Thursday morning news: June 13, 2024

HOUSE VOTE: On this vote, the yeas are 216, the nays are 207. The resolution is adopted.

Garland contempt of Congress » House Republicans have voted to hold  Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress … and refer him for criminal charges.

The historic vote comes after Garland refused to hand over audio recordings of President Biden's interview with special counsel Robert Hur. The audio reportedly pertains to Biden's handling of classified documents.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise:

SCALISE:  You look at the White House themselves, they've acknowledged that as they've turned over the transcripts, those transcripts have been edited. Well, there's one way you can find out what the edits were, and that is to actually get the source tape, get the audio.

The special counsel’s probe found that Biden wilfully retrained classified documents from his time as vice president after leaving office. But Hur opted not to recommend charges.

Garland declined to comply with a subpoena for the recording after the White House claimed executive privilege.

Democrats accuse House Republicans of playing politics. Congressman Jerry Nadler:

NADLER:  Like most of the bills House Republicans have pushed on purely partisan lines, this contempt resolution will do very little, other than smear the reputation of Merrick Garland.

Merrick Garland responded by accusing House Republicans of using a serious Congressional authority as a political weapon.

Cease-fire latest »  Secretary of State Tony Blinken says Hamas wants numerous changes to a U.S.-backed Gaza cease-fire plan.

BLINKEN:  We discussed those changes last night with Egyptian colleagues and today with the Prime Minister. Some of the changes are workable, some are not.

Blinken did not specify what those changes might be.

The Secretary's in Qatar, pushing a plan that has global support, but Hamas has not agreed.

Some Israeli leaders have not been on board either, even though the White House says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reaffirmed his support for the U.S. proposal.

Russia sanctions & Ukraine long-term security » As world leaders gather in Italy today for the G-7 summit, President Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are set to sign a new security agreement.

And National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan says the Kremlin should take note.

SULLIVAN: By signing this, we'll also be sending Russia a signal of our resolve. If Vladimir Putin thinks that he can outlast the coalition supporting Ukraine, he's wrong.

The agreement is expected to include more military aid such as Patriot missile systems, financial support, and more.

The U.S. is also widening sanctions, taking aim at both Russia directly, and financial institutions in China and elsewhere that are helping prop up Russia’s economy.

Russian vessels in Cuba » Meantime, just 90 or so miles from South Florida a convoy of Russian Navy ships has arrived in Cuba, including a nuclear-powered submarine.

Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh:

SINGH: We’re always constantly going to monitor any foreign vessels operating near U.S. territorial waters. We of course take it seriously, but these exercises don’t pose a threat to the United States.

U.S. officials add the submarine is not carrying nuclear weapons.

Still, this is Russia’s largest show of force in Cuba in years with U.S.-Russia tensions already elevated over Ukraine.

Fed interest rates » Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says when it comes to curbing inflation we’re getting close, but we’re not there yet.

POWELL: Inflation has eased substantially from a peak of 7 percent to 2.7 percent but is still too high.

Inflation still hasn’t cooled to the Fed’s target of 2 percent. So for now, the central bank’s key rate will stay put at 5.3 percent.

Powell says the Fed now expects to make only one rate cut between now and the end of the year.

Port of Baltimore reopened » Maryland Governor Wes Moore with an announcement 11 weeks in the making.

The Port of Baltimore has fully reopened for the first time since the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March.

Officials say commercial shipping traffic in the port should be back to normal levels next month. Federal, state, and local governments teamed up on a $160 million effort to clear the channel.

SBC vote » The Southern Baptist Convention has voted to condemn in vitro fertilization — or IVF.

Voting representatives at the SBC’s annual meeting like Monica Hall say the process destroys human life by creating embryos that won’t have a chance at birth.

HALL: Nothing in the process of IVF upholds the sanctity of life. There is no way to describe the treatment of embryos at any point in the IVF process as ethical or dignified.

But a vote to enshrine a ban on women pastors in the SBC Constitution failed, garnering 61 percent support instead of the supermajority needed.

BARBER: The amendment not having found two thirds in favor, the amendment is lost.

Many who voted against the amendment support the denomination’s official doctrinal position that only men can serve as pastors.

But because the SBC can already remove churches with women pastors on a case-by-case basis, as it has each of the past two years, they didn’t think the amendment was needed.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Border security up north. Plus, mentorship on the basketball court.

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