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Timeline to reopen Port of Baltimore unclear as collapsed Key Bridge cleanup begins
BALTIMORE — A massive salvaging effort is underway to reopen the Port of Baltimore after the deadly collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
The Navy has mobilized a 1,000-ton lift capacity derrick barge, a 400-ton lift-capacity revolving crane barge and a 160-ton revolving crane to help lift debris from the water, a huge undertaking in the works.
Officials say the section of the bridge trapping the cargo ship dolly weighs between 3,000 and 4,000 tons, so before the Army Corps of Engineers can start moving anything off the water, they’re going to have to cut the debris into smaller pieces.
When will the Port of Baltimore reopen?
All vessel traffic in and out of the port was suspended in the wake of the collapse, but it has remained open for trucks. It isn’t clear yet how long it will take to clear the 700-foot span of the channel of thousands of tons of debris.
The Baltimore district of the corps activated its Emergency Operations Center, which clears the way for more than 1,100 engineering, construction, contracting and operations specialists to provide support to local, state and federal agencies.
/ Getty Images
CBS News correspondent Kris Van Cleave reports everything needs to be cleared from the bottom of the channel — 50 feet below the surface — because there is only 12 to 18 inches of clearance between the bottom of the channel and the hull of a cargo ship loaded down with containers.
“There is a lot of speculation as to when the channel will be reopened,” the Port said in a statement Friday. “The fact of the matter is we do not know. Please understand that we are working minute-by-minute with our federal, state and local partners to make that happen as quickly as possible.
The port is the ninth-busiest in the United States, according to Census data, and handled more than $80 billion in import and exports last year, the most in 20 years. It is also home to Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Norwegian cruise lines.
Directly, the port supports 15,300 jobs, while another 140,000 in the area are related to port activities. The jobs provide a combined $3.3 billion in personal income, according to a CBS News report.
“The most urgent priority is to open the Port of Baltimore because it is essential to the livelihood of people here in Baltimore, in Maryland, and the economies across our country and around the world,” U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen said in a news conference Wednesday.
Maryland lawmakers are drafting emergency legislation for income replacement to assist thousands of Port of Baltimore workers impacted by the disruption.
Four remain missing, presumed dead
Eight people, part of a construction crew filling potholes, were on the bridge at the time of the collapse. Two were rescued, two bodies have been recovered, and four remain missing.
So far, four of the victims have been identified:
- Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, 35, originally from Honduras
- Miguel Luna, originally from El Salvador
- Dorlian Castillo Cabrera, 26, originally from Guatemala
- Jose Mynor Lopez, 35, originally from Guatemala
The bodies of Cabrera and Fuente were recovered from a submerged pickup truck. The search for bodies was paused Wednesday because divers can no longer operate around the mangled bridge debris that has encased submerged vehicles, officials said.
Federal support incoming
Maryland is receiving an initial $60 million in emergency funding from the federal government as the state works to clear the debris. The state sent a letter of request for relief to pay for mobilization, operations and debris recovery.
President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he intends to push the federal government to pay for the entire reconstruction of the bridge, and pledged to work with Maryland leaders to provide as much support as possible.
“It is my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge, and I expect the Congress to support my effort,” Biden said earlier, adding that he plans to visit Baltimore as soon as he can.
The $60 million estimate made by the state of Maryland for initial expenses is, at most, just 10% of the estimated cost for response to the disaster, CBS News learned following a Maryland Congressional delegation meeting.
The Maryland delegation talked about likely costs exceeding $1 billion and a “need for an emergency supplemental” aid package from Congress.
Indonesia’s top court begins hearing election appeals of 2 losing candidates alleging fraud
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s top court began hearing appeals Wednesday against the presidential election results lodged by two losing candidates who allege widespread irregularities and fraud at the polls, demanding a revote.
The Feb. 14 presidential election results were announced March 20. The winner, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, received more than 96 million votes, or 58.6%, according to the General Election Commission, known as KPU.
