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CIA and MI6 heads issue call for cease-fire in Gaza, praise Ukraine’s Russia incursion [Video]
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CIA and MI6 heads issue call for cease-fire in Gaza, praise Ukraine’s Russia incursion [Video]

The heads of the British and American foreign intelligence agencies said Saturday that Ukraines surprise incursion into Russia is a significant achievement that could change the narrative of the grinding 2 1/2-year war, as they urged Kyiv’s allies not to be held back by Russian threats of escalation.Richard Moore, the head of MI6, said Kyivs surprise August offensive to seize territory in Russias Kursk region was typically audacious and bold on the part of the Ukrainians, to try and change the game. He said the offensive which Ukraine said has captured about 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles) of Russian territory had brought the war home to ordinary Russians.Related video above: CIA director on Gaza cease-fireSpeaking alongside Moore at an unprecedented joint public event in London, CIA Director William Burns said the offensive was a significant tactical achievement that had exposed vulnerabilities in the Russian military.It has yet to be seen whether Ukraine can turn the gains into a long-term advantage. So far the offensive has not drawn Russian President Vladimir Putins focus away from eastern Ukraine, where his forces are closing in on the strategically situated city of Pokrovsk.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly pressed allies to let Kyiv use Western-supplied missiles to strike deep inside Russia and hit sites from which Moscow launches aerial attacks. While some countries, including Britain, are thought to tacitly support the idea, others including Germany and the U.S. are reluctant.U.S. President Joe Biden has allowed Ukraine to fire U.S.-provided missiles into Russia in self-defense, but the distance has been largely limited to cross-border targets deemed a direct threat, out of concerns about further escalating the conflict.Burns said the West should be mindful of the escalation risk but not be unnecessarily intimidated by Russian saber-rattling, revealing that there was a moment in late 2022 when there was a genuine risk of the use of tactical nuclear weapons by Moscow.He also warned of the growing and troubling defense relationship between Russia, China, Iran and North Korea that he said threatens both Ukraine and Western allies in the Middle East. North Korea has sent ammunition and missiles to Russia to use against Ukraine, while Iran supplies Moscow with attack drones.Burns said the CIA had yet to see evidence of China sending weapons to Russia, but we see lot of things short of that. And he warned Iran against supplying ballistic missiles to Moscow, saying it would be a dramatic escalation of the relationship.He did not say whether such missiles had already been sent. But two people familiar with the matter said the United States has told allies that it believes Tehran has transferred short-range ballistic missiles to Russia. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a matter that has not been publicly disclosed.Ahead of their joint appearance at the FT Weekend Festival at Londons Kenwood House, the two spymasters wrote an opinion piece for the Financial Times, calling for a cease-fire in Israels war against Hamas and saying their agencies had exploited our intelligence channels to push hard for restraint and de-escalation.Burns has been heavily involved in efforts to broker an end to the fighting, traveling to Egypt in August for high-level talks aimed at bringing about a hostage deal and at least a temporary halt to the conflict.So far there has been no agreement, though United States officials insist a deal is close. Biden said recently that just a couple more issues remain unresolved. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, has said reports of a breakthrough are exactly inaccurate.I cannot tell you how close we are right now, Burns told the London audience. He said negotiators are working on new, detailed proposals that would be presented within several days.Burns said that while 90% of the text has been agreed between the warring sides, the last 10% is the last 10% for a reason, because its the hardest part to do.Burns said ending the conflict would require some hard choices and some difficult compromises from both Israel and Hamas.The U.S. and the United Kingdom are both staunch allies of Israel, though London diverged from Washington on Monday by suspending some arms exports to Israel because of the risk they could be used to break international law.The intelligence chiefs’ speech came ahead of a busy week of trans-Atlantic diplomacy that includes a meeting in Washington between Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The White House said the talks would touch on Ukraine, Gaza and other issues.In another sign of the intensification of the special relationship, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will also travel to London early next week for talks with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and other officials.The State Department said Blinken would participate in the U.S.