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Live Coverage: 2022 Primaries : NPR

Live Coverage: 2022 Primaries : NPR

Michigan Republican candidates for governor Ryan Kelley, from left, Garrett Soldano, Tudor Dixon and Kevin Rinke appear at a debate in Grand Rapids, Mich., July 6, 2022.

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Michigan Republican candidates for governor Ryan Kelley, from left, Garrett Soldano, Tudor Dixon and Kevin Rinke appear at a debate in Grand Rapids, Mich., July 6, 2022.

Michael Buck/AP

LANSING, Mich. — For months, a group of Michigan Republicans has been jockeying for the chance to face Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in November’s general election, but it’s been a rough time.

There were eleven 10 candidates on the GOP side. Everyone was new to running for office. That political inexperience may have added to a significant shakeup of the field in late May. Election staff in the state say that five candidates, including some big spenders, didn’t collect enough valid signatures to make the ballot.

Reports showed that a group of paid petitioners working across campaigns had faked thousands of signatures on the candidate’s nominating paperwork.

The candidates

Businesswoman Tudor Dixon, who received a late endorsement from former President Donald Trump on Friday night, saw her poll numbers climb following the petition scandal. She has also racked up endorsements from well-known names in Republican politics, like the family of former US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and the group Right to Life of Michigan.

“You know, we’ve always planned to go around the state and meet people and gain support, gain supporters, and gain the resources to go out there and get our message broadcast louder,” Dixon said after a debate last week. “And that’s what we’ve been doing. And I think that’s what’s behind it – hard work.”

Businessman Kevin Rinke has referred to Dixon as Gov. Whitmer in sheep’s clothing.

“She’ll say or do anything for position,” he said of Dixon. “I’m a guy that’s running to do the right things for the people of Michigan. This is public service for me. I’m not looking for a career.”

Largely self-funded, Rinke has pitched himself as an outsider who will slash the personal income tax rate, raise literacy and focus on election integrity.

“We can move Michigan forward by putting the people first, Democrats as well as Republicans.”

Lately, Rinke and Dixon have both seen relatively strong poll numbers. Still, leading into Tuesday, polling suggests a chunk of Republican voters are still undecided.

In January, chiropractor Garrett Soldano became the first Republican to file in the governor’s race. He’s one of the five remaining. He says he trusts the strategy that got him this far: “We just continue to let our grassroots army do what they do best. And that’s getting out there, and you have voter contacts.”

Pam Dawson, a Michgain voter, watched the Republican debate last week and said all the candidates are strong in their own ways. “And I think they’re trying to be a little bit more cautious. They want to make sure that they’re going to get the one that’s going to beat Whitmer,” she said.

For Dawson, that’s either Soldano or real estate agent Ryan Kelley. The latter saw his name recognition spike after the FBI arrested him in June for misdemeanor charges associated with the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. Kelley has pleaded not guilty.

The issues and the odds

The candidates — Soldano, Dixon, Rinke, Kelley and Pastor Ralph Rebandt — have all taken similar stances, like wanting to lower taxes and opposing abortion. Candidates’ ability to attract independent voters will be key to winning the general election against Gov. Whitmer, says pollster Richard Czuba of the Glengariff Group. He says two issues will likely dominate:

“We have to watch how is abortion impacting the vote versus how is inflation impacting the vote. And we don’t know the answer to that, yet.”

Czuba questions how prepared the slate of Republican candidates are to take on the political veteran.

“August 3, we are likely to see a Republican nominee for governor that does not have strong name ID, does not have strong organization and probably doesn’t have any money left in the bank after the primary,” Czuba says.

The Democratic Governors Association has already started running attack ads in the GOP primary and Michigan Republican Party spokesperson Gustavo Portela accuses Democrats of meddling.

“They’re afraid of the message, and they’re afraid of the fact that people are going to have a choice this fall.”

Whoever wins the Republican nomination may have to get used to the pressure. Recent campaign finance reports show Gov. Whitmer has millions to spend.

Colin Jackson is a reporter for the Michigan Public Radio Network.

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Puppy rescued from McKinney Fire near Klamath River

Puppy rescued from McKinney Fire near Klamath River

A little bit of good news and a lot of luck coming out of a destructive wildfire burning near the California-Oregon border as a photojournalist saved a puppy wandering around the ruins of the McKinney Fire. Jonathan Rivas said he arrived at the community of Klamath River early Saturday morning, just hours after the wildfire broke out where he said there was a lot of damage, with trees and homes burned. Rivas said he was finishing filming one neighborhood when he heard yelping. “I heard a yelp in the distance, but I didn’t really know what it was, I thought it was an injured deer or one of the wildlife that’s there,” the AIO Filmz photojournalist said. “All of a sudden, this little puppy comes and runs up to me. I was super shocked to see that come from the rubble there.”The puppy was clearly excited to see Rivas in the video.Watch the full rescue belowThe puppy allowed Rivas to pick him up and put him in the back of his car. “He was very excited, he was wagging his tail, I am talking to him like I’m talking to my dog, I picked him up, put him in the trunk of my car,” Rivas said. He gave him some water before driving to Yreka and dropping him off at a shelter. Rivas posted the video on social media, where he found the puppy’s family. The puppy has been reunited with his family. “Reuniting it with their family and after hearing their story, it makes me feel good, I am just happy, I was at the right place at the right time,” Rivas said.

SISKIYOU COUNTY, Calif. —

A little bit of good news and a lot of luck coming out of a destructive wildfire burning near the California-Oregon border as a photojournalist saved a puppy wandering around the ruins of the McKinney Fire.

