity to directly confront a former president whose political dominance she is pledging to end.

Their Tuesday night debate is particularly important for Harris, who is battling to define herself in voters’ eyes and keep up the positive momentum she’s enjoyed since becoming the Democratic Party’s new nominee this summer.

The debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia will be the first face-to-face encounter between Harris and Trump, who are locked in a tight race.

For Harris, it’s a marquee moment to show Americans that she is ready to assume the presidency, a question very much on the minds of voters as the fall campaign intensifies.

“Look, it’s time to turn the page on the divisiveness,” she said during a weekend stop in Pittsburgh, taking a break from her debate preparations. “It’s time to bring our country together, chart a new way forward.”

Trump, meanwhile, is eager to negatively shape voters’ perceptions of his Democratic rival and halt the gains she has made since ascending to the top of the Democratic ticket in July. Harris has eliminated what for much of the year had been Trump’s lead over Biden in presidential polling.

Both Harris and Trump are offering themselves as change agents of sorts. Harris has pitched herself as a clean break from a bitterly divisive era of politics dominated by Trump. The former president, though, points to Harris’ time in the Biden administration and says she bears the blame for inflation, higher mortgage rates and more.

Trump’s campaign and his allies have accused Harris of avoiding policy particulars. But Trump’s incoherent answer last week to a question about how he would make child care more affordable was a vivid reminder that the former president has long brushed aside policy details and questions about the practicality of his proposals.

Trump has also lobbed racist and lewd attacks against Harris, including falsely claiming in July that she “happened to turn Black” a few years ago (she’s the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants) and sharing on social media references to her former relationship with onetime San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown.

Whether Trump makes similar comments — and how Harris responds — could shape voters’ perceptions of their clash Tuesday.

The debate, moderated by ABC anchors Linsey Davis and David Muir, is scheduled to last 90 minutes. Like the CNN debate between Trump and Biden in June, candidates’ microphones will be turned on when it’s their turn to speak and muted otherwise.

Those rules — agreed to by the Biden and Trump campaigns — have frustrated Harris, who hoped to tap into her skills as a former prosecutor during any onstage engagements with Trump.

“Vice President Harris, a former prosecutor, will be fundamentally disadvantaged by this format, which will serve to shield Donald Trump from direct exchanges with the Vice President. We suspect this is the primary reason for his campaign’s insistence on muted microphones,” the Harris campaign said Wednesday in a letter to ABC News agreeing to the debate.

Tight race in key swing states

The debate comes just before early voting begins in several key states. Polls have shown a tight race nationally and in key battlegrounds — including the “blue wall” of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as the Sun Belt states of Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina.

Both campaigns have paid particular attention to Pennsylvania and Georgia, where recent CNN polling found no clear leader between the candidates. Should Trump hold North Carolina, a state he’s won twice, victories in Pennsylvania and Georgia could push him past the 270 electoral vote threshold even if he does not win any of the other battleground states.

Harris got a jolt of good news late last week, when her campaign announced it had pulled in almost triple her Republican rival’s fundraising haul in August — $361 million to Trump’s $130 million — entering September with $404 million in cash reserves for the final two-month sprint to November. That sum far surpasses the $295 million Trump’s political operation says it has in the bank.

A Sunday New York Times/Siena College poll, however, underscored the importance of the fight over defining Harris. The survey, which showed the two candidates about evenly matched nationally, suggested that a sizable share of voters still need more information about the vice president: 28% of likely voters said they feel like they need to learn more about Harris, while just 9% said the same about Trump.

The poll also offered some potential warnings for Harris. While 61% of likely voters said they thought the next president should represent a “major change” from Biden, just 25% said they thought Harris represented such a change, while 53% said Trump did.

The same poll found that 47% of likely voters found Harris too liberal, despite her attempts to moderate in recent weeks, compared with 32% who said Trump is too conservative.

Pittsburgh debate camp

The two candidates have taken drastically different approaches to preparing for their Tuesday showdown.

No presidential nominee in the modern age has done more televised general election debates than Trump. Harris and her team have been carefully studying all six of them — three with Hillary Clinton in 2016, two with Biden in 2020, and another with Biden in June — as she prepares for her turn onstage.

Harris has spent the days leading up to the debate hunkered down with aides at a hotel in Pittsburgh, making only occasional, brief public appearances. But aides said she has been thinking about a debate with Trump since the moment Biden ended his bid for reelection in late July.

“I think the voters deserve to see the split screen that exists in this race on a debate stage,” Harris told reporters last month. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”

She’s been reading briefing papers about Trump’s comments, positions and even the insults he’s directed at her, aides said, as well as familiarizing herself with how Trump comported himself with his two previous Democratic opponents, particularly Clinton.

Harris has spoken extensively to both Clinton and Biden about debating Trump, hoping to benefit from their experiences.

And she began telegraphing her approach to Trump even before her nomination became official, telling a crowd in Atlanta in late July: “If you’ve got something to say, say it to my face.”

A strategy for Harris, aides said, is not only to stand up to the former president, but to make the case that it’s time for the country to move beyond the Trump era. Any of his taunts on race are expected to be diminished and dismissed as the “same old, tired playbook,” as Harris said during her sit-down interview with CNN last month.

While many candidates have outwardly bristled at debate preparations, aides said Harris is digging into the practice sessions with mock debates against a Trump stand-in, longtime Clinton aide Philippe Reines, and preparing like she did during her years as a prosecutor.

Karen Dunn, a Washington lawyer who has helped Democratic candidates prepare for debates for more than a decade, is running the practice sessions for Harris. Dunn, who worked with Clinton ahead of her encounters with Trump in 2016, got to know Harris when she prepared her to face Vice President Mike Pence in 2020.

“Mr. Vice President, I’m speaking. I’m speaking,” Harris said at one point during that debate, delivering a line that could be reprised on Tuesday if she is faced with any interruptions. “If you don’t mind letting me finish, we can have a conversation. OK? OK.”

Trump’s informal approach

In recent days Trump has ribbed Harris over her preparations and claimed that his debate performance won’t get a fair review.

“If I destroy her in the debate, they’ll say, ‘Trump suffered a humiliating defeat tonight,’” the former president said at a Saturday campaign rally in Mosinee, Wisconsin.

Trump, who argued he doesn’t need formal preparation such as mock debates, has been meeting with senior advisers, policy experts and outside allies to ready himself for Tuesday.

The “policy discussions” — the Trump campaign’s version of debate prep — largely mirror those the former president held in the weeks leading up to his June 27 debate with Biden, sources familiar with the meetings told CNN.

Trump senior adviser Jason Miller has been handling the meetings, which have included sessions with former Trump administration official Stephen Miller, Trump campaign policy adviser Vincent Haley, and former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, among others.

The sessions have largely focused on helping Trump sharpen his messaging on a range of issues, from the economy to immigration and American democracy at large.

The Trump campaign also deliberately scheduled a slate of events in the days leading up to the debate, such last week’s policy speech to the Economic Club of New York and his town hall with Fox News, in an effort to have him hone his messaging in public, his advisers said.

People close to Trump argue one of the most crucial aspects of his Tuesday matchup with Harris is ensuring the former president does not appear overly aggressive toward her and strikes the right tone. As with his June 27 debate with Biden, Trump’s advisers and allies have been encouraging him to appear more restrained while onstage.

However, many privately acknowledge that will be even more important this time. Not only is Harris a more popular candidate than Biden was then, but she is also a woman, and the optics of particular attacks will resonate differently, they say.

Gabbard, who recently endorsed Trump, has been a key player in that effort. The Hawaii Independent was among the 2020 Democratic presidential contenders who challenged Harris on the debate stage. She has been working with Trump to help him better understand Harris’ debate style.

Trump’s advisers believe Gabbard’s attacks on the then-California senator — particularly the scrutiny of her record as a prosecutor — helped undermine Harris’ candidacy in 2019.

The former president’s team has told him to specifically needle Harris on the issues where she has changed her position.

“We want to keep him steered toward hitting her record. On fracking, on her flip flops, and show that she is just as responsible for the Biden administration’s failed policies as Biden is,” one adviser said.

Those helping Trump prepare have also directed him to focus his answers on the core policy issues where he polls higher than Harris, such as the economy, immigration and crime, sources familiar with the meetings said.

“The most important part is finding pivots, finding ways to be critical of her, deflecting attacks from her,” a senior Trump adviser told CNN. “It’s not about her interrupting him or how she’ll act. It’s about him being on target on his responses on policy. That’s been the main focus.”

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(CNN) — Jannik Sinner, el tenista número uno del mundo, ganó su segundo título de Grand Slam en individuales tras vencer al estadounidense Taylor Fritz por 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 en el Arthur Ashe Stadium el domingo.

Fritz, el número 12 del mundo, aspiraba a ser el primer estadounidense en ganar un título de Grand Slam en individuales en 21 años. Andy Roddick, que estuvo presente el domingo, es el último estadounidense en hacerlo cuando triunfó en el US Open de 2003.

Sinner, de 23 años, con una racha de 11 victorias consecutivas, ganó el Abierto de Australia en enero. Se une a Flavia Pennetta, que ganó el campeonato de individuales femenino en 2015, como los únicos campeones individuales italianos en la historia del torneo US Open.

Taylor Fritz fue el primer estadounidense desde 2009 que compitió en una final de individuales de Grand Slam. Crédito: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

El triunfo de Sinner se produce en el contexto de su reciente caso de dopaje que se hizo público el 20 de agosto, una noticia que conmocionó al mundo del tenis.

Sinner, que evitó la suspensión después de dar positivo dos veces en los controles por cantidades mínimas de la sustancia prohibida Clostebol, afirmó que no hizo nada malo. Se dictaminó que Sinner no tuvo “ninguna culpa o negligencia”, y Sinner dijo que los resultados positivos se debieron a una “contaminación involuntaria” a través del tratamiento de su entonces fisioterapeuta.

Este es el primer año desde 2002 que ninguno de los miembros de los “Tres Grandes” del tenis masculino –Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal y el ahora retirado Federer– ganó un Grand Slam. En cambio, los grandes se dividieron entre Sinner y Carlos Alcaraz, y el español ganó el Abierto de Francia y Wimbledon.

En el Abierto de Estados Unidos de este año, Djokovic fue derrotado en la tercera ronda por Alexei Popyrin, mientras que Nadal no jugó.

Los ricos y famosos suelen acudir al Abierto de Estados Unidos, y el domingo no fue la excepción. Entre los asistentes estaban Taylor Swift y Travis Kelce, que estaban sentados con Patrick y Brittany Mahomes. Otros presentes fueron Matthew McConaughey, Martha Stewart, Noah Lyles y Elon Musk.

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By Kate Sullivan and Jack Forrest, CNN

(CNN) — Former President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened prosecution and “long term prison sentences” for election officials and political operatives, who he suggested could cheat in the 2024 election, if he again wins the presidency in November.

Trump, again falsely claiming Democrats engaged in fraudulent behavior in 2020, said that he, attorneys and legal scholars are “watching the Sanctity of the 2024 Presidential Election very closely.”

“WHEN I WIN,” Trump wrote in a post on his social network, Truth Social, that he later also shared on X, “those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law.”

Trump’s threats of prosecution — part of his repeated efforts to cast doubt on the integrity of the 2024 election — come as early voting will soon be underway in a number of states. Trump has routinely suggested he would weaponize the justice system to go after his political opponents if voters return him to the White House — threats that began after he was first indicted in his Manhattan hush money case more than a year ago.

Trump, who regularly spreads conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and falsely claims there was widespread voter fraud, added on Saturday, “I know, better than most, the rampant Cheating and Skullduggery that has taken place by the Democrats in the 2020 Presidential Election. It was a Disgrace to our Nation!”

Despite Trump’s repeated claims, the 2020 election was highly secure, and he lost to Joe Biden by more than 7 million votes. There is no evidence of voter fraud even close to widespread enough to have changed the outcome of the election in any state.

In a post on Sunday, Trump also called on the FBI to investigate mail-in ballots in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania — which are set to go out to voters soon — and cited an interview with an “election expert” conducted by former Fox News host and far-right commentator Tucker Carlson that claimed a fifth of the state’s mail-in ballots were fraudulent.

The former president has for years falsely claimed that mail-in voting leads to fraud and pointed to supposed examples in swing states, including Pennsylvania, in 2020. Despite these claims, Trump’s campaign over the summer launched a new program aimed at promoting absentee, mail-in and early in-person voting ahead of the November election.

Election officials have been the victims of pervasive threats as the 2024 election draws closer, CNN has reported, and elections operations have beefed up security in the face of harassment of elections workers and disinformation about the voting process.

Trump said Saturday he was eyeing everyone from lawyers and donors to voters. “WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again,” he wrote. “Please beware that this legal exposure extends to Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials. Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country,” he added.

Trump still faces his own charges over election interference stemming from efforts to subvert the 2020 election, including  a four-count indictment in his federal case. A separate election interference case against him in Fulton County, Georgia has been indefinitely paused.

This story has been updated with new reporting.

CNN’s Daniel Dale, Kristen Holmes, Ethan Cohen, Dianne Gallagher, Aaron Cooper and Aaron Pellish contributed to this report.

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By Alli Rosenbloom, CNN

(CNN) — Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are in their tennis era.

Swift and Kelce were among the famous faces shown on broadcast of the US Open men’s singles final on Sunday. Italy’s Jannik Sinner beat out American tennis star Taylor Fritz in the match, which aired on ESPN.

The couple walked into Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York holding hands and were dressed for the occasion, with Swift donning a red gingham sundress and Kelce sporting a white Gucci bucket hat.

Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs quarterback, and his wife Brittany Mahomes later showed up and joined Kelce and Swift at their seats. Mahomes and Kelce kicked off the 2024-2025 NFL season on Thursday, winning their season opener against the Baltimore Ravens.

The superstar power couple weren’t the only celebrities in attendance.

Matthew McConaughey and his wife Camila Alves were also seen in the stands. Rockstar Jon Bon Jovi, Eddie Redmayne, Rachel Lindsay, Martha Stewart and Rebel Wilson were also present at Sunday’s match.

Fritz is the first American man to advance to the US Open final since Andy Roddick in 2006.

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By Annie Grayer, CNN

Washington (CNN) — When the House Judiciary Committee held a field hearing on Friday to highlight the impact border security issues have on local communities, the latest installment of an ongoing series, Vice President Kamala Harris was underlying their line of attack for the first time.

Four months ago, when the panel held a similar field hearing in North Dakota, the vice president was not mentioned by name once.

The shift, both in branding and messaging from the “Biden Border Crisis” to the “Biden-Harris Border Crisis” underscores how House Republicans are pivoting to specifically target Harris after the summer of Democratic reckoning over President Joe Biden resulted in Harris becoming the Democrats’ presidential nominee with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.

As Congress embarks on a three-week sprint before its next recess, both parties return to Washington, DC, for a final messaging push dictated by the dynamics of the presidential race in an entirely new political landscape, while trying to balance the critical September 30 government funding deadline.

Republicans have turned their operation – initially designed to target Biden – on its head to now go after Harris, and Democrats are positioning themselves to frame the GOP attacks as a last-ditch effort while planning some offensive moves of their own.

Members of the Trump campaign advised the House GOP conference during a private call on Friday about what her biggest perceived weaknesses are and to keep their attack of Harris on the border and the state of the economy, a source on the call told CNN. Calls between Republican lawmakers and Trump campaign officials are expected to be a regular occurrence in the coming weeks, sources told CNN, as backchannel coordination ahead of the November election intensifies.

The guidance from the Trump campaign largely mirrors the playbook Republicans had used against Biden, and given Harris is part of Biden’s administration and has been the tie-breaking vote in the Senate in her role as vice president, Republicans plan to keep those issues in the spotlight.

With these sustained attacks on the border and immigration, Democrats will continue to point to border crossings being at a four-year low because of new Biden administration policies and emphasize that Republicans tanked a bipartisan border deal for political reasons.

But while there is evidence that Republicans are trying to develop a more targeted approach to the Harris-Walz ticket – as old tropes such as “Biden crime family” fall by the wayside – some GOP messaging ploys on Harris have come off disjointed. Republicans have been trying to find their footing when it comes to attacking Harris over the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, to further divide Democrats over the issue. While Harris has stood behind Biden in his handling of the war, and largely shares the same positions as the president, Republicans can’t seem to decide in their messaging if Harris is too close to or too much of an opponent of Israel.

A Republican-linked group in Michigan for example purchased digital ads last week touting Harris’ close relationship with Israel, while Trump said this week at an event that if Harris were elected Israel will “no longer exist.”

On top of that, some Republicans have deviated from the script and gone after Harris for being a “DEI hire,” unleashing swift blowback that those attacks were racially charged.

GOP committees lead the new Harris-focused effort

The Republican-led congressional committees have been spearheading the shift in focus from Biden to Harris.

Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, for example, will release a report and hold a news conference Monday on the chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, calling it an “unprecedented oversight of the Biden-Harris administration,” in an apparent messaging shift after previously labeling it the responsibility of the Biden administration.

The House Education and Workforce Committee issued a subpoena to Walz on Wednesday for documents related to a $250 million fraud scheme where individuals affiliated with a Minnesota-based nonprofit were charged with stealing from a federal program designed to provide meals for needy children during the pandemic.

The House Oversight Committee launched an investigation into Walz last month alleging the Minnesota governor has ties to the Chinese Communist Party, and a committee source told CNN the panel plans to hold hearings targeting the Biden-Harris administration when lawmakers return to session.

GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida asked Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas last month to turn over any documents that use the terms “czar,” “border,” “migration,” or “immigration” in relation to Harris, as Republicans continue to try and frame Harris as the “border czar,” while the White House rejects the label, arguing her focus was on long-term fixes. And GOP Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin raising questions about Walz’s representation of his military record.

“We don’t have a lot of time,” GOP Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina told CNN on Thursday about how Republicans are pivoting to focus on Harris in September.

“I certainly believe that (Harris’) role should be under the microscope,” Mace added.

The GOP turn in focus to Harris however leaves a huge GOP investigative target in an awkward position.

The trio of committees leading the impeachment inquiry into Biden, once a top priority for the GOP investigative agenda, released their report on Biden in the thick of August recess without a clear path forward. Instead of pushing for the House to vote on impeachment, the report leaves it up to lawmakers to decide how to move forward.

Summarizing the GOP approach to Biden now that the president is not running for reelection, Mike Davis, a former top aide to Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley and founder of the Article III Project, told CNN, “Joe Biden who? No one cares about him anymore.”

And with only a matter of weeks before Election Day, even Republicans have acknowledged they have more pressing political fish to fry.

“I think just looking at the calendar, I think that it’s unlikely that there will be action on impeachment with Joe Biden,” GOP Rep. Bob Good of Virginia told CNN. “However, I have said for the better part of four years now that Joe Biden should be impeached.”

Democrats see through GOP efforts

But Democrats see the new push to target Harris and Walz as empty threats, and they point to GOP attacks on Harris’ race as disqualifying.

