Tuesday morning news: May 7, 2024

SOUND: [Gaza celebration]

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Israel/Rafah/cease-fire talks » Palestinian citizens celebrating in the streets of Gaza after the terrorist group Hamas announced that it has agreed to a cease-fire deal. But those celebrations may be premature.

The deal Hamas says it accepts is not the same one offered last week by Israel which State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Hamas should have accepted.

MILLER: Israel made significant compromises, showed that they wanted to reach an agreement that would lead to the release of hostages that would bring an immediate ceasefire.

Israel said the new proposal, reportedly crafted by the governments of Egypt and Qatar was “far from” meeting their “core demands.”

However, they are sending negotiators back to Egypt to keep working toward an acceptable deal.

But in the meantime, Israeli Defense Forces — or IDF — said last night that it was “conducting targeted strikes” in and around Rafah.

President Biden once again called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to voice his concern about an offensive in the city.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Monday:

KIRBY: And the president was consistent again that we don't support ground operations in Rafah that would put the civilians there at any greater risk.

But in a video address, Netanyahu made Israel’s position crystal clear.

NETANYAHU:  If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone. And I say to you, we will defeat our genocidal enemies. Never again is now.

Netanyahu says Rafah is the last remaining Hamas terrorist stronghold … and it is key to winning the war.

Israel just ordered some 100,000 Palestinians to begin evacuating the city. But some world leaders argue that there’s really no place for them to go.

Russia threatens nuke drills » John Kirby also weighed in on new threats out of the Kremlin to hold drills simulating the use of tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield.

Tactical nuclear weapons differ from traditional nukes in that they are less powerful and more limited in scope — relatively speaking, of course. They are also compact and easy to transport covertly.

Kirby told reporters …

KIRBY: It’s just reckless and irresponsible for the leader of a major nuclear-armed power to be saber-rattling the way that he is with respect to potential use for nuclear weapons.

Russia’s defense ministry says the move is a response to what it calls provocative statements made by certain Western officials.

U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron recently said that Ukraine would be able to use British long-range weapons to strike targets inside Russia. And French President Emmanuel Macron has broached the possibility of sending French troops to Ukraine.

Greene meets with Speaker Johnson » Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene might be backing off from her plans to force a vote this week on a motion to vacate Speaker Mike Johnson.

GREENE: We just had a very long discussion with the speaker.

“We” being Greene and Congressman Thomas Massie, who has supported her bid to oust the speaker.

For his part, Johnson described the meeting this way:

JOHNSON: A lengthy, constructive meeting. We discussed some ideas, and we’re going to meet again tomorrow.

Greene has called Johnson a failed speaker, accusing him of caving to Democrats on major legislation. Last week, she said she would force that vacate vote despite not having the numbers needed to oust the speaker.

Trump trial, gag order » Donald Trump says he’s willing to go to jail to defend his First Amendment free speech rights which he says are being trampled on by a gag order in his so-called hush money case in New York.

The judge just fined him another $1,000 dollars for another violation of that order, again threatened to put Trump behind bars for future violations.

TRUMP:  Frankly, you know what? Our constitution is much more important than jail. It’s not even close. I’ll do that sacrifice any day.

The judge said fining Trump doesn’t seem to be working, so he could end up putting Trump behind bars. He added that he understands the gravity of that decision.

Jurors on Monday heard testimony from former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney about the financial reimbursements at the center of the case.

Houston flood cleanup » In Houston, devastated families in Texas are starting the long process of rebuilding their lives after flood waters swamped many neighborhoods over the weekend.

First responders carried out hundreds of high-water rescues. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo says…

HIDALGO: 233 people have been rescued and 186 pets.

Across the state, flooding killed at least 3 people, including a young boy inside a car swept away by rushing waters.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott:

ABBOTT: Heart wrenching to see our fellow Texans be literally inundated with record waterfall, record rise in water… flooding homes, destroying homes, destroying lives.

Some parts of the state got a foot-and-a-half to almost two feet of rain in just a week.

I’m Kent Covington.

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