Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/21/us/atlanta-airport-weapon-discharged-sunday/index.html

    AMSTERDAM, Nov 21 (Reuters) – Five police officers were injured in the Netherlands and at least 40 people detained across three provinces as violent protests against COVID-19 restrictions continued for a second night into Sunday.

    Dutch authorities used water canon, dogs and mounted police to stop rioting youths who set fires and threw fireworks in the worst disturbances since a full lockdown led to widespread disorder and more than 500 arrests in January.

    The latest unrest began on Friday night in Rotterdam, where police opened fire on a crowd that had swelled to hundreds during a protest the city’s mayor said had turned into “an orgy of violence”.

    Three people believed to be hit by police bullets remained in hospital on Sunday, a statement by the authorities said. read more

    The protests were sparked by opposition to government plans to restrict use of a national corona pass to people who have either recovered from COVID-19 or have been vaccinated, excluding those with a negative test result.

    The Netherlands reimposed some lockdown measures on its 17.5 million population last weekend for an initial three weeks in an effort to slow a resurgence of the virus, but daily infections have remained at their highest levels since the start of the pandemic. read more

    Youths were also angered by a New Year’s Eve firework ban to avoid added pressure on hospitals that have already been forced to scale back care due to a surge in COVID-19 patients. read more

    Some of the most serious confrontations on Saturday night were in The Hague, where five officers were hurt, one of them seriously, a police statement said. Police carried out charges on horseback and arrested 19 people, one of them for throwing a rock through the window of a passing ambulance.

    Two Eredivisie league soccer matches, which have been closed to the public under the tougher COVID-19 restrictions, were briefly disrupted on Saturday night as small groups of fans forced their way into the stadiums and threw fireworks.

    Another 13 arrests were reported by police in two towns in the southern province of Limburg, while disturbances were also reported in the northern province of Flevoland. Eight people were detained in the town of Urk, where a COVID-19 testing station was torched earlier this year.

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

    Source Article from https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/dutch-police-detain-dozens-second-night-covid-19-rioting-2021-11-21/

    KHARTOUM, Nov 21 (Reuters) – Sudan’s military plans to reinstate Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and release all political detainees under a deal to end weeks of deadly unrest, the head of one of the country’s main political parties told Reuters on Sunday.

    A source close to Hamdok said he had agreed to the deal to stop the bloodshed but the civilian coalition that shared power with the military previously said it opposed any talks with the “putschists” and called for protests to continue on Sunday.

    Sudan’s military has lifted restrictions on Hamdok’s movement and removed the security forces that were stationed outside his home on Sunday, his office told Reuters.

    Hamdok was placed under house arrest when the military seized power on Oct. 25, derailing a transition towards democracy agreed after the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir in 2019 that ended his three decades of autocratic rule.

    The military dissolved Hamdok’s cabinet and detained a number of civilians who held top positions under the power-sharing deal agreed with the military after Bashir was ousted.

    Under the new agreement between the military and civilian political parties, Hamdok will form an independent cabinet of technocrats, said Fadlallah Burma Nasir, head of the Umma Party who attended the talks that led to the deal.

    Hamdok is on board with the agreement to stop the bloodshed following protests against the coup, said a source close to the ousted prime minister, who could not immediately be reached for comment.

    The coup triggered mass demonstrations against the military and medics aligned with the protest movement say security forces have killed 40 civilians in increasingly violent crackdowns.

    The constitutional declaration struck between the military and civilians in 2019 after Bashir was ousted would remain the foundation in further talks, the source close to Hamdok said.

    URGENT MEETING

    Sudan’s Sovereign Council will hold an urgent meeting on Sunday before announcing the agreement, a source with knowledge of the talks said.

    The media adviser of military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan could not immediately be reached for comment.

    Activist groups leading the protests since the coup have demanded the military gets out of politics altogether, however.

    A statement on Sunday on the Facebook page of the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) civilian coalition that had been sharing power with the military said it did not recognise any agreement with the armed forces.

    “We affirm our clear and previously announced position: no negotiation and no partnership and no legitimacy for the putschists,” the FFC statement said.

    Those who carried out and backed the coup should face justice, the statement said, calling on people to turn out for the latest round of anti-military protests on Sunday.

    Following the coup, Hamdok had demanded the release of all political detainees and a return to power-sharing as a precondition for negotiating, according to sources close to him.

    Western powers that had backed Sudan’s political transition condemned the takeover and suspended some economic assistance to Sudan.