“Republicans can’t win on policy, and that’s why they’re attacking Kamala Harris’ identity and lying about Tim Walz’s military record,” Democratic Rep. Sara Jacobs of California told CNN. “We have plenty to attack them on.”

On top of pushing back on the GOP claims, Democrats are using their spots on committees, even though they are in the minority, to go on offense, and are plotting messaging strategies of their own.

Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Florida, who serves on the Oversight Committee, criticized Republicans for their snap investigations into Harris and Walz.

“All of a sudden, the only three weeks we are going to be there, we are opening up all these new things?” Moskowitz said.

Framing the Democratic strategy on these committees, Moskowitz added: “We pivot, we go on the offense, we don’t play defense.”

Earlier this month, House Oversight Committee Democrats launched an investigation into whether Trump received $10 million from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi as part of his 2016 presidential campaign, the latest example of Democrats investigating the potential foreign influence over Trump.

The Democratic working group that has spearheaded messaging against Project 2025, the conservative blueprint for the next Republican president that has attracted considerable blowback in Trump’s race for the White House, also has a slew of messaging events planned over the next month, multiple sources told CNN.

While Trump continues to deny any involvement with Project 2025, Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee are preparing to continue to highlight examples where they see evidence of the right wing blueprint in Republican funding proposals in Congress.

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(CNN Español) — Apple llevará a cabo su próximo gran evento, en el que se espera el lanzamiento del iPhone 16 y otra novedades, el 9 de septiembre. El lema en esta ocasión será “It’s Glowtime”.

Aunque es una tradición que Apple realice una conferencia para presentar nuevas tecnologías e innovaciones en sus productos, uno de los anuncios más esperados es el último iPhone, que se espera traiga incorporada la inteligencia artificial (IA).

Apple tiene que volver a poner de moda el iPhone; esta es su oportunidad

En junio, al empresa tecnológica anunció una serie de funciones de IA generativa para el iPhone en su Conferencia Mundial de Desarrolladores anual, presentó el primer lote de herramientas impulsadas por “Apple Intelligence”, desde Genmoji personalizado (el emoji generado por IA de Apple) hasta una Siri significativamente más inteligente, que puede responder preguntas sobre su agenda, qué hay en su correo electrónico y a qué hora aterriza el vuelo de su ser querido.

La IA generativa permite que las herramientas creen trabajos escritos, imágenes e incluso audio en respuesta a las indicaciones de los usuarios.

También se prevé que Apple anuncie la asociación con el creador de ChatGPT, OpenAI, que enfrenta su propio escrutinio y desafíos.

La combinación de Siri con el último modelo ChatGPT-4o de OpenAI podría permitir al asistente recordar una foto tomada hace años, proporcionar información más específica e incluso posiblemente aprender las preferencias y la personalidad del usuario con el tiempo.

Aunque los usuarios del iPhone 15 Pro Max probablemente podrán acceder al menos a algunas de las funciones de IA, se espera que el próximo iPhone 16 sea el primer dispositivo diseñado completamente con la IA en mente.

Otras novedades que se epsran son referentes a dispositivos como Apple Watch, Airpods, Apple TV 4K, Vision Pro y nuevos procesadores, botones y funciones.

Cómo ver el evento y a qué hora

El evento se llevará a cabo en el Steve Jobs Theater en su sede de Apple Park, en Cupertino, California, y se transmitirá en línea en su cuenta oficial de Youtube.

A continuación los horarios por país:

Miami, EE.UU: 1 p.m. ET Cupertino, EE.UU: a partir de las 10 a.m Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras y México: a partir de las 11 a.m. Colombia, Ecuador y Perú: a partir de las 12 p.m. Puerto Rico y Santo Domingo: a partir de la 1 p.m. Argentina, Chile, Paraguay y Uruguay: a partir de las 2 p.m.

Ramishah Maruf contribuyó a este informe.

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(CNN Español) –– La decisión del candidato presidencial opositor Edmundo González Urrutia de salir de Venezuela y buscar asilo político en España obedeció a “decisiones de urgencia” que tomó en cuestión de horas para preservar su vida, su libertad, y para garantizar el bienestar de su familia, dijo a CNN este domingo su abogado, José Vicente Haro.

“Su vida corría peligro, su integridad física, su libertad y lo que es, en general, sus seguridades personales corrían peligro”, indicó Haro en entrevista.

Ante la sorpresiva salida de González Urrutia este sábado, en especial porque esta semana Haro había dicho que el candidato no se había planteado solicitar asilo en otros países, el abogado indicó que “fue una decisión que se tuvo que tomar y tuvo que tomar don Edmundo González Urrutia por razones humanas, que tal vez muchos no comprendan, pero hay que estar en la piel, hay que estar en la mente, hay que estar en la situación que él estuvo con un riesgo que se cernía sobre su familia, sobre su vida, con una persecución judicial injusta, con una investigación penal, con una orden de aprehensión”.

“Y llega un momento en que el instinto mínimo de conservación de su vida, de su integridad física, de su libertad, priva sobre muchas cosas”, agregó Haro.

El abogado también compartió que la decisión se tomó en las últimas horas de la medianoche del viernes, luego de que opositores denunciaran que las fuerzas de seguridad de Venezuela habían rodeado la embajada de Argentina en Venezuela, lo que fue calificado como “asedio” del Gobierno del presidente Nicolás Maduro. La situación se extendió a lo largo de la noche hasta la mañana de este sábado.

Venezuela revoca a Brasil la representación de los intereses de Argentina mientras fuerzas de seguridad rodean la embajada

Seis opositores venezolanos permanecen en la sede diplomática luego de asilarse este año y para quienes el Gobierno de Argentina ya solicitó salvoconductos para que se les permita salir de Venezuela. Hasta ahora, las solicitudes no han sido concedidas por parte de las autoridades venezolanas.

El Gobierno de Venezuela anunció este sábado que revocaba la autorización a Brasil para representar los intereses de Argentina en el país, en medio de denuncias de un asedio a la sede diplomática argentina en Caracas.

Según Haro, la decisión de González se dio en este contexto, ya que el opositor pensaba que las autoridades venezolanas podrían acechar cualquier embajada si él intentaba resguardarse en ellas.

“Había dos opciones y se lo tengo que decir abiertamente: o ir a prisión injustamente, estar detenido, estar preso injustamente por delitos que no ha cometido, por hechos que no revisten carácter penal, por hechos que se presumen como delitos, según el Ministerio Público, que él en modo alguno ha cometido y entonces tendríamos a un Edmundo González Urrutia en las cárceles venezolanas. No se sabe en qué circunstancias y qué situaciones. O se preservará la vida de él a través de una decisión sobrevenida en la que incluso a la medianoche del día viernes él todavía no estaba seguro de adoptarla”, indicó Haro.

Edmundo González dejó Venezuela por hostigamiento, dice Antonio Ledezma

Este sábado, en una conferencia de prensa, el fiscal general de Venezuela, Tarek William Saab, se refirió a la salida de González Urrutia hacia España y dijo que el Gobierno venezolano había otorgado el salvoconducto que permitió la salida del opositor a Europa.

Saab no dijo qué pasaría con el proceso judicial que se sigue contra González Urrutia, quien fue acusado de varios delitos que supuestamente se desprenden de la publicación de actas en internet que, según la oposición, muestran su victoria en las urnas el pasado 28 de julio frente a Nicolás Maduro, quien fue declarado vencedor por el Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) en medio de acusaciones de fraude. El candidato ha dicho que la Fiscalía no le daba garantías para presentarse a citatorios y que era víctima de una persecución judicial injusta.

La salida de González de Venezuela ocurre cinco días después de que un tribunal ordenara su arresto por cargos relacionados con la publicación de resultados electorales en un sitio web. González reiteradamente rechazó los cargos que se le imputan.

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By Diane Ako

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    PARIS, France (KITV) — Nearly three million U.S. citizens living abroad can vote absentee in federal elections, according to the Federal Voting Assistance Program. While that’s only a fraction of the roughly 244 million Americans eligible to vote in 2024, political analysts say in a presidential race this tight, every vote could matter.

Island News went to Europe to talk to Hawaii residents living there, who say they will definitely cast their ballot this November.

European resident Guy DeConte splits his time between homes in Paris and Antwerp. He and his husband moved here ten years ago, but they’ve always kept tabs on politics in his home country of America. “It was always important to us and not physically living in the United States, it seems something important to keep tabs on,” said the Kamehameha Kapalama graduate.

The former Hawaii Kai resident says he is deeply concerned about the fate of this country. “It seems the past maybe eight years has become so divisive and also just split, like variations of what people seem to want are so divergent. In order to keep our voices loud, we need to vote,” DeConte asserted.

Kamehameha Kea’au graduate Lea Wery is another American overseas. The Hawaii Island native is spending a university year abroad in Amsterdam. “I just feel that as the new generation, it’s super important for us to vote, have our voices be heard, and have a say in the future of our world and what’s going on today,” she explained.

Can so relatively few votes matter? Political analyst and former US diplomat Patrick Branco says, it sure can. Just one example: “When you look at the 2000 election, President Bush versus Al Gore, it was a margin of 1,700 votes. After the election night, these votes were still tallied to determine who actually won the presidential election,” he recalled.

“The other example is in 2018, Kyrsten Sinema versus Martha McSally in Arizona. Kyrsten Sinema only won by a narrow margin after those votes were counted from overseas.”

DeConte, an avid political watcher who’s been voting since he was 18, knows that. He added, “Hawaii is one of the last states to actually get counted. By that time, the elections, especially the general elections like [for] the president, has already been decided. I think [Hawaii] might have one of the lowest, if not the lowest voter turnouts in the nation for that reason. You think it doesn’t matter, but it does matter because I think every vote counts, as cliche as that sounds.”

He definitely plans to make his voice heard through his vote.

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By Sheldon Fox and Rubén Rosario

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    MIAMI (WSVN) — An incensed film and TV actor is blaming Miami Beach after, he said, his stepson had a significant amount of cash stolen from him during a trip to South Florida, and he wants the city to pay the price for what happened.

Jeremy London did not hold back when he expressed how he felt about the city of Miami Beach.

“The city of Miami Beach is going to rob you, and they’re not going to take care of you.” he said. “Tourists, stay away.”

London, whose screen credits include Kevin Smith’s “Mallrats” and the TV series “Party of Five,” is furious at Beach Towing over what he said happened to his stepson, Noah Gagneaux.

“We feel like the city robbed our son and is not doing anything to take care of him,” said London.

Gagneaux said his rental car was towed on Thursday. He didn’t know it, but it was unlawfully parked for being where his ticket said was “near hazardous or congested places” on 23rd Street.

As of Friday night, Gagneaux still hasn’t gotten his rental back, but that’s not even the problem.

“Fifteen hundred dollars cash of mine have been stolen out of the car,” he said.

Gagneaux and his girlfriend said that when they were allowed access to the car at the tow company to charge their phones and retrieve their belongings, the money that he’d intentionally left inside was gone.

When asked if there was a possibility that he had misplaced the cash, Gagneaux replied, “No sir, I’m 100% positive. I put it in the center console.”

Gagneaux said he immediately confronted employees at the towing company.

“They told me that I would have to call the police and do a report,” he said.

Gagneaux said he called Miami Beach Police, and he was told he’d have to call a lawyer since it was cash.

So Gagneaux and his girlfriend were stranded, with no car and no money.

The couple, who came to South Florida from Mississippi to celebrate Gagneaux’s birthday, said their visit has become quite the vacation nightmare.

Beach Towing said they’re not commenting.

A livid London reached out to 7News via the social media platform X on Thursday to bring the missing cash to the station’s attention.

“This isn’t just happening to us,” said London.

On Feb. 28, 2023, a Beach Towing driver was arrested for burglary and petty theft after he was recorded on cellphone video rummaging through a woman’s car that was parked in the South of Fifth section back in January.

No one has been charged in this latest incident.

In a statement to 7News, a spokesperson for the city of Miami Beach said their police department is officially looking into the matter.

As for London, he has a message for anyone considering a trip to Miami Beach.

“Don’t come to the city of Miami Beach. Stay as far away from it, don’t ever come to it, don’t ever give them your money, don’t give them your time.”

Beach Towing said Gagneaux and his girlfriend have to get a notary and then sort things out with the rental company before the car the couple rented can be removed from their lot.

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(CNN) — Horas antes del inicio de la temporada 2024 de la NFL, los Dallas Cowboys y su mariscal de campo estrella Dak Prescott acordaron una extensión de contrato récord de cuatro años y US$ 240 millones, confirmó su agente Todd France a CNN este domingo.

El acuerdo, según ESPN y The Athletic, incluye US$ 231 millones garantizados, lo que convierte a Prescott en el jugador mejor pagado de la NFL.

El jugador de 31 años se convierte en el primero en ganar US$ 60 millones por año.

La NFL anuncia que Kendrick Lamar será el artista en el medio tiempo del Super Bowl LIX

La temporada pasada, Prescott lanzó 36 touchdowns, la mayor cantidad en la liga, convirtiéndose en el primer mariscal de campo de los Cowboys en hacerlo. También lideró la NFL en pases completados con un récord personal de 410. Prescott terminó con 4.516 yardas por pase, la tercera mayor cantidad en la NFL.

Dak Prescott de los Dallas Cowboys se prepara para dar un pase durante el juego de comodines de la NFC contra los Green Bay Packers el 14 de enero de 2024. (Foto: Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)

El tres veces jugador del Pro Bowl terminó segundo en la votación para el MVP de la NFL.

Los Cowboys abren la temporada como visitantes contra los Cleveland Browns este domingo.

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By Robert Ilich, CNN

(CNN) — DirecTV filed a complaint Saturday with the Federal Communications Commission alleging Disney did not negotiate in good faith as the two sides remain at an impasse on a distribution deal.

“Disney has violated the FCC’s good faith mandates by predicating any licensing agreement on DIRECTV’s waiving any legal claims on Disney’s past, current, or future anticompetitive actions, including its ongoing packaging and minimum penetration demands,” a DirecTV spokesperson told CNN on Sunday.

In the 10-page complaint, DirecTV claimed the negotiations stalled because, “Disney insists on bundling and penetration requirements that a federal district court judge in New York recently found in the context of the ‘Venu’ joint venture to be unlawful, anticompetitive, and ‘bad for consumers.’”

On August 16, a federal judge temporarily blocked the launch of Venu Sports, a joint sports streaming venture from Disney, Fox Corporation and Warner Brothers Discovery after Fubo, a sports streaming service, filed a lawsuit against the media giants. Warner Brothers Discovery is the parent company of CNN.

More than 11 million subscribers have been affected by Disney pulling its ABC stations, ESPN and other cable networks from DirecTV’s lineup last week. The blackout came ahead of the upcoming presidential debate on ABC between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, the final rounds of US Open tennis and the start of the NFL season. ESPN owns the broadcast rights to “Monday Night Football,” which will be blacked out for DirecTV subscribers unless a deal is reached.

“We continue to negotiate with DirecTV to restore access to our content as quickly as possible,” a Disney spokesperson told CNN on Sunday. “We urge DirecTV to stop creating diversions and instead prioritize their customers by finalizing a deal that would allow their subscribers to watch our strong upcoming lineup of sports, news and entertainment programming, starting with the return of Monday Night Football.”

DirecTV subscribers have been blacked out of Disney’s owned-and-operated ABC local stations in six major media markets — New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston and San Francisco — as well as the smaller markets of Fresno, California, and Raleigh, North Carolina.

The opening game for “Monday Night Football” features the New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers. In 2023, the first “Monday Night Football” game — a matchup between the Buffalo Bills and the Jets — drew 22.64 million viewers, its biggest audience of the ESPN era, which dates back to 2006.

The blackout also includes ESPN’s suite of channels and the Disney Channel, Disney Jr., FX and National Geographic.

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By Alli Rosenbloom, CNN

(CNN) — Pat Sajak is taking home a shiny keepsake to remember his final season as the host of “Wheel of Fortune.”

Sajak, who retired as the host of the long-running ABC game show in June after over 40 years, won an Emmy for outstanding host for a game show during the Creative Arts Emmys ceremony on Saturday.

He beat out Steve Harvey for “Celebrity Feud,” Ken Jennings for “Jeopardy!”, Keke Palmer for “Password” and Jane Lynch for “Weakest Link.” Sajak was not present to accept the award.

The last time Sajak was recognized by the Television Academy for his work as the host of “Wheel” was in 1998 when he won a Daytime Emmy. He previously won Daytime Emmys in 1993 and 1997 and was honored with a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011. He has earned a total of 25 nominations throughout his career.

The outstanding host for a game show category was moved from the Daytime Emmys to the Primetime Emmys in 2023. Keke Palmer won the category last year for her work as the host of “Password.

Sajak made his hosting debut on “Wheel” in 1981 and took his final spin in June. He co-hosted the show alongside Vanna White since 1982, with the pair also serving as hosts for the “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune” spinoff.

White will remain on the show for two more years alongside her new co-host Ryan Seacrest, who is taking over Sajak’s hosting duties. Seacrest’s first episode as the new host of “Wheel” will air on Monday.

“It’s been an incredible privilege to be invited into millions of homes night after night, year after year, decade after decade,” Sajak said during his final episode, which aired on June 7.

Sajak continued to say he’s “always felt that the privilege came with a responsibility to keep this daily half-hour a safe place for family, fun, no social issues, no politics, nothing embarrassing I hope, just a game.”

The long-time host announced he’d be retiring in June 2023 on X, writing that his time on the beloved game show has been “a wonderful ride.”

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By Wayne Sterling, CNN

(CNN) — Hours before the start of the 2024 NFL season, the Dallas Cowboys and their star quarterback Dak Prescott agreed to a record four-year, $240 million contract extension, his agent Todd France confirmed to CNN on Sunday.

The deal, according to ESPN and The Athletic, includes $231 million guaranteed, making Prescott the highest-paid player in the NFL.

The 31-year-old becomes the first player to earn $60 million per year.

Last season, Prescott threw a league-high 36 passing touchdowns, becoming the first Cowboys signal caller to do so. He also led the NFL in completions with a career-high-tying 410. Prescott finished with 4,516 passing yards, third most in the NFL.

The three-time Pro Bowler finished second in NFL MVP voting.

The Cowboys open the season on the road against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.

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By Kevin Liptak, MJ Lee, Priscilla Alvarez and Kylie Atwood, CNN

Washington (CNN) — Vice President Kamala Harris has met more than 150 world leaders since becoming vice president. But a July sit-down with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu felt different.

Coming days after President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race and as Democrats were coalescing around her candidacy, perhaps no other sit-down would garner as much attention or carry as much weight.

“We have a lot to talk about,” she said, before dismissing reporters — the exact same words Biden used to begin his own meeting. But Harris’ were delivered in a manner that said something entirely different.

The moment, which amounted to Harris’s debut on the world stage as the Democratic standard-bearer, captured the complicated dynamics that have colored her foreign policy ambitions, and offered a preview of the type of statesmanship she would pursue as president.

By virtue of her position as vice president to a commander in chief whose “first love” was foreign policy, according to his aides, Harris had little room over the past three-and-a-half years to stake out her own distinct doctrine or worldview.

