Wednesday morning news: June 28, 2023

Trump audio » Former president Donald Trump responded on Tuesday to newly leaked audio from two years ago in which he can seemingly be heard showing classified documents to multiple people.

DONALD TRUMP: We did absolutely nothing wrong. This is just another hoax. It’s called, I would say election interference more than anything else. It’s a disgrace that they can do it.

In the recording Trump complains that Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley accused him of wanting to attack Iran. Trump then seemingly shows off a document related to plans for a military operation against Iran.

TRUMP: Isn’t it amazing. I have a big pile of papers. This thing just came up, look. This was him. This totally wins my case, you know. Except it is highly confidential, secret. This is secret information. Look at this, the attack.

And another portion of the recording could be particularly problematic for Trump’s legal case.

TRUMP: See as president I could have declassified it. Now I can’t. You now, but this is classified.

In an interview days earlier with Fox’s Brett Baier, Trump said he had no such classified document.

TRUMP: That was not a document. I didn’t have a document per se. There was nothing to declassify. These were newspaper stories, magazine stories, and articles.

The recording was from a July 2021 interview Trump gave at his Bedminster, New Jersey, resort for people working on the memoir of his former chief of staff Mark Meadows.

Trump / DeSantis » Meantime, on the campaign trail, Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis traded barbs this week. The two leading GOP White House candidates staged dueling events in New Hampshire.

Speaking to supporters in the rural town of Hollis, DeSantis said that as president, he would make the border crisis a top priority.

RON DESANTIS: Our own government acknowledges that you’ve had a significant number of people on its own terrorist watchlist that have come across the border.

And he jabbed at the former president, saying he will “actually” build the border wall.

Trump later campaigned in Lansing, Michigan telling a crowd that DeSantis opposed his tariffs against China.

TRUMP: Simply put, he sided with the communists in China while I fought for workers in America.

Another presidential contender, former Ambassador Nikki Haley, accused Trump on Tuesday of doing “too little” to address threats from China.

Philippines raid » Police in the Philippines say they rescued thousands of workers in a raid of cybercrime offices in Manila on Tuesday. WORLD’s Lauren Canterberry has more.

LAURAN CANTERBERRY: The Philippine National Police and its anti-cybercrime group distributed footage of more than 2,700 workers sitting outside office buildings after the midnight raid.

Authorities say cybercrime syndicates are luring people to their offices with the promise of employment, then trapping them in virtual slavery participating in online scams.

The liberated workers came from 18 countries, including China and Vietnam.

Police raided another suspected cybercrime base outside Manila in May and rescued nearly 1,400 workers.

For WORLD, I’m Lauren Canterberry.

Ukraine aid » The United States is sending up to $500 million in additional military aid to Ukraine.

Pentagon spokesman, Brigadier General Pat Ryder:

PAT RYDER: It includes key key capabilities to support Ukraine’s air defense requirements, as well as additional armored vehicles, anti-armor systems, munitions, and other equipment.

The aid is aimed at bolstering Ukraine's counteroffensive, which has so far moved slowly.

The Pentagon says it has sent more than $15 billion in weapons and equipment to Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion.

Ukraine report on detention abuse » Russian forces have carried out widespread and systematic torture of civilians in Ukraine.

That’s according a new report from the United Nations human rights office detailing more than 900 cases of people being arbitrarily detained. U.N. Human Rights official Matilda Bogner:

MATILDA BOGNER: Torture was used to force victims to confess to helping Ukrainian armed forces, compel them cooperate them with the occupying authorities, or intimidate those with pro-Ukrainian views.

Russian forces were behind most of those 900 incidents, but not all of them.

The report also documented 75 cases of arbitrary detention by Ukrainian security forces. And more than half of the people detained in those cases also reported being abused.

Pregnant workers » The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, or PWFA, took effect on Tuesday. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER: The law requires businesses with 15 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant and postpartum workers. The could include things like opportunities to sit down when needed, flexible hours, and closer parking spaces.

But employers do not have to implement the accommodations if they would cause undue hardship, meaning significant expense or difficulty.

Congress passed the law last year, a decade after it was initially proposed.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

I'm Kristen Flavin.

Straight ahead: New Supreme Court opinions and unpacking the march on Moscow in Washington Wednesday. Plus, why some shoppers are turning against companies pushing LGBT products.

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