-U.K. strategic dialogue on Monday and Tuesday that will cover Ukraine, the Middle East, China and the Indo-Pacific.In their article, Burns and Moore stressed the strength of the trans-Atlantic relationship in the face of an unprecedented array of threats, including an assertive Russia, an ever-more powerful China and the constant drumbeat of international terrorism all complicated by rapid technological change.They highlighted Russias reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe and the cynical use of technology to spread lies and disinformation designed to drive wedges between us.U.S. officials have long accused Moscow of meddling in American elections, and this week the Biden administration seized Kremlin-run websites and charged employees of Russian broadcaster RT with covertly funding social media campaigns to pump out pro-Kremlin messages and sow discord around Novembers presidential contest.Russia has also been linked by Western officials to several planned attacks in Europe, including an alleged plot to burn down Ukrainian-owned businesses in London.Moore said Russia’s spies were acting in an increasingly desperate and reckless way.The “Russian intelligence service has gone a bit feral,” he said.___Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani, Zeke Miller and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

Lawmakers return to Washington, DC after summer recess [Video]
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Lawmakers return to Washington, DC after summer recess [Video]

When the House Judiciary Committee held a field hearing on Friday to highlight the impact border security issues have on local communities, the latest installment of an ongoing series, Vice President Kamala Harris was underlying their line of attack for the first time.Related video above: Lawmakers face difficult steps to approve federal budget, avoid government shutdownFour months ago, when the panel held a similar field hearing in North Dakota, the vice president was not mentioned by name once.The shift, both in branding and messaging from the “Biden Border Crisis” to the “Biden-Harris Border Crisis” underscores how House Republicans are pivoting to specifically target Harris after the summer of Democratic reckoning over President Joe Biden resulted in Harris becoming the Democrats’ presidential nominee with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.As Congress embarks on a three-week sprint before its next recess, both parties return to Washington, D.C., for a final messaging push dictated by the dynamics of the presidential race in an entirely new political landscape, while trying to balance the critical Sept. 30 government funding deadline.Republicans have turned their operation initially designed to target Biden on its head to now go after Harris, and Democrats are positioning themselves to frame the GOP attacks as a last-ditch effort while planning some offensive moves of their own.Members of the Trump campaign advised the House GOP conference during a private call on Friday about what her biggest perceived weaknesses are and to keep their attack of Harris on the border and the state of the economy, a source on the call told CNN. Calls between Republican lawmakers and Trump campaign officials are expected to be a regular occurrence in the coming weeks, sources told CNN, as backchannel coordination ahead of the November election intensifies.The guidance from the Trump campaign largely mirrors the playbook Republicans had used against Biden, and given Harris is part of Biden’s administration and has been the tie-breaking vote in the Senate in her role as vice president, Republicans plan to keep those issues in the spotlight.With these sustained attacks on the border and immigration, Democrats will continue to point to border crossings being at a four-year low because of new Biden administration policies and emphasize that Republicans tanked a bipartisan border deal for political reasons.But while there is evidence that Republicans are trying to develop a more targeted approach to the Harris-Walz ticket as old tropes such as “Biden crime family” fall by the wayside some GOP messaging ploys on Harris have come off disjointed. Republicans have been trying to find their footing when it comes to attacking Harris over the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, to further divide Democrats over the issue. While Harris has stood behind Biden in his handling of the war, and largely shares the same positions as the president, Republicans can’t seem to decide in their messaging if Harris is too close to or too much of an opponent of Israel.A Republican-linked group in Michigan for example purchased digital ads last week touting Harris’ close relationship with Israel, while Trump said this week at an event that if Harris were elected Israel will “no longer exist.”On top of that, some Republicans have deviated from the script and gone after Harris for being a “DEI hire,” unleashing swift blowback that those attacks were racially charged.GOP committees lead the new Harris-focused effortThe Republican-led congressional committees have been spearheading the shift in focus from Biden to Harris.Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, for example, will release a report and hold a news conference Monday on the chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, calling it an “unprecedented oversight of the Biden-Harris administration,” in an apparent messaging shift after previously labeling it the responsibility of the Biden administration.The House Education and Workforce Committee issued a subpoena to Walz on Wednesday for documents related to a $250 million fraud scheme where individuals affiliated with a Minnesota-based nonprofit were charged with stealing from a federal program designed to provide meals for needy children during the pandemic.The House Oversight Committee launched an investigation into Walz last month alleging the Minnesota governor has ties to the Chinese Communist Party, and a committee source told CNN the panel plans to hold hearings targeting the Biden-Harris administration when lawmakers return to session.GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida asked Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas last month to turn over any documents that use the terms “czar,” “border,” “migration,” or “immigration” in relation to Harris, as Republicans continue to try and frame Harris as the “border czar,” while the White House rejects the label, arguing her focus was on long-term fixes. And GOP Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin raising questions about Walz’s representation of his military record.”We don’t have a lot of time,” GOP Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina told CNN on Thursday about how Republicans are pivoting to focus on Harris in September.”I certainly believe that (Harris’) role should be under the microscope,” Mace added.The GOP turn in focus to Harris however leaves a huge GOP investigative target in an awkward position.The trio of committees leading the impeachment inquiry into Biden, once a top priority for the GOP investigative agenda, released their report on Biden in the thick of August recess without a clear path forward. Instead of pushing for the House to vote on impeachment, the report leaves it up to lawmakers to decide how to move forward.Summarizing the GOP approach to Biden now that the president is not running for reelection, Mike Davis, a former top aide to Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley and founder of the Article III Project, told CNN, “Joe Biden who? No one cares about him anymore.”And with only a matter of weeks before Election Day, even Republicans have acknowledged they have more pressing political fish to fry.”I think just looking at the calendar, I think that it’s unlikely that there will be action on impeachment with Joe Biden,” GOP Rep. Bob Good of Virginia told CNN. “However, I have said for the better part of four years now that Joe Biden should be impeached.”Democrats see through GOP effortsBut Democrats see the new push to target Harris and Walz as empty threats, and they point to GOP attacks on Harris’ race as disqualifying.”Republicans can’t win on policy, and that’s why they’re attacking Kamala Harris’ identity and lying about Tim Walz’s military record,” Democratic Rep. Sara Jacobs of California told CNN. “We have plenty to attack them on.”On top of pushing back on the GOP claims, Democrats are using their spots on committees, even though they are in the minority, to go on offense, and are plotting messaging strategies of their own.Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Florida, who serves on the Oversight Committee, criticized Republicans for their snap investigations into Harris and Walz.”All of a sudden, the only three weeks we are going to be there, we are opening up all these new things?” Moskowitz said.Framing the Democratic strategy on these committees, Moskowitz added: “We pivot, we go on the offense, we don’t play defense.”As Congress returns from summer recess, veterans are paying attention to whether lawmakers will take up and pass the Star ActEarlier this month, House Oversight Committee Democrats launched an investigation into whether Trump received $10 million from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi as part of his 2016 presidential campaign, the latest example of Democrats investigating the potential foreign influence over Trump.The Democratic working group that has spearheaded messaging against Project 2025, the conservative blueprint for the next Republican president that has attracted considerable blowback in Trump’s race for the White House, also has a slew of messaging events planned over the next month, multiple sources told CNN.While Trump continues to deny any involvement with Project 2025, Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee are preparing to continue to highlight examples where they see evidence of the right wing blueprint in Republican funding proposals in Congress.

