Tuesday morning news - November 2, 2021

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington .

Supreme Court hears arugments over Texas pro-life law » The black robed justices of the U.S. Supreme Court heard hours of oral arguments Monday over a new pro-life law in Texas.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton touted his state’s efforts to protect the lives of the unborn.

PAXTON: This law does something that hasn’t been done like this in Texas before, which is to recognize that life is protected when the heartbeat is first detected.

And the law allows private citizens to sue abortionists that violate the law.

The Biden administration is suing to block the law. Solicitor General for the Justice Department, Elizabeth Prelogar characterized it this way:

PRELOGAR: A law that clearly violates this court’s precedence. It designed that law to thwart judicial review by offering bounties to the general public to carry out the state’s enforcement function.

The high court will decide whether to allow the Justice Department's case and separate case from an abortionist, to move forward.

The court is only reviewing how the Texas law was set up, not whether abortions should be legal. It will focus on whether a state may create a law that courts and the government cannot enforce.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh described one of the questions the court must answer. He said a “loophole” has “been used here”...

KAVANAUGH: … which is the private suits are enforced by state court clerks or judges. So the question becomes, should we extend the principle of Ex parte Young to, in essence, close that loophole?

While some were open to considering ways that abortionists can challenge the law, many were hesitant about the Justice Department’s case.

Biden vows to curb emissions at UN climate summit » President Biden addressed world leaders at a U.N. climate change summit in Glasgow, Scotland Monday.

Biden said the United States and other large developed nations bear much of the blame for climate change and he vowed to cut emissions.

BIDEN: We’re going to cut US greenhouse gas emissions by well over a gigaton by 2030.

Biden declared—quote—“We’ll demonstrate to the world the United States is not only back at the table, but hopefully leading by the power of our example.”

And the president used the summit to announce a plan to work with Congress to provide $3 billion dollars to developing countries to help them curb emissions.

And British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who hosted the summit, called on other world leaders to take action.

JOHNSON: We have the technology. We can find the finance and we must. The question for all of us today is whether we have the will.

But the leaders of some of the world’s top polluting countries were no-shows. Russian President Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping did not attend the conference.

Jen Psaki tests positive for COVID » White House press secretary Jen Psaki did not accompany President Biden on the trip. She announced that she has tested positive for COVID-19.

The 42-year-old Psaki said she was last in contact with President Biden on Tuesday, when she met him in the White House. She said they were more than 6 feet apart and wearing masks.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters …

PIERRE: The president was tested as well, a PCR test yesterday, and he tested negative.

Psaki had planned to travel with the president this week. But she scrapped the trip after learning that members of her household had tested positive.

Psaki, who is fully vaccinated, said she is only exhibiting mild symptoms.

Virginia voters set to elect next governor » Today’s the day in Virginia. Voters head to the polls — those who have not mailed in a ballot, anyway—to choose the state's next governor.

Democrat Terry McAuliffe has been locked in a tight race with Republican Glenn Youngkin.

Both candidates have been stumping right up till Election Day. Youngkin campaigned over the weekend in rural Gate City. And he noted that many analysts are watching this race as a possible bellwether ahead of next year’s national midterm elections.

YOUNGKIN: This is our chance to do what we do best: lead, lead. And the whole nation will stand up and say ‘thank you’ because they need hope too.

Governor McAuliffe meanwhile urged supporters in the town of Manassas to turn out the vote.

MCAULIFFE: We’ve done great on the early vote, bigger than people thought. We’re going to go into Election Day with a big lead in the early vote. But I need a big lead. I need it on Election Day.

McAuliffe served as governor from 2014 to 2018. Virginia does not allow governors to serve consecutive terms.

McAuliffe still held a slight edge in the polls as recently as a week ago. But an average of recent polls now shows Youngkin up by nearly 2 points.

Virginia was once a solidly purple state, but Republicans haven’t won a statewide race there since 2009.

Jury selection begins in Rittenhouse trial » In Kenosha, Wisconsin, court officials are sizing up potential jurors in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse. The 18-year-old faces homicide charges related to protests that turned deadly in August of last year.

Jury selection started Monday, and Kenosha County Judge Bruce Schroeder acknowledged that finding impartial jurors won’t be easy. He said that’s partly due to media coverage of the case...

SCHROEDER: And it’s not just the media. It was mentioned by both political campaigns in the presidential campaign last year, in some instances very, very imprudently.

Once jurors are seated, they’ll have to decide whether Rittenhouse acted in self-defense when he shot three protesters, killing two of them.

The teen drove from his Illinois home to Kenosha with a semiautomatic rifle after protests broke out in the city over the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Rittenhouse said he was going to protect a business in the area.

Last week, Judge Schroeder instructed lawyers not to call the protesters victims. Schroeder has routinely banned the term in his courtrooms because he said it biases the jury.

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

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