Monday morning news: August 15, 2022

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

More lawmakers visit Taiwan » A plane carrying another delegation of US lawmakers touched down in Taiwan on Sunday.

Democratic Sen. Ed Markey is leading the five-member delegation. They’ll meet with leaders in the Taiwanese government and the private sector to talk about investments in semiconductors among other matters.

Congresswoman Michelle Steel said if Beijing doesn’t like it, that’s too bad.

STEEL: China is the biggest threat to the United States of America. And since when China dictates that US officials, you know, where to go and where not to go.

That visit comes less than two weeks after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led a delegation to Taiwan. Pelosi’s visit drew threats from China, which considers the self-governing island its property.

Following her visit, China conducted weeklong war games in the Taiwan Strait.

FBI violence warning/reaction » The Department of Homeland Security is warning about an increase in threats against federal law enforcement agents after the recent FBI raid of Donald Trump’s Florida home.

DHS said Sunday that it’s seeing more online threats “across multiple platforms, including social media sites, web forums, and image boards”

Meantime, lawmakers continue to sound off on that search of Trump’s estate. Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar:

KLOBUCHAR: What really happened here was a judge looked at this and said, yeah, there’s evidence, enough evidence to warrant a search warrant to go in there and retrieve those documents that are of high national security classification.

Trump said any documents he possessed had been declassified before he left office.

Republicans still want more answers.

Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick is a former FBI supervisor. He still questions whether the unprecedented raid was justified.

FITZPATRICK: That remains an open question, and we know exactly where to look, and that is the affidavit of probable cause, the one document that remains under seal.

He said he’s urging colleagues on the left and right to reserve judgment until the affidavit is unsealed.

Democrats climate (anti-inflation) bill » Members of Congress are still sparring over a $740 billion climate and spending bill that was passed Friday.

GOP Congressman Carlos Gimenez argues that this bill does two things Congress should not do right now:

GIMENEZ: You don’t spend more money during inflation because you want to bring inflation down, and you don’t raise taxes when you’re in the middle of a recession.

But House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries fired back …

JEFFRIES: The Inflation Reduction Act will lower energy costs, confront the climate crisis with the fierce urgency of now.

The majority of the bill, nearly $400 billion, will pay to push industry and consumers toward cleaner forms of energy.

It also seeks to cap prescription drug costs for Medicare recipients.

It passed in both chambers on straight party-line votes.

Democrats named the bill “The Inflation Reduction Act,” but a new analysis from data scientists at the University of Pennsylvania projects that the bill will not help lower inflation anytime soon. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reached a similar conclusion.

Man arraigned after Saturday car attack » Authorities in Pennsylvania have charged a 24-year-old man with two counts of criminal homicide after he drove his car into a crowd of people.

Police identified the suspect as Adrian Oswaldo Sura Reyes.

State Police Trooper Anthony Petroski told reporters in the town of Berwick …

PETROSKI: There’s one confirmed fatality from the Berwick crash, along with 17 people injured.

Prosecutors say Reyes drove into a fundraising event for fire victims on Saturday.

Police arrested him shortly after the death of his mother in a separate incident.

Church fire in Cairo » Flames ripped through a packed Coptic Orthodox church in Cairo, Egypt on Sunday. The fire quickly filled the church with thick black smoke and killed 41 worshippers, including at least 15 children.

AUDIO: [Man speaking Arabic]

One witness told reporters that “Some people threw themselves out the windows” from the upper floors to escape the fire.

AUDIO: [Man speaking Arabic]

At least 16 people were injured, including four police officers involved in the rescue effort.

The cause of the blaze was not immediately known.

Box office » At the weekend box office, the latest Brad Pitt action flick took the top spot again this week.

TRAILER: You’re getting the new and improved me because when you put peace out into the world, you get peace back. I think you may be forgetting what you do for a living.

The R-rated Bullet Train finished atop the box office for the second week in a row, raking in another $13 million.

DC League of Super Pets finished second with $7 million.

And Top Gun: Maverick finished third with another $7 million. Globally, the film has now grossed nearly $1.4 billion.

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

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