Jonathan Rivas said he arrived at the community of Klamath River early Saturday morning, just hours after the wildfire broke out where he said there was a lot of damage, with trees and homes burned.

Rivas said he was finishing filming one neighborhood when he heard yelping.

“I heard a yelp in the distance, but I didn’t really know what it was, I thought it was an injured deer or one of the wildlife that’s there,” the AIO Filmz photojournalist said. “All of a sudden, this little puppy comes and runs up to me. I was super shocked to see that come from the rubble there.”

The puppy was clearly excited to see Rivas in the video.

Watch the full rescue below

The puppy allowed Rivas to pick him up and put him in the back of his car.

“He was very excited, he was wagging his tail, I am talking to him like I’m talking to my dog, I picked him up, put him in the trunk of my car,” Rivas said.

Puppy rescued from McKinney Fire

AIO FILMZ

Puppy rescued from McKinney Fire by photojournalist taking video of damage near Klamath River.

He gave him some water before driving to Yreka and dropping him off at a shelter.

Rivas posted the video on social media, where he found the puppy’s family. The puppy has been reunited with its family of her.

“Reuniting it with their family and after hearing their story, it makes me feel good, I am just happy, I was at the right place at the right time,” Rivas said.

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US strike killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, top Al Qaeda leader

US strike killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, top Al Qaeda leader

WASHINGTON— President Joe Biden announced Monday night that a US counterterrorism operation over the weekend in Afghanistan killed top Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, one of the plotters behind the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“Justice has been delivered. And this terrorist leader is no more,” Biden said in a rare evening address from the White House. “No matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide — if you are a threat to our people, the United States will find you and take you out.”

Two people briefed on the matter told NBC News it was a CIA drone strike that killed al-Zawahiri.

Al-Zawahiri was second in command to Osama bin Laden during the 9/11 attacks and took over as Al Qaeda leader in 2011 after US forces killed bin Laden in Pakistan. In that role, al-Zawahiri continued to call for attacks against the US and its allies.

In 2001, al-Zawahiri escaped US forces when they invaded Afghanistan and toppled the previous Taliban government, which had refused to hand over bin Laden in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Al-Zawahiri’s whereabouts of him were long unknown.

Osama bin Laden and his then-deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in Afghanistan in 1998.
Osama bin Laden and his then-deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in Afghanistan in 1998. AP files

But US intelligence located al-Zawahiri earlier this year, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters Monday on the operation.

US intelligence officials had determined that al-Zawahiri had moved from Pakistan to a Taliban-supported safe house in downtown Kabul. Al-Zawahiri’s wife and children had relocated there first, officials said. As US intelligence officials monitored them, they learned al-Zawahiri had joined his family from him.

Once al-Zawahiri arrived at the safe house he never left, officials said.

Authorities then spent months identifying a “pattern of life,” tracking his daily habits to avoid civilian casualties, the senior administration official said.

Intelligence officials created a model of al-Zawahiri’s safe house and used it to brief Biden on the risk to civilians, the senior administration official added. They tried to minimize risk to civilians by not threatening the integrity of the structure during the planned strike.

Asked whether Biden would have tolerated even a few civilian casualties, an administration official said there was no reason to expect any. The strike was so precise that it killed Zawahiri on a balcony without harming family members elsewhere in the house, the official said.

Biden was shown the model of the safe house during a Situation Room meeting on July 1 that included CIA Director William Burns, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, and Christine Abizaid, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center.

The president wanted to know the type of construction materials the safe house was made of, as well as potential conditions during the strike such as weather and lighting.

He also pressed officials on why they were so confident al-Zawahiri was indeed at the safe house.

Government lawyers, meanwhile, determined a legal basis for the operation. Al-Zawahiri was seen as a lawful target given his continuing leadership role in Al Qaeda.

When asked Tuesday on NBC’s “Today” show whether Al-Zawahiri was planning attacks against US interests, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said: “We do believe he was playing an active role at a strategic level and directing al-Qaeda, and continuing to pose a severe threat against the United States and American citizens everywhere.”

On July 25, Biden again agreed relevant Cabinet officials and aides. He was briefed on a potential operation by this broader group of national security officials in the Situation Room.

The president wanted to understand more about the lay-out of safe house, officials said, and how a strike on al-Zawahiri inside of Afghanistan might impact the US relationship with the Taliban. Biden specifically pressed them on how a strike inside the country could impact his administration’s effort to relocate Afghans who had helped the US during the Afghanistan war.

At the end of the meeting, Biden authorized the airstrike.

All of the president’s national security team had recommended he approve the strike.

His sign-off allowed intelligence officials to take out al Zawahiri when they determined the time was optimal.

Al-Zawahiri was killed in a drone strike at 6:18 am local time Saturday, July 30, or shortly before 10 pm Friday night in Washington.

Two Hellfire missiles were fired at al-Zawahiri while he was on the balcony of the safe house, the official said, adding that no civilians or family members of al-Zawahiri were killed in the attack. The Haqqani Taliban whisked the family away after the attack, the official said.

In his Monday evening address, Biden described al-Zawahiri as a “mastermind” of the 9/11 attacks and said the terrorist leader also played a key role in the bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.

“He carved a trail of murder and violence against American citizens, American service members, American diplomats and American interests,” Biden said.

The Associated Press first reported that al-Zawahiri was killed in the operation.