Former Jakarta Gov. Anies Baswedan, who received nearly 41 million votes, or 24.9%, filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court on March 21, a day after the official results announcement. Another candidate, former Central Java Gov. Ganjar Pranowo, who was backed by the governing Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, received the smallest share of votes at 27 million, or 16.5%. His legal team filed a complaint to the court on March 23.
Baswedan’s lawsuit claimed that irregularities occurred before, during and after the election that resulted in Subianto’s victory, and his legal team will reveal its evidence and arguments in the court hearings.
Subianto chose as his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the son of the popular outgoing president Joko Widodo. The Constitutional Court had made an exception to the minimum age requirement of 40 for candidates. Baswedan and Pranowo both criticized 37-year-old Raka’s participation in the election.
Anwar Usman, who was the court’s chief justice when the exception was made, is Widodo’s brother-in-law. An ethics panel later forced Usman to resign for failing to recuse himself and for making last-minute changes to the candidacy requirements, but allowed him to remain on the court as long as he does not participate in election-related cases.
The election complaints were heard separately Wednesday by the court, where Baswedan had the first turn in the morning and Pranowo was slated in the afternoon.
“We witness with deep concern a series of irregularities that have tarnished the integrity of our democracy,” Baswedan told the court. He specifically pointed to the court’s decision allowing Raka to run despite the previously established criteria.
He said there are also disturbing practices where regional officials are pressured or given rewards to influence the direction of political choices, as well as misuse of the state’s social assistance, which is actually intended for people’s welfare, “is instead used as a transactional tool to win one of the candidates.”
“If we do not make corrections, the practices that occurred yesterday will be considered normal and become habits, then become culture and ultimately become national character,” Baswedan said before the eight-judge panel. “The Indonesian people are waiting with full attention, and we entrust all this to the Constitutional Court who is brave and independent to uphold justice.”
The verdict, expected on April 22, cannot be appealed. It will be decided by eight justices instead of the full nine-member court because Usman is required to recuse himself.
In the past two elections, the Constitutional Court has rejected Subianto’s bids to overturn Widodo’s victories and dismissed his claims of widespread fraud as groundless. Subianto refused to accept the results of the 2019 presidential election, which pitted him against Widodo, leading to violence that left seven dead in Jakarta.
Widodo has reached his term limit and could not run again this year. He has faced criticism for throwing his support behind Subianto, who has links to alleged human rights abuses. Indonesian presidents are expected to remain neutral in elections to replace them.
Hefty social aid from the government was disbursed in the middle of the campaign — far more than the amounts spent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Widodo distributed funds in person in a number of provinces, in a move that drew particular scrutiny.
WFP begins ‘test distribution’ of food aid to Ethiopia’s Tigray
The World Food Programme has started distributing food aid in Ethiopia’s war-scarred Tigray region, in a test for new monitoring measures after halting assistance over the diversion of supplies, the United Nations agency said on Tuesday.
WFP and US aid agency USAID halted food aid to Africa’s second most populous country in June after discovering that supplies were not reaching those in need, raising fears that the decision would leave millions of Ethiopians in desperate straits.
On Tuesday, the UN food agency said it had “started distributing 15-kilogramme (33-pound) pre-packed bags of wheat to just over 100,000 people” as part of a pilot project with improved monitoring mechanisms.
“On July 31, the World Food Programme started testing and verifying enhanced controls and measures for delivering food assistance in four districts of Tigray,” it said in a message to AFP.
The new measures in the “test distributions” include the tracking of supplies and the digital registration of recipients to prevent aid from falling into the wrong hands.
Millions of Ethiopians are facing severe food shortages following a brutal two-year war in Tigray as well as a punishing drought in the Somali region that has also struck Somalia and parts of Kenya.
The Amhara region, which neighbours Tigray, has also witnessed clashes between a local militia and the national army in recent weeks, affecting humanitarian operations there, according to the World Health Organization.