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

    Source Article from https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/sudan-military-reinstate-ousted-pm-hamdok-after-deal-reached-umma-party-head-2021-11-21/

    Africa is important to us, many key products coffee, cocoa, cobalt, chrome, iron ore, diamonds come from Africa, thirty to sixty percent of our consumption; and for our European allies, the figures are even higher.

    Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/21/world/usa-congo-cobalt.html

    President Joe Biden is considered perfectly fit for duty after a physical exam Friday, according to a report from the president’s doctor, Kevin O’Connor.

    Additionally, the president, unlike his immediate predecessor, did not undergo a test of his cognitive abilities, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta said.

    During an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Anderson Cooper 360, Gupta was asked if Biden had taken any type of exam to measure his mental state.

    “There’s been a lot of focus on his cognitive abilities, questions raised by opponents and others, and in 2018 the former president [Donald Trump] had a test that measured mental acuity, was that part of today’s test?” Cooper asked Gupta.

    “It doesn’t seem like it,” Gupta replied. “I read pretty carefully through the doctor’s report and they mention neurological exam, but that was more in terms of testing motor strength and sensation and things like that.”

    “As far as we know, for President Biden, we didn’t see any kind of test like that performed,” Gupta added.

    This news comes as a recent Politico/Morning Consult poll stated that 48 percent of Americans were reportedly concerned with Biden’s cognition. The poll, which surveyed 1,998 registered voters, was conducted between November 13 and November 15 with a two percent margin error. It was released days prior to the president’s public health report. Trump saw similar numbers in 2018.

    The test Cooper was referring to is known as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, and was taken by Trump when he was 72 years old amid concerns over his cognitive abilities. Gupta described the assessment as a screening test for dementia.

    Trump passed the test, reportedly scoring a 30 out of 30, according to the White House.

    CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta said that President Joe Biden did not appear to undergo a cognitive test, and was deemed fit to serve. Here, Biden can be seen giving a speech on November 15.
    Mandel Ngan/Getty

    Gupta, who is also an associate professor of neurosurgery at Emory University, added that some medical professionals have pushed for basic cognitive tests to be more readily done at age 65. President Biden turns 79 on Saturday and is the oldest serving president in U.S. history.

    However, despite the concerns of some conservatives, Gupta corroborated Dr. O’Connor’s report that the president was healthy and fit for office.

    The six-page report went into more details on the president’s condition, and stated that while he was fit to serve, he did have a number of minor issues that commonly afflict people his age.

    This includes atrial fibrillation, gastric reflux, and seasonal allergies. The report also stated that Biden has a bit of a “stiffened gait,” mostly as a result of a number of orthopedic injuries over the years and a broken foot in November 2020.

    While no cognitive assessment was performed on the president, Dr. O’Connor said that he performed a detailed neurologic exam to check for central nervous disorders such as Parkinson’s disease or a stroke. This exam did not reveal any significant findings, O’Connor added.

    Physical examination results are typically released by presidents throughout their time in office.

    In rating Biden’s physical health for office over the last year, many respondents in the Politico/ Morning Consult poll didn’t believe the president is healthy enough. Half disagreed with the statement that the president “is in good health” while 40 percent said they “somewhat” or “strongly agreed,” according to the poll.

    The survey also showed that 34 percent believed Biden was energetic, while 37 percent agreed that he was a clear communicator.

    Many Republicans continue to call into question Biden’s mental acuity, and some have mockingly called him Dementia Joe.

    However, despite these concerns, a study from the University of Michigan found that only one in seven Americans over the age of 70 suffer from dementia, about 14 percent of that demographic.

    Newsweek has reached out to the White House for comment.

    Source Article from https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-unlike-trump-didnt-take-cognitive-test-annual-exam-sanjay-gupta-says-1651558

    A jury on Friday found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on all charges related to him shooting three men on Aug. 25, 2020.

    Joseph Rosenbaum, Anthony Huber, Gaige Grosskreutz and Rittenhouse had traveled to the scene of unrest in Kenosha that night for differing reasons. Protestors had gathered there to speak out against the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was left paralyzed after being shot by a police officer.

    Rittenhouse, then 17 years old, said he had traveled from his home in Antioch, Ill., to protect private property and help as a medic.

    Amid protests that had turned violent and destructive, Rittenhouse fatally shot Rosenbaum and Huber, and injured Grosskreutz, with an assault-style rifle.