Al-Zawahiri’s death comes almost a year after the US completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan, ending the nearly 20-year war in the country following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Biden was heavily criticized by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, as well as foreign allies, for his handling of the withdrawal that involved the death of 13 US service members and hundreds of civilians as the Taliban quickly toppled the Western-backed government and took control of the country.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a statement Monday that while Biden “deserves credit for approving this strike,” it also shows that “Afghanistan is again becoming a major thicket of terrorist activity following the President’s decision to withdraw US forces.”

The Taliban was not warned ahead of the strike against al-Zawahiri, the Biden administration official said Monday, adding that the Al Qaeda leader’s presence in the country was a violation of the Doha Agreement signed by the US and the Taliban in 2020.

Kristen Welker

Kristen Welker is chief White House correspondent for NBC News.

Ken Dilanian is the intelligence and national security correspondent for NBC News, based in Washington.

Lauren Egan is a White House reporter for NBC News based in Washington.

Courtney Kube is a correspondent covering national security and the military for the NBC News Investigative Unit.

Carol E Lee

Carol E. Lee is an NBC News correspondent.

Zoe Richards contributed.

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Democrats urge DHS inspector general step aside over Secret Service texts

Democrats urge DHS inspector general step aside over Secret Service texts

Two top House Democrats alleged Monday that there’s evidence of a cover-up in the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general investigation into deleted US Secret Service messages related to the Capitol riot.

Driving the news: House Oversight chair Carolyn Maloney and House Homeland Security chair Bennie Thompson urged Inspector General Joseph Cuffari in a letter to “step aside” and demanded his office provide documents and interviews, citing emails indicating his staff may have tried to stop efforts to obtain the USSS messages .

  • These include deputy inspector general Thomas Kait writing to a DHS official on July 27, 2021, “please use this email as a reference to our conversation where I said we no longer request phone records and text messages from the USSS relating to the events on January 6th,” according to the letter.
  • Thompson and Maloney allege they learned that Kait “removed key language” from a February memorandum to the DHS that “highlighted the importance of text messages” to the inspector general’s investigation and criticized the department for not complying with the December 2021 request on text messages.

Note: Thompson and Maloney cited a CNN report over the weekend on allegations that Cuffari learned of the missing Secret Service messages concerning the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection four months after it occurred.

Why it matters: The letter highlights the tensions between the Trump-appointed Cuffari and House Democrats after news of the missing Secret Service text messages from Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, 2021, emerged last month.

  • The House select committee investigating the Capitol riot, which Thompson also chairs, has since subpoenaed the Secret Service, and Cuffari has launched a criminal investigation into the matter.
  • Cuffari told Politico on Monday that while protocols can prevent him from publicly responding “to untruths and false information about our work… I am so proud of the resilience I have witnessed in the face of this onslaught of meritless criticism.”

What else they’re saying: “We are writing with serious new concerns about your lack of transparency and independence, which appear to be jeopardizing the integrity of a crucial investigation run by your office,” Thompson and Maloney state in their letter.

  • “The Committees have obtained new evidence that your office may have secretly abandoned efforts to collect text messages from the Secret Service more than a year ago,” they continued.
  • “These documents also indicate that your office may have taken steps to cover up the extent of missing records, raising further concerns about your ability to independently and effectively perform your duties as Inspector General.”

What to watch: Thompson and Maloney have requested that Cuffari make Kait and Kristen Fredricks, the IG office’s chief of staff, available for transcribed interviews, no later than Aug. 15.

  • Representatives for Cuffari did not immediately respond to Axios’ request for comment.

Read the letter in full, via DocumentCloud:

Go deeper: National Archives asks Secret Service to “look into” deleted texts

Editor’s note: This article has been updated with further details from the letter and more context.

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Eastern Kentucky: Hundreds are still missing after flooding as death toll reaches 37

Eastern Kentucky: Hundreds are still missing after flooding as death toll reaches 37

As rescue and recovery crews worked to reach isolated areas Monday, the number of people confirmed dead in last week’s flooding rose to 37, Gov. Andy Beshear announced. The death toll is expected to rise.

“We are still looking for people, and sadly we are still finding those bodies,” Beshear told CNN on Monday evening.

Rescue efforts have been complicated by washed-out infrastructure, officials say. Though cell service is being restored, some areas are still without it, leaving many unable to contact loved ones or emergency services.

Stifling heat won’t help. Wednesday will be the driest day of the week, but that will allow temperatures to climb into the 90s. Because of the humidity it will feel like nearly 100 degrees, CNN meteorologists say.

“We still have back roads and county roads that are broken off, and our bridges are out. And so it’s really difficult to get to some of the most remote places,” Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman told CNN Monday.

The challenges make it “nearly impossible” to get a grasp of the exact number of people still missing, Beshear said Monday.

Since it began last week, the flooding has devastated several counties and displaced scores of people from their homes. The strong floodwaters wiped houses from their foundations, snatched away entire livelihoods such as farms and businesses, and left residents with catastrophic damage to their properties, vehicles and belongings.

Rescue crews have been battling the weather for days as they work to reach trapped residents.

In one stunning video, an 83-year-old woman is seen being airlifted to safety by a Blackhawk helicopter in Breathitt County. A rescue team learned that she and four other family members were trapped in an attic Thursday, Wolfe County Search & Rescue Team spokesperson Drew Stevens told CNN.

The woman was unharmed, Stevens said, but a male family member suffered a broken collar bone and was taken to the hospital. He has since been released.