“WFP also plans to begin registering populations and rolling out the new enhanced control measures for targeted, vulnerable people in Amhara, Afar and Somali regions, as well as other parts of Tigray region, as soon as possible,” the agency said.
– ‘Begging, child labour’ –
A spokesperson for USAID, the US government’s main international aid agency, told AFP that “at this time, US food assistance in Ethiopia remains paused”.
“We are committed to resuming food assistance as quickly as possible once we can be confident our assistance is reaching the most vulnerable that it is intended for.”
Prior to the nationwide suspension, WFP and USAID said in May that they would freeze food aid to Tigray after discovering that shipments were being diverted to local markets.
Neither agency has identified those responsible for taking the aid and reselling it.
Tigray suffered from dire shortages of food, fuel, cash and medicines during the two-year conflict between forces loyal to the federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.
On Friday, the UN’s humanitarian agency OCHA said: “In Tigray, the pause in food aid is leading to increased number of people resorting to negative coping mechanisms, including skipping meals… begging, child labour, transactional sex.”
The war ended with a peace deal signed last November, and some basic services have resumed to the region of six million people.
But media access remains restricted and it is impossible to independently verify the situation on the ground.
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South Korea begins evacuating Scouts as Tropical Storm Khanun nears
Critics have argued the push to host the Jamboree at Saemangeum was part of efforts to justify further investment in the site, where local officials continue to pursue plans for new highways, ports and an international airport. The airport was initially planned to be built for the Jamboree, but construction hasn’t started yet.
Before Tuesday’s pullout, government officials channeled national resources to keep the event going, adding medical staff, air-conditioned buses, military shade structures, and hundreds of workers to maintain bathrooms and showers, which some Scouts complained were filthy or unkempt.
Organizers said the campsite will not be used for any other events after the Scouts leave.
More than 270 police cars and four helicopters were deployed to escort the buses that began departing the site on 9 a.m., said Lee Sang-min, South Korea’s Minister of the Interior and Safety. The evacuation is expected to take six hours or more.
More than 13,500 scouts will be accommodated at 64 different venues in Gyeonggi province, South Korea’s largest province surrounding Seoul. About 3,100 scouts will stay in Seoul and another 3,200 will be sent to nearby Incheon. Nearly 9,000 scouts will be sent to 25 different venues in the North and South Chungcheong provinces in the country’s central region, Lee said.
“Local governments are checking the sanitation of the accommodation venues and restrooms and are preparing medical measures to ensure that the participants would be safe and comfortable after they arrive,” Lee said. “Police will patrol the accommodations, while officials from the Korea Food and Drug Administration will carefully check the quality, quantity and safety of meals.”
The announcement about the evacuations came after the World Organization of the Scout Movement said it called on South Korea to quickly move the Scouts from the storm’s path and provide necessary resources for participants until they return to their home countries.
“This is the first time in more than 100 years of World Scout Jamborees that we have had to face such compounded challenges,” said Ahmad Alhendawi, secretary general of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, who credited South Korea’s government of “mobilizing all available resources” into the relocation effort.
“It’s disappointing that these adverse weather conditions have forced us to shift our plans,” he said.
South Korea begins evacuating thousands of global Scouts from its coast as a tropical storm nears
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Buses began moving tens of thousands of Scouts to inland venues Tuesday ahead of a tropical storm, bringing an effective end to a World Scout Jamboree that had already struggled with heat, hygiene and land use controversies.
Known for its insatiable desire to host international events, the South Korean government scrambled to keep the Jamboree going as thousands of British and American Scouts departed over the weekend because of an extreme heat wave that caused some attendees to be hospitalized.
It wasn’t until Monday afternoon that officials announced the decision to abandon the coastal campsite in the southwestern town of Buan, after forecasters raised alarms that Tropical Storm Khanun was heading toward the Korean Peninsula.