    More than a year later, a jury found him not guilty on five charges, including first-degree intentional homicide, in a case that’s captivated, and divided, a nation.

    Here’s what we know about the three men shot by Rittenhouse:

    Joseph Rosenbaum

    Joseph Rosenbaum was the first person Rittenhouse shot on that chaotic night.

    Rosenbaum was at the unrest after having just been discharged from a hospital in Milwaukee, his fiancée, Kariann Swart, testified at the trial.

    The 36-year-old crossed paths with Rittenhouse in a used-car lot as Rittenhouse brandished an AR-15-style rifle. Rosenbaum, meanwhile, was unarmed and carried a plastic bag containing a toothbrush, toothpaste, socks, deodorant and some papers.

    According to Rittenhouse’s lawyers, Rosenbaum approached Rittenhouse and attempted to “engage” him. Afraid, Rittenhouse took off running and Rosenbaum gave chase. Videos of the incident show that Rosenbaum eventually threw the plastic bag he was carrying at Rittenhouse, who responded by firing four shots at the man.

    During the trial, Rittenhouse and another witness said that Rosenbaum had reached for Rittenhouse’s gun.

    Swart testified she and Rosenbaum were living in a motel at the time Rosenbaum was killed, and that the couple had at times been homeless. She also described Rosenbaum’s mental health issues, saying he was on antidepressants and medication to treat his bipolar disorder. He had been in a hospital following a suicide attempt.

    “We just spent a lot of time talking, getting to know one another, and laughing and joking around. He was a very animated person like that,” she said.

    Kariann Swart, the late Joseph Rosenbaum’s fiancée, testified during Kyle Rittenhouse’s trial on Nov. 5 in Kenosha, Wis.

    Sean Krajacic-Pool/Getty Images


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    Sean Krajacic-Pool/Getty Images

    Kariann Swart, the late Joseph Rosenbaum’s fiancée, testified during Kyle Rittenhouse’s trial on Nov. 5 in Kenosha, Wis.

    Sean Krajacic-Pool/Getty Images

    Rosenbaum was raised in Texas and Arizona, according to The Washington Post. The paper reported that Rosenbaum said he was molested by a stepfather and had spent most of his adult life in prison starting at age 18 for sexual conduct with five preteen boys.

    His mother was sent to prison when he was 13 and Rosenbaum began using heroin and methamphetamine at a group home where he was sent, the Post reported.

    Swart had pressed charges against Rosenbaum in July 2020 after a fight in which he assaulted her, the paper reported. But she was open to reconciling, telling the Post that he had told her: “I want to fix things. … I want to get myself right.”

    Rosenbaum had a young daughter from a previous relationship, according to the paper, and he said he was fighting for the right to see her.

    Swart told reporters after the verdict: “I feel like in this case, it feels like, the victims’ lives don’t matter. And I don’t think that that is acceptable.”

    Anthony Huber

    Rittenhouse panicked and set off running away from the scene of the fatal shooting, toward a police line.

    But along the way, several protesters who believed Rittenhouse was an active shooter began chasing after him. Anthony Huber was among them.

    The 26-year-old, who grew up in Kenosha and was an avid skateboarder, was at the protest with his girlfriend Hannah Gittings.

    “He pushed me out of the way and ran off. I tried to grab him,” Gittings told CNN last year.

    Huber eventually caught up to Rittenhouse and tried to stop him by hitting him with a skateboard. But the single blow was not enough to bring Rittenhouse down.

    Within seconds of the tussle, Rittenhouse fired a single fatal shot into Huber, who can be seen staggering away then collapsing onto the ground in video footage of the incident.

    An obituary described Huber as an artistic young man with a quick wit, whose favorite thing was skateboarding.

    He “died a hero fighting for a cause he believed in,” it reads.

    According to the Post, Huber and Gittings had gone to the scene of the unrest to document the demonstrations for posterity. Huber was a friend of Jacob Blake.

    Huber had spent time in prison twice, first for violating probation after strangling his brother and again for kicking his sister, the Post reported.

    He spent a lot of time at the local skate park and also struggled with bipolar disorder. He died just days after his birthday, according to an obituary.

    Following Rittenhouse’s acquittal, Gittings told reporters that she wasn’t surprised by the verdict, according to CNN.

    “I don’t think that any of us who were directly involved in what happened last year on the 25th are really that surprised. We know that this system is a failure,” she said. “Personally, I am especially not surprised at the outcome of this verdict.”