A Kentucky Army National Guard helicopter crew surveys flood damage in eastern Kentucky Saturday.
The disaster also knocked out essential power and water utilities, which repair crews have been struggling to restore because of dangerous flood conditions. At least 7,000 customers in eastern Kentucky were still without power early Tuesday morning, according to PowerOutage.us.
More than 25,000 service connections were without water Monday and an additional 44,119 were under a boil water advisory, according to the governor’s office. Twenty-two water systems and 17 wastewater systems were operating at a limited capacity, the office said.

State grieving after several catastrophes

Flooding is just the most recent disaster to strike Kentucky, which has lost more than 16,000 people to the Covid-19 pandemic and is still recovering from a tornado outbreak that tore through the state in December, killing more than 70 people.
Two ultra-rare floods in a single week; a wildfire generating its own weather. Here's how it's connected

Beshear spoke at an event in western Kentucky on Monday for those impacted by the tornadoes and acknowledged that Kentuckians have been impacted across the state by deadly natural disasters.

“The flooding in eastern Kentucky has been hard, just like these tornadoes,” he said, adding that natural disasters “tear at the fabric of who we are.”

“I was at a breaking point the other night because that happens to all of us — it’s ok not to be ok,” Beshear said. “We’re going to get through it because we have to. We don’t have any other choice.”

Resident Louis Turner carries water to friends and family along flood-ravaged Bowling Creek, Kentucky.

The death toll from the flooding spans at least five counties and includes four siblings from Knott county who were swept away by the strong current. The children were identified to CNN by their aunt as siblings Chance, 2; Nevah, 4; Riley Jr., 6; and Madison, 8.

“I went to the location of what used to be their home yesterday,” Beshear said of the family that lost the four children. “I stood there in front of what would have been their front door and I saw one of the kid’s swings in the back. I think the oldest one would have been in second grade. They didn’t even get the same time on this Earth as my kids have already enjoyed.”

The governor launched a relief fund for victims of the flooding and those impacted, the Team Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief Fund, which will first go toward paying for the funeral expenses of those killed in the disaster. Beshear told CNN that families will not be required to go through an application process to get the funeral funds.

CNN’s Michelle Watson, Dakin Andone, Caroll Alvarado, Amy Simonson and Monica Garrett contributed to this report.

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Aug. 10 primary elections: What to expect in Arizona, Michigan, Missouri, Kansas and Washington

Aug. 10 primary elections: What to expect in Arizona, Michigan, Missouri, Kansas and Washington

The meddling has come under fire from not only Meijer, but Democrats worried it will undermine their attempts to criticize extremism in the GOP and backfire in the November elections.

On the Democratic side, Michigan is home to a handful of competitive House primaries, including one that pits a pair of incumbents, Reps. Haley Stevens and Andy Levin, against one another in a campaign that has attracted heavy investments from competing pro-Israel groups.

Kansas, meanwhile, will host one of the first major post-Roe votes when the state conducts a referendum to determine whether its constitution protects the right to an abortion. If the measure succeeds, state lawmakers are expected to quickly move to enshrine a ban.

Here are eight things to watch on Tuesday:

Arizona governor primary pits Trump against Pence

The race to replace term-limited Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, pits Ducey’s chosen candidate, Karrin Taylor Robson, against a Trump-endorsed former television journalist Kari Lake.

Lake has built her campaign around lies about election fraud. She referred to the refusal of her leading rival, Ducey-backed Robson, to indulge those lies as “disqualifying.”

Robson, meanwhile, is also backed by former Vice President Mike Pence, who visited Arizona to campaign with Robson and Ducey last month on the same day Trump held a rally at which Lake spoke.

Pence used his Arizona trip to urge the GOP to move past Trump’s lies about fraud in the 2020 election and look forward.

“When you get out and vote for Karrin Taylor Robson, you can send a deafening message that will be heard all across America that the Republican Party is the party of the future,” Pence said in Peoria, Arizona.

Arizona GOP could pick full slate of election deniers

Beyond the governor’s office, the Arizona GOP could be poised to nominate a statewide ticket of Trump-backed election deniers on Tuesday.

The race for secretary of state — Arizona’s chief elections officer — also features an election denier endorsed by Trump in Mark Finchem, a state lawmaker who wrongly claims that Trump on the 2020 election and was in Washington January 6.

Trump-backed Blake Masters, who is seeking to face Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly hasn’t just claimed that Democrats “pulled out all the stops” to cheat in 2020, but has suggested the 2022 midterms won’t be fair. Masters faces other Republicans who have rejected the 2020 election outcome, including businessman Jim Lamon, who touts his efforts to fund the bogus review of Maricopa County’s 2020 results. Another Senate candidate, state Attorney General Mark Brnovich, sent a letter claiming to have uncovered election fraud, without detailing any fraud in how the election was managed.

Trump’s chosen candidate in the race for attorney general, Abraham Hamadeh, said he would “take the fraud in our 2020 election seriously and bring justice to those who’ve undermined our Republic.”

Meijer faces Dem-backed, far-right challenge

Rep. Peter Meijer, the freshman Republican from western Michigan who was one of his party’s 10 House members to vote for Trump’s second impeachment, is facing off against a Trump-endorsed challenger in John Gibbs.

Gibbs has fully embraced Trump’s election lies. He wrongly claimed in a debate with Meijer that the results that led to Biden’s win in 2020 were “simply mathematically impossible” and said that there were “anomalies in there, to put it very lightly.”