Instead, she has hewn closely to the views of her boss, even as she’s become more involved over time in the US response to various roiling global conflicts. In meetings and on trips abroad, she’s acted as a clean-up artist and bearer of bad news on behalf of Biden, traditional roles for a vice president.

Republicans, led by Donald Trump, have argued Harris sat alongside Biden as the world went up in flames. They point to her assertion, made during an interview on CNN, that she was the last person in the room as Biden was deciding to go ahead with his planned US withdrawal from Afghanistan, which ended in chaos and deadly violence.

Harris said in the interview that she was comfortable with Biden’s decision and praised the president’s “courage” in making it. On the campaign trail, she’s argued that Trump’s “chaotic actions” as president led to “catastrophic consequences” in Afghanistan.

Harris herself has shown little daylight between herself and her boss. Asked directly during an August CNN interview – twice – whether she would be doing anything differently than the current president on the Middle East, Harris offered few specifics beyond pointing to a long-negotiated hostage and ceasefire deal.

“No,” she told Dana Bash. “I – we have to get a deal done. Dana, we have to get a deal done.”

Yet for all the close ties between Biden and Harris on the world stage, there are some signs she would not act entirely as a carbon copy of her former boss’s approach. As vice president, she has been a booster for important allies that Biden did not have time to lavish his full attention upon. And she has been a louder voice for causes that haven’t always received the full spotlight of the presidency — in particular the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza.

Israel

Harris’ unusual step of delivering remarks following her July meeting with Netanyahu was a move she would not likely have made were Biden still running for a second term. White House officials made a concerted decision to allow her short statement to stand as the only substantive comment following Netanyahu’s visit.

While reiterating her steadfast support for Israel – as she had done every time the issue arose over the previous 10 months – she also struck an urgent tone on the plight of the Palestinians.

“We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering,” Harris said outside her ceremonial office, next door to the White House, “and I will not be silent.”

Senior White House officials – even as they insisted that there was no daylight between the president and vice president when it comes to Middle East policy – have more readily acknowledged over the last year that their respective tones when discussing the Israel-Hamas war were, in fact, distinct.

“They have different styles, is the reality, when it comes to expressing themselves,” one senior Biden adviser said earlier this year on how the president and Harris tended to publicly discuss the ongoing conflict.

As a result, the vice president’s public statements criticizing Israel’s handling of the Gaza conflict and lamenting the plight of Palestinian civilians had, more than once since the onset of the war, raised questions about whether Harris was on a different page from Biden.

Harris herself has been sensitive to that scrutiny. As one senior Democrat close to the vice president put it, Harris “understands that there’s a perception that she is left of (Biden) on Israel.”

Privately, this Democrat said, the vice president has insisted that she believes it is possible to be both “strongly pro-Israel” and capable of articulating the belief that “this fight is not with the Palestinian people.”

Last December, the vice president also traveled to the Middle East to attend a climate summit – and juggled multiple high stakes meetings and calls with Arab leaders amid heightening tensions, marking her foray into wartime diplomacy and forcefully sending a message of restraint.

As the Israel-Hamas war has unfolded, Harris has displayed a genuine desire to take the pulse of the Arab American community in the US, sources familiar with her engagements said.

Harris has made phone calls to Arab American leaders in the US to understand their perspective and to listen to their criticism of the Biden administration’s policy approach to the conflict, explained two sources. Some have been shocked to receive a call from the vice president, they said.

A Harris aide said that as vice president, she has “strongly condemned Hamas’ brutal terrorist attack on October 7, denounced atrocious acts of sexual violence, advocated relentlessly to bring the hostages home, and worked to ensure Israel remains a secure, democratic and Jewish state.”

Learning on the job

Harris did not enter the job with vast experience on the world stage. Both her advisers and foreign officials she’s interacted with say Harris managed to take what was essentially a supporting role and turn it into a crash course in foreign diplomacy. One former senior adviser described the vice president taking home massive briefing books and often peppering staffers with questions as she was briefed on multiple foreign policy issues.

She began, some said, rather scripted and uncertain but emerged within her first year in office a more confident voice. In meetings, she can appear alternatively warm – searching for commonalities over food or family – and steely, as she holds a firm line on US policy.

Harris advisers argue nothing could have better prepared her to step onto the global stage, should she to win the election in November, than her time as vice president.

They point to her travels abroad, meetings with world leaders and the time that she has spent with Biden navigating a number of major foreign policy crises – including the wars in Ukraine and Gaza – as giving her a certain gravitas that she did not have when she was first seeking the presidency in 2020.

Harris has visited 21 countries in her current role, according to an aide, and met with more than 150 world leaders — including China’s President Xi Jinping, with whom Biden has long sought to cultivate more stable ties.

“There’s no better preparation to be president of the United States than what the vice president has done over the past three-and-a-half years,” a senior administration official said.

Still, Harris has not always been the first phone call for foreign leaders or officials looking to get a line into the White House. Others on Biden’s team, including his secretary of state and national security adviser, have been seen as more central to American decision making, according to diplomats.

As she heads toward November’s election on a swell of Democratic momentum, some foreign governments are looking to know her better.

In the run-up to this month’s United Nations General Assembly, the yearly marathon of diplomacy that brings a parade of foreign leaders to New York, dozens of countries have been reaching out in hopes of setting up a meeting with Harris, multiple US officials said. Some countries have even offered to accommodate or change their schedules to lock in a meeting with her.

Harris currently does not plan to travel up to New York for the assembly, a source familiar with the plans said. As she has done in previous years, it’s possible she will take time to meet with foreign leaders who are visiting the US for the UN gathering in Washington, DC.

US diplomats said it would be to her benefit to sit down with world leaders, but they also understand her team is deciding whether she can afford to be off the campaign trail.

“Every second she is not in Michigan or Pennsylvania is a loss. It is a cost-benefit analysis,” said one US official.

Among those who have worked most closely with Harris on foreign policy matters over the past three-and-a-half years and seen as the vice president’s foreign policy brain trust are Phil Gordon, her national security adviser; Rebecca Lissner, her principal deputy national security adviser; and Dean Lieberman, her deputy national security adviser for strategic communications.

One stalwart of the Biden national security brain trust – with whom Harris held periodic lunch meetings to discuss foreign affairs – suggested this week he would not stay on for a potential Harris presidency.

“All I’m looking at right now is the balance of this administration, in January,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the conclusion of a news conference in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. “And I can tell you, from having spent some time over the last week on bit of a break with my kids, I will relish having a lot more time with them.”

When asked where the vice president’s foreign policy views may ultimately differ from Biden’s, her advisers insist that so long as she is in her current job, they would decline to address what they see as “hypothetical policy questions.”

“She remains the vice president of the United States and stands by the Biden-Harris administration policies,” Lieberman said. That is certainly the case, he added, when it comes to the vice president’s views on the Israel-Hamas war.

Ukraine

A month after Russia invaded Ukraine, Harris was dispatched to NATO’s eastern flank on a reassurance mission – one that also came with some sensitive diplomatic smoothing-over. Moments before she took off for Poland, a rift had emerged between Warsaw and Washington over the transfer of fighter jets to Ukraine.

Aboard Air Force Two, Harris took a phone call from Biden, making sure she was up to speed on the matter. In meetings with leaders, both in Poland and a later stop in Romania, Harris sought both to assert American support for Ukraine and its NATO allies while avoiding any public spat.

For a foreign policy novice with aspirations for higher office, the war in Ukraine was a rigorous introduction to wartime diplomacy.

Days before the 2022 invasion by Russia, Harris met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Munich Security Conference and discussed with him the latest American intelligence about what might be coming. She has met with Zelensky six times in total since the war began.

“The Zelensky meeting was a pivotal moment in her journey of leading on foreign policy,” said Nancy McEldowney, who served as national security advisor to Harris from 2021 to early 2022.

“In that meeting, we conducted an unprecedented exchange of detailed intelligence,” McEldowney recalled of the hourslong meeting. “We laid out all of the information, and then talked about what it meant and talked about how the Ukrainians could respond.”

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference the following year in 2023, Harris said Russia had committed crimes against humanity.

Still, while Harris attended the Munich forum as the top Biden administration official twice and met with Zelensky each time, the Ukrainians were frustrated both times when they learned that she was being sent instead of Biden, sources said. In their view, there was no evidence that Harris was – at either time – deeply involved in US policymaking when it came to the war.

During Harris’s meeting with the Ukrainians at Munich in 2024, one private message she delivered was that the US urged the Ukrainians to stop hitting Russian energy inside of Russia, sources said. This was not the first time the Ukrainians had heard the message from US officials, but Harris delivered the message empathically and they were not thrilled, sources said.

Today, Ukrainian officials don’t know exactly what to expect from a Harris presidency if she wins the election.

“They don’t see her as solid as Biden when it comes to supporting Ukraine. Their best bet is that she will uphold that status quo of US support,” said one source close to the Ukrainians.

“Vice President Harris has been a strong proponent of enduring US support for Ukraine and has repeatedly expressed an unwavering commitment to support the people of Ukraine as they defend themselves against Russia’s brutal aggression. She has vowed to continue to support Ukraine and impose costs on Russia,” an aide to the vice president said.

Personal touch

As the US sought to repair the relationship with France after the rollout of a submarine deal that didn’t include the old European ally, the Biden administration sent a number of high-ranking officials to Paris: Blinken, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and then climate envoy John Kerry. The Biden administration then decided to send Harris as the final visitor, which a European official described as a very successful crescendo.

Harris spent four days in the country and developed a “good personal relationship” with French President Emmanuel Macron, the official said.

“At the time she was perceived to not have much experience, but she gave off a really good impression,” the official said. “She displayed what is rare in high-level politicians: She took her time.”

Indeed, unlike Biden – who rarely departed from his schedule of meetings to take in any culture during his trips abroad – Harris made time for a quintessentially Parisian pursuit: Shopping.

Stopping at the E. Dehillerin, the famous cookware shop on Rue Coquilliere near the Louvre, Harris declared she needed some pots for her Thanksgiving meal.

Pointing to the racks of copper ware, she inquired – in French – whether they had a smaller model: “Comme ça, mais plus petit?”

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By Gloria Pazmino, CNN

(CNN) — When Linda Sun visited Beijing in the winter of 2018, according to federal prosecutors, a Chinese businessman based in the US made travel arrangements for her and reserved a presidential suite once used by First Lady Michelle Obama.

A year later, on a second trip to Beijing, Sun exchanged correspondence with the same businessman and discussed her possible attendance to a military parade, ultimately attending a reception to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

Then came the summer of 2020, when the FBI summoned Sun for an interview.

Sun, a 41-year-old naturalized American citizen born in China, had been working for the State of New York for years at that point. Her roles included being deputy chief of staff for Gov. Kathy Hochul and an aide to the administration of Hochul’s predecessor, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, starting in 2012.

Now, following her firing in 2023 and a host of charges filed against her and her husband in an indictment unsealed this month, the New York state government is grappling with having employed an alleged agent for the Chinese government – and raising questions on why it took so long to bring charges, experts tell CNN, while recognizing the difficulty and time it takes for investigators to obtain evidence.

Sun and her husband, Chris Hu, who is a co-defendant, have pleaded not guilty and their lawyers have said the accusations are the result of overly aggressive investigations.

Alarms raised

Sun held several positions in state government, including director of Asian American affairs. As part of her work at multiple state agencies during the Cuomo and Hochul administrations – and amidst the historically fraught tensions between China and both Taiwan and the US – federal prosecutors allege Sun consistently blocked Taiwanese officials from having access to New York officials, directed messaging to ensure that Taiwan was seldom mentioned or acknowledged in remarks, and gloated to Chinese consular staff that she was effective in keeping Taiwanese requests from being fulfilled.

Sun was referred to the New York State Inspector General’s Office in early 2023 after it was reported she requested unauthorized official proclamations from the governor’s correspondence office, according to the indictment. The request set off alarms because Sun had previously transferred from the executive chamber to the Department of Labor – a role in which she did not exercise duties on behalf of the governor, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.

Sun initially lied to the Inspector General’s office but later acknowledged she had requested the proclamations at the request of an official in the Chinese Consulate General in New York City and presented them at a Lunar New Year celebration hosted by the consulate, according to the indictment.

Such proclamations are purely honorary and meant to grant praise upon its recipient. The Department of Labor fired Sun three months later over the incident, according to the source.

A day after Sun’s arraignment, Hochul told reporters she was shocked and infuriated by the revelations, accusing Sun of violating the trust of the American people and her office and stating she was confident in her office’s background check process.

“It doesn’t surprise me that it took a long time to detect that there was an issue,” said Rob Kelner, partner at Covington & Burling LLP and chair of its Election and Political Law Practice Group.

“A governor and their staff are going to tend to be trusting of the people they hire and people aren’t normally going to assume that someone is working as a foreign agent when they’re working for a governor’s office,” Kelner said.

“People also have some cultural sensitivity around wanting to accuse an Asian American of being a foreign agent, so all those things together make it relatively easy for people to evade suspicion,” he said. One Department of Justice initiative intended to obstruct Chinese intelligence activities in the US was ended in 2022 following a series of dismissals of cases as well as complaints that it fueled suspicion and bias against innocent Chinese Americans.

During the 2020 interview with the FBI, according to federal prosecutors, an agent asked Sun about the trips to China and confronted her with a photo from the 70th anniversary celebration.

Sun allegedly lied about the purpose of her trip, saying it had all been part of her job as an Asian community liaison for the New York governor’s office.

Sun also concealed about who paid for the trip, prosecutors allege, and over the course of several years she failed to make any disclosures about her interactions with Chinese government officials despite being told she was required to do so by state and federal law.

Brian Blais, a former assistant US Attorney for the Southern District of New York and litigation and enforcement partner at Ropes & Gray, said Sun’s job titles might have helped her go unnoticed.

“Just given the nature of the position that this individual held, it also may have made it less detectable, frankly. The Deputy Chief of Staff at the governor’s office just is kind of less in the crosshairs of media focus and other focus,” Blais said.

Building a case

Four years after the interview, the FBI descended on the $3.6 million home of Sun and Hu to carry out a nighttime raid, situated on a manicured cul-de-sac in the north shore of Long Island.

A month later, Sun and her husband were arrested and accused of working on behalf of the Chinese government. In a 64-page indictment, federal prosecutors said Sun conspired and violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act, known as FARA, and accused her of money laundering, visa fraud and alien smuggling.

Hu was also charged with money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to commit bank fraud as well as misusing means of identification, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

In exchange for her actions, prosecutors say Sun and her husband enriched themselves and received lavish gifts, as well as successfully promoting their relatives’ businesses both in the US and China in addition to securing employment for their relatives within the Chinese government.

Whether prosecutors can show that Sun did this knowing she was in violation of state and federal statutes will play out in court. But for now, prosecutors have signaled they have evidence showing Sun was doing work on behalf of the Chinese government while simultaneously attending required ethics training by the state, and after being told of potential federal violations during her sit down with the FBI.

“FARA does require proof of willfulness,” Kelner said. “These cases are built on email and text traffic to and from the defendant, any surveillance video that might exist or wiretap excerpts that might exist and financial records. Those are the bread and butter of a typical FARA case.”

It takes time to gather evidence of FARA violations that can strengthen a case like that against Sun, experts say. The fact that Sun allegedly obtained most of the kickbacks in unreported form could have made it more difficult for prosecutors to mount the case in a short amount of time.

Howard Master, a former prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, said the couple’s alleged laundering scheme might have posed a challenge for investigators.

“Sun is alleged to have obtained most of the corrupt benefits from the scheme – salted ducks aside – through unreported income that her husband’s seafood importation business obtained from China and then laundered into the United States, making it more difficult for law enforcement to connect the proverbial dots connecting Sun’s activities benefiting China to the financial benefits she enjoyed,” Master said.

Once investigators determined her actions were not an immediate national and security threat, it is possible that investigators monitored from a distance as her actions continued and more evidence piled up. It all could help deliver a win on a type of enforcement the DOJ has been increasingly focused on, experts tell CNN.

Since 2023, other cases have involved individuals accused or convicted of working for the Chinese government, in addition to FARA enforcement specifically. Last year, two men were accused of running a covert police station in Lower Manhattan on behalf of the Chinese government; three men were convicted of stalking a family in New Jersey on behalf of the Chinese government; and a 73-year-old activist was convicted last month of acting and conspiring as an agent for China.

Blais said Sun’s case shows federal investigators are homing in not just on foreign influence cases but specifically on the intersection of national security concerns and criminal law.

“This is a red light for, or at least a warning signal for, government officials that they do need to be aware of potential attempts to influence their conduct and that if something seems amiss, it may be worth either one looking into it or at the very least reporting it.”

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By Mike Valerio, CNN and Stephy Chung, CNN

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) — Near Seoul’s Gyeongbokgung Palace, a hotly anticipated auction is being brought to life by two global celebrities: American singer and Louis Vuitton men’s creative director, Pharrell Williams, and South Korea’s trailblazing K-pop star, G-Dragon.

The sale features dozens of items owned by G-Dragon – an avid collector of art, design and fashion – including works he created and customized himself.

Williams’ auction house, Joopiter, is hosting the online sale and an accompanying exhibition, at the Daelim Museum.

There’s a multicolor fur coat worn by G-Dragon on tour, a pair of sneakers he had embellished with Swarovski crystals, and portraits the 36-year-old rapper painted of Frida Kahlo and Salvador Dalí.

“His fanbase, and people who love what he does — they’re able to now get access to these things that were personal,” Williams tells CNN in the South Korean capital.

“I just like the idea that this guy has opened up his trove of things that were very close to him.”

G-Dragon — whose real name is Kwon Ji-yong — rose to fame in the noughties as the leader of K-pop megagroup Big Bang. With an eclectic sense of style, he became Chanel’s first Asian male global ambassador in 2016, and started his own fashion line, Peaceminusone.

Joopiter has collaborated with a slew of celebrities since Williams founded his “digital-first” auction house in 2022. But parting with treasured possessions isn’t always easy.

“Memories hold a lot of weight and possessions hold a lot of weight, and it’s not just because you possess them — but sometimes the weight of the memory possesses you,” says Williams.

“To see people go back and forth through that tug of war is always interesting.”

Often showcasing atypical auction items – from Chinese singer Jackson Wang’s fencing helmet to Williams’ own high school varsity jacket – Joopiter hopes to broaden traditional ideas of collecting, while enticing newer, younger buyers in the process.

“The traditional and institutional auction house, consumer and spaces could’ve been perceived as a bit stuffy,” Williams says of collecting habits in the 1990s, adding that the space has transformed from being a “narrow world” to one with broader tastes.

“Now that consumer (who participates in auctions) is much more curious about culture and subcultures.”

Speaking to CNN at the exhibition, Joopiter’s head of global sales Caitlin Donovan advises budding collectors to “collect what you love.”

“So, if what you love is sneakers, start at a lower, more affordable level, and start building,” she says. “The wrong attitude is going in and trying to become a collector.”