    Huber’s parents released a statement saying they were “heartbroken and angry” over the acquittal but that their son “would have his day in court.” Huber’s parents have filed negligence claims against the city of Kenosha and Kenosha County. Rittenhouse can now face civil lawsuits as well.

    Gaige Grosskreutz

    Gaige Grosskreutz was shot and injured by Kyle Rittenhouse. He testified on Nov. 8.

    Mark Hertzberg-Pool/Getty Images


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    Mark Hertzberg-Pool/Getty Images

    Gaige Grosskreutz was shot and injured by Kyle Rittenhouse. He testified on Nov. 8.

    Mark Hertzberg-Pool/Getty Images

    Grosskreutz, along with Huber, was one of several people who chased Rittenhouse after he shot and killed Rosenbaum. Prosecutors have said that the group believed that Rittenhouse was an active shooter.

    Grosskreutz was armed with a pistol that night. But he also had his medical supplies, all of which were standard for him to bring to protests, he testified. He was there that night to help out with medical care. He’d been to dozens of protests over the summer.

    Grosskreutz said he was not intentionally pointing his weapon at Rittenhouse, but during cross-examination agreed that it was pointed at Rittenhouse at the moment he was shot.

    Rittenhouse shot Grosskreutz in the arm. Grosskreutz said he lost 90% of his right bicep.

    Grosskreutz became a paramedic after high school, but the profession left him burnt out, according to the Post. He then switched paths, majoring in outdoor education at Northland College. He got involved in the protests that summer after an internship fell through, joining forces with an activist group called the People’s Revolution and helping out with medical care at protests.

    After the shooting, Grosskreutz filed a lawsuit alleging that city officials and law enforcement were aware of, supported and collaborated with armed vigilantes on the night of the shooting.

    Grosskreutz has not commented publicly following the verdict. He is seeking privacy after all of the attention from the past year, his attorney said, according to WTMJ-TV.

    Source Article from https://www.npr.org/2021/11/20/1057571558/what-we-know-3-men-kyle-rittenhouse-victims-rosenbaum-huber-grosskreutz

    At least seven people were hurt in Rotterdam when a protest against COVID-19 restrictions turned into “an orgy of violence.”

    The city has been rocked by rioting and demonstrations against the reintroduction of coronavirus restrictions amid record-high infection rates.

    “On a number of occasions, the police felt it necessary to draw their weapons to defend themselves,” Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb told the Associated Press of Saturday’s violence. “They shot at protesters, people were injured.”

    The mayor also noted a number of police officers and firefighters had also been hurt in the mayhem, and dozens had been arrested.

    Despite more than 70% of the country being fully vaccinated, The Netherlands has seen a spike in coronavirus cases and reinstated a partial lockdown last week.

    Police were also forced to use water cannons to restore order. Photos showed at least one police car in flames.

    A police car was ignited during the anti-COVID restriction protests in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
    Media TV Rotterdam via AP
    Police officers fired shots at hostile protesters, injuring at least seven people amid anti-lockdown riots in Rotterdam.
    ANP/AFP via Getty Images
    COVID-19 cases have surged in The Netherlands despite more than 70% of the country being fully vaccinated.
    ANP/AFP via Getty Images

    “The riots and extreme violence against police officers, riot police and firefighters last night in Rotterdam are disgusting to see,” Dutch Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus told the wire service. “Protesting is a great right in our society, but what we saw last night is simply criminal behavior. It has nothing to do with demonstrating.”

    Source Article from https://nypost.com/2021/11/20/police-fire-on-anti-lockdown-protesters-in-the-netherlands/

    Friday night stayed mostly quiet in Los Angeles, but street protests erupted into violence in several cities across the US, most prominently in New York, Chicago and Portland, Oregon.

    The night protests were in response to the Kyle Rittenhouse acquittal in Kenosha, Wisconsin earlier in the day. More protests are expected today and Sunday.

    On Friday night:

    • In the New York borough of Queens, there were at least five arrests and some property damage. Hundreds marched across the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan on Friday night, blocking traffic after the verdict.
    • In Portland, Oregon, police declared a riot in the downtown area near the Multnomah County Justice Center, authorities said. Rioters smashed a window on a city print shop and the rear window of a police vehicle.
    • Chicago saw a mob attack a Neiman Marcus store on the Magnificent Mile. A GameStop on the South side also was invaded.
    • San Francisco saw six arrests in the Union Square shopping district. A Louis Vuitton store was “emptied out,” according to a report. Other looting and vandalism in that area was reported.