Technology, the Catalyst for Banks to Evolve into Competitors [Video]
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Technology, the Catalyst for Banks to Evolve into Competitors [Video]

FinextraTV and Gabriela Giannattasio, VP of EMEA, Veritran, tap into how banks should be prioritising streamlining user experiences, enhancing seamless payment systems, making them secure, and ensuring compliance with upcoming regulations all at the same time. In this new age of financial polyamory, individuals and businesses are no longer married to just one bank, and banks should view collaborat…

VIDEO REPORT: Saints rout Panthers in historic performance by Derek Carr and offense [Video]
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VIDEO REPORT: Saints rout Panthers in historic performance by Derek Carr and offense [Video]

SAINTS HEAD COACH DENNIS ALLENOpening statement”It was good to get a win and start the season off that way. It was good to see, offensively, we were able to run the football, which I felt like was going to be a key factor for us. We ran the ball really well, which opened up some things in the play action passing game. We had explosives down the field. That was good to see from the offense. Defensively, we had the three takeaways, had four sacks in the game. I thought we did a pretty good job minimizing what they were able to do in the running game, which allows you to kind of rush the passer a little more. There are certainly a ton of things we have to get cleaned up. The penalties were too many. That’s something we will have to address this week at practice. We still have a lot of things that we have to get better at. Our focus is going to be on making the corrections we need to make from this one, improving on those things and getting ready for Dallas.”On having Klint Kubiak on the sideline”(Kubiak) stayed on the sideline. He will probably be there next week. I thought it went well. It’s one of those things where you’re with them all week long and you’re talking to them all week long. I just think there’s something to being able to look in a guy’s eyes and see and feel what they’re feeling on the field. I thought it worked great. I thought Rico’s (Rick Dennison) been outstanding up in the box for him. We have a couple of pairs of eyes up there. I like how it’s worked the last couple of times.”On the offensive production”I thought we executed pretty well. Certainly there’s still things we have to do better, but I think we scored on our first nine drives. That’s encouraging, yet I think there were some other opportunities to get touchdowns instead of having to kick field goals. I think the biggest thing when you win a game like that is keeping guys grounded and understanding this is one of 17. Let’s focus on things we have to improve on. We’ll enjoy the win, but we understand we have a lot of things we have to do better.”On if you can feel how “locked in” the team is”I felt like over the last couple of weeks, I think, just watching our guys in practice, I felt our guys were getting a feel for what we were trying to do. I like the speed that we were practicing. I felt confident in this game that we would play well in all three phases.”On the ability of the offense to start fast”I think your ability to start fast if you’re able to run the football, it sets up more things that you can do. When you’re able to run the football, it’s much easier to pass protect. When you are able to run the football, you have the ability to utilize play-action passing. It just makes the defense have to defend everything. That was positive in this game. We got to try to build on that.”On Derek Carr’s performance”I thought (Carr) played well. I thought he managed the game well. The first touchdown pass to (Rashid) Shaheed was awesome. There was a little bit of pressure on him, had to step up in the pocket. He stepped up, made the throw, put it right on the money. That was awesome to see. Him no different than anyone else on our team, we’re going to go and look at a handful of plays that ‘ah, man, I wish we would have when we had opportunities.’ I think that’s the biggest thing we have to focus on is cleaning those things up as we head into Week Two against Dallas.”On the touchdown to Shaheed”Usually when we put Shaheed on a big post, we’re expecting that. That’s what we’re hoping for. Yet, I don’t know how the defense is going to play it. If they take that away, we have to be ready to go to our secondary deals. That was a part of the plan.”On the passing game as a whole”I feel like we came into this game and said we would go in and play the game to win. That’s what we did. I thought we took our shots when they were available to us, and we ran it when we needed to. We were prepared to potentially go for some fourth downs, if need be. It’s part of the deal. You have to play this game to win in our league, and I have confidence in our guys to be able to do that.”On the chemistry and trust with Klint Kubiak”I think the longer that you’re around somebody, the more you get a feel for where they’re at. There are conversations that go on, and let’s go play this game not to lose; let’s play this game to win. That’s what we did today, and our guys came out and executed at a high level. I think if our guys play that way and execute that way, then I think we’re going to have a chance in a lot of games. That’s what we have to do.”On pressuring with defensive back Alontae Taylor”Well, he’s fast. That would be No. 1, and he’s aggressive. It’s one thing to say you’re going to send somebody on a pressure, but they have to be willing to go in and deal with the noise that’s in there. Every now and then it’s a little noisy, and