“I think it’s about amassing memories and things that make you happy, that you want to see on your walls and on your feet. That is how you build a really beautiful, special collection.”

She pointed to Joopiter’s inaugural auction — a sale of almost 50 items from Williams’ personal stash, that raked in over $5 million.

These items were all, Donovan added, “bought because they were a moment in time and that was why they had memories, not because they were something meant to be sold one day.”

The online auction “Nothing but a ‘G’ Thang: The Art & Archive of G-Dragon” runs until September 10. 

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By Catherine Nicholls, Amarachi Orie and Kathleen Magramo, CNN

(CNN) — Filipino pastor Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, who is wanted by both the FBI and local law enforcement officers on sexual abuse and human trafficking charges, has been arrested weeks after a standoff with the police.

The arrest concludes a fraught showdown between the pastor’s supporters and police who had surrounded a compound in the country’s south where Quiboloy had holed up.

In posts on Facebook, the Philippines’ Interior Minister Benhur Abolos, confirmed that the preacher, who had been on the run for three years, “has been caught.”

National police arrested Quiboloy, a self-styled “appointed son of God” and founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ church (KOJC), along with four of his aides in the southern city of Davao after they surrendered, according to state-run Philippine News Agency (PNA).

At 1:30 p.m. local time (1:30 a.m. ET), the detainees were issued a 24-hour ultimatum to come out from the church’s sprawling 30-hectare (75 acre) compound. They surrendered four hours later, Philippine News Agency reported.

They have since been transported out of Davao by military aircraft and arrived at the national police headquarters in Manila on Sunday night, along with four of his aides, PNA reported.

“I thank him (Quiboloy) for the realization to face the law. I also thanked the KOJC members and supporters for their cooperation and I hope this is the start of healing,” Director of Police Regional Office 11, Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III, PNA reported.

Police had been attempting to arrest the preacher and five of his alleged accomplices in a raid that began more than two weeks ago in Davao.

Nearly 2,000 officers surrounded the church compound where Quiboloy was believed to be hiding. His followers allegedly threw stones at officers and blocked a highway with burning tyres, Davao police said.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told reporters on Monday it was a relief that Quiboloy had been arrested after a massive police and army operation and added the pastor was entitled to due process.

“Although he is a very prominent person… we will treat him like any other arrested person and will respect his rights. We will go through the process. The process will be transparent. Everyone who is involved will be accountable,” he said.

Quiboloy’s lawyer Israelito Torreon said the pastor “chose to surrender because he does not want the lawless violence to continue within the KOJC Compound,” state broadcaster PTV reported.

A 2021 US indictment accused the 74-year-old preacher and his alleged accomplices of running a sex trafficking ring that coerced girls and young women to have sex with him under threats of “eternal damnation” for nearly 15 years. Quiboloy has denied all the charges against him.

He is also accused of conducting a labor trafficking scheme that brought church members to the US using fraudulently obtained visas and forced the members to solicit donations for a bogus charity based in California, according to US prosecutors.

Quiboloy founded the Kingdom of Jesus Christ church in 1985 and rose to prominence as televangelism gained popularity in the Philippines, a majority-Catholic country where millions also follow a plethora of Christian sects.

The church, which claims to have seven million followers worldwide, runs businesses including a college, resort and media outlets in the Philippines, according to its official website.

Quiboloy is a close supporter and spiritual adviser of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, who regularly appeared on a church-linked media network when he was mayor of Davao, a testing ground for Duterte’s controversial war on drugs that rights groups say later resulted in thousands of extrajudicial killings.

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By Alli Rosenbloom, CNN

(CNN) — Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar will be the headlining act for the Super Bowl LIX halftime show.

Lamar announced the news on Sunday on his social media pages, as did the NFL.

“Rap music is still the most impactful genre to date. And I’ll be there to remind the world why. They got the right one,” Lamar said in a statement on Sunday.

Super Bowl LIX will take place February 9, 2025 in New Orleans and air on FOX.

The NFL, Roc Nation and Apple Music announced the news on the first Sunday of the 2024-2025 regular season.

The “Not Like Us” rapper made his debut on the Super Bowl halftime show stage in 2022 when he performed alongside Eminem, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige and 50 Cent.

This will be his first time headlining the halftime show show, which is viewed by millions of people every year.

Jay-Z, whose company Roc Nation will serve as the strategic entertainment advisor of Lamar’s live performance, called the rapper a “truly a once-in-a-generation artist and performer” in a statement.

“His deep love for hip-hop and culture informs his artistic vision. He has an unparalleled ability to define and influence culture globally,” Jay-Z added. “Kendrick’s work transcends music, and his impact will be felt for years to come.”

Lamar is one of hip-hop’s most celebrated artists. He has won 17 Grammys and earned a Pulitzer Prize for his 2017 album “Damn,” becoming the first non-classical, non-jazz musician to win the coveted honor.

He released his fifth studio album in 2022 titled “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers” and his hit track “Like That,” a collaboration with Future and Metro Boomin, spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. His song “Not Like Us,” released in April amid Lamar’s so-called feud with rapper Drake, claimed the No. 1 spot on the chart for two weeks.

Usher was last year’s Super Bowl halftime show headliner. His set, a 13-minute walk down Millennial musical memory lane, was the most-watched halftime performance of all time, according to Billboard, drawing an average of 123.4 million viewers. Rihanna’s 2023 halftime show performance is the second-most watched set with 121 million viewers.

The Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers during Super Bowl LVIII in a thrilling game that became the most-watched American television broadcast in a generation, CBS said at the time.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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By Chris Isidore, CNN

New York (CNN) — Buying this week’s groceries or paying for a full tank of gas with a credit card might contribute more to the profits of the airline industry than buying a one-way ticket.

That’s because frequent flyer programs have become a crucial part of the airline industry’s profitability. And that’s due to the billions of dollars banks and credit card issuers pay to buy bulk miles from airlines to reward and entice cardholders to make purchases with their cards.

The typical airline passenger probably never thinks about the economics of frequent flyer programs, but the programs have become crucial for airlines to generate the profits needed to stay afloat. And loyalty programs have also caught the attention of federal regulators because of the central role they play in air travel today.

Last year, Delta Air Lines received $6.8 billion in revenue from American Express on its co-branded Delta Amex card. American Airlines reported revenue of $5.2 billion from co-branded cards and other partnerships. United reported a mere $3.2 billion on its other operating line that came primarily on payments to its frequent flyer program. And when considering the adjusted incomes of 2023 for Delta ($4 billion) American ($1.9 billion) and United ($3.3 billion), it’s easy to understand why the major carriers rely so heavily on frequent flyer programs.

“The airlines’ frequent flyer programs are their lifeblood; they’re the reason the airlines are in business,” said Zach Griff, senior aviation reporter for The Points Guy, a travel site that closely follows the programs.

Of course, the windfall from selling miles to credit card companies isn’t pure profit for the airlines. The airlines do end up providing flights for those miles. But the profit margin on that part of the business is about 50%, according to Tom Fitzgerald, airline analyst for TD Cowen.

“In an industry where overall profit margins in the high single digits in a good year is a considered a home run, it’s massive,” he said.

DOT, Congress eye programs

Frequent flyer programs are also an important way for airlines to encourage travel and build customer loyalty in what has long been a highly competitive marketplace.

But it’s also coming under new scrutiny. On Thursday, the Department of Transportation announced it would launch an investigation into the programs to ensure consumers are treated fairly.

“Frequent flyer miles and credit card rewards have become such a meaningful part of our economy that many Americans view their rewards points balances as part of their savings,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a statement announcing the probe. “These programs bring real value to consumers, with families often counting on airline rewards to fund a vacation or to pay for a trip to visit loved ones. But unlike a traditional savings account, these rewards are controlled by a company that can unilaterally change their value. Our goal is to ensure consumers are getting the value that was promised to them, which means validating that these programs are transparent and fair.”

In addition, Congress has considered legislation that could cap the fees credit card companies demand of merchants who accept their cards. Such restrictions could reduce what credit card issuers are able to pay for miles in order to offer the rewards. United CEO Scott Kirby predicted in a call with investors last October that such legislation “would kill rewards programs. They would not exist anymore.”

The major airlines have largely been mum about the programs and their profitability, only referencing them in their filings and public statements. But on Thursday, industry trade group Airlines for America defended the programs.

“Millions of people enjoy being a part of various loyalty programs,” the group said in a statement. “Policymakers should ensure that consumers can continue to be offered these important benefits.”

Are they good for passengers?

The programs are generally good deals for consumers, even if they are better deals for the airlines themselves, said Griff of The Points Guy. But that’s as long as consumers pay off their credit cards and don’t end up paying high interest rates on the purchases that allowed them to accumulate those miles.

Consumers should also be cautious they’re not being overcharged in their number of miles when they choose between buying a ticket with cash or with miles. For the most part, the value of the mile is only 1.2 cents or 1.3 cents, Griff said. So a $400 plane ticket should cost about 33,000 miles. If the airline is charging significantly more miles for a ticket, it might be best to save the miles for a different flight. The Points Guy has a calculator to compare the two ways to purchase a ticket.

Back during the height of the pandemic, when air travel grounded nearly to a halt and airlines were desperate for cash, the revenue airlines were getting from credit cards became a true lifeline. Most US airlines sold bonds to raise cash, bonds that were backed with the promise to be paid back with banks and credit cards’ payments for miles. The bonds put an estimated value of the frequent flyer programs far above the value of the airlines themselves, suggesting investors had estimated the airlines’ actual operations — planes, crews, gates and flights — were worth less than $0.

But it’s probably inaccurate to say frequent flyer programs are more valuable than the airlines themselves since actual flights give the programs their intrinsic value, said Andrew Didora, airline analyst with Bank of America.

“It’s very difficult to separate out the value of the programs and the value of the rest of the airline,” he said. “They can’t exist without each other. They go hand in hand.”

But Didora said it is clear frequent flyer programs are vital to the economics of running an airline — not just for the direct profits they bring in, but also for how they attract and keep customers.

“They’re called ‘loyalty programs’ for a reason,” Didora said.

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By Kevin Dotson and Ben Morse, CNN

(CNN) — The Miami-Dade Police Department placed an officer on administrative leave Sunday after Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill was detained prior to the start of the season-opening game.

On Sunday morning, just hours before kickoff, Hill was detained for a short time by police after a traffic incident, the team said on social media. Miami-Dade Police Department Director Stephanie V. Daniels said Sunday an investigation has begun into the incident and one of the officers involved is being placed on administrative duties. A second Dolphins player said he was also handcuffed when trying to discuss the situation with officers at the scene.

“Following the incident involving Tyreek Hill, I have initiated an Internal Affairs investigation to ensure a thorough review of the matter. One of the officers involved in the incident has been placed on administrative duties while the investigation is conducted,” Daniels said in a statement. “I’m committed to transparency and accountability to the community with any situation involving my officers.”

Hill won’t soon forget the start of the 2024-25 season. After being detained, his day ended with a comeback win against the Jacksonville Jaguars that featured a “handcuffs” celebration after scoring a key touchdown.

The “Cheetah” said after the game he was still confused by his pregame encounter with police.

“I wasn’t disrespectful because my mom didn’t raise me that way, didn’t cuss, didn’t do none of that. Like I said, I’m still trying to figure it out,” Hill said at his postgame press conference.

Hill, 30, is one of the best wide receivers in the NFL, leading the league in receiving yards last season with 1,799 yards, while also adding 13 touchdowns. The Dolphins played the Jacksonville Jaguars in their Week 1 game at Hard Rock Stadium.

Showcasing his trademark speed, Hill found the end zone in the third quarter against the Jaguars, connecting with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa for an 80-yard score. After scoring, Hill celebrated by putting his arms behind his back with his wrists together – perhaps an allusion to being in handcuffs earlier in the day.

In the end, the Dolphins overcame a 14-0 deficit to win the game 20-17 on a 52-yard field goal from Jason Sanders as time expired. Hill finished the game with seven catches for 130 yards and a touchdown.

It’s still unclear exactly what led to Hill being detained by police. The team said on social media before the game he was pulled over by police for a traffic incident.

“This morning, WR Tyreek Hill was pulled over for a traffic incident about one block from the stadium and briefly detained by police,” the Dolphins X account said.

“He has since been released. Several teammates saw the incident and stopped to offer support. Tyreek and all other players involved have safely arrived to the stadium and will be available for today’s game.”

Reported video of the incident appeared to show a handcuffed Hill being picked up off the road by police.

Hill’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, told CNN in a statement Sunday night his legal team will “pursue this matter” and “consider legal action.”

“What happened today to Tyreek at the stadium is completely unacceptable,” Rosenhaus said. “Tyreek did not deserve to be treated that way by the police involved.”

CNN has reached out to Rosenhaus for more information.

After the game, Dolphins defensive tackle Calais Campbell said he was also put in handcuffs by police when he attempted to intercede and “deescalate” the situation.

“They put handcuffs on me too, and I was like ‘What’s going on?’ I didn’t understand what the issue was,” Campbell told NFL Network. “For him to put handcuffs on me, I felt some type of way.

“But that just goes to show how our resilience though. We didn’t let that stop us. We just got back in line, got focused again, and went out there and played a good football game. But that definitely was an interesting way to start a ballgame.”

Hill said he was moved by the show of support from his teammates.

“That should tell you everything you need to know,” Hill said after the game. “I’m just glad that my teammates were there to support me in that situation because I felt alone. And when they showed up, it made me realized that we got a f–king good team this year. For them to put their life on the line.”

Earlier Sunday, Rosenhaustold ESPN the incident began as a traffic stop when Hill was driving to the stadium.

“Apparently, he got a ticket for a moving violation entering the stadium,” Rosenhaus told ESPN. “How things escalated into the situation that they were in, in handcuffs and being held on the ground with police is mind-boggling to me.”

“We are aware of the recent detainment of Miami Dolphins player Tyreek Hill by Miami-Dade Police Department officers,” Daniels said in an earlier statement. “I have requested an immediate review of all details surrounding the incident, and we are also reviewing available body camera footage. We will provide updates as further information becomes available.”

CNN has reached out to the police for more information.

Rosenhaus confirmed to ESPN he has spoken with Hill and shared his client’s account of the incident.

“He was given a moving violation ticket, and he’s going to focus on the game and then we’ll address this afterwards,” Rosenhaus told ESPN.

Rosenhaus said the altercation left Hill rattled.

“The most important thing is that Tyreek is okay physically. Mentally, he was very distraught about what happened,” Rosenhaus told ESPN. “Tyreek has told me over and over he’s a big supporter of police. He was telling the police there, ‘I want to be a police officer in the future.’ But this is crazy, I’ve never seen anything like this.”

In a separate interview with CBS Sports, Rosenhaus said his client was left feeling “stunned” and “very emotional” after the incident. “He had no idea why it escalated to that extent. He felt it was very inappropriate, but we’ll be dealing with that after the game.”

Hill was a “consummate professional,” Rosenhaus said.

“He’s a very strong man, and I’m confident he’ll pull it together and be at his best today,” he said

This story has been updated with additional developments.

CNN’s Homero De La Fuente contributed to this report.

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By Ben Morse, CNN

(CNN) — The Paris Games paid tribute to Ugandan Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei after her death on Thursday, days after allegedly being burned by her boyfriend.

A eulogy was played at the 2024 Paralympics after the T54 and T12 marathons on Sunday, together with a photo of Cheptegei on the big screen near the finish line at the Esplanades des Invalides.

The crowd then joined in a minute’s applause in memory of the runner.

Following Sunday’s marathons, several participants also paid their tributes to Cheptegei.

Marcel Hug, who won his third consecutive T54 marathon gold medal, stressed the importance for the Paralympic movement to send a strong “message out against violence.”

“It’s terrible, and we should really try to avoid violence like this,” the Swiss runner told Olympics.com. “I didn’t personally know her, but she was a good person, and it’s so sad. It’s a good opportunity to think of her here at the Paralympics. We should send a message out against violence like this.”

Hug’s fellow Swiss wheelchair racer, Catherine Debrunner, also expressed her shock after winning her first Paralympic T54 marathon gold.

“I don’t really have the words for it. We should not take it for granted what we can do here.”

On Friday, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said Cheptegei would be honored by the French capital by naming a sports facility after her.

Cheptegei, 33, who lived in Kenya, had been in a critical condition after suffering burns on 75% of her body following last Sunday’s attack at her house in the western Trans Nzoia County. Her death was confirmed on X by the Kenyan Olympic Team on Thursday.

Cheptegei finished 44th in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics weeks ago.

Trans Nzoia County police commander Jeremiah ole Kosiom said earlier this week that the athlete had been doused in petrol by her boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema, who stormed her house with a jerry can of gasoline and set fire to her after a disagreement over land. Ndiema, who was also burned, is being treated at a hospital in the city of Eldoret.

A medical official at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital where Cheptegei was being treated told CNN affiliate Citizen TV on Thursday that she suffered multi-organ failure late Wednesday.

Cheptegei is the third elite female athlete to be killed in Kenya in the last three years.

In 2021, 25-year-old Kenyan Olympic runner Agnes Tirop was found dead in her Iten home in the country’s Elgeyo-Marakwet County with stab wounds in her neck. Her husband, Ibrahim Rotich, was charged with murder after Kenyan prosecutors accused him of killing her.

Months later, another Kenyan athlete Damaris Mutua, 28, was found strangled in a home with a pillow over her face. Mutua had just placed third at a half marathon in Angola earlier that month. Authorities said her boyfriend was the main suspect.

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By Patrick Snell and Amy Woodyatt, CNN

(CNN) — Wojtek Czyz had long dreamed of becoming a professional soccer player – and those dreams were close to coming true, when at 21 he had just signed a contract with a professional club.

But shortly after penning his deal, Czyz suffered a life-changing injury after a collision with a goalkeeper in his last amateur game damaged his knee.

“Unfortunately … the medical support came too late. So everything below my knee was dead and they had to amputate,” he told CNN Sport’s Patrick Snell.

Coming so close to his dream only to have it ripped away was devastating for the athlete, who said he became “suicidal.”

“As much as I fought for becoming a professional football player, this destiny, this passion – I had now only one passion: and this is to end my life,” he said. After an attempt to end his own life was stopped by a nurse, he slowly changed his perspective and said that he “could put all my passion again into the right direction and this is how I recovered from this dark time.”

Just six months after his amputation, Czyz became the German champion in the T42 100m and F42/44 long jump. He later represented his home country at three Paralympic Games in 2004, 2008 and 2012, where he won seven medals – including four golds – in para athletics as a sprinter and long jumper.

An unlikely friendship and phenomenal sporting career

Czyz credited his Paralympic career to a friend, who asked him why he had wanted to be a soccer player in the first place.

“I said: ‘To enter a stadium full with 80,000 people shouting your name after you score a goal.’ It is simply this, this feeling which gave me the drive to go for it.

“He said, ‘OK, I will give you this DVD. Have a look and I will come back in 30 minutes.’ And this DVD was a documentary about the Paralympics in Barcelona from 1992 with the full stadium and people cheering. And this is where I said, ‘Oh, wow, I want to be there,’ and this was the door which was opened for me.”