South Korean officials say the Jamboree will continue in the form of cultural events and activities, including a K-Pop concert in Seoul Friday.
Critics have argued the decision to host the Jamboree at a site known as Saemangeum was part of an effort to justify further investment in a controversial swath of reclaimed land.
More than 1,000 vehicles are being used to evacuate 37,000 Scouts from 156 countries, mostly teenagers. Most will be accommodated in Seoul and the surrounding area, where officials have secured university dormitories, government and corporate training centers, and hotels.
Tropical Storm Khanun has meandered around Japan’s southwestern islands for more than a week, dumping heavy rain, knocking out power and damaging homes.
Early Tuesday morning, the storm was centered 350 kilometers (217 miles) south of Kagoshima, a city on the southwestern tip of Japan’s main southern island of Kyushu. Khanun produced winds of 108 kph (67 mph) with gusts to 144 kph (89 mph) and was slowly moving north, the Japan Meteorological Agency reported.
South Korea’s weather agency, which measured the storm at typhoon strength of 126 kph (78 mph), expected it to gain strength slightly before making landfall Thursday morning. It’s expected to bring strong winds and heavy rains to South Korea from Wednesday to Friday.
South Korea’s safety ministry instructed local officials to prepare to shut down coastal areas, hiking trails, river parks, underpass tunnels and other places vulnerable to flooding.
The Jamboree began last Wednesday at the campsite in Saemangeum, a huge area reclaimed from sea by a 19-year project that was completed in 2010. It has remained largely barren site as local officials continue to pursue plans for highways, ports and an international airport. Once seen as major development project that would revamp a region that lacks modern industries, Saemanguem is now increasingly viewed as an ecological disaster that wiped out coastal wetlands and hurt fisheries production.
Concerns had been raised beforehand about having such large numbers of young people in a vast, treeless area lacking protection from heat. Hundreds of participants were treated for heat-related ailments after the Jamboree began, as South Korea grappled with one of its hottest summers in years.
Critics have argued the push to host the Jamboree at Saemangeum was part of efforts to justify further investment in the site, where local officials continue to pursue plans for new highways, ports and an international airport. The airport was initially planned to be built for the Jamboree, but construction hasn’t started yet.
Before Tuesday’s pullout, government officials channeled national resources to keep the event going, adding medical staff, air-conditioned buses, military shade structures, and hundreds of workers to maintain bathrooms and showers, which some Scouts complained were filthy or unkempt.
Organizers said the campsite will not be used for any other events after the Scouts leave.
More than 270 police cars and four helicopters were deployed to escort the buses that began departing the site on 9 a.m., said Lee Sang-min, South Korea’s Minister of the Interior and Safety. The evacuation is expected to take six hours or more.
More than 13,500 scouts will be accommodated at 64 different venues in Gyeonggi province, South Korea’s largest province surrounding Seoul. About 3,100 scouts will stay in Seoul and another 3,200 will be sent to nearby Incheon. Nearly 9,000 scouts will be sent to 25 different venues in the North and South Chungcheong provinces in the country’s central region, Lee said.
“Local governments are checking the sanitation of the accommodation venues and restrooms and are preparing medical measures to ensure that the participants would be safe and comfortable after they arrive,” Lee said. “Police will patrol the accommodations, while officials from the Korea Food and Drug Administration will carefully check the quality, quantity and safety of meals.”
The announcement about the evacuations came after the World Organization of the Scout Movement said it called on South Korea to quickly move the Scouts from the storm’s path and provide necessary resources for participants until they return to their home countries.
“This is the first time in more than 100 years of World Scout Jamborees that we have had to face such compounded challenges,” said Ahmad Alhendawi, secretary general of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, who credited South Korea’s government of “mobilizing all available resources” into the relocation effort.
“It’s disappointing that these adverse weather conditions have forced us to shift our plans,” he said.
