Thursday morning news: August 29, 2024

FBI trump shooting investigation » The FBI is revealing new details in its investigation of last month’s assassination attempt against Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally.

FBI special agent Kevin Rojek:

ROJEK:  We believe the subject engaged in detailed attack planning well in advance of the campaign rally. We continue to pursue all investigative leads to determine any possible links to co-conspirators.

Investigators have assembled a detailed picture of what the shooter did. But they still don’t know why he did it, even after conducting more than 1,000 interviews.

ROJEK:  We see no definitive ideology associated with our subject, either left leaning or right leaning.

Rojek said the shooter had searched online for events of both Trump and President Biden.

One attendee at the political rally was killed.

Investigations are also ongoing into the failure of the Secret Service to prevent the shooting.

SOUND: [Israeli vehicles]

Israel-Hezbollah » Israeli vehicles moved through the West Bank Wednesday as troops carried out airstrikes and other operations there. Israeli Defense Forces — or IDF — described it as a large-scale counterterrorism operation.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited troops in northern Israel along the border with Lebanon.

NETANYAHU: [In Hebrew]

The prime minister said the IDF thwarted a surprise attack by Hezbollah and destroyed thousands of short-range rockets aimed at Galilee and the Golan Heights.

His visit comes even as the UN voted to extend a peacekeeping mission in Lebanon over the objections of U.S. officials. U.S. Ambassador Robert Wood says global leaders should hold Lebanon accountable for allowing Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel.

WOOD: It is wrong that this Council has yet to condemn Hezbollah for these repeated, destabilizing actions, and we regret that a small minority of Council members blocked the Council from doing so in this mandate renewal.

Israel’s ambassador told reporters the Lebanese people face a stark choice: Stop the attacks or watch as their country is dragged into chaos.

Mexico Embassy » Mexico’s president says he has put relations with the United States and Canadian embassies “on pause” after the two countries voiced concerns over a proposed controversial judicial overhaul.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador didn’t elaborate on what a pause would mean.

He has reacted angrily to the U.S. and Canadian governments expressing concern over the judicial changes.

Last Thursday, U.S. ambassador Ken Salazar called the proposal a “risk” to democracy that would endanger Mexico’s commercial relationship with the U.S.

Palin appeals court » Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will have her day in court against the New York Times. WORLD’s Christina Grube reports.

CHRISTINA GRUBE: A federal appeals court has overturned a 2022 ruling that had tossed out Palin’s defamation case against the Times.

She sued the paper for improperly linking her to a fatal 2011 shooting in Arizona in which Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was seriously injured.

And three-judge panel said the one-time GOP vice presidential nominee deserves a new trial. The court noted several errors by the presiding judge in 2022. It said the judge accidentally excluded evidence and incorrectly answered a legal question asked during deliberations.

For WORLD, I’m Christina Grube.

Supreme Court student debt plan » Meantime, the Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a request by the Biden-Harris administration to allow the cancellation of billions of dollars in student debt owed to the government.

The administration has asked the high court to allow it to move forward with the plan … as the legal battle plays out.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had already blocked it.

The estimated price tag of the plan ranges from roughly $300 to $500 billion dollars.

U.S. Weather » Extreme heat is gripping communities across the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions.

Dr. Tom Brozek with the Endeavor Health Swedish Hospital in Chicago warned residents to look out for symptoms of heat-related illness.

BROZEK: I think it begins early with just these vague symptoms of headache and not feeling well, feeling fatigued. But it can soon escalate into more serious side effects, such as confusion.

Public schools in Chicago canceled outdoor activities. The National Weather Service issued heat warnings in a dozen states.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: An updated indictment against Donald Trump. Plus, Bible translation in Southeast Asia.

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