Wednesday morning news: June 19, 2024

BIDEN: Today is a good day.

Biden immigration » President Biden in the East Room of the White House on Tuesday announcing a new immigration plan that could grant legal status, and eventually U.S. citizenship to half a million migrants who are now in the country illegally.

BIDEN:  For those wives or husbands and their children who have lived in America for a decade or more but are undocumented, this action will allow them to file a paperwork for legal status in the United States, allow them to work while they remain with their families in the United States.

To qualify, an immigrant must have lived in the United States for 10 years with no criminal record and be married to a U.S. citizen. Qualified migrants would then have three years to apply for a green card and receive a temporary work permit. And they’d be shielded from deportation in the meantime.

Border debate/migrant arrest » Former President Trump reacted to the news just hours later at a campaign rally in Wisconsin.

TRUMP: Joe Biden wants to be the president for illegal aliens, but I will be the president for law abiding Americans, every background, every walk of life, every race, religion, color, and creed. I'll be the president.

Trump added that what he called “Biden’s mass amnesty plan” will lead to a greater surge in illegal immigration and cost American taxpayers untold millions.

He said the president has just issued “another invitation for illegal immigration.”

Gaetz probe » The House Ethics Committee has issued an unusual public statement regarding its investigation of Congressman Matt Gaetz. WORLD’s Christina Grube has more.

CHRISTINA GRUBE: The committee has confirmed that it’s looking into several allegations against the Florida Republican. Among those allegations: that he used illicit drugs, engaged in sexual misconduct, accepted improper gifts, and obstructed government investigations of his conduct.

Congressman Gaetz says none of that is true.

It was Gaetz who triggered the unprecedented vote to oust then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his leadership post last October.

For WORLD, I’m Christina Grube.

COVID hearing » Meantime, in the Senate.

AUDIO: The committee will come to order.

The Homeland Security Committee questioned experts about the possible origins of the COVID-19 pandemic …

PETERS: And how we can learn from this outbreak, to better address future potential infectious disease outbreaks.

Committee Chairman, Sen. Gary Peters, heard there.

Doctor Gregor Koblen of George Mason University said China’s secrecy means we’ll likely never know for sure where the virus came from. But in his view, it did not originate in a Chinese laboratory.

KOBLEN: I believe the available evidence points most strongly to a natural [UNDECIPHERABLE] spillover event as the origin of the pandemic.

But Doctor Richard Ebrigh of Rutgers University said what evidence?

EBRIGH: No – zero – secure evidence points toward a natural origin.

The top-ranking Republican on the panel, Senator Rand Paul, said no matter the answer Americans deserved an honest debate. And he said that did not happen with many labeling the lab leak theory as a conspiracy.

PAUL: Media pundits parroted the narrative, while social media platforms censored discussion about the lab leak, labeling it as misinformation and stifling open discourse about the virus’ origins.

The FBI is among the agencies that have concluded that the virus did escape from a lab in Wuhan, China. But there is no U.S. government consensus on its origin.

Stoltenberg calls out China, Iran, North Korea » NATO is worried that Russia may support North Korea's missile and nuclear programs as their military alliance grows stronger.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg spoke at State Department headquarters in Washington on Tuesday.

STOLTENBERG: Putin's visit to North Korea demonstrates and confirms the very close alignment between Russia and authoritarian states like North Korea, uh, but also China and, uh, and Iran.

Stoltenberg added that supporting Ukraine in its battle against Russian invaders isn’t not just about Ukraine, but also about checking the power of this growing alliance of dictator states.

And Secretary of State Tony Blinken told reporters.

BLINKEN:  We're strengthening our collective deterrence and defense. Uh, we're implementing the robust plans that allies agreed to, the most robust plans for defense and deterrence since the end of the Cold War.

Blinken also called on China to stop propping up Moscow’s economy and the Russian war machine.

Netanyahu calls out Biden for withholding weapons » Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is blasting the Biden administration for blocking the transfer of some weapons and ammunition to Israel.

NETANYAHU:  It's inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel. Israel, America's closest ally, fighting for its life, fighting against Iran and our other common enemies.

Netanyahu implied that the holdup was slowing Israel’s offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

President Biden has delayed delivering certain heavy bombs to Israel since May over concerns about civilian casualties. But the Biden administration says everything else “is moving as it normally would.”

Masterpiece Cakeshop owner back in court » Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips is back in court in another religious liberty. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN: Phillips appeared before the Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday for opening arguments in a lawsuit.

A man who identifies as a woman accuses Phillips of discrimination for declining to make a custom cake celebrating a so-called gender transition.

The Colorado Supreme Court must decide if designing and making the cake is constitutionally protected speech.

Phillips has been defending his First Amendment rights in court since 2012 when he declined to make a custom wedding cake for a same-sex couple.

In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Phillips in a separate religious liberty case.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Donald Trump’s plans for tax policy on Washington Wednesday. Plus, World Tour.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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