That, and an unlikely friendship with former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, who at the time was head coach at German soccer team Mainz 05, helped to propel Czyz towards a new goal of becoming a para athlete.

“[Klopp] heard about my story and he directly decided to try to support me so that I [could] get a good prosthetic for the future,” Czyz explained.

After competing in three consecutive Paralympics, Czyz took a five-year retirement, spending much of his time distributing prosthetics limbs to 90 people in need of them. But after moving to New Zealand, he began to play and enjoy badminton – ultimately going on to represent the Kiwis in this year’s Paralympics.

“Imagine 2.5 years ago, I took a racket in my hand and I didn’t even know how to hold it,” he said.

This year, Klopp, who stepped down as Liverpool coach at the end of last season, supported his friend from the stands – and although Czyz eventually lost out to Great Britain’s Daniel Bethell, it didn’t dampen the pair’s spirits.

“He loves that I try to be the door opener now and this is why he came and, for sure, also to enjoy the Paralympics because he’s saying: ‘Look, they are the best stories,’” said Czyz.

Klopp, for his part, added: “How was it to watch him? Great,” per Olympics.com.

“Being here, I stood next to Elena, his incredible wife, and we both had tears in our eyes because I know sport is always about the result and winning, but there’s much more behind that story. And being here is always so touching that I couldn’t get my head around it.”

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By Andrew Torgan and Daniel Wine, CNN

(CNN) — Here’s a bit of good news to kick off the week: The US is pumping so much oil that gas prices could drop below $3 a gallon in much of the country by Thanksgiving.

And here’s what else you need to know to Start Your Week Smart.

The weekend that was

• The mother of the teenager suspected of killing four people during a Georgia school shooting called to warn a school counselor prior to the shooting, the suspect’s aunt and grandfather said. Colt Gray reportedly sent an alarming early-morning text that prompted the warning.
• Boeing and the Machinists union, which represents 33,000 of its employees on the West Coast, have reached a tentative deal that could avoid a strike that had been set to start this Friday.
• Three Israeli border guards were killed in a shooting at the Allenby Crossing on the border between the occupied West Bank and Jordan, the Israeli Emergency Services said. The identity of the assailant is unknown, and the crossing has been closed.
• Residents are being told to remain vigilant as a manhunt continues for an “armed and dangerous” person of interest in the shooting that wounded five people on Interstate 75 in Laurel County, Kentucky, authorities said.
• Sixty-five people in nine states have been sickened by a salmonella outbreak linked to recalled eggs, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. No deaths have been reported.

The week ahead

Monday
Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 16 with embedded artificial intelligence. In June, Apple announced a slew of generative AI features for the iPhone during its annual Worldwide Developers Conference. And while iPhone 15 Pro Max users will likely be able to access some of the AI features, the iPhone 16 is expected to be the first device designed fully with AI in mind. Generative AI enables tools to create written work, images and even audio in response to prompts from users.

Tuesday
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will square off in their first — and potentially only — presidential debate in Philadelphia. The rules for the event, hosted by ABC News, will largely mirror the terms used by CNN for its June 27 debate, including that microphones will be muted as the other candidate speaks and no studio audience will be present, according to the network, noting that both candidates had agreed to the format. Harris’ camp had lobbied for the mics to remain on for the duration of the debate to “fully allow for substantive exchanges between the candidates,” to no avail. CNN will air ABC’s debate live and provide extensive pre-debate coverage and post-debate analysis.

McDonald’s is giving its McFlurry a makeover by eliminating the plastic, dome-shaped lid and serving the ice cream treat in a new cardboard cup that has four flaps to cover the top. The update is the latest in the company’s attempts at making environmentally friendly changes, such as reducing plastic use and lowering greenhouse gas emissions from its offices and restaurants.

Wednesday
September 11 marks 23 years since the terror attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Flight 93 over Shanksville, Pennsylvania. (Editor’s note: The linked gallery contains graphic images. Viewer discretion is advised.)

Friday
Do you suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobia? If so, this is a good day to stay in bed …

Listen in

One Thing:  Mail-in voting FAQ
In today’s “One Thing” podcast, CNN’s Dianne Gallagher looks at various new restrictions making it harder to vote across the country as the first mail-in ballots of the 2024 election are set to be sent out. Listen here.

Photos of the week

Check out more images from the week that was, curated by CNN Photos.

What’s happening in entertainment

TV and streaming
Megan Thee Stallion is set to host the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. The artist, who is nominated for five awards, also will perform. Other scheduled performers include Camila Cabello, Chappell Roan, GloRilla, Rauw Alejandro, Sabrina Carpenter, Lisa, Halsey, Lenny Kravitz, Benson Boone, Shawn Mendes, LL Cool J, Anitta, Karol G and Katy Perry.

In theaters
As you might expect, Friday the 13th is a prime day to release a horror movie — and you’ve got two to choose from. “Here After” features Connie Britton as the mother of a daughter who is miraculously revived after a fatal accident. But, as such plots tend to dictate, something is not right. Meanwhile, “Speak no Evil” stars James McAvoy as the vacation host from hell. He got one star on Airbnb.

What’s happening in sports

At a glance …
Today is the first Sunday of the new NFL season, which kicked off Thursday with a matchup between Kansas City and Baltimore. The Chiefs began their quest for a Super Bowl three-peat with a 27-20 win at home over the Ravens. And yes … Taylor Swift was there to cheer on boyfriend Travis Kelce. (Tired of all the Taylor talk? Shake it off …)

In tennis, Taylor Fritz faces top seed Jannik Sinner today in the US Open men’s singles final. Fritz is thefirst American man to reach a grand slam singles final since 2009. On Saturday, Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus beat American Jessica Pegula 7-5, 7-5 in the women’s singles final to win the US Open for the first time.

In college football, Northern Illinois kicked a late field goal to shock Notre Dame 16-14 for the “biggest victory” in the school’s history.

In WNBA news, Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese will miss the rest of the season because of a wrist injury.

For more of your favorite sports, head on over to CNN Sports as well as Bleacher Report, which — like CNN — is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.

Quiz time!

Looking for a challenge to start your week? Take CNN’s news quiz to see how much you remember from the week that was! So far, 51% of fellow quiz fans have gotten eight or more questions right. How will you fare?

Play me off …

‘September’
Ah, September … The kids are back in school and cooler weather is (hopefully) right around the corner. Seems like as good a time as any to dance! (Click here to view)

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By Issy Ronald, CNN

(CNN) — Jessica Pegula reached new heights in her already distinguished tennis career this week.

A serial winner of other tournaments on the WTA Tour and firmly ensconced in the top 10 of the world rankings, she had never quite been able to replicate that success in grand slams, until this week.

Until Wednesday, Pegula had lost all six of the grand slam quarterfinals she had played in, a streak she broke in impressive fashion by defeating world No. 1 Iga Świątek 6-2 6-4 at the 2024 US Open. Then, she defeated Karolína Muchová 1-6 6-4 6-2 in the semifinal to reach her first grand slam final and, though she lost to Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday evening, the American is “taking confidence” from this run.

“If I can’t take confidence from this, there’s got to be something wrong,” she told reporters in her post-match press conference. “To be able to be a grand slam finalist, that was kind of the last thing for me. I made a lot of quarterfinals but can I make a semi? Can I be a contender to actually win a grand slam.”

Playing Sabalenka, the world No. 2, in the final proved a step too far for Pegula as she succumbed to a 7-5 7-5 defeat. Although she fought back from 3-0 down in the second set and took a 5-3 lead, almost forcing the match to a deciding third set, Sabalenka displayed her quality and sealed the win.

“I’m just annoyed I lost right now,” Pegula said afterward. “Everyone is like, ‘Congrats, amazing tournament.’ I’m like, ‘Eh, whatever,’” she added, half joking.

Despite the defeat, Pegula will regain her career-high world No. 3 ranking after winning 15 of her last 17 matches, losing only to Sabalenka. Such a run comes after a year tarnished by injury in which she hadn’t made it past the second round of a grand slam.

“I think maybe I handled the moment a little bit better this year with just having maybe a different perspective of I had a rough start to the year and I didn’t really expect to be doing this well in the hard court swing and I was able to kind of flip that script,” she said.

Several celebrities, including Lewis Hamilton, Noah Lyles, Tina Fey, Rebel Wilson and Steph Curry, were all pictured in the stands of the Arthur Ashe Stadium enjoying the tennis.

Pegula added that Curry had given her a pep talk before Saturday’s final, though quipped that her husband was particularly excited to meet the NBA superstar.

“Funny story, my husband, his iPhone name is Steph Curry because he loves Steph Curry,” Pegula said. “If you connect to Bluetooth or send him something or AirDrop, it’s ‘Steph Curry’s iPhone’.

“I was like, ‘Please tell me you did not tell him about the iPhone thing.’ … He was like, ‘No, (Curry) loved it’. I was like, ‘Did he? Or did he really think you were kind of crazy?’ I guess he thought it was pretty funny.”

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By Laura Paddison, CNN

(CNN) — Ties van der Hoeven’s ambitions are nothing if not grand. The Dutch engineer wants to transform a huge stretch of inhospitable desert into green, fertile land teeming with wildlife.

His sights are set on Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, an arid, triangle-shaped expanse that connects Africa with Asia. Thousands of years ago it was bursting with life, he said, but years of farming and other human activity have helped turn it into a barren desert.

Van der Hoeven is convinced he can bring it back to life.

He has spent years fine tuning an initiative aimed at restoring plant and animal life to roughly 13,500 square miles of the Sinai Peninsula, an area slightly bigger than the state of Maryland. The goal: to suck up planet-heating carbon dioxide, increase rainfall and bring food and jobs to local people.

He believes it is the answer to a slew of huge global problems. “We are destroying our planet in a way which is scary,” he told CNN. “The only holistic way out of this situation is with large-scale ecological regeneration”

So-called desert regreening projects are not new, and this is one of a number around the world seeking to transform arid landscapes. Many aim to halt desertification — the creeping degradation of dry lands — a phenomenon the United Nations calls a “silent, invisible crisis that is destabilizing communities on a global scale.”

But the concept is also controversial; critics say transforming deserts is unproven, enormously complex and could negatively affect water and weather in ways we cannot predict.

The birth of the plan

Van der Hoeven’s background may seem unlikely for someone intent on saving the world. As a hydraulic engineer at Belgian dredging company DEME, he worked on projects including building artificial islands in Dubai.

But in 2016, the course of his career changed when he was pulled into a venture to help the Egyptian government restore shrinking fish populations in Lake Bardawil, a saltwater lagoon in northern Sinai, separated from the Mediterranean by a narrow sandbar. It used to be more than 100 feet deep but is now less than 10 feet deep in parts, as well as hot and salty.

Within a few weeks, van der Hoeven devised a plan to open up the lagoon by creating tidal inlets and dredging “tidal gullies” to get more seawater flowing through, making it deeper, cooler, less salty and more full of marine life.

But the more he researched, the bigger he wanted to go.

Scanning the terrain in Google Earth, he saw the outline of a network of now dried-up rivers, criss-crossing the Sinai like blood vessels, suggesting this land was once green. He pored over weather models and ecological studies and started to see connections.

He could use the sediments dredged from Lake Bardawil to help regreen the surrounding area. “They are salty but they hold very many nutrients and minerals, which you need to start restoring the land,” he said.

He would start with the wetlands around the lake, expanding them to lure the birds and fish.

Then, he would go higher into the region’s mountains, pumping in the lake’s sediments and layering them to create soils where they could grow different varieties of salt-tolerant plants. These would help revitalize the soils, van der Hoeven said, reducing salt levels and making the land able to support a larger array of plants.

Van der Hoeven’s central idea is that adding vegetation to the landscape will mean more evaporation, more clouds forming and more rain falling. It could even change the winds, as greening the region can bring back moisture-laden flows of air, he said.

“This could completely change the weather patterns.”

None of this will be quick.

Van der Hoeven estimates it will take five to seven years to fully revitalize the lake, then between 20 and 40 for the wider regreening.

“It’s really nature telling us the speed,” he said.

Restoration ‘on a planetary scale’

Van der Hoeven’s idea might sound wildly ambitious, but it’s been done before.

As he was feverishly planning the Sinai project, he came across the film “Green Gold,” made by cameraman-turned-ecologist John Liu, which documents a huge desert regreening project in the Loess Plateau in northern China.

The region, nearly the size of California, had been heavily degraded by years of overuse and overgrazing. With sparse vegetation and covered in thin, ocher-yellow soil, it was very prone to erosion.

In an attempt to transform the land, China’s government and the World Bank launched a large-scale regreening program in the 1990s, planting trees and shrubs and implementing grazing bans.

In the decades since, the Loess Plateau has flourished. Parts of the land are now carpeted in green, soil erosion has reduced and less sediment flows into the region’s Yellow River, lowering the flood risks.

For van der Hoeven, it was further proof his plan could work.

He sought out Liu, who was immediately on board. The idea of regreening what was once a “land of milk and honey” was “extremely exciting,” Liu told CNN. “The scale reaches a level that helps prove that restoration can be done on a planetary scale.”

It would add to other huge desert regreening projects also underway.

The Great Green Wall in Africa, for example, was launched in 2007 to help combat desertification.

Originally intended to be a belt of trees planted for thousands of miles across the continent’s Sahel region, the initiative has morphed into a “a mosaic of green and productive landscapes” over 11 countries, said Susan Gardner, director of the ecosystems division at the UN Environment Programme in Nairobi.

Restoration efforts are essential for tackling the climate crisis, nature loss and pollution, Gardner told CNN. “We don’t have a choice. We have to do this; we have to listen to the science and act now.”

A ‘flashy distraction?’

But ecosystems are incredibly complex and when it comes to huge, transformative projects like regreening a desert, some experts are concerned about unintended consequences.

In a project’s quest for a successful finish line, there is a risk that it will opt for fast-growing, non-native species which either don’t survive or become invasive, overtaking the surrounding native plants and damaging wildlife, said Alice Hughes, an assistant professor at Hong Kong University’s School of Biological Sciences. Others are water-thirsty, which can cause conflict with people’s needs.

During the early stages of Africa’s Great Green Wall project, many of the trees died for lack of water, neglect or because they weren’t suitable for the land.

Even in the Loess Plateau, widely credited as an astonishing success, there is evidence the vegetation may be approaching, or even exceeding, what the local water supply can support.

A 2020 study of the region found that higher levels of evaporation from trees and plants had little impact in terms of increasing rainfall, and even led to “lower water availability for agriculture or other human demands.”

Changing the ecosystem could also mean “potentially changing climate patterns, which may reduce moisture and drive droughts elsewhere,” Hughes said. Evaporation may cool one place but simply deposit the heat in other places.

Planting vegetation could even end up having a warming effect. Light-colored deserts can reflect more of the sun’s energy back into space than darker vegetation. “Deserts actually cool the planet,” said Raymond Pierrehumbert, a physics professor at the University of Oxford.

While regreening arid places could bring local cooling effects, Pierrehumbert told CNN, they could end up “leaving the rest of the planet worse off.”

“We also need to ask ourselves why we are doing it,” Hughes said. These projects can act as “flashy distractions,” she added. “They sound much more exciting than the basic work of protecting existing intact systems, which are still vanishing at astonishing rates.”

For Liu, however, there is a big difference between natural deserts and those humans helped create. The argument human-caused deserts should not be touched — even those that have been around for thousands of years — “does not seem logical to me,” he said.

Van der Heoven readily admits the project is complex but believes it’s vital to try. “We should protect nature with all we have, but we should also restore nature with all we have,” he said.

He is studying exactly which plants will be able to attract wildlife and survive future climate change impacts. He also believes changing the climate in the Sinai Peninsula will have a positive ripple effect for the region.

Perhaps one of the biggest obstacles for now is regional instability as the war in Gaza continues.

At the end of 2022, the Egyptian government signed an agreement to start researching and planning the restoration of Lake Bardawil. The project was scheduled to kick off this December, but conflict has slowed everything down, van der Hoeven said.

He’s still confident it will happen and thinks the current situation “creates an even stronger case” for regreening as a way to help bring more opportunity and prosperity.

What is clear is that climate change and biodiversity loss, two interlinked global crises, are getting worse, and in the scramble to solve them, the idea of regreening arid land is gaining currency.

As with many compelling, moonshot ideas to tackle huge, complex problems, there are those who urge caution and warn of the dangerous consequences of rushing in, and there are those who argue the situation is now so urgent, there is no choice but to try them.

Van der Hoeven is firmly in the latter camp.

Regeneration of the natural world “is the only way out of the mess we are currently in,” he said. “There is no time anymore not to act. We should act and accept that we don’t know everything.”

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By Chris Isidore, CNN

New York (CNN) — Boeing and the Machinists union, which represents 33,000 of its employees on the West Coast, have reached a tentative deal that could avoid a strike that had been set to start this Friday.

Before it will take effect, the deal would need the approval of the rank-and-file union members who build commercial jets. But leadership of the union praised the tentative deal and said it achieved the union’s goals.

“You sent us here to stand strong for your priorities, and we are proud to have done so,” the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said Sunday in a statement on its official website.

Boeing said the agreement provides raises totaling 25% over the four-year life of the contract, improved contributions to 401(k) plans, reduced employee contributions for health insurance and increased time off.

The deal represents Boeing’s biggest pay raise for union members.

“We’ve heard what’s important to you for the new contract. And we have reached a tentative agreement with the union on a historic offer that takes care of you and your family,” Stephanie Pope, CEO of Boeing’s commercial airplane unit, said in a statement.

The deal also includes increased job security for union members with a promise to build the next new airplane at one of the union-represented plants in the Puget Sound region. Boeing has one nonunion plant in South Carolina, where it builds the 787 Dreamliner. In the last two contract agreements with Boeing, the union had to accept concessions such as an end to a traditional pension plan and increased employee contributions to health care, in turn for the company dropping a threat to build the then-planned 737 Max and the 777X jets at new nonunion plants.

The contract covers production workers who build Boeing’s commercial jets at three factories in the Seattle area, as well as about 1,200 workers at a Boeing’s parts plant in Portland, Oregon. The rank-and-file members will have the chance to vote Thursday on the tentative agreement and a no vote could possibly lead to a strike. That has happened in some recent labor agreements at other companies, but the union leadership is recommending that members vote in favor of the agreement.

Years of problems at Boeing

Boeing has had a series of setbacks over the last five years, starting with a 20-month grounding of its best-selling plane, the 737 Max, in 2019 and 2020, following two fatal crashes tied to a design flaw in the plane.

In addition, Boeing’s revenue plunged during the pandemic as a sharp drop in air travel caused massive losses for its airline customers. And in January, a door plug blew off a 737 Max flown by Alaska Airlines 10 minutes into a flight. While no one was killed in the incident, it brought new attention to quality and safety problems at Boeing, especially after it was determined that the plane in question had left a factory without the four bolts needed to keep the door plug in place.