    Source Article from https://deadline.com/2021/11/new-york-chicago-portland-street-protests-and-thefts-erupt-over-kyle-rittenhouse-trial-decision-1234878072/

    President Biden on Saturday mourned the loss of transgender Americans to violence and called on leaders and lawmakers to push back against a “disturbing proliferation of discriminatory state legislation.”

    “This year, at least 46 transgender individuals in this country — and hundreds more around the world — were killed in horrifying acts of violence,” Biden said in a statement honoring Transgender Day of Remembrance. “Each of these lives was precious. Each of them deserved freedom, justice, and joy.”

     
    (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

    NEW HAMPSHIRE MOM BREAKS SILENCE AFTER SON SUSPENDED FOR SAYING THERE ARE ‘ONLY TWO GENDERS’

    “We mourn those we lost in the deadliest year on record for transgender Americans, as well as the countless other transgender people — disproportionately Black and brown transgender women and girls — who face brutal violence, discrimination, and harassment,” the president added.

    Biden also said he has tasked members of his administration to work with “federal government to address the epidemic of violence and advance equality” for transgender people who “live in fear and face systemic barriers to freedom and equality.”

     
    (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

    Discussing what he believes to be “discriminatory” state legislation against transgender people, specifically transgender youth, Biden concluded that the bills “endanger the safety and well-being of our children.”

    “I continue to call on state leaders and lawmakers to combat the disturbing proliferation of discriminatory state legislation targeting transgender people, especially transgender children,” Biden said. “As I have said before, these bills are nothing more than bullying disguised as legislation.”

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    Biden said “transgender people are some of the bravest Americans” he knows.

    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., issued a statement remembering those who “have suffered unthinkable violence or have been brutally murdered simply for who they are.”

    Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., meets with reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
    (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

    “This year in particular, our transgender neighbors and loved ones have endured a heartbreaking and accelerating campaign of violence and persecution: children targeted by a tide of hateful legislation, women of color suffering a spike of horrific attacks,” Pelosi stated. “Proudly, Democrats have long stood shoulder to shoulder with LGBTQ activists to advance the cause of full equality for all.”

    Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-mourns-deadliest-year-transgender-americans

    SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — The Louis Vuitton store in San Francisco’s Union Square was hit in a brazen smash-and-grab robbery Friday night.

    UPDATE: San Francisco Mayor, Police Chief Promise Crackdown On Crime After Brazen Union Square Spree

    According to San Francisco police officers responded to Union Square shortly after 8 p.m. Friday and observed several suspects “involved in criminal acts.”

    (CBS)

    San Francisco officer Robert Rueca said late Friday that police have arrested multiple suspects and officers are responding to reports of other retail establishments where vandalism has occurred Friday evening. Additional officers are responding to the Union Square area.

    Video posted to Twitter by @Yealenne showed the storefront with broken glass on the sidewalk.

    Another dramatic clip from user @CARLITOSGUEY showed what appeared to be some of the suspects fleeing the store followed by police arriving in a patrol car, swarming a suspect’s vehicle, striking it with their batons and dragging a person to the street.

    One eyewitness told KPIX that more than a dozen people could be seen running out of the store clinging to merchandise, hauling off as much as they could carry.

    Anyone with information is asked to contact the San Francisco police department at (415) 575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 and start the message with SFPD.

    © Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report

    Source Article from https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2021/11/20/smash-grab-theft-louis-vuitton-store-san-francisco-union-square/

    For the advocates, there have been some gains, including a pending ban on the online sale of kit guns and $5 billion in new violence prevention funding that was included in the social spending passed by the House hours before the verdict was announced. But congressional Republicans have blocked efforts to expand federal background checks on gun purchasers and restrict the sale of semiautomatic guns, or even to confirm a permanent director for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

    All of that has limited the White House to adopting a series of executive actions, including new regulations on ghost guns and accessories, called stabilizing braces, that can effectively turn a pistol into short-barreled rifle; the regulatory changes are likely to provoke legal challenges. A ban on assault weapons, like the one that Mr. Rittenhouse carried, lapsed in 2004, and Republicans have blocked its renewal.

    In the wake of the Rittenhouse verdict, gun control supporters face another, much more significant setback, with a conservative majority on the Supreme Court likely to strike down, or seriously weaken, a New York state law that imposes strict limits on carrying weapons outside the home.