What’s unique about the GOP contest in the Grand Rapids-based 3rd District is that Democrats have attempted to boost Gibbs with ads casting him as a Trump-aligned conservative.

It’s a calculated gamble for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which has spent more than $300,000 on ads in the race: They believe Gibbs would be much easier to defeat in November, so they are attempting to elevate him Tuesday, and then turn and immediately cast him as a threat to democracy in the general election.

A pro-Meijer group launched a television ad over the weekend highlighting Democrats’ involvement in the Republican primary. “Fox News confirms it: Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to elect their hand-picked candidate for Congress in the Republican primary, John Gibbs,” the group’s ad warns. “West Michigan must say no to Nancy Pelosi’s handpicked candidate for Congress.”

Trump hedges on scandal-plagued Greitens in Missouri

A little more than four years ago, Eric Greitens resigned as Missouri governor as he faced an ethical probe and allegations he abused and tried to blackmail a woman with whom he had an affair. Prosecutors ultimately dropped felony charges.

More recently, his ex-wife accused him of violent and unstable behavior in a court filing related to a child custody dispute. (Greitens denied the claims.)

Now, the former Navy SEAL is one of the frontrunners in what recent polling suggests will be a tight Missouri GOP Senate primary, with a field that includes Greitens, state Attorney General Eric Schmitt and US Rep. Vicky Hartzler.

Even Trump, whom Greitens has sought to align himself with, is hedging — likely because he fears Greitens could be defeated in a general election. On Monday evening, Trump put out a statement endorsing “Eric.” Which one? On that question, Trump wrote, Missouri Republicans would need to “make up their own minds.”

Rep. Billy Long, Missouri state Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz and Mark McCloskey, a lawyer who became famous after he and wife wielded firearms from their property as a protest against police violence passed by in June 2020, are also part of a crowded field of Republican hopefuls.

Democrats will choose from Trudy Busch Valentine, a retired nurse and beer fortune heiress; attorney and Marine veteran Lucas Kunce; and Spencer Toder in their primary.

Abortion on the ballot for the first time since SCOTUS decision

For the first time since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the right to an abortion will be on a ballot.

Kansas voters will decide, via a somewhat convoluted question, whether to keep the constitution as is, which the state Supreme Court previously ruled protects abortion rights — a “no” vote — or vote “yes” and change the state’s constitution to specify that the right to an abortion is not guaranteed in the state.

The vote, in addition to being key to the future of abortions in Kansas, is widely seen as a referendum on whether abortion politics have truly shifted in the wake of the Supreme Court decision earlier this year. Democrats are hopeful that the decision has invigorated voters to oppose anti-abortion measures.

This will be part of a big election year in Kansas. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, who opposed the amendment, is up for reelection in November, representing one of the most vulnerable Democratic gubernatorial incumbents in the country.

“The amendment is written in such a way that the proponents of the amendment want to suggest that this would just leave things as they are in Kansas. But that’s not true,” Kelly said in late July. “What would happen if that amendment would pass is that the Legislature would immediately come back with some very severe restrictions on a woman’s ability to control her own fate.”

Republican Attorney General Derek Schmidt, who is all but certain to be the party’s nominee for governor, has said he would vote yes for the amendment.

Whitmer gets her challenger

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who was on the short list for Biden’s vice presidential nod less than two years into her first term, gets her Republican challenger in Tuesday’s primary.

Trump on Friday endorsed Tudor Dixon, a conservative commentator who has falsely claimed that Trump won the 2020 election. She is also backed by Michigan’s GOP establishment, including former US Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s family, the state Chamber of Commerce and Michigan Right to Life.

That GOP gubernatorial primary features several other election deniers, as well. One candidate, Ryan Kelley, was in Washington on January 6, 2021, and has pleaded not guilty to four misdemeanor charges stemming from allegations of his participation in the riot at the Capitol. Retired pastor Ralph Rebandt said he is “convinced that we would find the fraud” in the 2020 election with a “full forensic audit.” And chiropractor Garrett Soldano has touted a film that promotes an unproven conspiracy theory about the 2020 election.

Republicans in Michigan are poised to nominate election deniers for their entire slate of statewide offices.

The party is also expected to pick Trump-backed election deniers in the races for secretary of state and attorney general. At a convention in April, the state GOP endorsed Kristina Karamo, an educator and right-wing commentator who claimed to have witnessed irregularities in 2020’s election, for secretary of state, and Matthew DePerno, who was a lawyer on a case challenging the 2020 results , for attorney general. But those races aren’t on Tuesday’s primary ballot; instead, Republicans will make their choices official at a party convention in August.

Democratic House incumbents clash after redistricting draws them into new district

Redistricting in Michigan laid the groundwork for a Stevens-Levin contest in the state’s newly-drawn 11th Congressional District. Both candidates have claims to the seat, though some moderate Democrats expressed frustration that Levin did n’t try his hand at him in the open 10th District.

But the bigger story here has been animated by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee involvement and spending by its new super PAC, United Democracy Project, with the latter having backed Stevens with more than $4 million in outside expenditures.

Levin, a Jewish progressive whose family has a storied history in Michigan politics, now enters primary day as an underdog despite a late boost from J Street, a liberal pro-Israel group attempting to blunt some of AIPAC’s influence with an ad buy worth about $700,000 .

Notably, Israel policy has not been a theme — it’s barely mentioned — in either candidate’s campaigns or the ads from the competing groups. But Levin, the lead sponsor of the Two-State Solution Act, has been more willing to criticize the Israeli government.

