Thursday morning news: August 8, 2024

Dueling presidential campaigns » The U.S.’s leading presidential campaigns are rumbling through the Rust Belt. Both the Harris and Trump campaigns spent Wednesday trekking through the swing states of Michigan and Wisconsin.

In Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate, Minnesota governor Tim Walz, accused former President Trump of weakening the country to strengthen his own hand.

WALZ: He mocks our laws. He sows chaos and division among the people. And that’s to say nothing of the job he did as president.

President Trump’s running mate, Senator J.D. Vance, has been mirroring Team Harris’s travel schedule. Also in Eau Claire, he pushed back against Democratic characterizations of the Trump/Vance ticket as ‘weird’ using that word to describe his opponents, starting with the vice president.

VANCE: I think it’s pretty weird to be the border czar and to open up the border and allow fentanyl to come into your community. I think it’s pretty weird to try to take children away from their parents if the parents don’t want to consent to sex changes. That’s something that Tim Walz did.

The two campaigns were even briefly at the same airport, where Vance, outside Harris’s plane, criticized her for not taking more questions from the media since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Study: U.S. abortions up since Roe » A pro-abortion group claims total abortions in the U.S have gone up since the fall of Roe v. Wade.

The Society of Family Planning says there were an average of roughly 99,000 abortions per month from January through March 2024 compared to an average of 84,000 in the two months before the Supreme Court struck down Roe in 2022.

However, it also found abortions fell to near zero in states that outlawed the killing of unborn children and dropped by half in states that protect children from six weeks’ gestation.

The increases came in states like Illinois, Kansas, and New Mexico which allow abortions further into pregnancies, but border states with better protection for the unborn.

EPA removes pesticide over fetal damage » The Biden administration has issued a rare emergency order banning a pesticide it says is dangerous for unborn babies. WORLD’s Travis Kircher has more.

TRAVIS KIRCHER: The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Tuesday that it was banning the use of the pesticide Dacthal.

Also known as DCPA, Dacthal is used primarily to kill weeds and protect crops including Brussels sprouts, broccoli and cabbage. The chemical has applications both on and off the farm.

But the E-P-A says exposure to the pesticide can also have harmful effects on unborn babies…causing low birth weight and impaired brain development. Those same children could later suffer from a permanent decrease in IQ as well as compromised motor skills.

Tuesday’s announcement was the first time in roughly 40 years the E-P-A has implemented such a ban.

For WORLD, I’m Travis Kircher.

Israel-Hamas latest » Hezbollah is launching rocket and drone attacks in northern Israel as Israel braces for a possible larger-scale attack from Iran and its proxies at any moment.

That attack would be in retaliation for the recent killing of a top Hamas leader in the Iranian capital of Tehran.

U.S. diplomats are urging de-escalation. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller says new attacks could hurt progress toward ending the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza.

MILLER: This is obviously a very delicate time for the region. Tensions are high. We’re in the final stages, hopefully, of a cease fire deal. And escalation has the potential to make every problem the region faces worse.

The White House says it’s ready to defend Israel against Iranian threats, and President Biden has been on the phone discussing the situation with world leaders.

Putin accuses Ukraine of provocation » Russian President Vladymyr Putin says Ukraine has gone on the offensive.

PUTIN: [Speaking in Russian]

Putin accusing the Ukrainian military of undertaking what he called a ‘large-scale provocation’ in Russia’s southern border region of Kursk.

He accused the Ukrainian military of conducting indiscriminate shelling and missile strikes on civilian buildings—including homes—as well as ambulances.

Russia’s state run media says that the offensive involved as many as 1,000 Ukrainian troops as well as tanks and drones. Those claims have not been verified. Ukrainian officials have yet to comment directly on the attacks.

Here in the U-S: Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says the White House is reaching out to the Ukrainian military to learn more about its objectives. But she also added Ukraine can speak for itself.

JEAN-PIERRE: That's where, I would I would refer you to, but we are, generally speaking, as you know, we have been supportive of Ukraine. As they are, they are, defending themselves against Russia's aggression.

If confirmed the cross-border incursion would be among Ukraine’s largest since Russia’s full-scale invasion more than two years ago.

SABRINA WOODS: Good morning gentlemen.

6. NTSB Boeing hearing » Another day of testimony in the National Transportation Safety Board’s hearing, and it’s still not clear how a Boeing 737 jet was delivered to Alaska Airlines without the bolts needed to keep a door plug in place.

That door plug blew out in January, leaving a gaping hole in the plane mid-flight. Amazingly, there were no major injuries.

During Wednesday’s testimony, a Boeing executive said he can’t guarantee the company will never again deliver an improperly-installed door plug, though he says Boeing is committed to making the changes needed to fix the procedural gaps that led to the failure.

I’m Mark Mellinger.

Straight ahead: The rise and fall of a plea deal for September 11 terrorists. Plus, new Title IX guidelines.

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