Israel marks two years since Hamas attack
Today marks two years since Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking more than 250 hostages on October 7, 2023. Hamas and other militant groups still hold 48 hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive. The attack triggered a brutal retaliation from Israel on Hamas in Gaza, which the enclave’s health ministry says has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians — most of them women and children. Talks to end the war will continue in Egypt today as negotiators and mediators work to advance a proposed ceasefire plan. A poll found that 64% of Israeli citizens believe Prime Minister Netanyahu, who has been a hardliner on the war, should resign.
Trump threatens to invoke Insurrection Act
President Trump is suggesting that he could invoke the Insurrection Act to send National Guard troops to U.S. cities if courts keep blocking his deployments. A court order blocks him from calling up the Oregon National Guard and sending them into Portland, Oregon. Illinois and Chicago sued to stop him from deploying the Illinois National Guard in Chicago. Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered Texas National Guard troops flown to Illinois. Illinois and Chicago called the plans for moving troops from other states to their territory “illegal, dangerous, and unconstitutional.”
Pritzker says Trump is following the dictator’s playbook
A White House spokeswoman, Abigail Jackson, called Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker a “slob” in a statement carried by Fox News. Pritzker has been opposing Trump’s use of federal forces dressed in fatigues and carrying automatic weapons in staging raids on U.S. citizens in Chicago. In a cable news interview last night, Pritzker said that Trump is following the dictator’s playbook by putting military forces on the streets of the U.S. to get people used to the idea of seeing them. He predicted that Trump will send military forces to polling places to intimidate voters during the upcoming 2026 mid-term elections to try to avoid a Republican defeat and loss of the House and Senate. Pritzker said that Trump’s military would seize the election machines to prevent an honest count of the election results.
Supreme Court refuses to hear Maxwell’s case
The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear the appeal of Ghislaine Maxwell of her conviction and 20-year prison sentence for partnering with sex predator Jeffrey Epstein in the trafficking and sexual abuse of underage girls. After the Supreme Court announced its refusal to hear Maxwell’s appeal, Donald Trump again said he’s considering giving her a presidential pardon. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has advised Trump that his name appears numerous times in the Epstein files that the government compiled during its investigation into Epstein. Trump has refused to make the Epstein files public after promising during the presidential campaign that he would.
Flight delays as a result of government shutdown
Travelers across the U.S. are feeling the effects of the government shutdown as a shortage of air traffic controllers causes delays at major airports. Controllers are considered essential workers, so they must work during the shutdown, but they are not being paid. Consequently, more controllers are calling out sick. One of the most severe disruptions on Monday occurred at California’s Burbank Airport, where the control tower was shut down completely, resulting in hours-long delays. The towers in Burbank, Phoenix and Denver all had “staffing triggers” reported in the public FAA operations plan. Other facilities that handle air traffic around airports in Newark, Jacksonville, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Indianapolis were also short-staffed.
Democrats highlight Trump’s lie about negotiations
Both Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries dispute Donald Trump’s claim that negotiations to end the government shutdown are underway. Trump yesterday told reporters that talks with Democrats to end the shutdown are taking place. Schumer and Jeffries say there are no talks and that it is the Republicans who are refusing to negotiate. They described the White House as being silent. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson also contradicted Trump by telling reporters that there is nothing to negotiate. Schumer said that Democrats are willing to negotiate with the Republicans to end the shutdown but that it takes two sides to negotiate.
