Thursday morning news - August 5, 2021

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington.

Florida Gov. fires back at Biden criticism, Ill Gov. announces new mandates » Debate rages on across America about how best to attack the current wave of COVID-19 infections.

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Wednesday fired back at President Biden who criticized his state a day earlier for its handling of the latest surge.

DESANTIS: We can either have a free society or we can have a biomedical security state. And I can tell you Florida, we’re a free state. People are going to be free to choose, to make their own decisions about themselves, about their families, about their kids’ education.

But some governors argue that mask mandates are necessary in some situations to avoid endangering others.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, announced Wednesday that school children K-12 will have to wear masks in the classroom.

Republican Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson is backtracking on a measure he signed into law that prohibits mask mandates in schools. He said he now regrets it.

HUTCHINSON: I signed it for those reasons that our cases were at a low point. Everything has changed now. And yes, in hindsight, I wish that had not become law.

He called this week for a special session to lift that ban and leave the decision up to local school districts.

New cases are back up to February levels, around 100,000 per day. That’s an 800 percent increase since late June. Hospitalizations have quadrupled over that span.

Deaths have also ticked up, but not nearly at the same rate. COVID-19 fatalities have increased about 60 percent since early July.

Majority of NY Assembly members support impeaching Gov. Cuomo following investigation » New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he does not intend to leave office after a state investigation affirmed sexual harassment claims against him.

But state lawmakers may take that decision out of the Democratic governor’s hands.

A majority of state Assembly members now support beginning impeachment proceedings against him if he doesn't resign.

Democratic Assemblyman Ron Kim …

KIM: At this point, I can confidently say there are no Democrats at the local, state or federal level who are supporting or would stand with this governor.

New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the findings of the independent probe on Tuesday. Investigators determined that Cuomo did in fact sexually harass at least 11 women. The governor refuted those findings.

Republican Congressman Lee Zeldin of New York said Wednesday …

ZELDIN: The president of the United States himself, as well as today, a number of his top allied unions are all saying that it’s time for him to go. As far as what should happen next, it should be an impeachment and removal.

A simple majority of Assembly members is all that is needed to authorize an impeachment trial.

Trump team asks court to halt handover of tax returns to House Dems » Former President Trump’s legal team is taking action to try and stop House Democrats from obtaining his tax returns. WORLD’s Anna Johansen Brown reports.

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN, REPORTER: The Justice Department said last week that the IRS must turn over Trump’s tax documents to Congress.

But on Wednesday Trump’s legal team filed a motion asking a federal court to halt the handover of his returns to the Democrat-led House Ways and Means Committee.

His lawyers said the panel’s request for the documents are not “valid oversight requests” and they’re not “pertinent to legislation that is within the Committee’s jurisdiction.”

They said it is rather an effort “to expose the private tax information of one individual for political gain.”

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen Brown.

Belarus Olympic sprinter arrives in Vienna amid safety fears » A plane carrying an Olympic athlete from Belarus seeking refuge from her country’s government landed in Vienna on Wednesday.

From there, Krystsina Tsimanouskaya was expected to travel on to Poland, which has offered her a humanitarian visa.

The 24-year-old sprinter asked police at the Tokyo airport for help this week after Belarusian officials allegedly tried to force her onto a plane to return home.

She believed the country’s authoritarian government planned to punish her for criticizing team officials.

Mark Adams is a spokesman for the International Olympic Committee. He told reporters Wednesday …

ADAMS: Further development today is that the IOC is opening a disciplinary commission to establish the facts in this case and to hear the two officials who have been allegedly involved in this incident.

Tsimanouskaya’s husband fled the country quickly this week when he realized that his wife would not be returning to Belarus.

Christian baker appeals ruling over gender-transition cake » Jack Phillips, the Christian owner of a Colorado bakery, has announced that he is appealing a recent ruling in a case centered on his refusal to bake a custom gender-transition cake.

For nearly a decade, Phillips has been ensnared in cases that pit LGBT accommodations against First Amendment religious rights. He won a legal victory at the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 in a separate case.

But in the most recent court battle, a Colorado trial court ruled against him in June.

Alliance Defending Freedom tweeted, “We have appealed this decision and look forward to defending Jack in court once again.”