The many problems at Boeing had resulted in the company reporting core operating losses totaling $33.3 billion since the grounding of the Max in 2019. Forecasts are that losses will continue through the rest of this year. Boeing is in danger of having its debt downgraded to junk bond status due to the massive increase in borrowing to cover the losses during that time.

This is a stark contrast to the financial conditions of some other major companies that reached lucrative union deals last year, such as UPS, General Motors, Ford and Stellantis. Those companies had reported record earnings ahead of those talks.

Union had upper hand in talks

But Boeing’s problems meant it was in no position to deal with striking workers for the first time in 16 years.

“Financially, the company finds itself in a tough position due to many self-inflicted missteps,” Jon Holden and Brandon Bryant, the presidents of the two union locals at Boeing, said in a message to members Sunday. “Finally, in a position of great leverage, we used every ounce of power we could to go after everything you said was important. We did not get everything we wanted, but you all can be proud of your strength, solidarity, and unity because you have achieved the best contract we have ever had.”

Company executives had conceded the union’s leverage in talks heading into the final round of negotiations. Former CEO Dave Calhoun had told investors in July that Boeing’s intention was to avoid a strike and seemed to signal the company was willing to go to great lengths to avoid a work stoppage.

“We know wage asks will be big,” Calhoun said. “We’re not afraid to treat our employees well in this process. So, we’re just going to work as hard as we can not to have a strike.”

His successor, Kelly Ortberg, who started the job on August 8, issued a statement in his first week that he wanted to “reset” relations with the union after meeting with their leadership.

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By Tierney Sneed, CNN

Washington (CNN) — Across the country, federal courts are buckling under an ever-increasing caseload in the absence of long-awaited congressional action that would add judges to match a significant growth in litigation over the last several decades.

It’s been 34 years since lawmakers last passed a comprehensive bill increasing the number of judges on lower courts. In that period, the American population has grown by 80 million. The number of filings in US district courts increased by more than 30%. In the past year, there were more than 724,000 pending cases being handled by a federal trial bench made up of 677 judgeships (including roughly 40-50 vacancies) – a 72% increase in pending cases over the last decade, during which, no new district seats have been created.

“We really are pressed to get all of the work done that litigants demand of us, and it affects the quality of the justice that they receive,” Judge Mary Scriven, a federal judge in Tampa, Florida, told CNN.

The staffing shortfall, she and other judges told CNN, is costing litigants time and money, while undermining public confidence in the judiciary. Whether it is addressed any time soon will depend on whether the House can pass in the coming weeks legislation that would create 66 new judgeships – 63 of them permanent – to the country’s most overburdened court districts. The legislation – known as the known as the JUDGES Act or “Judicial Understaffing Delays Getting Emergencies Solved” Act – was quietly approved by the Senate without any opposition just before the August recess.

The bill, which has a House counterpart with bipartisan sponsorship, could face long odds in that chamber where lawmakers will have limited floor time in September, a priority to vote on messaging bills that drive home their political arguments in the weeks before the election and a government shutdown looming they’ll need to avert. The legislation isn’t seen as a top priority for many, and leadership would need to step in as Speaker Mike Johnson is managing an unruly and narrow majority.

Supporters of the JUDGES Act say that the odds of it passing shrink considerably after the election, when it will become clear which party will get to appoint the first round of new judges allotted by the bill.

“That uncertainty – nobody knows for sure what’s going to happen in this election, or any other – that should help to motivate people to get this passed on the House side, and, then, get it done this month,” said Jonathan Hafen, national president of the Federal Bar Association, which has been advocating in favor of the bill.

If it is not passed, the situation for the most stretched federal courts will only grow more dire. The semi-retired judges known as senior judges that have helped carry the extra load will age out of being able to contribute. And a burnout factor is affecting the amount of work that newly retired senior judges are willing to take on, leaving active-status judges scrambling to fill the gaps.

“It just makes the workload relentless,” said Judge Timothy Corrigan, the chief judge of the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida, which covers Tampa and the rest of central Florida, and would receive five new judgeships under the bill. “You’re issuing opinions, you’re having trials, you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing, but as soon as you finish one thing, there’s five others that need your attention. It never stops.”

Litigants will have to wait even longer for their cases to be resolved. For defendants being held in jail before trial, that means more months of detention before a jury ever considers the charges against them. And in civil lawsuits, the parties may feel pressure to settle cases that otherwise would have gone to trial because of the cost of paying for seemingly never-ending litigation.

“If the bench doesn’t have capacity, the bench can’t hear those litigants’ cases in a timely way,” said Judge Kimberly Mueller, chief judge of the Eastern District of California’s federal trial court.

‘Not the quality of federal justice’

Mueller’s district — stretching across 34 counties in California’s Central Valley – has just six-active district judges to handle an area that has grown in population from nearly 2.5 million in 1990, when Congress last passed a comprehensive judicial expansion bill, to almost 8.5 million.

Courts prioritize the resolution of criminal cases, as required under the Speedy Trial Act. But still, the median time between the filing of a criminal felony case and its resolution is 33 months in California’s Eastern District.

“Someone can spend many months, if not years, in a local jail in pre-trial detention if they’re detained, waiting to know the outcome of their case,” Mueller said. For prosecutors, the delay risks losing witnesses and their memories.

Under the JUDGES Act, her district would get four additional judgeships, added one by one in 2025, 2027, 2029 and 2031. The bill was crafted based on the recommendations of the Judicial Conference, the policymaking body of the federal judiciary, which looked both at case load statistics and other circumstances, like the geography of a court district, the availability of magistrate judges that can help with the work, and factors that could make litigation more complex, like a frequent need for language interpreters.

“We take very great care to make sure that every single judgeship recommendation that we make is reasonable, and it’s defensible and it’s based on the actual workload needs,” said US Circuit Judge Nancy Moritz, who chairs the Judicial Statistics subcommittee of Judicial Conference’s Committee on Judicial Resources.

In some court districts, divisions with increasingly busy dockets don’t have dedicated judges, meaning there is a scramble to assign out the case load to judges elsewhere in the district. For instance, there is no sitting judge in the Florida Middle District’s Ocala division – home to The Villages, a retirement community that has grown dramatically in recent years.

“That community deserves a full-time district judge sitting in the Ocala courthouse handling those cases, allowing the community to come in and watch and so forth,” Corrigan said. “The fact that we’re unable to provide that right now is just not the quality of federal justice that you would hope that we would be able to provide.”

A push for quick passage in the House

The bill’s top Senate supporters – Sen. Todd Young, an Indiana Republican who first introduced the legislation in 2020, and Delaware Sen. Chris Coon, its initial Democratic cosponsor – are pushing for quick passage in the House this September, given how November’s election could disincentivize the losing party from supporting it.

However, even a co-sponsor of the House version, Rep. Hank Johnson, expressed skepticism of that timeline. Pointing to the government spending legislation the House will be working on next month, the Georgia Democrat told CNN that “I think it’s most likely that it’ll take place during the lame duck session.”

The bill’s supporters are reaching out both to House leadership and the House members whose congressional districts would see judgeships added to their courthouses, a Senate aide involved in the push told CNN.

To get the broad support that allowed the legislation to pass both the Senate Judiciary Committee – the site of some of the most pitched, party-line battles in that chamber – and the Senate floor without any opposition, the bill’s architects had to stretch out the time period over which judges would be added to the various district courts. The bill allocates new judges over 12 years.

“Chances are good that both parties will have a turn in the White House at some point over that span of time, and all judicial nominations are still subject to the confirmation process in the Senate,” another Senate aide involved in the legislative push told CNN.

CNN’s Lauren Fox contributed to this report.

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By Ben Morse, CNN

(CNN) — The Northern Illinois Huskies shocked No. 5 Notre Dame on Saturday in a dramatic upset result at Notre Dame Stadium.

Kanon Woodill’s 35-year field goal with 31 seconds left gave the Huskies a late two-point lead before Cade Haberman blocked Notre Dame’s attempted 62-yard field goal to clinch the 16-14 victory.

The victory is Northern Illinois’ first ever win over a top-five ranked opponent, with the NBC commentary team coining it the “biggest upset” in the school’s history.

“I’m so proud of the kids, our coaches, everybody, they believed,” an emotional Huskies head coach Thomas Hammock told NBC afterwards. “They believed and we came here and got it done.

“They listened to what I said, I told them all week: ‘We don’t need luck, we just need to be our best,’ and they were their best today.”

The Fighting Irish had taken the lead on Saturday, but the Huskies answered in impressive fashion with a 83-yard touchdown pass from Ethan Hampton to Antario Brown and two field goals from Woodill to give them a six-point advantage.

A 34-yard touchdown run from Jeremiyah Love handed Notre Dame a one-point lead midway through the third quarter.

And trailing with just under six minutes remaining of the game, Northern Illinois got the ball back when Amariyun Knighten intercepted Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard and returned it 30 yards to Notre Dame’s 50-yard line.

The team drove down the field, converting two third downs and a fourth down along the way, until they reached the Fighting Irish’s 19-yard line.

Woodill successfully converted the field goal, his third of the afternoon, to leave Notre Dame just seconds to attempt a comeback.

They managed to reach Northern Illinois’ 44-yard line before the drive stalled, leaving them with a 62-yard field goal attempt and just five seconds remaining.

But Haberman was able to get his hand to the attempt from by Notre Dame’s Mitch Jeter, his second block of the day, sparking wild scenes of celebration as the Northern Illinois players and coaches spilled onto the field.

It is the first win by any Mid-American Conference team over a team ranked in the Associated Press top five.

Hammock spoke afterwards on why the victory was so special to him.

“All these guys that have been with our program, been through the ups and downs and they continue to fight,” he said as his voice cracked with emotion. “It’s like they’re my kids! I’m happy for the adversity, to push through no matter the situation and I just couldn’t be more proud.”

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By Bryan Mena and Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN

(CNN) — It couldn’t be clearer at this point that the US labor market is cooling.

Even though the unemployment rate edged lower last month to 4.2%, joblessness is still hovering near highs not seen since the fall of 2021. On top of that, employers have hired significantly fewer workers in recent months compared to prior years and the number of job openings fell in July to the lowest level since January 2021, according to Labor Department data.

But America’s job market may have some pent-up momentum just waiting to be unleashed. That’s because employers might be putting some of their hiring plans on hold — and for good reason.

Businesses consider many factors when deciding to hire, but across a wide spectrum of industries, the economic outlook carries always great deal of weight. And it makes sense: Why take on more workers if, for instance, there’s a strong chance a recession is around the corner that then forces layoffs?

Currently, there’s no shortage of economic uncertainty — the bulk of which stems from the US presidential election taking place in two months as well as upcoming key decisions on interest rates from the Federal Reserve. Both those factors are prompting employers to think twice about hiring more workers now, according to economists and recent comments from businesses around the country.

Still, while both are “contributing to businesses’ cautious hiring sentiment at the moment,” many hiring decisions are likely being shaped even more by “slower demand for their goods and services both domestically and abroad,” Kathy Bostjancic, chief economist at Nationwide, told CNN.

“Consumer spending has been the dominant engine of economic growth. As it slows, so does overall activity and this will all pinch corporate top and bottom lines,” she said.

The big election question mark

Even the Fed’s Beige Book, a collection of survey responses from businesses complied by the 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks, said that “with uncertainty pertaining to the presidential election ahead, many firms have put hiring plans on hold.”

That shouldn’t be all too shocking given the stark differences between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

Trump, for instance, has cast himself as an America first candidate. He’s calling for a 60% tariff on imports from China and at least a 10% across-the-board tariff on imports from other nations. However, companies that make products domestically would pay a 15% corporate tax rate versus the current 21%, Trump unveiled in a speech he gave at the Economic Club of New York last week.

Harris, meanwhile, has been silent on what she would do with regard to tariffs. But she’s proposing raising the corporate tax rate to 28%. At the same time, she announced a plan that aims to make it easier for new small businesses to form with hefty tax deductions.

If elected, Trump may be able to get tariffs passed without congressional approval, as he’s previously done, but the tax code changes he and Harris are proposing would require Congress to sign off. And which party controls the House and the Senate will also be decided on in this election. Depending on the results, it could limit Trump or Harris’ ability to make good on vastly different campaign promises.

Holding off on hiring more workers until after the election is “a rational decision,” said Sean Snaith, director of the Institute for Economic Forecasting at the University of Central Florida.

“When there’s more clarity about the future,” he said, “businesses are more confident in making these kinds of decisions.”

Waiting on lower interest rates

It’s widely expected that the Fed will finally begin to slash interest rates later this month and will cut perhaps a few more times by year’s end, so it may just be a matter of waiting on that to happen before firms start hiring at faster clip, Julia Pollak, ZipRecruiter’s chief economist, told CNN.

That’s because businesses of all sizes, but especially smaller ones, rely heavily on credit. From getting a business off the ground to expanding operations, borrowing is key in the business world. So when interest rates are as elevated as they are right now, monthly debt payments could be too costly for many firms. And if rates are expected to come down over the next year, why take out a loan right now?

“Many companies are saying they have lots of growth opportunities, they want to open a new location, get a new warehouse, get a new truck, but they can’t do any of that stuff right now because interest rates are too high, so it doesn’t pencil out. The investment would be too costly,” Pollak said. “It’s just a temporary holding pattern.”

Although Fed officials have opened the door for rate cuts, it’s not clear how aggressive the Fed will be. The first rate cut this month is expected to be just a quarter point, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. That expectation has already helped send the 10-year US Treasury yield lower. Many loans track that benchmark, as well.

But businesses may wait for more relief, which will depend on inflation and unemployment. Whenever rates do come down enough, and if American shoppers continue to spend at a healthy pace, hiring could accelerate, Pollak said.

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By Don Riddell and Issy Ronald, CNN

(CNN) — When American swimmer Ali Truwit first got back into the water after losing her leg in a shark attack, the sound of water rippling around the pool “triggered flashbacks” to that day.

“It was really, really hard,” she told CNN’s Don Riddell. “At that point physically, the temperature of the water sent what felt like electric shocks throughout my leg because it was newly amputated with all of these new nerve endings and then emotionally hearing the sound of water triggered flashbacks to the attack.”

But at the same time, there were “glimmers of hope,” she added, “moments in the water that felt peaceful and joyful” as she sought to reclaim her “love of water.”

And just 16 months after that life-changing day, she was swimming on the biggest stage of all, winning two Paralympic silver medals in Paris in the women’s S10 400-meter freestyle and 100m backstroke.

“It’s an indescribable feeling, but it’s on the shoulders of so many who have been such a great support to me this year and even in the stands in Paris,” she said.

Truwit was a competitive swimmer for Yale University, where she majored in cognitive science and economics, and was on holiday with her teammate Sophie Pilkinton, snorkelling in the Turks and Caicos Islands when the attack happened.

“It was a terrifying day, a terrifying time and a terrible moment, one that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy,” Truwit said. “But when I look back now, I really try to instead focus on the strength that Sophie and I showed and how grateful I am for Sophie’s composure and medical knowledge and expertise, but selflessness and friendship to save my life.”

They managed to fight off the shark and swim back to the boat where her friend applied a tourniquet to stem the bleeding. Truwit was then airlifted to hospital where doctors operated three times and eventually amputated her left leg just below the knee on her 23rd birthday.

“I definitely have flashbacks to the attack and you know in the early days had several nightmares,” she said. “My mom would spend countless sleepless nights with me helping coach me through them. But I think just learning to face fear, learning that I can have a flashback and I’m ok and I get through it.”

Within the first month of the attack, Noelle Lambert, an American Paralympic track and field athlete who also competed in Paris, had contacted Truwit and “planted the seed” of competing at a Paralympic Games.

“It started … just with a quest to regain my love of the water and then a quest to get some exercise and cardio which I was sorely missing and it started to kind of unfold into what if? What if I could make it?,” she said.

“And typically when I have what ifs they don’t end very positive. They’re kind of nervous and anxious thoughts and so it was exciting to me that I had a what if that was so exciting and happy amidst a lot of sadness and tears.”

And as she competed in Paris, her family, her coach – who came out of retirement to guide her back to competitive swimming – and her friends, including those who saved her life, were all there cheering in the stands as she clinched her silver medals

“My lifesavers, heroes, sisters, best friends. The most selfless incredible caring strong inspirations I’ll ever have,” she wrote on Instagram alongside a picture of the two friends she says saved her life.

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(CNN) — Este sábado, las autoridades alemanas intentaron restablecer el tráfico tras un problema técnico, pero desde entonces se ha reanudado parte del tráfico.

Los servicios de trenes en el centro de Alemania se han visto “enormemente afectados” debido a un fallo técnico, dijo la compañía ferroviaria alemana Deutsche Bahn.

En el área metropolitana de Frankfurt se produjeron numerosas cancelaciones de trenes debido a un fallo en las comunicaciones por radio, según informó el servicio de noticias Tagesschau de la radiodifusora pública ARD.

Según Tagesschau, los trenes que viajaban hacia o desde Frankfurt se vieron afectados y el tráfico a través del importante centro financiero y de viajes se detuvo.

Cientos de pasajeros quedaron varados en la estación central de Frankfurt el sábado, sin saber cuándo podrán reanudar sus viajes, informó Tagesschau.

La Asociación Regional de Transporte del Rin-Meno (RMV), una de las mayores asociaciones de transporte de Alemania, dijo el sábado en una publicación en las redes sociales que debido a una falla técnica en las comunicaciones por radio, “los servicios de trenes en el área de la RMV han sido suspendidos hasta nuevo aviso” y que ni los trenes S-Bahn ni los trenes regionales podrían funcionar.

“Por el momento no se puede prever la duración de la interrupción”, afirmó RMV en aquel momento.

Aún no está claro qué causó el fallo técnico.

Este sábado, la Deutsche Bahn informó que el problema técnico se había solucionado. “El tráfico ferroviario en el centro de Alemania se está reanudando. Puede haber interrupciones hasta el final del día”, indicó.

Frankfurt es uno de los centros de transporte europeos más importantes, con alrededor de 1.200 trenes locales y de larga distancia en servicio regular cada día, según Tagesschau.

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(CNN) — Se suponía que el tiempo de Lyudmyla Kichenok en Nueva York para el US Open estaría lleno de tenis y culminaría con su boda con su pareja, Stas Kumarsky, este miércoles de la segunda semana del grand slam.

Pero todo cambió cuando la jugadora ucraniana y su compañera de dobles Jelena Ostapenko siguieron ganando en el torneo de dobles femenino.

Tanto es así que consiguieron el título del Grand Slam este viernes, al vencer a Kristina Mladenovic y Zhang Shuai en sets seguidos en la final en el Estadio Arthur Ashe.

Después de reclamar su primer título de Grand Slam, Kichenok reveló que Kumarsky, que es el entrenador de Ostapenko, inicialmente había reservado la boda dos días antes de la final para que la pareja se casara, pero su éxito en la cancha truncó ese plan.

“Decidimos cuando llegamos aquí a Nueva York, mi novio Stas, averiguó dónde podíamos hacerlo, porque nos comprometimos hace más de un año”, dijo la jugadora de 32 años en la cancha después de ganar el título de dobles femeninos. “Estábamos pensando en todas las cosas, dónde podíamos hacerlo. Y, sí, encontró un lugar aquí y simplemente reservó una cita para el miércoles.

