Friday morning news: April 5, 2024

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Biden-Netanyahu: Gaza » The White House has a stern message for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Change your policy in Gaza…or the United States will change ours.

President Biden delivered that message in a phone call Thursday. Secretary of State Tony Blinken described it this way:

BLINKEN: He made clear the need for Israel to announce a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers.

And reporters asked National Security Council spokesman John Kirby … what if Israel doesn’t meet those demands?

KIRBY: If there’s no changes to their policy and their approaches, then there’s going to have to be changes to ours.

He did not elaborate on what those changes might be.

President Biden on Thursday also called for an immediate cease-fire. The phone call came days after Israeli airstrikes killed seven food aid workers in Gaza.

Israeli officials say they will soon share the results of an investigation into the incident, which Netanyahu has called a tragic error.

Biden-Netanyahu: Iran » Despite a severely strained relationship between the White House and Netanyahu’s government, John Kirby said the two countries stand entirely united against Iran.

KIRBY: The two leaders also discussed public Iranian threats against Israel and the Israeli people. President Biden made clear that the United States strongly supports Israel in the face of those threats.

Iran has vowed revenge after an airstrike that leveled a building at Iran’s consulate compound in Syria’s capital of Damascus. The strike took out several Iranian military leaders

Iranian commanders have historically been involved in terrorist plots. And Iran has long funded and armed terror groups dedicated to Israel’s destruction.

SOUND: [Airplane]

Yellen in China » Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stepped onto a tarmac in Beijing on Thursday at the start of a five-day trip.

She’s meeting today with her Chinese counterpart … as the world’s two biggest economies try to hash out their differences … or at least the ground rules for how to disagree in a way that won’t ratchet up tensions.

Yellen said this week …

YELLEN: We went for too long with too little communication, and misunderstandings developed.

There are tensions over Chinese government support for the manufacturing of electric vehicles and solar panels, just as the U.S. government ramps up its own aid for those tech sectors. There are also differences on trade, ownership of TikTok, access to computer chips and national security. Yellen says the U.S. needs “a level playing field.”

SOUND: [Military band]

NATO Ukraine - Blinken » A military band welcomed allied leaders to NATO headquarters in Brussels Thursday… as the alliance marked its 75th anniversary.

STOLTENBERG: Since 1949, we have been the strongest and most successful alliance in history.

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Europe needs the United States for its defense. And he said European members are stepping up their contributions to the alliance. He added that the United States also needs Europe.

STOLTENBERG: European allies provide world class militaries, vast intelligence networks, and unique diplomatic leverage.

Sweden took part in a meeting of NATO ministers for the first time since joining last month.

And U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken declared that Ukraine will eventually join the alliance as well. It was Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that drove Sweden and neighboring Finland to seek the protection of NATO membership.

Judges reject Trump efforts to get cases tossed out » Donald Trump suffered a pair of legal defeats on Thursday, though neither was unexpected. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports.

KRISTEN FLAVIN: U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon rejected a request to toss out a federal case surrounding Trump’s handling of classified documents.

Defense attorneys argued that Trump was entitled, as a former president, to hold onto the records after leaving office … citing the Presidential Records Act. But Prosecutors said the statute had no relevance in a case concerning classified documents. And Cannon sided with the government in a three-page order.

Meantime, the Georgia judge overseeing the election interference case against Trump and others … rejected arguments that prosecutors were seeking to criminalize protected political speech.

Both decisions allow the cases to proceed

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

SOUND: [Taiwan chopper]

Taiwan update » A medical transport helicopter in Taiwan … heard there rushing rescued workers from a quarry to a local hospital.

And the race continues today to find and rescue more survivors after Wednesday’s powerful earthquake. Authorities said they knew of at least 700 people still trapped.

There are at least 10 confirmed deaths … with dozens still missing.

The 7.4 magnitude earthquake also wounded more than a thousand people. It was the strongest quake to hit the island in a quarter century.

I’m Kent Covington.

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

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