    “We are really disappointed with the outcome of the trial, and we are really worried about its implications in the case before the court, because they both deal with the same issue — whether people have the right to carry a loaded gun in public,” said T. Christian Heyne, a survivor of gun violence who is now a top official with the Brady Campaign, one of the country’s biggest gun safety organizations.

    Gun laws have generally become more permissive: Open carry is now legal, to one degree or another, in many states. A majority of Americans support stricter gun laws, but a Gallup poll last year showed that support for gun regulation, which surged after a mass shooting in 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., has ebbed during the coronavirus pandemic and a spike in violent crime. Other polls have showed continued strong support.

    Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/20/us/kyle-rittenhouse-gun-control.html

    (WJW/AP) — Two sisters who escaped the Turpin ‘House of Horrors’ say their parents ‘used the Bible’ to justify abuse.

    According to People.com, in a recent interview on 20/20 with Diane Sawyer, 33-year-old Jennifer Turpin and 21-year-old Jordan Turpin said their parents, David and Louise, used belts, sticks, dog kennels and homemade cages as tools for punishment, in addition to chaining them to their beds and pulling on their hair when they misbehaved.

    “They literally used the Bible to explain their behavior to us,” Jennifer said in the interview. “They loved to point out things in Deuteronomy, saying that, ‘We have the right to do this to you.’ … That they even had the right to kill us if we didn’t listen.”

    The shocking abuse in the Turpin home went unnoticed in the community of Perris, about 60 mile southeast of Los Angeles, until then-17-year-old Jordan Turpin escaped from the house and called police.

    During the 20/20 interview, Jordan recalled how she could barely press the buttons for 911 after escaping the house. She had never spoken to anybody before on the phone, she said, and was shaking.

    “I had to make sure that if I left we wouldn’t go back, and we would get the help we needed,” she said in a tearful interview. “Because if we went back, there’s no way I would be sitting here right now.”

    A Southern California county has brought in outside investigators to look into whether its social services system failed to provide adequate housing, food and other services for 13 siblings since they were rescued from the horribly abusive conditions in 2018.

    Some of the children reported they “felt betrayed” by local officials’ handling of their cases, said Melissa Donaldson, Riverside County’s director of victim services. Donaldson said there were times when the children did not have a safe place to stay or enough food.

    ABC News reported Friday that Riverside County has hired a private law firm to look into allegations the seven adult and six minor children in the Turpin family did not get basic services after they were freed from their parents’ prison-like home.

    Their parents, David and Louise Turpin, have since been sentenced to life in prison.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Source Article from https://fox8.com/news/sisters-who-escaped-turpin-house-of-horrors-say-parents-used-the-bible-to-justify-abuse/

    Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy this week set the record for the longest speech made in the House of Representatives in modern history, at eight hours and 32 minutes.

    The Republican’s marathon floor speech, which started Thursday night and ended before dawn the next day, eclipsed the previous mark set by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The Democrat spoke for eight hours and seven minutes on immigration policy in February 2018.

    Here are five key quotes from McCarthy’s speech.

    AOC ALLEGEDLY INTERRUPTS MCCARTHY TO SAY SHE VOTED FOR BIDEN TO BE A NEW FDR

    Immigration

    McCarthy didn’t hold back on the House floor when taking aim at President Biden and the Democrats for their leftward-lurching policies.

    During his speech, McCarthy torched Biden for ending Trump administration border policies, a decision that he said had incentivized more illegal immigrants to come across the border.

    “Biden terminated every successful immigration policy put into place by President Trump, triggering the largest wave of illegal immigration in … history,” McCarthy said.

    The U.S. has seen a surge in illegal immigration under the Biden administration.

    “What do you think’s going to happen? That border when you hide a billion dollars in amnesty? What do you think’s going to happen when you reward people with $450,000?” McCarthy said in his speech, blasting Democrats over reports of payments to migrants separated at the border, as well as provisions in the bill granting amnesty to some illegal immigrants.

    Democrats beefing up the IRS

    McCarthy also took aim at Democrats for including a provision in Build Back Better legislation that would hire tens of thousands of Internal Revenue Service agents, asserting that “half” of those agents “are going after Americans who make $75,000 or less.”

    “They’re going to have to give more because you’re hiring 87,000 IRS agents to come after them; 1.2 million more audits,” McCarthy said.