“Me lo dijo. Yo le dije: ‘Está bien, sí, vamos’. Solo hay que hacer este procedimiento cuando firmas los papeles, solo para hacerlo. Sí, fijamos una fecha, pero tenía que jugar semifinales el miércoles y le dije: ‘Está bien, tal vez la próxima vez’”.

Kichenok agregó que se casarán en otra ocasión, y planteó la hipótesis de que lo harán en “Las Vegas o en algún lugar de Europa”.

Kichenok sirve en la final de dobles femeninos. (Crédito: Imágenes de Luke Hales/Getty)

Kichenok y Ostapenko dominaron su camino hacia el título de dobles femenino del US Open, sin perder un solo set en todo el torneo.

Es su tercer título del año y, tras ello, Kichenok dedicó la victoria al “pueblo de Ucrania”.

“Están luchando muy duro por nuestra libertad en este momento y sólo espero poder darles algo de ánimo. Mi corazón está con ellos”.

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By Leah Asmelash, CNN

(CNN) — A year ago, Lea’h Sampson felt like everything was crashing.

Though she had been doing stand-up comedy for six years, she was hitting a wall. Her jokes weren’t getting her booked, even in local comedy shows, and the feeling of defeat was settling in.

So when she got booked to do a show with Don’t Tell Comedy in Los Angeles, it was supposed to be her last. Sure, maybe she’d do a set here or there. But as far as pursuing stand-up full time? She was over it.

Then, Don’t Tell Comedy posted her full set on YouTube, along with a clip on TikTok, a minute-long bit about interracial dating. If you’re on the internet, you might have seen it. She starts with a bang: “Those of you who are into interracial dating, good for you. So was Thomas Jefferson.”

The crowd erupts, and she keeps them in the palm of her hand as she jokes about the differences in dating Black men (“I take my wig off in front of him, he’s like ‘Ooh, brr, it’s cold Little Bill’”) versus White men (“He’s like…’You could’ve told me that you have cancer’”).

That single TikTok video quickly blew up on the platform, bringing in upwards of 4 million views. Meanwhile, more than 800,000 people have seen the full 10-minute set on YouTube.

Overnight, her Instagram follower count doubled (now, she’s at 89,000). Her favorite reality stars left comments on the video. Comedy legends were sliding into her DMs. A few months later, she opened for Bill Burr at Madison Square Garden. She gets emotional talking about it now.

“I feel like I’ve always been a really good comic, a hard worker, and I just needed people to see me,” Sampson said. “And Don’t Tell did that for me.”

Don’t Tell Comedy is different from your average comedy show. Audiences don’t know the exact location until day of, or the lineup they’re going to see. There’s no drink minimum, which makes shows more affordable, and some events are even BYOB. And they’re popular: At a recent show in Atlanta, 149 people packed into a basement boxing gym to see seven local comedians perform.

For comics throughout the country, Don’t Tell creates more opportunities to perform outside of big city hubs. And, as Sampson can attest, Don’t Tell Comedy’s online presence is tremendous — with 5.2 million followers across YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.

Sampson is just one of dozens of comics who has found success through Don’t Tell Comedy. Since its start in 2017, comics say Don’t Tell has changed the comedy landscape for the better.

What is Don’t Tell Comedy?

One of the most influential things that Don’t Tell does, is actually quite simple: It gives comedians a platform, especially online.

Rather than hoping a clip posted on TikTok blows up, Don’t Tell gives comedians access to a built-in audience on social media, a rarity in today’s changing media landscape. One of its millions of followers might see someone’s clip, like it, follow the comedian, and later, buy tickets to their tour. When trying to build a fan base, that’s a huge win.

After all, it’s something of a weird moment for stand-up comedy. On one hand, while traditional industry pathways have shrunk, streaming services — most notably Netflix — have invested heavily in promoting and producing stand-up specials.

But the people who get opportunities on Netflix tend to be big names, said Don’t Tell founder and CEO Kyle Kazanjian-Amory. (These include comedians like John Mulaney, Dave Chapelle, or more recently, Joe Rogan, whose special premiered last month.) There’s a gap, one that Don’t Tell tries to fill, between mainstream comedians with big fan bases and those without.

“That’s the tough thing in comedy,” Kazanjian-Amory said. “You’re either living in a multimillion dollar house, or you’re scraping by to pay rent.”

That disparity wasn’t always the norm. Back in the 1980s, clubs were desperate for comedians to fill time slots in their venues. There were more spaces than comedians to fill them, said Jesse David Fox, a comedy critic and author of “Comedy Book.” That meant comedians could largely make a middle-class living doing stand-up in their own cities.

Eventually, some of those stars broke through, becoming names many of us still recognize, like Jerry Seinfeld or Ellen DeGeneres. But even if you weren’t a megastar, Fox said, that middle class lifestyle was still attainable.

A decade later, that 1980s comedy boom busted. In the 1990s, fewer venues meant there were fewer places for comedians to make money without already being famous. The definition of success changed: With a reduced path to the middle-class level of comedy, comedians hoped to build enough momentum to pitch a sitcom — à la Ray Romano or, later, Chris Rock.

This type of top-down level success continued into the 2000s. Comedy gatekeepers — like late night shows and Comedy Central — determined whether a comedian was funny enough to give them a platform, Fox said. Maybe they’d give a rising star a 10-minute set, then a half-hour special, then an hour, then maybe a development deal for a show. (Think Amy Schumer and Nick Kroll).

Now, in most cases, that whole pathway to make money has flipped. Comedians have to develop and nurture their fan bases through other avenues — like a popular podcast or newsletter — so fans will buy tickets to see them perform. Previous platforms have lost power; in their place is a more grassroots effort driven by social media like TikTok, Instagram reels and YouTube.

But the idea of a comedian having fans is a relatively recent one, Fox said. Sure, someone like Seinfeld could sell out arenas and have fans that will pay to see him perform. But for most working comics, they were just the name on the bill on a Friday night at the comedy club. Until now.

“All of it has allowed comedians of many levels to build fan bases,” Fox said. “And from those fan bases, you have a sustainable income because they’re your fans. It’s much more sustainable than the whims of certain gatekeepers.”

Comedians say Don’t Tell ‘set the bar’

Grace Johnson has been doing comedy since 2021. After meeting Kazanjian-Amory last year at the New York Comedy Festival, Don’t Tell Comedy produced and released her 10-minute special in June. While the special did give her a boost online, Johnson said that just having the credit was meaningful.

“Don’t Tell right now stands out as one of the premier places to go to for comedy, in the way that Comedy Central has been,” Johnson said. “Especially as someone who has been doing it for a shorter time than others, it’s been a really legitimizing thing.”

There are other tangible effects, too. Don’t Tell gives its comedians a “crisp, nice-looking video” that can then be used to apply to festivals or use in a reel, Johnson said. (To produce her set, there was a director of photography, six camera operators and a production designer.) These aren’t iPhone videos. These are high-quality, professional clips that will make others want to hire her, too.

Don’t Tell wants to democratize that access. The group doesn’t care how many Instagram followers you have, Kazanjian-Amory said. They just care if you’re funny. Scrolling through the feed, you’ll see comedians of all races, genders and so on. There’s no singular type of Don’t Tell comedian. Two comedians who recently went viral following the success of their sets, Susan Rice and Andy Huggins, are both in their 70s.

“That, I think, is the special secret sauce of Don’t Tell,” Johnson said. “It’s just like, ‘Is it good? Okay.’”

Now, Don’t Tell has become the go-to place to watch stand-up comedy, said comedian Jay Jurden, especially comics outside of the big names. Unlike other outlets, like TV or streaming, one could feasibly scroll for hours on TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube, continuously watching more and more stand-up.

While the full 10-minute sets are posted on YouTube, Don’t Tell populates its other social media with shorter, minute-long vertical videos with giant captions, like digestible comedy nuggets, which then brings eyes back to those longer sets (like Sampson’s viral TikTok). It’s a tactic that keeps people engaged, and exposes audiences to more comedy.

When it comes to these intangibles — diversity, audience engagement, and vertical integration — Jurden said “Don’t Tell really set the bar.”

Where does comedy go from here?

By creating another pathway for comedians to get noticed both on the internet and locally, Don’t Tell has effectively paved the way for more comedians to propel their careers. Objectively, that’s a good thing — earlier this year, Vulture called the enterprise “Comedy’s Benevolent Gatekeeper.”

Yet there are limits to the format. Don’t Tell’s online audience is huge, but it doesn’t necessarily control what goes viral and what doesn’t. It might give a variety of people a platform, but just by being online, the group still operates at the whims of the algorithm.

“If you look at what else works on YouTube, or what else works on Twitter, it’s not just ‘goodness becomes successful,’” Fox said. “It is the work that gets a certain reaction out of people. And that reaction might not actually give people the right type of fans.”

The concern, Fox said, is that it might shift comedy toward comedians who are louder, noisier, or more reactionary — the things that tend to do better on social media. Or, it could create audiences that expect the entire stand-up experience to be like an Instagram reel or a TikTok video.

None of that is Don’t Tell Comedy’s fault. That’s just the internet. But if that’s the way people consume so much stand-up, rather than seeing it in-person, it could become a worry.

Still, comedians need exposure, and Don’t Tell has the ability to introduce more people to new types of comedians, at differing levels. That also means more audiences watching stand-up in person, supporting touring comedians, and just supporting stand-up comedy as an entire ecosystem.

“Don’t Tell is going to help a lot of people find some of their new favorite comedians, whose careers they will help to continue to thrive over the next few years,” Jurden said. “To me, that is ultimately very good and work that should be celebrated and commended.”

In the case of Sampson, and many other comedians like her, that work was life-changing.

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By Paradise Afshar, Raja Razek, Lauren Mascarenhas, Chris Boyette and Zoe Sottile, CNN

(CNN) — As the search continues a second night for the man suspected of injuring five people when he opened fire on Interstate 75, many area schools have decided to close Monday and law enforcement are warning the rural Kentucky community to take safety precautions.

The Laurel County Sheriff’s Office has identified Joseph A. Couch, 32, as the suspect thought to have fired into 12 cars on the north- and southbound lanes of the interstate on Saturday. Authorities said Sunday night they believe Couch is still in the remote, densely wooded area near where his AR-15, ammunition, car and possibly his phone were found.

“You need to lock your doors. If you have security cameras, make sure you’re constantly watching them, maybe keep your porch lights on,” Kentucky State Police spokesperson Scottie Pennington advised the community at a Sunday night news conference. “Have your cell phone and make sure your phones are charged up because you never know when you might have to contact somebody or law enforcement.”

The shooting occurred around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, about nine miles north of the city of London, Kentucky. It appeared to be a “random act” of violence, Laurel County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Gilbert Acciardo said, according to The Associated Press.

There were no fatalities, Acciardo said Sunday afternoon, but some of the injuries were “very severe”: One victim was shot in the face and another “across the chest.” Some of the victims were “critically hurt” but are in stable condition, said Acciardo.

The Kentucky State Police has taken command of the manhunt, Laurel County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Richard Dalrymple said Sunday night. The FBI’s Louisville office is also seeking information on Couch’s whereabouts.

On Sunday afternoon, authorities found an AR-15 in a wooded area by the interstate that they believe was used in the shooting Saturday, Acciardo said.

Authorities describe Couch, of Woodbine, Kentucky, as a White man, roughly 5 feet, 10 inches tall, weighing about 154 pounds.

Law enforcement hasn’t yet determined a motive for the attack, Acciardo added. “He was not in a vehicle. No, definitely not road rage,” Acciardo told reporters at an earlier news conference.

While authorities don’t believe the gunman targeted specific people, the attack seemed to be “a planned event,” Acciardo said Sunday evening. Couch has a minimal criminal history, but “nothing of any significance” or like the Saturday shooting.

Authorities say Couch shot into nine cars on the interstate south of Lexington on Saturday, closing the interstate for hours and putting the rural community on edge.

“We want to get this guy because he’s shot at cars, he’s shown that he’s capable, and that means he’s capable again,” Acciardo said of the suspect.

Manhunt continues through dense woods

As authorities continue combing the heavily wooded, hilly area, Acciardo said the suspect “couldn’t have picked an area that is any more remote and difficult for us to try to locate him.”

Between 40 and 50 officers from federal, state and local agencies are participating in the search, according to Acciardo.

Law enforcement on Saturday discovered a vehicle registered to the suspect on a forest service road off Exit 49, with an empty gun case inside. The vehicle was “very near the interstate, but not close enough that the person of interest could have fired from that location,” Acciardo said.

Authorities suspect he walked closer to the interstate, which is where they recovered the weapon and believe he may still be in possession of other weapons. They also recovered a phone, but the battery was removed. The fact Couch left his rifle behind may indicate he has other weapons, Acciardo said Sunday evening.

“At this point, we do not believe he has outside assistance,” Acciardo said. He later noted it’s “extremely possible” the suspect is using telecommunications in some way. He said the length of time the suspect is able to survive in the remote woods depends on his level of preparation – which is still unclear to authorities. He added it was possible Couch is no longer alive.

Law enforcement has advised residents to remain vigilant, call 911 if they see Couch and not approach him.

The search coordinated by the sheriff’s office resumed Sunday morning with the help of multiple law enforcement agencies and a drone with infrared heat-sensing technology, police said.

“It’s very tedious and stressful,” Acciardo said of the search. “We’re just going to keep on plugging, because that’s what we do.”

“We have to look behind every tree, because what if he’s there?” he said.

Officers are expanding the search parameters as they search, Acciardo said.

Authorities plan to shut down the search overnight, but will keep the area contained before resuming in the morning, Acciardo said Sunday evening. “We really have to suspend it at dark because of the danger element of our guys being in there and maybe walking right up on this individual,” he said. Officers will stay in “in strategic positions to observe” overnight.

“It’s very possible” Couch has left the area, “but not probable,” said Acciardo, citing information he said was unavailable to the public.

The chance of Couch being able to get from the woods to a residence is “very remote,” he added.

The gun violence injected chaos into the Saturday commute just days after a mass shooting left four people dead and nine others hospitalized at a high school in Winder, Georgia — and less than a week after a half-dozen people driving on an interstate in the Seattle area were injured by a spree shooter. President Joe Biden was briefed on the Kentucky shooting, the White House said Sunday.

The Laurel County Public School system announced it would cancel classes on Monday, citing “an abundance of caution.”

Speaking at the Sunday evening news conference, London Mayor Randall Weddle said he hoped “people understand that this travesty, this act of violence, doesn’t define us as a community.”

‘I’m a walking miracle,’ says shooting victim

What started as a family day out ended with a trip to the emergency room for one of the shooting’s victims, 28-year-old Rebecca Puryear.

Puryear, her husband and 4-year-old son had spent the day together in Lexington and were on the way back to their home in Harlan, Kentucky, when they heard gunshots as they approached Exit 49 on I-75.

“It sounded like a tire had blown, so I asked my husband, and he said it was gunshots,” Puryear told CNN on Sunday.

“The next thing I know, my ears are ringing. I look over and my (passenger-side) window is busted and there’s a bullet hole.”

Puryear continued driving for another mile and a half before pulling over in a safer area. She made sure her husband and son were safe before realizing she had been shot.

“I looked down and was just pouring blood,” Puryear said. “I had to try to keep it together because if I freaked out, they would’ve freaked out.”

They called 911, Puryear said, and Laurel County Sheriff’s Deputy Bobby Roberts responded as another ambulance was headed to assist other victims behind her at the scene.

“I started fainting and going in and out, and he told me to get in his cruiser so he could take me to the hospital.”

Puryear said a bullet entered through the passenger-side window and struck her right arm, penetrating her chest before exiting through her left arm. She was released from a hospital later Saturday night but will need surgery.

“We’re blessed that I’m still alive. I’m a walking miracle,” Puryear told CNN. “It still does not feel real to me, even though I’m sitting here with gaping wounds.”

Driver recounts harrowing ordeal

One woman who was driving on Interstate 75 with a friend described witnessing the shooting unfold.

“We were just driving along, and all of a sudden, it was like a rock went through my back window, and it hurt my ear,” Christina DiNoto said.

It wasn’t until roughly an hour and a half later DiNoto and her friend learned about the shooting and noticed what appeared to be paint scrapes on the back of her car.

“My hands are still shaking,” said DiNoto, who added she feels incredibly lucky.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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CNN’s Sarah Dewberry, Sara Smart, Emma Tucker, Jillian Sykes, and Nikki Carvajal contributed to this report.

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By Tamar Michaelis, CNN

(CNN) — Three Israeli civilians have been killed in a shooting at the Allenby Crossing on the border between the occupied West Bank and Jordan, Israeli authorities said Sunday.

The Israel Airports Authority, which runs the border terminal at the Allenby Crossing with Jordan, told CNN that the three men who died worked at the crossing.

“The terrorist shot dead three employees of the Allenby terminal at close range,” before being killed by a security guard, the manager of the crossing, Alex Chen, said.

The Allenby crossing mainly serves Palestinians and foreigners. Israelis are not allowed to use it.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said “a terrorist approached the area of the Allenby Bridge from Jordan in a truck, exited the truck, and opened fire at the Israeli security forces operating at the bridge.”

“Three Israeli civilians were pronounced dead as a result of the attack,” the IDF said, adding that the assailant had been shot dead. The IDF also published a photograph of the hand gun it said was used in the attack.

Israeli police spoke of “several casualties at the scene,” and also said the shooter had “been neutralized.”

Jordanian authorities said a preliminary investigation had identified the suspect as Maher Diab Hussein Al-Jazi, a Jordanian citizen from Al-Hussainiya in the Maan governorate south of the capital, Amman.

Al-Jazi had acted alone, the Jordanian Ministry of Interior said, adding that he had driven over the crossing in a vehicle taking commercial goods from Jordan to the West Bank. It said various authorities were now coordinating the repatriation of Al-Jazi’s body for burial in Jordan.

The suspected gunman’s brother Shady Al-Jazi said his family had been surprised by the news, which they learned through satellite television. He suggested his brother’s anger at Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza may have been a motivating factor.

“He used to work as a truck driver and would cross (the bridge) often to offload the truck and then return back to Jordan. But his grief over what’s happening to the Muslim nation, seeing all the killing in Gaza, and every one of us who feels passionately for his brethren, this could motivate him,” he told Jordanian news outlet Ammon in an on-air interview.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the shooting, saying the three Israelis were murdered by a “despicable terrorist.”

In remarks at the beginning of the weekly government meeting, Netanyahu said Israel was “surrounded by a murderous ideology led by Iran’s axis of evil.”

The Jordanian government also condemned the shooter’s actions, with the foreign ministry spokesperson Sufian Qudah saying the country rejects and condemns “violence and targeting civilians for any reason.”

However, the ministry also hinted there was a link between extremism and Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank, calling for moves “to address the root causes and de-escalate tensions” and noting Jordan’s efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza.

