Thursday morning news: March 9, 2023

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Biden budget » President Biden today will unveil his proposed budget for the next fiscal year. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters:

PIERRE: The president’s budget will cut the deficit by nearly three trillion dollars over the next 10 years.

Republicans are highly skeptical of the White House’s number crunching.

But Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell says even if that’s true, it still means the federal government would be spending trillions of dollars it doesn’t have in the years ahead.

MCCONNELL: The president’s budget is replete with what they would do if they could: Massive tax increases, more spending.

The budget is expected to lay out plans to rescue Medicare’s hospital-insurance fund from insolvency largely by raising taxes on high-income Americans.

The proposal will be dead on arrival in the Republican-controlled House, but it does outline the president's priorities for the years ahead.

DOJ calling out police » In a scathing new report, The Justice Department accused the Louisville, Kentucky police department of “an aggressive style of policing” against black residents.

Attorney General Merrick Garland …

GARLAND: Some officers have demonstrated disrespect for the people they are sworn to protect. Some have video-taped themselves throwing drinks at pedestrians from their cars, insulting people with disabilities, and called black people monkeys, animal, and boy.

He called that an affront to the vast majority of officers who serve honorably.

The Department of Justice is also scrutinizing the Memphis Police Department. Members the department’s special Scorpion unit were caught on video brutally beating a man during a traffic stop in January.

The DOJ says it will look into the police department’s use of force, de-escalation, and its rules for specialized units.

Hearing on Afghanistan withdrawal» On Capitol Hill, lawmakers in the House heard emotional testimony from US troops who were on the ground in Kabul during the chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Marine Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews described a deadly attack at an airport checkpoint.

ANDREWS: Then a flash and a massive wave of pressure. I’m thrown 12 feet onto the ground but instantly knew what had happened. I opened my eyes to Marines dead or unconscious laying around me.

Vargas-Andrews, now 25 years old, lost an arm and a leg in the blast … which killed 13 other service members and scores of Afghans.

Witnesses recalled seeing mothers carrying dead babies and the Taliban shooting and brutally beating people. Vargas-Andrews testified many who were turned away from flights out of Kabul immediately attempted suicide.

It was the first of what is expected to be a series of Republican-led hearings examining the Biden administration’s handling of the withdrawal.

Terrorist designation for cartels » A pair of Republican lawmakers say it’s time to designated Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations. And Senators Roger Marshall and Rick Scott have drawn up a bill that would do just that.

Fellow GOP Senator Lindsay Graham says he’s on board.

GRAHAM - The drug cartels in Mexico have been terrorizing Americans for decades. We're going to unleash the fury and might of the United States against these cartels.

Designating drug cartels as terrorist organizations allows the United States to attack their financial assets more aggressively and more effectively crack down on those who provide other support to them.

That comes after four Americans were caught in a drug-related shootout in a Mexican border town over the weekend and then kidnapped. Two of them were killed in the crossfire.

China threats testimony » In another Senate hearing Tuesday, America’s top intelligence official testified that China represents that “most consequential threat” to the United States.

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines:

HAINES - And we assess that during the course of Xi's third term, they will together attempt to press Taiwan on unification, undercut U.S. influence, which they perceive as a threat, and drive wedges between Washington and its allies and partners and promote certain norms that favor China's authoritarian system.

Haines’ comments come just a day after China’s new Foreign Minister Qin Gang said the U. S. was on-course for conflict with China.

Taiwan suspects Chinese ships cut islands’ internet cables » Taiwan says that China could be cutting its internet cables to disrupt communications. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: Taiwan has accused two Chinese ships of cutting internet cables to one of Taiwan’s outlying islands last month.

It could be a rehearsal for a larger scale disruption if Beijing chooses to invade the autonomous island.

Experts say Russian assaults on Ukraine’s internet system have been a key part of its wartime strategy.

Beijing claims that Taiwan is the property of China.

And Chinese President Xi Jinping has told the People’s Liberation Army to be ready to take over Taiwan by force by 2027.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

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

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