After 3 lackluster matches, knockout play begins for U.S. World Cup team
MELBOURNE — Good has so far been barely good enough for the United States women’s soccer team, as its quest to win a third straight World Cup has been marred by uncharacteristically mediocre play.
The one-sided scores and dominating play that USWNT fans have come to expect have yet to materialize in two weeks of competition, prompting observers to wonder if U.S. command of women’s soccer has come to an end.
So U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski said he fully understands the stakes ahead of America’s knockout match Sunday against Sweden.
“I have to think if it’s the most important game of my career, but it certainly is the most important game of the tournament,” he told reporters Saturday in Melbourne.
“It’s the knockout stage and there’s no room for mistakes. So we have to be ready to be our best in this game.”
By failing to win Group E, the Americans are paying a heavy toll by having to face world No. 3-ranked Sweden in the round of 16 in Melbourne.
The Swedes dominated Group G, outscoring their opponents, 9-1, in earning a date with the struggling Americans.
In the goal-less Portugal match on Tuesday, in which the U.S. was saved by a goal post during a stoppage time shot, which could have done the unthinkable and sent the U.S. home in group play.
“There’s no sugarcoating it, we had a bad game against Portugal and we are lucky we have moved on from that and are looking forward to this match,” U.S. veteran Alex Morgan said.
In wining once and drawing twice in group play, the United States has outshot Vietnam, the Netherlands and Portugal by a cumulative, 53-8, put more efforts on net, 19-1, and won more corner kicks, 26-2.
As seemingly impressive as those numbers might be, they’re down from America’s three wins in 2019 group play, when the U.S. outshot Thailand, Chile and Sweden by a cumulative, 73-8, put more efforts on net, 32-4, and won more corner kicks, 30-3.
The Americans will have to generate an attack Sunday without Rose Lavelle, who was suspended for the Sweden match after picking up a second yellow card.
“You know, she’s one of the best players in the world and not having her is definitely going to change the way we’re, or at least some of the ways, we can approach the game,” Andonovski said.
“But in same time, we have a great roster with great players on the roster that are here for reasons for moments like this when they’re ready and able to step in at any point in time.”
This upset-filled tournament has already seen the shocking early exits of Germany, Brazil and Canada and Morgan said she feels no joy seeing a trio of America’s greatest challengers taken off the table.
“It’s crazy tp see teams like Germany, Brazil, Canada, not making it to the knockout stage,” Morgan said. “And that just goes to show the growth of this game and and the fact that you know, you still want to continue to stay on top but you have to prove that time and time again you have to be able to show back tomorrow.”
Should the Americans crash out on Sunday, an exit in the round of 16 would mark the U.S. women’s program’s earliest elimination from competitive international play in memory.
While winning world titles isn’t a given, even for the dominant United States, the Americans have always come close to the pinnacle even when falling short.
- United States lost, 1-0, in the semifinals of the Covid-delayed Olympics in 2021 to eventual champion Canada.
- The Americans were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Rio Olympics by Sweden in penalties.
- Japan lifted the World Cup after wining in penalties against the United States in the title match of 2011.
- And then there was the humiliating World Cup semifinal loss to Brazil in 2007, when U.S. coach Greg Ryan curiously went with veteran Briana Scurry ahead of Hope Solo between the sticks as the Americans were thrashed, 4-0.
All of those American disappointments would pale in comparison to a U.S. elimination on Sunday.
“I think we hold ourselves to a high standard and I think within that the U.S. holds, and in the rest of the world holds, us to a high standard which is valid,” Morgan said.
“I mean, we have been very successful for decades on this, in this, team. So we hold a high expectation for ourselves and we want to continue to prove ourselves right.”
Susan Archer and Molly Hunter reported from Melbourne and David K. Li from Los Angeles.
Andrew Stern and Edwin Flores contributed.
Jury begins weighing death penalty or life in prison for Pittsburgh synagogue shooter
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A jury is deliberating whether the man who killed 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue should receive the death penalty or life in prison without parole.
