Bridge collapse: The NTSB says that some of the containers filled with hazardous materials on board the ship Dali that hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore causing it to collapse have been breached and some materials have leaked into the water. The ship’s 21 crew members remain on board according to an official of India’s government. Twenty of the crew members are citizens of India. An estimated 1,000 members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been activated to start work to clear debris from the water and open up the Port of Baltimore to shipping.
Fundraising event: Top names in the entertainment industry are performing tonight at Radio City Music Hall in a gala to benefit President Biden’s campaign. Biden will be joined at the event by Former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. According to the Biden campaign, the event will raise $25 million. Numerous street closures were to be in effect on the East Side of Manhattan beginning at noon and continuing through tonight.
Case settled: CNN reported this morning that a Republican operative dropped a sexual assault case against the chairman of the far-right American Conservative Union after receiving a $480,000 settlement. CNN said that Carlton Huffman dropped his case against Matt Schlapp and issued a statement saying that the charges he made were the result of a misunderstanding. In his lawsuit, Huffman had asked for $9 million in damages. Schlapp served in the White House as director of political affairs for the George W. Bush Administration.
Georgia case: Attorneys for Donald Trump are asking a judge in Fulton County Georgia to throw out the election interference case brought against Trump and several codefendants. The argument presented at today’s court hearing claims that when Trump tried to get Georgia officials to falsify the election result and take away the victory from Joe Biden he was engaging in political free speech. A lawyer for one of the codefendants argues that when the codefendant arranged for fake electors to falsely certify that Trump had won he was just doing what a lawyer had told him to do.
Gag order: In a post on the internet, Donald Trump blasted Judge Juan Merchan who is presiding over his hush money trial and Merchan’s daughter. A gag order imposed on Trump by Merchan yesterday bans Trump from saying anything about jurors, court employees, witnesses and attorneys and their families involved in the case but does not extend to Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg or their families. A spokesperson for the New York court system said that claims Trump made about Merchan’s daughter being a political operative are false.
Netanyahu speaks: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told a bipartisan group of congressmen visiting Israel that a victory for Israel over Hamas in Gaza will come in a few weeks. He said that Israeli forces expect to kill the top two leaders of Hamas very soon. Netanyahu also said that the Israeli military has no choice but to move into Rafah, where an estimated 1.4 million Palestinian civilian refugees are located. Netanyahu called for continued bipartisan support for Israel in Congress.