there is a big 300-pound offensive lineman and things of that nature. I think he is fast; he is aggressive. It was good to see him be able to run back there. What was it three sacks? It’s been a while since we’ve had a DB do that. It’s never happened (Saints history). It’s been a long time … since the 1960s.”On if he will enjoy the win tonight”I’m going to enjoy this one. Why wouldn’t I? These things are hard to come by. For all of us, it’s about staying grounded. There’s no 24 hours. We’re going to be in meetings tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. I don’t know what time it is now, but we’re less than 24 hours (away from that). We’re going to enjoy it for a couple of hours and get back to work tomorrow morning as coaches. Players will get in around nine o’clock and get a lift in, get a little workout, little sweat and then be back ready to go with meetings and make corrections.”On the decision to have Jake Haener serve as the second quarterback and Spencer Rattler as the third in the game”I just think that was my decision and what I felt like I wanted to do in this game. It may be that way next week. It may not be that way next week. I want both of these guys to prepare as if they are going to be the starter, and that’s why we did what we did.”On Alvin Kamara’s game”I thought it was awesome. I have a vision of what (Kamara) can do in this offense. I think there’s a lot of things he can do. We’ve got weapons. We’ve got speed on the outside. We’ve got Alvin and Jamaal (Williams) running the ball. We have all the different things we can do with Taysom Hill. I feel good about the weapons we have. Our coaches put those guys in the best position for them to have success.”On if Derek Carr feeds off the fast start”You sense that with all of them. When you go out in your first drive and you throw a long touchdown pass, I think everybody gets some confidence and excitement with that. I think fast starts build confidence in everybody. I think this I think we had that confidence going into the game. I’ve had the opportunity to watch this team through training camp. I had no idea what the score was going to be, but I had a lot of confidence in my team’s ability to go out there and play and play at a really high level.”On the offensive tackles’ performance”I would probably say, without watching the tape, there was a lot of good, and there was a few bad. Those guys are no different than anybody else. We’re going to go back, and we’re going to watch the tape and make the corrections that we have to make and work to improve. When you look at the offensive performance and being able to put points up like that, being able to run the football like that three touchdown passes, is that right? You don’t do those things without your offensive line playing at a high level. I thought they played well.”On what he meant by “these things are hard to come by””Wins. Wins in our league are hard to come by. They’re difficult. When you get one, you celebrate it, you enjoy it and then you get ready for the next one. We’re playing again next week, you know what I mean? It’s not like we don’t play again for a long time. You’ve got to get back and get ready to play next week.”On if he predicted the outcome being as big as it was”I don’t know that I saw the score being what the score was, but again, I had confidence in our football team to come out and perform well. I think we did that.”On how gratifying the offensive performance was”Yeah, it is, but that’s a long process that started way back in the spring. Look, it’s a credit to all of the coaches and the players that there’s enough trust among players and the coaches with each other. We trust each other enough to know that the message we’re all following can work. When you do all of that and then all of a sudden you see the fruits of the labor, yeah, it’s gratifying.”On playing Landon Young over Nick Saldiveri at left guard in the second half”Nick (Saldiveri) missed a lot of time. We’ve got to get him out practicing and developing. We’ll see where we’re at. That was kind of the plan going in is that Nick would be the emergency, eighth lineman in case we needed him.”On the difference with Alvin Kamara’s performance compared to last season”We’ll see. I don’t want to get into being a prognosticator and trying to fortune tell a little bit, but I do feel like his skillset and what we do offensively, I do think that can benefit him, which obviously benefits us as a team. I am excited to see where it goes.”On making in-game adjustments”There were a few things we had to make some adjustments to. It’s that way in every game. I would probably say that I don’t know we saw too many really exotic things that we weren’t maybe ready for. There were a couple of schematic things they did and made a little adjustment, but other than that, I thought our guys were prepared for what they were doing.”On if the Saints provided an unexpected gameplan”Don’t know. It’s a better question for them. You know what I mean? I thought offensively, I thought we had a good game plan.”On Marshon Lattimore’s hamstring injury in the third quarter”With hamstrings you never really know, but (Lattimore) did do something to his hamstring. We will evaluate it and see what that means, if that means missed time or not. Foster Moreau went out late in the game with a concussion, so he will have to be in the protocol. Other than that, we’ll evaluate where these guys are tomorrow and have a better idea of what we are dealing with.”On the production of the tight ends”I’m excited about what I think we can do offensively. We have a long season ahead of us and we’ve got a ton of things we have to get better at.”

