Tuesday morning news: July 11, 2023

KRISTEN FLAVIN, NEWS ANCHOR: ACE Act » Republicans in Congress are calling for voting reforms … just in time for the 2024 presidential election.

The Committee on House Administration held a hearing yesterday to discuss the American Confidence in Elections Act, or ACE Act.

Chairman Bryan Steil:

Steil: Most importantly, the ACE act will restore voter confidence in our elections.

The measure aims to reduce voter fraud while giving states more control of their own elections.

It would pull federal funding from states that allow non-citizens to vote .. and assure deceased voters are removed from active rolls.

Democrats say the bill would marginalize some voters.

Congresswoman Terri Sewell of Alabama:

Sewell: I think that my colleagues with their American Confidence in Elections Act is trying to really nationalize a lot of these voter suppressions.

Chairman Steil said a congressional vote on the measure will likely take place later this year.

Biden at NATO summit » President Biden is in Lithuania today, attending the NATO summit.

The military alliance could welcome a new member soon. Turkey announced yesterday that it was withdrawing its objections to Sweden’s request to join.

Secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg:

STOLTENBERG: Sweden has met these conditions. This will strengthen NATO and it will strengthen our ability to defend and protect not least the Baltic region.

In exchange for backing Sweden’s NATO application, Turkey asked NATO leaders to support its country’s membership in the European Union.

Questions still loom about Ukraine’s request to join NATO. Stoltenberg says it will eventually happen, just not right now.

STOLTENBERG: No final decision has been made. Allies agree that Ukraine will become a member of the alliance. The most urgent task now is to ensure that Ukraine prevails as a sovereign and independent nation in Europe.

Before arriving for the summit, President Biden met with King Charles the Third in England to discuss funding clean energy initiatives.

Biden will end his tour tomorrow at the U.S. Nordic Leaders’ Summit in Finland.

Wagner chief » The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin days after the group staged an armed uprising last month.

According to Russian officials, Putin invited more than 30 mercenary leaders to Moscow for a discussion of the mutiny.

GALLYAMOV (Speaking Russian): Perhaps they are trying to arrange a return of the Wagner group to the frontline.

Political analyst Abbas Gallyamov said the discussion might have been a way to get Wagner forces back to the front lines of the war in Ukraine.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Wagner chiefs pledged their support for Putin and promised to keep fighting for Russia.

Prigozhin claimed the uprising was intended to protest the decisions of top military leaders not to overthrow the government.

New York floods » New York Governor Kathy Hochul today visited the state’s Hudson Valley region where floodwaters have proved deadly.

The village of Highland Falls received nine inches of rain that destroyed roads and damaged millions of dollars in property. The governor laid out the work ahead:

HOCHUL: , assess the monetary value of the damage, so we can put in our request for FEMA assistance to help the communities have the resources they need to rebuild.

One 35-year-old woman drowned as her house took on too much water. Dislodged boulders rammed into parts of her home as she was overwhelmed by waves.

Heavy downpours with possible flash flooding remain in the forecast for parts of New England.

Larry Nassar » Imprisoned sports doctor Larry Nassar is recovering after a fellow inmate stabbed him on Sunday. WORLD’s Anna Johansen Brown has more.

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN: A prison union leader at the federal penitentiary in Sumterville, Florida, said another prisoner stabbed Nassar multiple times during an altercation.

The 59-year-old sex offender was taken to an area hospital. He was reportedly in stable condition.

Nassar pleaded guilty in 2018 to sexually assaulting dozens of young female athletes while he worked at Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics.

He is serving a decades-long sentence, and will likely be in prison the rest of his life.

For WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen Brown.

Philly shooting latest » In Philadelphia, police investigating a July Fourth mass shooting say the suspect killed one of the victims days before the attack.

Philadelphia police commissioner Danielle Outlaw:

OUTLAW: Our investigators have worked tirelessly to piece together to piece together evidence and analyze all available information.

The body of Joseph Wamah Jr. was found in a home after a gunman opened fire in the Kingsessing neighborhood, killing four people.

Investigators now say he had been dead for almost two days.

Police are conducting an internal investigation into why the first killing initially went unnoticed.

I'm Kristen Flavin.

Straight ahead: the economic results of last week’s Supreme Court ruling on Biden’s college loan forgiveness program. Plus, church care for the elderly in nursing homes.

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