Monday morning news: July 29, 2024

Israel responds to Hezbollah attack » Israel has struck back against Hezbollah after a rocket attack killed 12 children and wounded dozens of others at a soccer field on Saturday. Israeli Defense Forces say they’ve hit seven targets in Lebanon with rockets of their own. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer: 

SCHUMER:  We know that Iran, through its surrogates, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, is really the real evil in this area, um, and, uh, Israel has every right to defend itself against Hezbollah like they do against Hamas.

And Republican Senator Lindsey Graham says he's concerned that Iran could be close to getting its hands on a nuclear weapon, citing a report that the Senate received last week that he calls "stunning."

GRAHAM:  I am very worried that not only you could open up a second front, but they could use these three or four months before our election to sprint to a nuclear weapon. And we have to put them on notice. That cannot happen.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut his trip to Washington short … after the Saturday attack against Israel. 

US-Japan defense ties » The United States and Japan are deepening their defense partnership.

Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin: 

AUSTIN:  Today we unveil some of the most important advances in the U. S. Japan defense ties in the history of our alliance. And the bottom line is clear. The U. S. Japan alliance is stronger today than ever, and getting stronger by the day.

The two countries have agreed to upgrade the command and control of U.S. forces in Japan.

The United States is also ramping up production of American-licensed missiles there.

Secretary of State Tony Blinken says it’s an effort to curb the aggression of China, also known as the PRC. 

BLINKEN:  We have a shared vision for a free and open Indo Pacific. We strongly oppose the PRC's efforts to unilaterally change the status quo by force in the East China Sea and the South China Sea around Taiwan. We agree on the importance of upholding peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

Blinken and Austin joined their Japanese counterparts for security talks Sunday in Tokyo.

Putin vows response to US missiles in Germany » Russia may deploy new strike weapons in response to Washington’s plans to station longer-range and hypersonic missiles in Germany.

Vladimir Putin vowed—quote—“mirror measures” after the U.S. earlier this month announced that it will start deploying the missiles in 20-26.

Both the U.S. and Russia this month signaled their readiness to deploy intermediate-range ground-based weapons that were banned for decades under a Cold War-era treaty.

Most of Russia's missile systems are capable of carrying either conventional or nuclear warheads.

Trump shooting investigation » Authorities are still investigating the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. And new information is emerging about the would-be assassin. Congressman Michael McCaul told CBS’ Face the Nation: 

MCCAUL:  He had a detonation device on him and two bombs in the car. What his plan was, was to assassinate the president, create a diversion by blowing up his vehicle on the other side of the property, and then he could escape.

But Republican Sen. Ron Johnson says many questions remain. New reports indicate that Secret Service snipers spotted the shooter on the roof of a nearby building minutes before shots were fired. 

JOHNSON:  We need detailed, uh, interviews with those individuals to, to find out exactly what happened. It's, it's unbelievable how, how little information has been coming from federal law enforcement.

Federal agents were reportedly combing the scene of the shooting again on Sunday.

Trump and Buttegieg on Harris-border » Meantime, Donald Trump is pulling no punches as he campaigns against the newly installed presumptive Democratic White House nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris. 

TRUMP:  Kamala Harris's deadly destruction of America's borders is completely and totally disqualifying for her to be president. You can't have a person like this as president.

The media widely dubbed Harris the "border czar" after the president, in March of 2021 … put her in charge of addressing the root causes of mass migration from Central and South America.

But White House officials are pushing back, saying “border czar” is a made up title that she never held … and downplaying her role in addressing the border crisis.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttegieg: 

BUTTEGIEG:  She was not in charge of the border. The Homeland Security Department is in charge of the border. She did do something important, though. She was assigned to conduct diplomacy with Central American countries, knowing that that's part of the bigger picture of what's affecting the border.

Republicans are also calling out Kamala Harris for her past stances on the border and immigration.

CA Wildfire » Thousands of firefighters are tackling California's biggest wildfire so far this summer. The Park Fire in the northern part of the state has scorched several-thousand acres and forced many people from their homes. 

One evacuee said Sunday: 

MOS:  People that we know that went by and looked at the property said it's burned down. Everything, our stuff is all burned up.

Cal Fire Incident Commander Billy See briefed reporters on fire on Sunday. 

SEE: Moving forward. We have over 4,000 personnel assigned to the incident and the incident currently sits at 12 percent contained.

Forecasters say cooler, less windy, and more humid conditions are giving those firefighters a break for the next day or so, but that's going to change … with hotter weather moving in.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: free speech for teachers…on this week’s Legal Docket.

Plus, the Monday Moneybeat.

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