    “That’s what you base this entire bill on. That’s what you waited for the CBO to tell you,” McCarthy added. The Biden administration lately has placed scrutiny on the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which reviews legislation and assigns them a budget score.

    “How much money can we get from them? How is that possible? The payments for illegal immigrants?” McCarthy continued. “It’s just the latest data point in a much larger trend of failures.”

    McCarthy later accused Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris of presiding over “the greatest series of border security blunders in American history.”

    Calling out the Democrats’ zero-dollar price tag claim

    Biden and the Democrats have been pushing the talking point that the Build Back Better agenda will cost “zero dollars.”

    The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, however, projected that the spending bill will add $367 billion to the federal deficit over the next 10 years, without counting potential revenue from an IRS tax enforcement crackdown that White House officials claim will cover the remaining cost.

    “The American people obviously know this bill won’t cost zero dollars,” McCarthy pointed out, adding that the “CBO score says in five years it’s going to cost $800 billion.”

    “In 10 [years], more than $367 billion,” the top House Republican warned. “That’s what your children’s children will have to pay, and they’ll mark this day that it happened.”

    Inflation 

    McCarthy also unloaded on Democrats during his speech for economic policies that he claims is driving up inflation and hurting American families.

    “You created inflation,” McCarthy said to Democrats. “But the first thing that was said, ‘it’s just temporary.’ Our own president said he doesn’t know of any economist that’s worried about inflation.”

    President Biden, with first lady Jill Biden, speaks during a visit at Brookland Middle School in northeast Washington, on Sept. 10. (AP)

    McCarthy pointed out that there were warnings to Democrats from both sides of the aisle about the danger of rising inflation.

    “But you felt you had to go forward. You felt it was good for the American public to pay more,” McCarthy said. “And it will infringe on our fundamental American rights and liberties.”

    Parallels with the Carter administration

    McCarthy said there are similarities between former President Jimmy Carter’s administration and the Biden administration, pointing to the current White House’s response to crises facing Americans.

    McCarthy recalled that Carter told Americans that “the heater had to go down because the price is going up, and we need to expect less as Americans.”

    “Today, the White House laughs if you ask them what their plan is for America to become energy independent, a lower gas price,” McCarthy said, referring to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm laughing off a question about how she would bring down gas costs.

    McCarthy noted that Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a moderate Democrat, said recently that “nobody” voted for Biden to govern like Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

    “Just a few weeks ago, Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger said, ‘Nobody elected Joe Biden to be FDR,’” McCarthy said. “In response, Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shouted, ‘I did!’” 

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    Leadership is given special privilege in the House when it comes to floor speeches, which are usually limited to a minute or two per member.

    Party leaders on both sides can speak as long as they want to, opening the House up to a filibuster-lite.

    Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/5-kevin-mccarthy-quotes-record-house-floor-speech

    For the advocates, there have been some gains, including a pending ban on the online sale of kit guns and $5 billion in new violence prevention funding that was included in the social spending passed by the House hours before the verdict was announced. But congressional Republicans have blocked efforts to expand federal background checks on gun purchasers and restrict the sale of semiautomatic guns, or even to confirm a permanent director for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

    All of that has limited the White House to adopting a series of executive actions, including new regulations on ghost guns and accessories, called stabilizing braces, that can effectively turn a pistol into short-barreled rifle; the regulatory changes are likely to provoke legal challenges. A ban on assault weapons, like the one that Mr. Rittenhouse carried, lapsed in 2004, and Republicans have blocked its renewal.

    In the wake of the Rittenhouse verdict, gun control supporters face another, much more significant setback, with a conservative majority on the Supreme Court likely to strike down, or seriously weaken, a New York state law that imposes strict limits on carrying weapons outside the home.

    “We are really disappointed with the outcome of the trial, and we are really worried about its implications in the case before the court, because they both deal with the same issue — whether people have the right to carry a loaded gun in public,” said T. Christian Heyne, a survivor of gun violence who is now a top official with the Brady Campaign, one of the country’s biggest gun safety organizations.

    Gun laws have generally become more permissive: Open carry is now legal, to one degree or another, in many states. A majority of Americans support stricter gun laws, but a Gallup poll last year showed that support for gun regulation, which surged after a mass shooting in 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., has ebbed during the coronavirus pandemic and a spike in violent crime. Other polls have showed continued strong support.

    Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/20/us/kyle-rittenhouse-gun-control.html