Wednesday morning news: June 14, 2023

Trump » Donald Trump delivered a fiery speech to supporters last night after pleading not guilty to nearly 40 felony charges in a Miami courtroom.

DONALD TRUMP: It’s Joe Biden and his corrupt department of injustice who think they are above the law. Never before have the two standards of justice in our country been more starkly revealed.

The Justice Dept. is charging Trump with more than 30 counts under the espionage act and six counts of obstruction of justice.

Trump said President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents was far worse, because it followed Biden’s time as vice president, and vice presidents have no power to declassify documents. Trump argued that he did nothing wrong.

TRUMP: In other words, whatever documents a president decides to take with him, he has the right to do so. It’s an absolute right. This is the law.

But prosecutors say that’s not so. And the indictment states that Trump was caught on tape showing classified documents to someone after leaving office and stating that he could have declassified those documents when he president but didn’t.

Trump blasts OK gov for endorsing DeSantis » Trump, meantime, says his campaign for president will go on unimpeded and vowed to stay in the race, no matter what.

The former president this week criticized Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt for making this announcement at a campaign event on Monday:

KEVIN STITT: We’ve got to defeat Joe Biden, okay? And I believe Ron DeSantis is the right guy to beat Joe Biden.

Stitt is the first governor to officially endorse fellow Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.

The former president endorsed Stitt in his last election and took credit for the governor’s win. He complained that Stitt is backing DeSantis even though Trump said DeSantis is losing in the polls to both Trump and Biden.

However, DeSantis, like Trump, is leading Biden in an average of recent polls. Though, Trump is up on the governor by double digits in primary polls.

Missile attack Ukraine » A Russian missile attack killed 11 Ukrainians yesterday in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown.

Seven people died when missiles struck a warehouse, and four others were killed in an apartment building in the city of Kryvyi Rih.

CITIZEN [Ukrainian]: We were sleeping in the corridor. This saved us.

This woman is saying that she and her husband survived because they decided to sleep in a corridor after hearing reports that Russia had launched bombs. The missiles struck around 3:30 in the morning.

The capital city of Kyiv also came under fire, although air defenses destroyed all of the missiles.

Blinken, Stoltenberg » Secretary of State Tony Blinken addressed reporters alongside NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday.

Blinken laid out what he expects to happen at the upcoming NATO Summit in Lithuania.

TONY BLINKEN: I anticipate as well that you’ll see a robust package of both political and practical support for Ukraine.

And Stoltenberg laid out what he hopes will happen.

JENS STOLTENBERG: We all, of course, look forward to welcoming Sweden as a full member of the alliance as soon as possible.

The NATO Summit will take place in Lithuania’s capital city Vinius on July 11th and 12th.

Defense Dept inspector general report on Ukraine » But the U.S. isn’t waiting for the NATO Summit to provide more weapons to Ukraine. The White House Tuesday announced more aid to Ukraine.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says the package includes:

JEAN-PIERRE: Key capabilities such as Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, Stryker armored personnel carriers artillery rounds, Stinger anti anti aircraft systems Javelin anti armor system ammunition to us provided high Mars and more than 22 million rounds of small arms ammunition.

But a new report says the U.S. Defense Department has gaps and lapses in accountability in its delivery of military aid to Ukraine.

The Department’s Inspector General reports that paperwork sometimes is not filled out on weapons deliveries… making it difficult to track deliveries.

The IG’s office said it had no reason to believe weapons were actually lost in transit, but warned the situation could arise.

Inflation slows » The Labor Department says U.S. inflation is slowing down.

Consumer prices only 4 percent in May, down from April’s 5 percent increase. That’s the lowest reported annual increase in prices in more than two years.

Still, consumers are feeling price pressure.

CONSUMER: The cost of living goes up and they give us extra wages. You're still getting the same thing. Because It is still more taxes by the time you come home with your paycheck still the same thing or a little bit less.

The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates roughly 5 percent since March of last year in a bid to cool inflation.

The Fed is meeting this week. Analysts expect the board will skip raising interest rates this month.

I'm Kent Covington. Straight ahead: the culpability of former and current presidents on Washington Wednesday. Plus, helping senior citizens enjoy the open road.

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