Friday morning news: April 26, 2024

SOUND: [Tank]

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Israel-Rafah-Hamas » Israeli tanks rolling near the border with Gaza ahead of a planned ground operation in the city of Rafah.

Israeli Defense Forces — or IDF — aren’t saying exactly when that will happen only that it will be soon.

Government spokesman David Mencer:

MENCER: The war cabinet meets right now to discuss how to destroy the last vestiges, the last quarter of Hamas’ battalions in Rafah.

The prime minister says Rafah is the last remaining Hamas stronghold, and Mencer says the terror group can feel the walls closing in on them.

MENCER: They’re feeling the pressure, and what a surprise, they’re starting to make pseudo-conciliatory remarks. We’re not going to fall for it. I don’t think anyone in the world would fall for it.

Hamas says it’s willing to agree to a 5-year truce to lay down arms and convert into a political party. There is one massive catch. Israel would have to recognize an independent Palestinian state and revert to pre-1967 borders.

But Israel says the war will end only one way with the complete destruction of Hamas.

Israeli hostages » Meantime, dozens of Israeli families continue clinging to fading hopes of reuniting with loved ones that Hamas took hostage during its October attack. One of those family members spoke out on Thursday:

FAMILY MEMBER:  Another milestone that happened today is that 17 of the 25 countries that have citizens who are being held hostage in Gaza signed a joint statement demanding their immediate release.

The United States was one of those 17 countries.

Hamas this week released video footage of an Israeli-American hostage, 23-year-old Hersh Goldberg-Polin. A reporter asked President Biden at the White House …

REPORTER: Have you seen that video of the hostage?
BIDEN: I haven't, but I know about it. I haven’t physically seen it.
REPORTER: Have you verified that it’s real, Mr. President?

The FBI’s hostage recovery unit is analyzing the footage.

Houthi attack » Yemen’s Houthi Rebels have carried out yet another attack against a civilian cargo ship. WORLD’s Mark Mellinger has more.

AUDIO: [Houthi military spokesman in Arabic]

MARK MELLINGER: A spokesman for Yemen’s Houthi rebels claims responsibility for the latest attack in the Gulf of Aden Thursday.

The Houthis have terrorized key shipping lanes in the Middle East for months in solidarity with Hamas amid the war in Gaza.

The British military says the captain aboard the MSC Darwin heard a loud bang and splash, then saw smoke rising from the sea, but no one was hurt.

The attack comes a day after a British warship shot down a Houthi missile targeting a U.S.-owned and operated vessel.

Houthi attacks had decreased in recent weeks as the U.S. speculated the Iran-backed rebels were running low on weapons.

For WORLD, I’m Mark Mellinger.

SCOTUS/Trump immunity arguments » Should former President Trump — and future presidents — be immune from prosecution for decisions made while in office?

That’s the question before the U.S. Supreme Court. And in arguments Thursday, Trump’s lawyers made their case. Attorney D. John Sauer:

SAUER: Prosecuting the president for his official acts is an innovation with no foothold in history or tradition and incompatible with our constitutional structure.

He argued that if presidents have to govern under fear that they may be prosecuted by political opponents when they leave office, it will—his words—“distort the president's decision making … “when bold and fearless action is most needed.”

But Justice Elena Kagen said the framers gave us a president, not a king.

KAGEN: They didn't provide immunity to the president and, you know, not so surprising. They were reacting against a monarch who claims to be above the law. Wasn't the whole point that the president was not a monarch and the president was not supposed to be above the law?

Many court observers said Chief Justice John Roberts was among at least five members of the court Thursday who appeared likely to reject Trump’s immunity claim.

But the former president's attorneys say they remain optimistic.

Trump in NY court / gag order » Meantime, in New York City prosecutors in the state’s so-called hush money case against Trump accused the former president of violating a gag order in the case four more times in the past week alone. The judge is already considering a motion to hold him in contempt of court for 10 alleged violations.

TRUMP: They have taken my constitutional right away with a gag order. That’s all it is. It’s election interference. This whole thing is election interference.

And former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker testified Thursday that he bought up stories on Trump’s behalf that were potentially damaging to his first presidential campaign to keep them from being published.

Trump maintains he has done absolutely nothing wrong.

Economic growth slowed » Trump also reacted to disappointing economic news.

The Commerce Department says the economy slowed sharply last quarter to a 1.6% annual pace in the face of high interest rates. That is exactly half the 3-point-2 percent growth rate of the previous quarter.

Trump said of the economy under Biden …

TRUMP: It’s heading south. It’s gonna get worse. The numbers are very bad. This is ‘Bidenomics.’ It’s catching up with him.

But some analysts say the news isn’t all bad.

PNC Financial Services Chief Economist Gus Faucher said Thursday:

GUS FAUCHER: This is what the Fed wants to see: the growth slowing to a more sustainable pace.

The Federal Reserve is still trying to curb rising prices. Inflation also came in much hotter than expected early this year.

Haiti PM resigns, transitional government takes over » Haiti has opened a new political chapter that the Haitian people hope can’t possibly be any worse than the last one.

A transitional council is now in charge of picking a new prime minister and laying the groundwork for an eventual presidential election.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby:

KIRBY: We join the international community in commending all Haitian participants in their process to establish a transitional presidential council.

Kirby said the US ambassador to Haiti was on hand for a swearing in ceremony on Thursday.

Haiti’s government has been in a yearslong state of upheaval. And violent gangs have filled the power vacuum, overrunning police and security forces.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Culture Friday with John Stonestreet. Plus, your Listener Feedback.

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