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

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington.

Florida Gov. fires back at Biden criticism, Ill Gov. announces new mandates » Debate rages on across America about how best to attack the current wave of COVID-19 infections.

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Wednesday fired back at President Biden who criticized his state a day earlier for its handling of the latest surge.

DESANTIS: We can either have a free society or we can have a biomedical security state. And I can tell you Florida, we’re a free state. People are going to be free to choose, to make their own decisions about themselves, about their families, about their kids’ education.

But some governors argue that mask mandates are necessary in some situations to avoid endangering others.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, announced Wednesday that school children K-12 will have to wear masks in the classroom.

Republican Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson is backtracking on a measure he signed into law that prohibits mask mandates in schools. He said he now regrets it.

HUTCHINSON: I signed it for those reasons that our cases were at a low point. Everything has changed now. And yes, in hindsight, I wish that had not become law.

He called this week for a special session to lift that ban and leave the decision up to local school districts.

New cases are back up to February levels, around 100,000 per day. That’s an 800 percent increase since late June. Hospitalizations have quadrupled over that span.

Deaths have also ticked up, but not nearly at the same rate. COVID-19 fatalities have increased about 60 percent since early July.

Majority of NY Assembly members support impeaching Gov. Cuomo following investigation » New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he does not intend to leave office after a state investigation affirmed sexual harassment claims against him.

But state lawmakers may take that decision out of the Democratic governor’s hands.

A majority of state Assembly members now support beginning impeachment proceedings against him if he doesn't resign.

Democratic Assemblyman Ron Kim …

KIM: At this point, I can confidently say there are no Democrats at the local, state or federal level who are supporting or would stand with this governor.

New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the findings of the independent probe on Tuesday. Investigators determined that Cuomo did in fact sexually harass at least 11 women. The governor refuted those findings.

Republican Congressman Lee Zeldin of New York said Wednesday …

ZELDIN: The president of the United States himself, as well as today, a number of his top allied unions are all saying that it’s time for him to go. As far as what should happen next, it should be an impeachment and removal.

A simple majority of Assembly members is all that is needed to authorize an impeachment trial.

Trump team asks court to halt handover of tax returns to House Dems » Former President Trump’s legal team is taking action to try and stop House Democrats from obtaining his tax returns. WORLD’s Anna Johansen Brown reports.

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN, REPORTER: The Justice Department said last week that the IRS must turn over Trump’s tax documents to Congress.

But on Wednesday Trump’s legal team filed a motion asking a federal court to halt the handover of his returns to the Democrat-led House Ways and Means Committee.

His lawyers said the panel’s request for the documents are not “valid oversight requests” and they’re not “pertinent to legislation that is within the Committee’s jurisdiction.”

They said it is rather an effort “to expose the private tax information of one individual for political gain.”

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen Brown.

Belarus Olympic sprinter arrives in Vienna amid safety fears » A plane carrying an Olympic athlete from Belarus seeking refuge from her country’s government landed in Vienna on Wednesday.

From there, Krystsina Tsimanouskaya was expected to travel on to Poland, which has offered her a humanitarian visa.

The 24-year-old sprinter asked police at the Tokyo airport for help this week after Belarusian officials allegedly tried to force her onto a plane to return home.

She believed the country’s authoritarian government planned to punish her for criticizing team officials.

Mark Adams is a spokesman for the International Olympic Committee. He told reporters Wednesday …

ADAMS: Further development today is that the IOC is opening a disciplinary commission to establish the facts in this case and to hear the two officials who have been allegedly involved in this incident.

Tsimanouskaya’s husband fled the country quickly this week when he realized that his wife would not be returning to Belarus.

Christian baker appeals ruling over gender-transition cake » Jack Phillips, the Christian owner of a Colorado bakery, has announced that he is appealing a recent ruling in a case centered on his refusal to bake a custom gender-transition cake.

For nearly a decade, Phillips has been ensnared in cases that pit LGBT accommodations against First Amendment religious rights. He won a legal victory at the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 in a separate case.

But in the most recent court battle, a Colorado trial court ruled against him in June.

Alliance Defending Freedom tweeted, “We have appealed this decision and look forward to defending Jack in court once again.”

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

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