Thursday morning news: March 21, 2024

Impeachment inquiry » The top Republican leading an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden says he wants to hear from the president himself.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer:

COMER: It’s done over and over again. The Biden family promises Joe’s power. Joe Biden shows up, and millions of dollars come into the Bidens’ pockets. Joe Biden is the family’s closer.

Comer says he plans to invite the president to testify before his committee about his family’s business dealings.

His announcement followed a day of testimony from dueling witnesses over whether the president was improperly involved in his son Hunter’s business dealings.

Former Hunter Biden business associate Tony Bobulinski claimed he was.

BOBULINSKI: Though the truth involving the deep corruption of the Biden family, including the malfeasance of the sitting president of the United States, might be raw and unpleasant, the American people must hear it.

But former Rudy Giuliani aid Lev Parnas told lawmakers the case against the president is built on false claims.

PARNAS: Rudy Giuliani on behalf of then President Donald Trump tasked me with a mission to travel the globe, finding dirt on the Bidens, so an array of networks could spread disinformation about them.

The White House calls the hearings a politically motivated farce, but Republicans say they want to know why foreign entities funneled millions of dollars to companies owned by the Biden family.

Texas immigration law appeals court » Texas Governor Greg Abbott says state authorities can continue arresting illegal migrants despite a federal order to pause enforcement the state’s controversial immigration law.

An appeals court heard arguments about the law known as SB-4 on Wednesday. The law expressly gives state authorities the right to detain and deport illegal migrants.

But Abbott told reporters:

ABBOTT: Even without SB-4, Texas has the legal authority to arrest people coming across the razor wire barriers on our border.

The Biden administration argues that only the federal government has the constitutional power to enforce immigration law.

Abbott claims Texas has no choice but to police its southern border because the Biden administration refuses to do so.

Gaza hospital raid » The Israeli Defense forces —or IDF — say they killed 90 Hamas terrorists who were hiding inside Gaza’s largest hospital. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more.

HAGARI: [Speaking Hebrew]

KRISTEN FLAVIN: Spokesman Daniel Hagari said IDF troops were acting on intelligence that indicated a large number of terrorists fled into the hospital area and hid.

He said, “When the forces entered the compound, the terrorists, who were surprised and had barricaded themselves in several buildings in the hospital, opened fire on our forces from inside the hospital.”

Hargari said soldiers also found weapons caches there.

Israel is calling on the United Nations to condemn Hamas’ use of hospitals as shelters for terrorist operations.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Blinken to Tel Aviv » Secretary of State Tony Blinken is adding an urgent visit to Israel to his latest Middle East tour. He’ll arrive in Tel Aviv on Friday after meetings in Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

State Dept. deputy spokesman Vedant Patel:

PATEL: We’re going to continue to have these conversations with our Israeli partners on what we believe can hopefully be a path forward that will help defeat Hamas, but also be mindful of these varying humanitarian factors.

President Biden faces heavy pressure at home to curb Israel’s military offensive as he gears up for a tough re-election battle.

Next week, an Israeli delegation will meet in Washington with Biden administration officials who hope to persuade Israel to call off a planned ground offensive in the southern Gaza city of Raffah.

Fed interest rates » Inflation has remained stubbornly high so far this year. But Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says the Fed has no immediate plans to hike interest rates again.

POWELL: The committee decided at today’s meeting to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 5.25 to 5.5 percent and to continue the process of significantly reducing our securities holdings.

And in fact, Powell says he still expects that the Fed will cut its key interest rate three times by year’s end.

However, the central bank has slightly raised its inflation forecasts for next year and board members foresee fewer rate cuts in 2025.

Haiti evacuations » The state of Florida just evacuated more than a dozen Florida residents from Haiti which has spiraled out of control amid rampant gang violence.

The state’s Department of Emergency Management evacuated 14 people on a chartered plane.

Governor Ron DeSantis:

DESANTIS: This will be the first of probably many flights to bring people who are in harm’s way, given what’s going on in Haiti.

Sound courtesy of WFTV.

And the State Department says the federal government is also planning evacuations on chartered helicopters.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: the legal future of a Texas border security law. Plus, leaving Haiti.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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