Monday morning news: October 28, 2024

Israel strikes Iran » An Israeli attack on Iran reportedly damaged facilities at a secretive military that experts in the past have linked to Tehran’s nuclear weapons program, and at another base tied to its ballistic missile program.

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon:

DANON:  We sent a very clear message to Iran that you cannot send 200 ballistic missiles into Israel and expect us not to react.

Iran downplayed the attacks, saying they caused minimal damage.

Some of the buildings damaged sat in Iran’s Parchin military base, where experts suspect Iran in the past conducted tests of high explosives that could trigger a nuclear weapon. The other damage could be seen at the nearby Khojir military base, which is believed to hide an underground tunnel system and missile production sites.

President Biden told reporters over the weekend that the retaliatory strikes did not have his blessing.

BIDEN:  They're making a mistake in my humble opinion. It looks like they didn't hit anything other than military targets. My hope is this is the end.

But Republican House Intelligence Committee Chairman said the United States cannot possible expect Israel not to respond to the largest direct attack by Iran against Israel in history.

TURNER: The over several hundred missiles that Iran has launched against Israel and the Biden administration has attempted to act like, well, since those missiles didn't hit their intended targets as if they didn't happen, then trying to restrain Israel's response.

He said the United States rightly helped defend Israel from those incoming missiles but should wholeheartedly support Israel’s response to Iran’s attack.

Rubio on Israel documents leak » Meantime, questions remain about a leak of classified documents about Israel’s preparations for a possible retaliatory attack on Iran, including top-secret U.S. intelligence documents. And Republican Sen. Marco Rubio says he believes the leak came from an anti-Israel U.S. government official or employee.

RUBIO:  This indicates to me that this was a treasonous act by someone in the U. S. government to undermine Israel and, and, and by extension, the national security of the United States.

The FBI is investigating the leak after the documents were released online.

A Telegram channel called the"Middle East Spectator" said it received the documents from a source in the U.S. intelligence community.

Presidential politics » The campaigns are making their final push with just 8 days left till Election Day and early voting now underway. Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday again campaigning from the pulpit in Philadelphia:

HARRIS: What kind of country do we want for our children and grandchildren? A country of chaos, fear, and hate, or a country of freedom, justice, and compassion.

Trump, meantime, made a detour from his swing state campaigning … to rally supporters Sunday at Madison Square Garden in New York.

TRUMP: I'm here today with a message of hope for all Americans with your vote in this election. Our country will be bigger, better, bolder, richer, safer, and stronger than ever before.

Momentum has shifted in Trump’s direction over the past several weeks.

For the first time in nearly three months, the former president has tied Kamala Harris in an average of recent national polls. More importantly, Trump either leads or has tied Harrris in every major swing state in the country.

Hitler rhetoric » Republican lawmakers are calling out Vice President Kamala Harris and others over once again calling Donald Trump “fascist” and drawing comparisons between Trump and Hitler.

GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham:

GRAHAM: He’s not a fascist. He’s not Hitler. And that shows you just how desperate this campaign is.

But it isn’t just the Harris campaign. Former Trump White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and other former Trump officials made news recently by saying Trump met the definition of a "fascist" and had an affinity for dictators.

Former GOP Congresswoman and ardent Trump critic Liz Cheney:

CHENEY: I don't think, certainly in my lifetime, probably in American history, have you had a situation where so many of the top officials, uh, of the former president are saying they won't vote for him.

But some Republicans question why these ex-Trump officials said nothing at the time when they served in the administration if they truly believed these things.

And House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell released a bicameral statement last week calling the rhetoric dangerous. They said Vice President Kamala Harris' words more closely resemble those of President Trump's second would-be assassin than her own earlier appeal to civility.

Zelensky: North Korea troops set to fight in Ukraine » Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claims North Korean troops are poised to be deployed by Russia on the battlefield in Ukraine any day now.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says the Pentagon has confirmed that Pyongyang has sent troops to Russia.

KIRBY:  It is possible, uh, that there are now more than 3,000 troops from North Korea that are, uh, that have been dispatched to Russia for outfitting and for training.

And he said it’s very possible that at least some of those North Korean troops could be sent into the battlefield against Ukraine.

President Biden told reporters over the weekend that if that happens,

BIDEN: We have options. It depends on what they do.

He did not expound on what those options might be.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: the Supreme Court considers a death penalty question. Plus, the Monday Moneybeat with David Bahnsen.

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