Wednesday morning news: May 1, 2024

SOUND: [Street protesters]

Columbia University » On the streets of Manhattan last night, onlookers taunted NYPD officers as they marched onto the campus of Columbia University to remove protesters who illegally barricaded themselves inside a building.

AUDIO: Quit your jobs! Quit your jobs!

Police breached the Hamilton Hall building equipped with helmets and zip ties. Officers cleared 30 to 40 people from inside the building some 12 hours after they locked themselves inside as protests continued around the campus.

AUDIO: Students, students hold your ground. NYPD back down. NYPD back down.

The demonstrators inside the building could face charges of burglary in the third degree, criminal mischief, and trespassing.

GOP leaders condemn Columbia protest/anti-Semitism investigation » Hours earlier on Capitol Hill House Speaker Mike Johnson and other GOP leaders condemned the anti-Israeli demonstrations at the school.

JOHNSON:  And what we're seeing right now is people wave Hezbollah flags and Hamas flags, their homemade signs supporting what happened on October 7th. It's outrageous. Hamas endorsed the protest at Columbia University.

The leaders called on university president Minouche Shafik to resign saying she and other administrators allowed it to get this far and failed to protect Jewish students.

GOP leaders announce House anti-Semitism probe » They also announced a House-wide effort to crack down on anti-Semitism on college campuses.

JOHNSON: Nearly every committee here has a role to play in these efforts to stop the madness that has ensued.

House GOP Whip Tom Emmer said many campuses have become breeding grounds for anti-Semitism.

EMMER: Why? Because of university administrators who have refused to protect their Jewish students. Because of faculty members who have enabled the wave of anti Semitic violence.

And Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefani said campus anti-Semitism is a widespread problem.

STEFANIK: At Yale University, a Jewish student was stabbed in the eye with a Palestinian flag. At the University of Southern California, graduation was canceled due to the university being unable to guarantee the safety of students.

GOP leaders vowed to haul officials from numerous schools in front of House committees to answer for their handling of the problem. That also said federal funds that some of the schools receive could be at risk.

Israel-Gaza/cease-fire latest » Meantime, Secretary of State Tony Blinken has arrived in Israel after meetings with Saudi Arabia. State Department spokesman Vedant Patel says the U.S. that Hamas will agree to the terms of a new cease-fire arrangement.

PATEL: One that releases the hostages — one that allows a surge of humanitarian aid in the region as well.

The Biden administration’s hope that a temporary cease-fire could lead to a more permanent end to the war averting an Israeli ground operation in the city of Rafah. Blinken told reporters …

BLINKEN: Our views on Rafah, I think, are very well known. The President's been very clear about it. I've been clear about it.

The administration opposes it on humanitarian grounds.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made clear once more that the 40-day cease-fire would only delay the demise of the terror group. He says the war will not end without the destruction of Hamas. And he says that will require a ground operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which he calls the last remaining Hamas stronghold.

Trump contempt of court » The judge in New York’s criminal business fraud case against Donald Trump just fined the former president $9,000. He said that’s a thousand bucks for each of nine different violations of a gag order in the case.

Trump attorney Alina Habba:

HABBA:  I think it's completely unconstitutional. I think when you're a defendant, truthfully, these statements are the statements that you're allowed to hear from the defense, innocent until proven guilty, especially when you've done nothing wrong.

Judge Juan Merchan held Trump in contempt of court. He stopped short of imposing jail time but warned that that’s not off the table if Trump does not abide by the order.

The ruling came at the start of the second week of testimony in the trial.

Florida lawsuit over Title IX changes » Several more Republican-led states are pushing back against the Biden Administration’s removal of protections for girls’ and women’s sports and privacy.

Title IX is a federal law aimed at preventing sex-based discrimination in schools, but the administration is expanding the definition of ‘sex’ to include ‘gender identity’ and ‘sexual orientation.’

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis:

DESANTIS: We are not going to let Joe Biden try to inject men into women’s activities. We are not going to let Joe Biden undermine the rights of parents.

Six states filed a lawsuit together in Kentucky Tuesday, bringing the total number of states taking legal action to at least 15.

They say allowing men in women’s sports and inside of girls’ locker rooms is the opposite of the protections Title IX is meant to provide to girls and women.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Updates to a controversial surveillance law on Washington Wednesday. Plus, World Tour.

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