Friday morning news - April 9, 2021

Unaccompanied minors at border hit all-time high in March » The surge of unaccompanied children at the southern border set a new record in the month of March.

Border authorities picked up nearly 19,000 children traveling alone across the border last month. That shattered the previous record of just over 11,000 in May of 2019.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott told reporters …

ABBOTT: These problems are a byproduct of President Biden’s open-border policies and the lack of planning for the fallout of those disastrous policies.

Abbott and Republicans in Washington are calling on the White House to reinstall some of the border policies that President Biden scrapped when he took office.

But Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell on Thursday echoed the Biden administration’s argument that the president’s policies are not to blame.

DINGELL: We have a broken, fractured, fragmented system that President Biden inherited. 

March’s count of unaccompanied minors was roughly double the February number and five times greater than March of last year.

Murder-suicide suspect is former NFL player » The suspected gunman in an apparent murder-suicide this week is reportedly a former NFL player. WORLD’s Paul Butler has more.

PAUL BUTLER, REPORTER: The Associated Press reports that the suspect in Wednesday’s shooting in Rock Hill, S.C. is former NFL cornerback Phillip Adams.

The victims included Dr. Robert Lesslie, who had previously treated Phillips, along with Lesslie’s wife, Barbara, and two grandchildren, ages 5 and 9, were all pronounced dead at the scene.

38-year-old James Lewis, who was working at the home, was found dead outside. A sixth person is in the hospital with serious gunshot wounds.

An AP source said Phillips killed himself after midnight.

Robert Lesslie was a prominent doctor who served as emergency department medical director at Rock Hill General Hospital for almost 15 years. He was an elder at First Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church of Rock Hill and the author of the book Angels in the ER.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Paul Butler.

Biden announces executive action on gun control » President Biden on Thursday cited this week’s South Carolina shooting as he announced new executive action on gun control.

The president took aim at so-called “ghost gun” kits, which enable people to build guns with no serial numbers or background checks. He said he wants to see the kits treated as firearms.

BIDEN: Which is going to require that the seller and the manufacturers make the key parts with serial numbers and run background checks on the buyers when they walk in to buy that package.

The Justice Department will issue a proposed rule requiring the kits be treated as firearms under the Gun Control Act.

But Biden said he’s limited in what he can accomplish without Congress. And he called on the Senate to take up measures passed in the House aimed at closing background check loopholes.

He also called on Congress to eliminate legal exemptions for gun manufacturers and ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines.

Virginia becomes first Southern state to legalize marijuana » Virginia became the first Southern state to legalize marijuana this week. Lawmakers approved Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam’s proposed changes to a bill that will allow adults to possess and cultivate small amounts of the drug.

The amendments lawmakers agreed to Wednesday would accelerate the timeline of legalization by about three years.

The final version of the legislation would allow adults 21 and up to legally possess up to one ounce of cannabis without the intent to distribute beginning July 1st.

It also would allow the home cultivation of up to four plants per household. Public use of the drug will be prohibited.

Myanmar coup extends to London embassy » The military coup in Myanmar has now extended to London. WORLD’s Leigh Jones explains.

LEIGH JONES, REPORTER: Myanmar’s ambassador to Britain slept in his car on Wednesday night after a military attache seized control of the embassy and he remains locked out of the building.

Ambassador Kyaw Zwar Minn said the delegates claimed they received instructions from the ruling junta in Myanmar.

The ambassador, who has served in his role since 2013, has spoken out against the coup. He’s also called for the release of detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Minn has been meeting with U.K. officials and other leaders to try to find a peaceful solution to the crisis in Myanmar.

The non-profit group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners reports that the military has killed nearly 600 people and detained nearly 3,000 others since the February coup.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Leigh Jones.

(AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills) In this March 30, 2021, file photo, minors inside a pod at the Donna Department of Homeland Security holding facility, the main detention center for unaccompanied children in the Rio Grande Valley run by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in Donna, Texas.

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