U.S. and world news for July 10

New policy by Kristi Noem allegedly caused FEMA to be late in responding to Texas floods

For months, officials at FEMA have been warning that the agency is unprepared for disasters due to the mass exodus of experienced emergency managers and the looming threat of Trump wanting to shut down FEMA. CNN reports that officials inside of FEMA have told it that when the floods hot FEMA could not respond properly. They revealed that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem issued a memo in June that said she must personally approve every contract and grant over $100,000. Under that directive, FEMA officials couldn’t pre-position Urban Search and Rescue crews closer to the Texas flood disaster zone because Noem didn’t authorize their deployment until more than 72 hours after the flooding began, multiple sources told CNN. Texas also requested aerial imagery from FEMA to aid search operations, a source told CNN; however, that response was delayed while awaiting Noem’s signature on the necessary contract.

Putin ignores Trump and steps up attacks on Ukraine

Despite Donald Trump’s new criticism of him, Russian President Putin has stepped up Russia’s aerial assault on Ukraine’s capital for a second night, killing at least two people and wounding more than a dozen others. For more than 10 hours, the night sky above Kyiv was filled with massive fiery explosions and smoke. Houses, cars, warehouses and other buildings across the city were damaged and caught fire, and a health care clinic was almost completely destroyed, authorities said. According to Ukraine President Zelenskyy, the latest bombardment involved 400 drones and 18 missiles.

FBI investigates Brennan and Comey

The FBI is investigating former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey for possible false statements to Congress, according to a person briefed on the matter. The probe was reportedly launched after current CIA Director John Ratcliffe released a review last week that criticized the 2016 US intelligence community assessment that found Russian President Vladimir Putin had sought to intervene in the election on Donald Trump’s behalf. Ratcliffe’s review did not dispute the intelligence community’s finding that Putin preferred Trump to then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. However, he claimed the assessment “was conducted through an atypical & corrupt process.” When asked about the investigation, Brennan said nobody from the FBI, DOJ or CIA had reached out to him. The CIA and Comey declined to comment.

Secret Service agents reported suspended

Secret Service agents who were involved in securing the 2024 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Donald Trump was injured and a rallygoer was killed by a would-be assassin, have been suspended, according to multiple sources. Several agents at the service’s Pittsburgh field office, along with one agent on Trump’s detail that day and a counter-sniper, were issued suspensions ranging from a few weeks to over a month. At least two are appealing their suspensions. Numerous Congressional investigations and federal reports found multiple failures that day, including communication breakdowns with local police who spotted the shooter and confronted him on a nearby roof.

Transportation Secretary Duffy gets a second job

President Trump announced on Wednesday that he has named Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy as the interim NASA administrator. “Sean is doing a TREMENDOUS job in handling our Country’s Transportation Affairs, including creating a state-of-the-art Air Traffic Control systems, while at the same time rebuilding our roads and bridges, making them efficient, and beautiful, again. He will be a fantastic leader of the ever more important Space Agency, even if only for a short period of time,” Trump wrote on his social media site. NASA administrators are typically selected from a pool of scientists, engineers, academics or public servants. Duffy is a former congressman and former co-host of the Fox Business show, “The Bottom Line.” He as no technical experience in transportation or space.

Workers rescued from LA tunnel collapse

Thirty-one construction workers were rescued after a tunnel they were working on collapsed in the Wilmington neighborhood of Los Angeles. The collapse occurred about five or six miles from the tunnel’s entry point and about 400 feet underground. The tunnel is being built as part of a sewer project. The workers were operating a tunnel boring machine at the time of the collapse. Officials said it appeared as if none of the workers received serious injuries. Work on the tunnel has been stopped until an investigation is completed and any corrective measures have been taken.