Friday morning news - July 22, 2022

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington.

Biden covid » President Biden is isolating at the White House for a second day after testing positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.

First lady Jill Biden said his symptoms are mild.

J. BIDEN: I talked to him just a few minutes ago. He’s doing fine. He’s feeling good.

His doctor cleared him to continue working, so the president has been joining meetings by phone and zoom.

BIDEN: I’m doing well, and getting a lot of work done. I’m going to be getting it done.

Biden is vaccinated and has received two booster shots. It’s unclear if his infection is the BA.5 strain of COVID, which is known to evade immunity.

Jan. 6 hearing » The House panel investigating the Capitol riot held another primetime hearing last night. The chairman of that committee, Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson, has also tested positive for COVID-19. He issued remarks by video.

THOMPSON: Over the last month and a half, the select committee has told a story of a president who did everything in his power to overturn an election.

Last night’s hearing continued that theme, focusing on the actions of former President Trump.

Lawmakers heard from more former White House staffers and security officials.

The panel suggested that Trump didn’t speak out sooner because, in their view, he supported the actions of the rioters.

House GOP leaders responded saying the panel never points out that Trump asked his supporters to demonstrate “PEACEFULLY.”

Russian shelling in Kharkiv » Russian bombs killed three people and wounded dozens more in Ukraine’s second-largest city. WORLD’s Mary Muncy has more.

MARY MUNCY, REPORTER: Buses pierced with shrapnel and burned-out cars smoldered in the streets of Kharkiv Thursday.

The city’s mayor said the blasts hit one of the most crowded areas of the city where nearly one and a half million people lived before the war.

He said “The Russian army is randomly shelling peaceful residential areas,” killing civilians.

Police said the bombs struck a medical facility, a bus stop, and apartments.

Elsewhere on Thursday, Russian forces also shelled the southern city of Mykolaiv and multiple eastern cities.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Mary Muncy.

Thomas Lane sentencing » Thomas Lane, one of the officers involved in the death of George Floyd … learned his fate on Thursday.

A federal judge sentenced the former Minneapolis police officer to 2 1/2 years in prison for violating Floyd’s civil rights.

Lane held Floyd’s legs as Officer Derek Chauvin restrained Floyd on the ground in May of 2020.

The sentence is well below the more than five years prosecutors requested. But Lane still faces sentencing on state charges in September.

Migrant trailer deaths update » In Texas, a federal grand jury has indicted two men accused of leaving 53 migrants to die inside a sweltering trailer near San Antonio. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has that story.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: Police found Homero Zamorano hiding in bushes not far from the trailer last month. And after examining Zamorano’s phone records, they ID’d the other suspect indicted this week, Christian Martinez.

A security camera at a border patrol checkpoint caught footage of Zamorano driving the 18-wheeler into southern Texas. More than 70 migrants were inside. Only 20 of them survived.

Prosecutors charged the suspects with conspiracy to transport migrants illegally resulting in death, and conspiracy to do so resulting in serious injury.

Democratic Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar said 11 of the migrants in the trailer had “serious criminal records” in the United States.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher

Migrants overwhelming shelters » And the border crisis is spilling into cities across the country. Officials in Washington D.C., New York, and other cities say homeless shelters are overrun with migrants seeking asylum, many arriving from Texas and other border states.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said nearly 3,000 migrants arrived in the city in recent weeks. He’s asking the federal government for resources to help.

ADAMS: Our goal is to have our teams specify what we need as in emergency cash assistance to be able to provide for these families.

But the Mayor Pro-tem of Eagle Pass, Texas, Yolanda Roman, said Thursday …

ROMAN: Good luck to them because we haven’t gotten the help that we need for over a year. So somebody - [if] they do, I would be interested in knowing how they’re getting it over there and we can’t get it here down on the border.

Since last October, border officials have stopped more than 1.7 million migrants along the southern border.

I'm Kent Covington. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org.

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