The incident comes almost two weeks after Israel’s military launched one of its most expansive operations in the West Bank in years, carrying out raids, bulldozing highways, and launching airstrikes in multiple parts of the occupied territory.

Clashes in the West Bank have become more frequent since Israel began its war in Gaza in response to Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on October 7.

Israeli troops and settlers have killed nearly 700 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since October, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah, whose figures do not distinguish between militants and civilians.

All three land crossings between Israel and Jordan were closed following the attack, the Israel Airports Authority said. It said the crossings would reopen on Monday for passenger crossings only; the Yitzhak Rabin crossing (near Eilat) and the Jordan River crossing (near Beit Shean) from 8 a.m. local time and the Allenby Crossing from 10 a.m local time.

All Jordanian drivers who were questioned following the incident have since been released, and over 100 trucks have returned to Jordan, Jordanian authorities said later on Sunday.

Jordan became the second Arab country to sign a peace deal with Israel in 1994. It has been highly critical of Israel’s military operations in the West Bank and Gaza.

Jordan is a close ally of the United States, from which it receives substantial military aid.

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By Ben Morse, CNN

(CNN) — Lyudmyla Kichenok’s time in New York for the US Open was supposed to be filled with tennis and capped off by her marriage to her partner, Stas Kumarsky, on the Wednesday of the second week of the grand slam.

But that schedule all changed when the Ukrainian player and her doubles partner Jelena Ostapenko kept on winning in the women’s doubles tournament.

So much so that they claimed the grand slam title on Friday, beating Kristina Mladenovic and Zhang Shuai in straight sets in the final in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

After claiming her maiden grand slam title, Kichenok revealed that Kumarsky – who is Ostapenko’s coach – had initially booked the wedding two days before the final for the pair to tie the knot but her success on the court curtailed that plan.

“We decided when we got here to New York, my boyfriend Stas, he checked where we can do it, because we got engaged more than a year ago,” the 32-year-old said on court after winning the women’s doubles title. “We were figuring out all the things, where we can do that. And, yeah, he found a spot here and he just booked an appointment for Wednesday.

“He told me that. I was, like: ‘Okay, yeah, let’s go.’ Just this procedure when you sign the papers, just to do that. Yeah, we actually set a date, but I had to play semifinals on Wednesday, and I said: ‘Okay, maybe next time.’”

Kichenok added that they will get married another time, hypothesizing that they will do it in either “Las Vegas or Europe somewhere.”

Kichenok and Ostapenko were dominant on their way to claiming the US Open women’s doubles title, not dropping a set all tournament.

It is their third title of the year, and afterwards, Kichenok dedicated the victory to the “people in Ukraine.”

“They are fighting very hard for our freedom right now and I just hope I can give them some encouragement. My heart is with them.”

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By Maureen O’Hare, CNN

(CNN) — No sooner have airports introduced new scanning machines so you don’t need to unpack your carry-on bags, than a trend emerges where you photograph all your loose items in your airport security tray.

The “airport tray aesthetic” has taken off on TikTok, Instagram and Pinterest as people share artfully arranged shots of their sunglasses, shoes, toiletries and reading material inside the regulation polypropylene dishes.

Don’t expect crumpled plastic bags stuffed with toothpaste and Pepto-Bismol. This is aspirational travel, where your 35mm film camera nestles between your vintage loafers and your first-edition copy of “On the Road.”

It’s the latest in a line of trends where people curate their possessions for a public showcase, from bookshelves to bedside tables to even the insides of our refrigerators. (Yes, “fridgescaping,” which involves storing flowers and picture frames alongside your butter and eggs, is now a thing).

However, the trend is ruffling more than a few feathers, due to the airport security line being one of the top places in the world where it’s imperative to avoid dilly-dallying.

Think-pieces have naturally been spilling forth.

The New York Post slammed the “time-consuming trend” as an influencer-led blight upon the nation’s TSA lines.

The UK’s Metro newspaper said that “‘the anxiety-inducing trend’ risks you becoming the most hated person in the airport.”

Comments on Shop Pursue’s TikTok video showing young women preparing for a “girls’ trip” by organizing their Adidas Gazelles and Louis Vuitton bags on a bench range from “ik the people behind yall were annoyed waiting” to “you would get tased in JFK for this.”

However, like many things happening online, all is not quite what it seems.

In a TikTok video with 82,000 likes so far, New York-based influencer Chelsea as of Late gives a step-by-step tutorial on following the trend and not being a nuisance.

The key, she says, is to do it after going through security: Find a quiet spot and “if you have time set up a few different trays, cause why not?”

That, however, is still an area intended for travelers who need it for necessary repacking of items or for a more urgent rest stop.

Let’s also not forget that with all those shoes passing through security trays, you may as well be laying your items straight out on the floor. In 2018, a European study found that airport trays are the least hygienic part of the airport, carrying more germs than toilets.

So while hand sanitizer doesn’t typically feature in these airport tray photos and videos, it should probably play a key part in the aftercare.

The trend has unsurprisingly been a huge hit with marketing teams around the world, with brands including clothing and homeware retailers Anthropologie and book publishers Faber all posting their stylized boxes.

Storage solutions brand Stackers told CNN, “This trend specifically aligned perfectly for us, curating an aesthetic selection whilst focusing on our travel-friendly products.”

A lot of the most delightfully organized boxes don’t involve a trip to the airport at all.

In one of the most popular TikTok videos on the “airportaesthetic” hashtag, with 1.8 million views, Chicago-based content creator Piper Taich gives a tutorial explaining that her airport security tub was purchased on Amazon and her boarding pass was edited on Photoshop.

She then curates her travel-themed selections to her heart’s content.

“If you’re asking what the point of this is, the point is that it’s fun and that it’s art,” she says. “It’s a really fun way to express my love of fashion and thrifting and artistic direction.”

The rise of social media and increasingly advanced and accessible filming and editing software means that individuals are able to put together home-created masterpieces like never before, from dance videos to comedy sketches to makeup tutorials.

Against these pros, there are the cons. With rose-tinted snapshots of other people’s lives flooding our feeds 24/7, the social comparison is having a big impact on mental health, especially for younger people.

As for the airport tray aesthetic, while people might be getting het up at the idea of Gen Z holding up the line for some navel-gazing, the US Transport Security Administration is sanguine about the risk.

“The TSA has become aware of this trend recently,” a spokesperson told CNN. “As long as the staged glamor photos are not causing delays or issues with other passengers in the checkpoint, there are no issues. Travelers should take care to secure their IDs, passports and any light items on top that could be swept out of the bins when they go into the machines.”

For a screen break during their flight, some virally minded travelers might consider “rawdogging” – what we used to call staring out the window. And when you reach your destination, you can always put your phone down and go for a swim or a hike – life has to be lived before we can document it.

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(CNN) — Raging wildfires in California and Nevada have led to mandatory evacuations of thousands of homes, as forecasters warn of record heat in the West for the next few days. There are 14 active wildfires currently burning across California – with one so intense, it’s created its own weather pattern. Here’s the latest:

• California’s Line Fire explodes in size: The wildfire has consumed 17,459 acres as of Sunday after igniting at the base of the San Bernardino Mountains on Thursday. The blaze has more than quadrupled in size since Saturday morning. Authorities urged residents in several areas to flee as the massive blaze shot bright red flames and thick, billowing plumes of smoke into the sky. More than 600 fire personnel are battling the wildfire, which was 0% contained as of Sunday morning, according to Cal Fire. The blaze has injured three people, though authorities have not released any details about the extent of injuries.

Thunderstorm winds are causing “very erratic behavior” on the blaze and vegetation is “critically dry,” the agency said Sunday. Smoke continues to be an issue for firefighters and residents, and afternoon thunderstorms have the potential to cause new ignitions.

“Hot and dry conditions mixed with thunderstorms are expected to challenge firefighters for the next few days,” Cal Fire said.

The fire prompted a smoke advisory to be issued by the South Coast Air Quality Management District. As a result, the Rancho Cucamonga Fire District recommended residents stay indoors if possible, keep windows and doors closed and reduce outdoor activities.

A flash flood warning went into effect in Riverside and San Bernardino counties until Sunday evening, according to the National Weather Service office in San Diego.

The storms producing localized, heavy rainfall are occurring near the Line Fire. The warning means flash flooding is ongoing or expected and could cause considerable damage. Landslides are possible, especially in recently burn-scarred areas.

Doppler radar-indicated thunderstorms are producing heavy rain across the warned area at a rate of 1 to 2 inches per hour.

• Line Fire creates its own weather: As it burns through acres of land, it’s creating its own weather in the form of pyrocumulus clouds. The clouds can create erratic winds that push the fire outward, spreading it farther and challenging firefighters. If it’s hot enough, the clouds can produce lightning and rain, called pyrocumulonimbus. They can reach heights of 50,000 feet and generate their own systems of thunderstorms.

• Thousands evacuated in California mountain communities: As the flames move dangerously close, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department announced mandatory evacuation orders for about 4,800 homes in the Running Springs and Arrowbear Lake areas. Hundreds more have been evacuated in the cities of Highland, Forest Falls, Mountain Home Village and Angelus Oaks. “The Line Fire is very active and spreading in receptive fuels,” Cal Fire said. “There are currently 35,405 structures threatened, including single and multifamily homes, commercial buildings, and other minor structures.”

Firefighters have been successful in protecting homes from flames, Cal Fire Battalion Chief Brent Pascua told CNN on Sunday.

“Firefighters have been successful so far, even with the unpredictability of this fire, and we tend to keep it that way, we’re ready to stand and fight,” Pascua told CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield.

He added because of the unpredictability of the fire, all areas of the blaze are of concern for firefighters. “We have to make sure we have crews on all sides of the fire ready to stand their ground,” Pascua said.

• Bridge Fire in Angeles National Forest: A fire has rapidly grown to 200 acres inside the Angeles National Forest, just north of the Los Angeles metro area. Several roads in the park have been closed, forest officials said in a Facebook post.

• Boyles Fire near Clearlake, California: Multiple structures are burning near Clearlake, California, about 100 miles west of Sacramento. At least 30 structures are involved and about 4,000 residents have been displaced by the growing 76-acre fire, which Cal Fire said is 10% contained.

• Emergency declared in California: Gov. Gavin Newsom has proclaimed a state of emergency in San Bernardino County due to the Line Fire. He has obtained a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to ensure the availability of vital fire resources, he said in a statement.

• Emergency declared in Nevada: On Sunday, Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo declared a state of emergency due to the blaze, he announced on X.

• Nevada wildfire destroys structures: The Davis Fire, a dangerous, wind-driven blaze south of Reno, has burned about 6,500 acres, damaged or destroyed 14 structures and remains 0% contained as of late Sunday evening. Truckee Meadows Fire and Rescue reported “Heavy aerial resources and multiple agencies working to stop this wind-driven wildfire.”

The fire has caused the evacuation of about 14,000 people in affected areas of Washoe County, and more than 6,000 residents are without power, the emergency declaration detailed.

“Gusty winds are forecasted throughout the week,” an update from the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest said, adding customers who are currently without power should be prepared for prolonged outages and those who still have power “should be prepared for potential additional de-energizations due to the dynamic nature of the fire.”

NV Energy said it cut power “to prevent further ignitions and protect first responders.” It also asked those who still have power and are near the fire to prepare for potential outages.

“Power has been restored to 12,500 customers, but 6,300 remain without power tonight into September 9th,” NV Energy said in a social media statement.

• Sweltering heat will add to the region’s misery: Excessive heat warnings and advisories are in effect for southern California, the Desert Southwest and the northern Great Basin. Temperatures in Southern California range from 95 to 105 degrees – about 10 to 20 degrees above average for the region. An air quality alert has also been issued “due to heat wave and elevated fine particle pollution levels due to wildfire smoke,” according to the National Weather Service.

Residents on edge as massive flames approach

The Line Fire has grown more than 14 times in size in just over 30 hours, from about 1,180 acres at 5 p.m. PT Friday to over 17,200 acres Saturday night.

As the wildfire tears through the San Bernardino County mountains, some residents have tried to stop the blaze from reaching their homes.

Highland resident Brian Gano told CNN affiliate KCAL News he was trying to hose down the flames with his wife and son.

“The flames were right up on us because the wind shifted,” said Gano. “I got a high-pressure line in my backyard.”

Another resident, Diya Hirpara, said she’s been stocking up on groceries in case she needs to evacuate.

“It was pretty scary,” Hirpara said. “We’re just kind of on the edge, just waiting.”

Larissa Gonzalez said she was standing on Highway 18 in Lake Arrowhead on Saturday when she captured a storm rolling through the Line Fire. “There was a lot of thunder and lightning coming out of that flare-up; the wind was picking up and driving the fire over that ridge,” Gonzalez told CNN. She watched the storm for about an hour while parked in front of the Rim of the World High School to see what direction it was heading and to determine if she needed to start getting ready to evacuate.

Visitors to the area were also affected by the smoke and flames.

Mark Weidhase told CNN on Sunday he and his girlfriend decided to head to the mountains to escape the heat while visiting from Canada. As they were leaving Big Bear and heading through Running Springs on Saturday, they found themselves near the Line Fire. Weidhase said they pulled off Highway 330 to get a good look at the massive wildfire after noticing it was closed and receiving notice of an evacuation order. “I love the mountains, but not when they’re on fire,” he said.

Multiple agencies, including Cal Fire, San Bernardino County Fire and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office, are working together to manage the fire. The American Red Cross has set up an evacuation shelter at a local church for residents seeking refuge from the fire.

California is seeing an active fire season. Wildfires have scorched over 838,000 acres throughout the state so far this year, compared to 255,144 acres by this time last year, according to Cal Fire.

Adding to the chaos, a pair of earthquakes struck Saturday near Ontario, California, within a half-hour of each other, jolting the already rattled region.

The first earthquake was recorded at 3.5 magnitude at 10 a.m. local time, and the next was recorded at 3.9 magnitude, according to data from US Geological Survey. It was felt by residents living as far away as Los Angeles.

CNN’s Faith Karimi, Ashley R. Williams, Artemis Moshtaghian, Sarah Dewberry and Eric Zerkel contributed to this report.

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(CNN) — Este miércoles, en un foro abierto de Fox News, el expresidente Donald Trump anticipó algunos de los temas que probablemente escucharemos más de él en la campaña electoral y durante su debate del 10 de septiembre con la vicepresidenta Kamala Harris.

Al hablar de la frontera sur de Estados Unidos, Trump afirmó que “han entrado más terroristas a Estados Unidos en los últimos tres años. Y creo que probablemente en 50 años”.

A medida que nos acercamos al 23 aniversario de los ataques del 11 de septiembre, parece una afirmación extraña cuando 19 secuestradores árabes, ninguno de los cuales había cruzado la frontera sur hacia Estados Unidos, mataron a casi 3.000 personas , la gran mayoría de ellas en la ciudad natal de Trump, Nueva York.

Y si realmente fuera cierto que los terroristas yihadistas habían estado cruzando la frontera sur de Estados Unidos en los últimos tres años, como afirmó Trump, ¿no se habrían producido, ya sabe, algunos ataques terroristas en Estados Unidos como resultado de ello? O, por lo menos, ¿no se habrían detenido a muchos más terroristas en Estados Unidos durante ese mismo período?

De hecho, durante los últimos tres años no se ha registrado ningún ataque terrorista en Estados Unidos llevado a cabo por terroristas yihadistas que hayan cruzado la frontera sur.

De hecho, el ataque terrorista letal más reciente perpetrado por un terrorista yihadista ocurrió cuando el propio Trump estaba en el cargo en 2019, cuando un oficial militar saudí mató a tres marineros estadounidenses en la Estación Aérea Naval de Pensacola, Florida, y él había llegado legalmente a Estados Unidos como parte de un programa de entrenamiento del Pentágono.

Mientras tanto, durante los últimos tres años, 22 personas han sido asesinadas en Estados Unidos por terroristas domésticos de extrema derecha en lugares como Buffalo, Nueva York, y Allen, Texas, según datos recopilados por New America, una institución de investigación (donde soy vicepresidente).

El normalmente locuaz Trump no suele tener mucho que decir cuando terroristas locales de extrema derecha perpetran actos terroristas en Estados Unidos.

En el foro de Fox, Trump también afirmó que no hubo actos de “terrorismo islámico radical” mientras él era presidente. Sin embargo, el ataque terrorista en Pensacola ocurrió bajo su supervisión, al igual que el ataque en Manhattan en 2017 por un terrorista inspirado en ISIS que mató a ocho personas usando un camión como arma.

El tropo de los “terroristas cruzando la frontera sur” es una remezcla de 2024 del llamado de Trump a una prohibición musulmana durante la campaña electoral de 2016, que combinó las preocupaciones generalizadas de los estadounidenses sobre la inmigración con su miedo al terrorismo, que desde los ataques del 11 de septiembre ha quedado impreso en las mentes de muchos estadounidenses.

Sin duda, existen preocupaciones razonables sobre la frontera sur, como el hecho de que, como informó CNN en junio, ocho ciudadanos de Tayikistán que se encontraban en Estados Unidos y habían cruzado la frontera sur fueron arrestados por cargos de inmigración “tras el descubrimiento de posibles vínculos con el terrorismo”, incluido posiblemente con el ISIS. Sin embargo, no había pruebas de que estos hombres estuvieran planeando un ataque terrorista.

Además, el director del FBI, Christopher Wray, testificó el año pasado ante el Comité Judicial del Senado de Estados Unidos: “Me preocupa que estemos en… un entorno de mayor amenaza por parte de organizaciones terroristas extranjeras por una gran cantidad de razones y, obviamente, su capacidad para explotar cualquier puerto de entrada, incluida nuestra frontera suroeste… Hemos visto un aumento de los llamados KST, ‘terroristas conocidos o sospechosos’, que intentan cruzar en los últimos cinco años”.

Es el caso que según las estadísticas más recientes de Aduanas y Protección Fronteriza de Estados Unidos, en lo que va de 2024, hubo 43 “encuentros” con personas en la lista de vigilancia de terrorismo en la frontera sur.

Además, en 2024, la Patrulla de Aduanas y Protección Fronteriza tuvo 281 encuentros con personas en la lista de vigilancia por terrorismo en la frontera de Estados Unidos con Canadá. Sin embargo, Trump no está pidiendo una aplicación draconiana de las leyes de inmigración para las personas que cruzan la frontera canadiense, a pesar de que en lo que va de año alrededor de seis veces más personas en la lista de vigilancia por terrorismo intentaron cruzar esa frontera.

Además, estar en la lista de vigilancia terrorista no significa que usted sea un terrorista; CBS News ha informado que hay alrededor de dos millones de personas en ella.

Todo esto dista mucho de la afirmación de Trump en Fox de que “más terroristas han entrado a Estados Unidos en los últimos tres años. Y creo que probablemente en 50 años” y que no hubo terrorismo islamista en Estados Unidos durante los cuatro años que estuvo en el cargo.

Sin embargo, si el desempeño pasado predice el desempeño futuro, Trump probablemente hará afirmaciones similares durante las últimas semanas de la campaña electoral.

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