Progressives have been scathing in their criticism of Democrats, like Stevens, who have accepted help from AIPAC, which also contributes to Republicans, including many who voted against certifying Biden’s 2020 election win. (AIPAC has essentially ignored the backlash, pointing to the Democrats it backs and saying it can’t advance its policy goals without bipartisan support.)

Another well-known progressive, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, has attracted less attention from pro-Israel groups and, despite an influence of moderate outside cash against her, is the favorite to win nomination again in the redrawn 12th District.

How much does Trump’s impeachment still matter?

A lot has changed in the last 18 months since Trump was impeached for a second time. But two Republican incumbents — Reps. Jaime Herrera Beutler and Dan Newhouse — will face voters for the first time since joining Democrats to impeach the then-President.

A flurry of factors — not only how removed politics is from that impeachment vote — have Republicans in Washington skeptical that both Herrera Beutler and Newhouse will be ousted: Both incumbents have outspent their challengers, the fields are large and fractured and Washington State’s open primary system allows people to vote for any candidate, regardless of affiliation.

“If the vote was held a month (after the impeachment decision), they probably would have lost,” said a top Washington Republican operative. “But given 9% inflation, given the high gas prices we saw, if you are talking with conservative voters, they may be more concerned with the current situation in the country than they are 16 or 18 months ago.”

Herrera Beutler is facing author Heidi St. John, who has received a burst of super PAC money; state Rep. Vicki Kraft; and retired special forces officer Joe Kent, who Trump has backed. While Newhouse faces former NASCAR driver Jarod Sessler, state Rep. Brad Klippert and vocal election denier Loren Culp, who has been endorsed by Trump.

Herrera Beutler and Newhouse aren’t the only decisions for Republicans on Tuesday. The party will also look to nominate a candidate to face Democratic Sen. Patty Murray. Tiffany Smiley is seen as the leading Republican in the race, but Washington voters have not been represented by a Republican in the Senate since 2001.

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US strike killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, top Al Qaeda leader

US strike killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, top Al Qaeda leader

WASHINGTON— President Joe Biden announced Monday night that a US counterterrorism operation over the weekend in Afghanistan killed top Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, one of the plotters behind the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“Justice has been delivered. And this terrorist leader is no more,” Biden said in a rare evening address from the White House. “No matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide — if you are a threat to our people, the United States will find you and take you out.”

Two people briefed on the matter told NBC News it was a CIA drone strike that killed al-Zawahiri.

Al-Zawahiri was second in command to Osama bin Laden during the 9/11 attacks and took over as Al Qaeda leader in 2011 after US forces killed bin Laden in Pakistan. In that role, al-Zawahiri continued to call for attacks against the US and its allies.

In 2001, al-Zawahiri escaped US forces when they invaded Afghanistan and toppled the previous Taliban government, which had refused to hand over bin Laden in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Al-Zawahiri’s whereabouts of him were long unknown.

Osama bin Laden and his then-deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in Afghanistan in 1998.
Osama bin Laden and his then-deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in Afghanistan in 1998. AP files

But US intelligence located al-Zawahiri earlier this year, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters Monday on the operation.

US intelligence officials had determined that al-Zawahiri had moved from Pakistan to a Taliban-supported safe house in downtown Kabul. Al-Zawahiri’s wife and children had relocated there first, officials said. As US intelligence officials monitored them, they learned al-Zawahiri had joined his family from him.

Once al-Zawahiri arrived at the safe house he never left, officials said.

Authorities then spent months identifying a “pattern of life,” tracking his daily habits to avoid civilian casualties, the senior administration official said.

Intelligence officials created a model of al-Zawahiri’s safe house and used it to brief Biden on the risk to civilians, the senior administration official added. They tried to minimize risk to civilians by not threatening the integrity of the structure during the planned strike.

Asked whether Biden would have tolerated even a few civilian casualties, an administration official said there was no reason to expect any. The strike was so precise that it killed Zawahiri on a balcony without harming family members elsewhere in the house, the official said.

Biden was shown the model of the safe house during a Situation Room meeting on July 1 that included CIA Director William Burns, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, and Christine Abizaid, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center.

The president wanted to know the type of construction materials the safe house was made of, as well as potential conditions during the strike such as weather and lighting.

He also pressed officials on why they were so confident al-Zawahiri was indeed at the safe house.

Government lawyers, meanwhile, determined a legal basis for the operation. Al-Zawahiri was seen as a lawful target given his continuing leadership role in Al Qaeda.

When asked Tuesday on NBC’s “Today” show whether Al-Zawahiri was planning attacks against US interests, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said: “We do believe he was playing an active role at a strategic level and directing al-Qaeda, and continuing to pose a severe threat against the United States and American citizens everywhere.”

On July 25, Biden again agreed relevant Cabinet officials and aides. He was briefed on a potential operation by this broader group of national security officials in the Situation Room.

The president wanted to understand more about the lay-out of safe house, officials said, and how a strike on al-Zawahiri inside of Afghanistan might impact the US relationship with the Taliban. Biden specifically pressed them on how a strike inside the country could impact his administration’s effort to relocate Afghans who had helped the US during the Afghanistan war.

At the end of the meeting, Biden authorized the airstrike.

All of the president’s national security team had recommended he approve the strike.

His sign-off allowed intelligence officials to take out al Zawahiri when they determined the time was optimal.

Al-Zawahiri was killed in a drone strike at 6:18 am local time Saturday, July 30, or shortly before 10 pm Friday night in Washington.