Robert Bowers perpetrated the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history when he stormed the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018 and opened fire, killing members of three congregations who had gathered for Sabbath worship and study.
The same jury that convicted Bowers in June on 63 criminal counts began deliberating his sentence around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, and returned to the courtroom soon after to look at guns that were used in the attack.
In closing arguments Monday, prosecutors said the 50-year-old truck driver was clearly motivated by religious hatred, reminding jurors that Bowers had spread antisemitic content online before the attack and has since expressed pride in the killings. They urged jurors to impose a death sentence.
Bowers’ lawyers asked jurors to spare his life, asserting that he acted out of a delusional belief that Jewish people were helping to bring about a genocide of white people. They said he has severe mental illness and endured a difficult childhood.
Bowers, who was armed with an AR-15 rifle and other weapons, also shot and wounded seven, including five responding police officers.
U.S. District Judge Robert Colville thanked the jurors for their service before sending them out to deliberate.
A short time later, as jurors huddled around the courtroom display of weapons, they asked questions of the U.S. marshal who was standing there. Bowers’ attorneys objected, and the judge instructed the jury to refrain from speaking with him and to disregard everything he told them about the weapons. Colville rejected a defense request for a mistrial.
GOP presidential race for Iowa begins to take shape
The Republican presidential race for Iowa is heating up, as 13 Republican candidates descended on Iowa over the weekend for the Lincoln Dinner in Des Moines this weekend.
Former President Donald Trump continues to hold a commanding double-digit lead in national and statewide polls. On Friday night, he shared the stage in Iowa with opponents who hesitated to criticize him while they attempted to pitch themselves as an alternative. He signaled Monday that he’s not inclined to attend the first Republican debate later this month, posting on social media, “Let them debate so I can see who I MIGHT consider for Vice President!”
Still, Trump arrived at the dinner facing growing legal pressure, after prosecutors in special counsel Jack Smith’s office added two new charges against him for his alleged mishandling of classified documents.
His main challenger, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is in the midst of a campaign reboot and now aims to visit all of Iowa’s 99 counties in hopes of shoring up support.
Here are some of the highlights from the weekend and the dinner.
DeSantis hits Iowa trail on bus tour
The Florida governor kicked off a bus tour in Iowa on Thursday organized by the Never Back Down super PAC, which is supporting his candidacy. His campaign, which recently laid off more than three dozen staffers, was not involved in the organization of the bus tour, a move that raised questions because super PACs are banned from coordinating with campaigns. DeSantis made six stops in rural Iowa Thursday and Friday leading up to the Lincoln Dinner.
He’s visiting local businesses, nonprofits, and a county fair, and he also took questions from reporters at multiple stops, including an interview with CBS News senior White House and political correspondent Ed O’Keefe.
DeSantis attempted to thread the needle between criticizing former President Trump for his ongoing legal problems and accusing Democrats in government of politically targeting Trump.
In Chariton, he told CBS News that voters would decide if Trump’s legal issues are disqualifying. And in Lamoni, he talked about modifying his campaign from one with more limited personal contact with voters to a more traditional model.
“You have an intent about what you want to see, when it’s not there, you adjust and go forward. DeSantis said in Lamoni. “At the end of the day, it’s really about the voters here, and I think they’re more interested in what the future holds and that’s what we focus on.”
DeSantis campaign “reboot” overshadowed by uproar over Florida Black history education standards
Desantis’ attempts at a new beginning for his campaign were overshadowed by his arguments with Sen.Tim Scott and others about new curriculum standards that advise teachers in Florida to instruct middle school students that slaves developed skills that “could be applied for their personal benefit.”
Scott, who has climbed to third place behind Trump and DeSantis in some polls in Iowa, is the Senate’s only Black Republican. His message for DeSantis and Florida Republicans is that “there is no silver lining” to slavery. “What slavery was really about [was] separating families, about mutilating humans and even raping their wives,” Scott added. “I would hope that every person in our country — and certainly running for president — would appreciate that.”
