Monday morning news: September 16, 2024

Trump assassination attempt » The FBI is investigating another attempt on Donald Trump’s life.

Secret Service special agent Rafael Barros said the former president is safe …

BARROS: … following a protective incident shortly before 2 p.m. on Sunday at Trump International Golf Club at West Palm Beach. Uh, the U. S. Secret Service personnel opened fire on a gunman located near the property line.

Sheriff Ric Bradshaw with Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office praised the Secret Service agent who spotted the gunman.

BRADSHAW:  What they do is they have an agent that jumps one hole ahead of time to where the president was at, and he was able to spot this rifle barrel sticking out of the fence and immediately engaged that individual, at which time the individual took off.

The Secret Service fired multiple shots at the gunman. It was unclear last night whether the suspect got a shot off before fleeing the scene.

Bradshaw said in the bushes where the shooter had been hiding, officers found a rifle with a scope and a GoPro camera, suggesting that the gunman planned to record the apparent assassination attempt.

The suspect fled the scene in an SUV, which officers later spotted and boxed in on Interstate 95. Martin County Sheriff William Snyder:

SNYDER: The suspect's demeanor, I would describe as having a relatively calm, flat affect. He was not displaying a lot of emotion, never asked what, what is this about? Obviously, law enforcement with long rifles, blue lights, a lot going on, never questioned it.

Police had a 58-year-old man in custody last night.

Trump attempt reaction » The incident, of course, comes just 9 weeks after a would-be assassin’s bullet struck Trump in the ear during a rally in Pennsylvania.

Multiple investigations are still underway in the failure of the Secret Service to prevent that shooting.

On Sunday, Congresswoman Laurel Lee reacted to yesterday’s assassination attempt.

LEE:  I do believe the level of resources and agents assigned to President Trump's detail has been increased. But the question that's more important is, is it enough? And it certainly doesn't appear so when we have a threat level that is this significant and this severe facing President Trump.

And fellow House Republican Tim Burchett said while the agents on the ground did their jobs, he’s not certain that this wasn’t another Secret Service failure.

BURCHETT:  You've got brave agents on the ground, obviously one who took that shot, but why in the world would anybody be anywhere near the perimeter of this? This line of sight that we talk about is, is just beyond me.

The former president stated on social media that he was “safe and well!” And he added, “Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER!”

Israel latest » Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon is calling out world leaders for, in his view, not fulfilling their promises to fight injustice. Danon on Sunday said that since Hamas’ October terrorist attacks against his country …

DANON: There was no condemnation in the General Assembly or the Security Council about the atrocities of Hamas. No condemnation calling for the release of the hostages. How can you come and speak about world peace after what we have suffered 11 months ago?

He said Iran is waging war against Israel through its proxies, like Hamas and Hezbollah, and Houthi rebels and has even carried out direct attacks. He called on the world to take serious action against Tehran.

In a weekly meeting with government officials, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed the Houthis in Yemen will pay a “heavy price” after a rocket attack in central Israel.

Tech billionaire and crew return from space » The first all-private space crew splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico near Florida's Dry Tortugas islands on Sunday.

SOUND: [Capsule splashdown]

The SpaceX's capsule carried tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman and his crew home.

SPACEX ANNCR: On behalf of the entire team of SpaceX, welcome home. We have pulled go for recovery personnel to approach.

The Polaris Dawn mission, conducted by SpaceX, included the first commercial spacewalk. The mission traveled 870 miles away from Earth, the furthest mankind has traveled since the Apollo moon program.

Venezuela conspiracy claim » The U.S. government is answering accusations by the government of disputed Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro.

The Maduro regime is accusing the CIA of leading a plot to overthrow him. Venezuela officials say they’ve arrested six foreign nationals, including three Americans, who they claimed took part in the plot.

But the State Department called those claims, “categorically false," adding that the “The United States continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela."

The White House recently renewed its calls for transparency regarding the country’s recent presidential election. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby:

KIRBY: Mr. Maduro needs to heed the call of the international community and quite frankly the Venezuelan people and release the data so that the whole world can see what the Venezuelan people, who they voted for, and that their democratic aspirations are met.

The Treasury Dept. recently announced sanctions against 16 allies of Maduro in Venezuela … over what American officials believe to have been a rigged presidential election there earlier this year.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Christians suing the IRS on this Week’s Legal Docket. Plus, the Monday Moneybeat.

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