Two Hellfire missiles were fired at al-Zawahiri while he was on the balcony of the safe house, the official said, adding that no civilians or family members of al-Zawahiri were killed in the attack. The Haqqani Taliban whisked the family away after the attack, the official said.

In his Monday evening address, Biden described al-Zawahiri as a “mastermind” of the 9/11 attacks and said the terrorist leader also played a key role in the bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.

“He carved a trail of murder and violence against American citizens, American service members, American diplomats and American interests,” Biden said.

The Associated Press first reported that al-Zawahiri was killed in the operation.

Al-Zawahiri’s death comes almost a year after the US completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan, ending the nearly 20-year war in the country following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Biden was heavily criticized by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, as well as foreign allies, for his handling of the withdrawal that involved the death of 13 US service members and hundreds of civilians as the Taliban quickly toppled the Western-backed government and took control of the country.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a statement Monday that while Biden “deserves credit for approving this strike,” it also shows that “Afghanistan is again becoming a major thicket of terrorist activity following the President’s decision to withdraw US forces.”

The Taliban was not warned ahead of the strike against al-Zawahiri, the Biden administration official said Monday, adding that the Al Qaeda leader’s presence in the country was a violation of the Doha Agreement signed by the US and the Taliban in 2020.

Kristen Welker

Kristen Welker is chief White House correspondent for NBC News.

Ken Dilanian is the intelligence and national security correspondent for NBC News, based in Washington.

Lauren Egan is a White House reporter for NBC News based in Washington.

Courtney Kube is a correspondent covering national security and the military for the NBC News Investigative Unit.

Carol E Lee

Carol E. Lee is an NBC News correspondent.

Zoe Richards contributed.

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US

Brittney Griner: Exam of substance in vape cartridges violated Russian law, defense expert says

Brittney Griner: Exam of substance in vape cartridges violated Russian law, defense expert says



CNN
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Examination of the substance in vape cartridges WNBA star Brittney Griner’s carried in February at a Moscow airport did not comply with Russian law, a defense expert testified Tuesday as her drug-smuggling trial in Russia continues amid US efforts to negotiate a prisoner swap for her release .

Among the violations is that results of the examination do not contain the amount of THC in the substance investigators tested, Griner’s lawyer, Maria Blagovolina, said after the hearing.

“The examination does not comply with the law in terms of the completeness of the study and does not comply with the norms of the Code of Criminal Procedure,” forensic chemist Dmitry Gladyshev testified for the defense during the roughly two-hour session.

The defense also interrogated prosecution expert Alexander Korablyov, who examined Griner’s cartridges taken from her luggage.

Griner’s appearance in the Khimki city courthouse marked her seventh hearing as Russian prosecutors accuse her of trying to smuggle less than 1 gram of cannabis oil in her luggage. She has pleaded guilty to drug charges – a decision her lawyers hope will result in a less severe sentence – even as the US State Department maintains she is wrongfully detained, and she faces up to 10 years in prison.

Supporters of the two-time Olympic gold medalist and Phoenix Mercury center who plays in Russia during the WNBA offseason have called for her release over fears she is being used as a political pawn amid Russia’s war on Ukraine. US officials face immense pressure from Griner’s family, lawmakers and the professional basketball community to bring her home, and Griner wrote to President Joe Biden pleading with him to do everything in his power to facilitate her release from her.

The 31-year-old sat Tuesday inside the defendant’s cage in the courtroom. The charge d’affaires of the US embassy in Moscow, Elizabeth Rood, attended Tuesday’s hearing and afterward said the US would “continue to support Miss Griner through every step of this process and as long as it takes to bring her home to the United States safely.”

Griner’s next hearing is set for Thursday.

At trial, Griner has testified that she has a doctor’s prescription for medical cannabis and had no intention of bringing the drug into Russia. Following her arrest of her in February, she was tested for drugs and was clean, her lawyers previously said.

Amid public pressure and after months of internal debate, the Biden administration proposed a prisoner swap with Russia, offering to release a convicted Russian arms trafficker in exchange for Griner and another American detainee, Paul Whelan, people briefed on the matter have told CNN.

Russian officials countered the US offer, multiple sources familiar with the discussions have said, requesting in addition to arms dealer Viktor Bout the US also include a convicted murderer who was formerly a colonel with the Russian spy agency, Vadim Krasikov.

US officials did not accept the request as a legitimate counteroffer, the sources told CNN, in part because the proposal was sent through an informal backchannel. Krasikov’s release would also be complicated because he is in German custody.

“It’s a bad faith attempt to avoid a very serious offer and proposal that the United States has put forward and we urge Russia to take that offer seriously,” Defense Department spokesperson John Kirby told CNN, later adding, “We very much want to see Brittney and Paul come home to their families where they belong.”

Meantime, Griner’s trial carries on, with her legal team expected to continue questioning more witnesses before moving to closing arguments, during which the lawyers will elaborate on why they believe Griner’s detention was handled improperly. Closing arguments are expected in coming weeks.

Griner’s attorneys have already laid out some arguments claiming the basketball player’s detention was not handled correctly after she was arrested February 17 by personnel at the Sheremetyevo International Airport.

Her detention, search and arrest were “improper,” Alexander Boykov, one of her lawyers, said last week, noting more details would be revealed during closing arguments.

After she was stopped in the airport, Griner was made to sign documents that she did not fully understand, she testified. At first, she said, she was using Google translate on her phone from her but was later moved to another room where her phone from her was taken and she was made to sign more documents.