He suggested that DeSantis might want to reconsider how Black history is taught. “Listen, people have bad days,” Scott said Friday. “Sometimes they regret what they say. And we should ask them again to clarify their positions.”
But if DeSantis has any regrets about the curriculum, he’s not showing any. “The reason our country has struggled is because D.C. Republicans all too often accept false narratives, accept lies that are perpetrated by the Left,” DeSantis told reporters Friday.
Trump continues to focus attacks on DeSantis
Former President Donald Trump spent most of his 10 minutes at the Lincoln Dinner attacking DeSantis. “You don’t want to take a chance on that one,” Trump said, referring to DeSantis as “Ron DeSanctus” in his speech.
He downplayed the criminal charges he faces, telling the crowd that “if I weren’t running, I would have nobody coming after me.””
Trump walked out to the country group Brooks & Dunn’s “Only in America,” instead of his standard walk-out song, Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA. As he took the stage, the lyrics “one could end up going to prison, one just might be president” blared over the speaker system.
The former president received the loudest cheers and the biggest standing ovation of any of the 13 candidates on stage Friday night.
Asa Hutchinson and Will Hurd attack Trump for his legal issues
Only two candidates directly criticized Trump for his legal woes at the reception — former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and former Rep. Will Hurd.
“Donald Trump is not running for president to represent the people that voted for him in 2016 and 2020. Donald Trump is running to stay out of prison,” Hurd said as the crowd of more than 1,200 booed him. “Listen, I know the truth is hard,” he added as the booing continued.
Hutchinson took a softer tone, warning that Trump could be on trial next January, when the Iowa caucuses are set to take place.
“As it stands right now, you will be voting in Iowa while multiple criminal cases are pending against former President Trump,” Hutchinson said to muted applause.
Notably absent from the Lincoln Dinner was another Trump critic: former N.J. Gov. Chris Christie, who has said he is focusing on the early GOP primary states of New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Vivek Ramaswamy proposes gutting five federal agencies
Thirty-seven-year-old Vivek Ramaswamy, pitching himself as a political outsider, called for a revolution against the federal government. Ramaswamy said if he’s elected he’ll shut down a number of federal agencies that he claims are corrupt, resulting in “mass firings.”
“From the Department of Education, to the FBI, to the IRS, to the ATF, to the CDC, we will not just reform them, we will shut them down,” Ramaswamy said to loud applause. He added that other GOP candidates who are pledging to fix federal agencies are making a false promise.
“This is not a moment for reform. I don’t stand for reform, I stand for revolution,” Ramswamy said.
Biden’s acknowledgement of 4-year-old grandchild mentioned by candidates
President Joe Biden publicly acknowledged son Hunter Biden’s 4-year-old daughter and his granddaughter, Navy, for the first time Friday. Republican candidates took the opportunity to criticize the president’s handling of the situation.
Haley quipped on Friday night that “how many grandchildren do you have?” could be a potential question on a mental competency test for lawmakers that she has been pitching since the launch of her campaign. “I don’t know what y’all are laughing at,” Haley said, with the crowd chuckling. Hutchinson, who spoke right after Haley, picked up on the joke and told the crowd that he knows exactly how many grandkids he has.
Former Vice President Mike Pence told reporters on Saturday that it’s “important” President Biden publicly acknowledged his grandchild. “I welcome the President acknowledging his little granddaughter,” Pence said.
Pence calls for transgender ban in military, 15-week federal abortion ban
The former vice president said he’d reinstate a ban on transgender Americans who want to serve in the military. At the dinner, he said he wants to “end political correctness at the Pentagon.”
The Trump administration banned transgender individuals from serving in the military in 2017. President Biden reversed the decision in his first week in office.
Pence argued that having transgender military personnel “erodes unit cohesion” and “affects recruitment.” Pence also said “the time has come” for the federal government to adopt a 15-week abortion ban.