No lawyer was present, she testified, and her rights were not explained to her. Those rights would include access to an attorney once she was detained and the right to know what she was suspected of. Under Russian law, she should have been informed of her rights within three hours of her arrest.

In her testimony, Griner “explained to the court that she knows and respects Russian laws and never intended to break them,” Blagovolina – a partner at Rybalkin, Gortsunyan, Dyakin & Partners – said after last week’s hearing.

The detained player testified she was aware of Russian laws and had no intention of bringing the cannabis oil into the country, noting she was in a rush and “stress packing.”

Griner confirmed she has a doctor’s prescription for medical cannabis, Blagovolina said, which she uses to treat knee pain and joint inflammation.

“We continue to insist that, by indiscretion, in a hurry, she packed her suitcase and did not pay attention to the fact that substances allowed for use in the United States ended up in this suitcase and arrived in the Russian Federation,” Boykov, of Moscow Legal Center, has said.

Griner’s family, supporters and WNBA teammates continue to express messages of solidarity and hope as they wait for the conclusion of the trial and look forward to the potential of her release.

Before trial proceedings last week, the WNBA players union tweeted, “Dear BG … It’s early in Moscow. Our day is ending and yours is just beginning. Not a day, not an hour goes by that you’re not on our minds & in our hearts.”

This story has been updated with additional developments Tuesday.

correction: A prior version of this story missed Brittney Griner’s first name.

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Illinois Gov. declares state of emergency over monkeypox

Illinois Gov. declares state of emergency over monkeypox

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) on Monday declared a state of emergency over monkeypox in order to “expand the resources” needed to combat the current outbreak.

“The Monkeypox Virus is a rare, but potentially serious disease that requires the full mobilization of all available public health resources to prevent the spread,” Pritzker said in a statement.

“I am declaring a state of emergency to expand the resources and coordination efforts of state agencies in responding to, treating, and preventing the spread of MPV,” I added.

There are currently 5,000 monkeypox cases confirmed in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Illinois currently ranks third in terms of cases — behind New York and California — with 520 confirmed cases.

Last week, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) declared a disaster emergency in the state in order to “respond more swiftly to the outbreak” of monkeypox. Some cities, including San Francisco and New York City, have also declared emergencies in response to monkeypox outbreaks.

The World Health Organization has already declared the outbreak of monkeypox in non-endemic countries to be a global health emergency.

Calls have grown for President Biden to declare a nationwide health emergency in the US over monkeypox, with a group of high-ranking members of Congress urging him to do so. Administration officials say the decision is still under consideration.

Local health authorities and public health experts have said that declaring a public health emergency would help coordinate the national monkeypox strategy and allow for data to be more easily shared between states and the federal government.

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Woman in crash that killed 2 bicyclists did not grasp gravity of tragedy, prosecutor says

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IONIA COUNTY, MI – A woman accused of causing a crash that killed two bicyclists and critically injured three others did not appear to grasp the seriousness of what had happened, a prosecutor said.

Mandy Benn, 42, of Ionia, was arraigned Monday, Aug. 1, on two charges of operating while intoxicated causing death after she crashed into a group of bicyclists Saturday on a Make-A-Wish bicycle tour.

Edward Erickson, 48, of Ann Arbor, and Michael Salhaney, 57, of Bloomfield Hills, were killed.

Ionia County District Judge Raymond Voet ordered Benn jailed on a $1 million bond.

Related: Make-A-Wish ‘heartbroken’ after 2 cyclists killed during 300-mile ride in Michigan

Ionia County Prosecutor Kyle Butler told the judge that Benn admitted she had used Adderall and Suboxone before the crash while police found a bottle of another prescription medication in her vehicle.

Mandy Benn

Mandy Benn is arraigned Monday, Aug. 1, by Ionia County District Judge Raymond Voet in a crash that killed two bicyclists and injured three others. (John Agar|MLive)

Benn was driving north on Stage Road in Ionia County’s Ronald Township when she passed a UPS truck then struck the southbound bicyclists, Butler said. In talking to police at the scene, she did not appear to understand the gravity of the tragedy.

Related: Police identify bicyclists who died after being hit while riding in Make-A-Wish event

She told police that the scene “’almost looks real,’” Butler told the judge.

There was no indication at the scene that Benn slowed down or used her brakes before colliding with the bicyclists, the prosecutor said.

He said that Benn had a similar response when she was arrested in 2017 for operating while visibly impaired.

In the first instance, her speech was slowed down and she had trouble following directions, Butler said.

He said Benn had a history of abusing medication.

Chief Public Defender Walter Downes said his client had been legally prescribed medications and said charges will be lowered once results of blood tests are complete. She had no alcohol in her system, tests showed.

Butler had asked for a $100,000 bond but the judge set it at $1 million. The judge said the deaths and injuries gave him “great pause” in setting bond.

Benn’s attorney asked for $25,000 to $50,000.

The charges are 15-year felonies. A judge could order the penalties to be served consecutively upon conviction.

Benn lives with her father and grandmother. Her father was in court.

Benn recently returned to work at the Amazon fulfillment center near Grand Rapids after being out with a hand injury, her attorney said.

The bicyclists were riding in the 35th Annual Wish-A-Mile Bicycle Tour.

“It is with heavy hearts we remember our riders impacted by the tragedy,” Make-A-Wish Michigan said in a statement. “Our staff and the entire Make-A-Wish family are heartbroken and offer our deepest sympathy for the riders involved, their loved ones, and all members of the Wish-A-Mile community during this difficult time.”

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