‘UPFRONT’ recap: Tommy Thompson says Trump must campaign in Dane and Milwaukee counties [Video]
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‘UPFRONT’ recap: Tommy Thompson says Trump must campaign in Dane and Milwaukee counties [Video]

Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson says Donald Trump must campaign in Dane and Milwaukee counties ahead of Election Day in order to win Wisconsin. “They’ve got to reduce the Democratic votes in Dane County,” Thompson said on WISN’s ‘UPFRONT’ which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics.com. “Number two, they’ve got to go to Serb Hall and have a rally. And just like before your time, Ronald Reagan came and opened up Serb Hall. South Milwaukee is a conservative Democrat area, and you can pick up a lot of votes there. And then go into Platteville and talk to the people down there about the Keystone pipeline and opening up the border.” Thompson said he personally delivered the message to Trump when he campaigned in La Crosse. “He listened,” Thompson said. “He listened intently, and let’s see what he does.”Thompson, who’s helping advise the campaign behind the scenes, said Trump needs to focus on the issues during Tuesday night’s presidential debate.”He’s got to make sure he doesn’t take the bait and become personal,” Thompson said. “He’s got to talk about, like he did at the Economic Forum in New York, talk about the importance of tax cuts, talk about economic development, talking about closing the border, reducing the illegal drugs.” “The choice I think is quite simple,” he added. “And I think if Donald Trump gets that message out during the debate and pins her to the positions she’s always taken and lays out his vision.” During a bus tour throughout parts of Wisconsin, U.S. education secretary Miguel Cardona says public schools, including in Wisconsin, are ‘under attack.'”While underfunded in many places, we’re seeing money being taken away to pay for private tuitions and vouchers,” Cardona said. “So we’re defending public education. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for public schools that I attended and for the great majority of students across this country.” When asked about the shared revenue law Gov. Tony Evers signed that increased funding for both public and choice schools, Cardona said while’s a ‘big believer in choice’ public school funding is paramount.”I want to make sure that our local neighborhood school has the resources it needs to move forward,” Cardona said. “Nothing against choice, but I want to make sure that before we start saying that our schools are not meeting the needs of students, we’re properly funding them.” Cardona also said he doesn’t believe school resource officers should be federally mandated inside each school. The new state law requires officers to be reinstated within Milwaukee Public Schools, which hasn’t yet happened.”I’ve seen school resource officers used in a way that really builds relationships with the students and not only creates a positive learning environment, but also gives students an opportunity to explore another career option to public service, public safety is a career option,” Cardona said. Universities of Wisconsin president Jay Rothman says he’ll spend the following months ‘making his case’ to lawmakers for an additional $855 million in state funding as part of the next state budget. “We’ve been talking about Wisconsin being 43rd out of 50 states in terms of public support for its university system since I started in my role,” Rothman said. “So this is not a new conversation.” “It goes to things that are really important, that goes to ensuring affordability with a tuition promise, that goes to accessibility,” Rothman added. “It goes to areas around student success, investing in academic advising, career advising and mental health. It goes to ensuring quality, paying our faculty and staff at market levels.” Rothman said if the $855 million is approved, he would not propose a tuition increase during the next two-year biennium.”We have increasingly become more tuition dependent,” Rothman said. “Tuition now comprises a larger percentage of our budget than does our state support. That never was the case. I think we’ll have to see how this plays out. I don’t want to have to go back and raise tuition. I think we want to make sure that we are as affordable as we can be.” Rothman again rejected an idea stemming from a legislative committee, proposing UW-Madison spin-off from the rest of the UW System.”It’s a proposal that’s been floated before,” Rothman said. “It’s been rejected before. And I think, quite frankly, it should be rejected again. Our 13 universities that comprise the Universities of Wisconsin, including our flagship UW-Madison, are better together. Separating them and pitting universities within the state against each other makes no sense to me.” Rothman said universities like Madison and Milwaukee are prepared for more pro-Palestinian protesters, adding university officials spent part of the summer focused on the issue and communication among campuses and police.”We are prepared to deal with whatever might come,” he said. “And we will respect people’s First Amendment rights to protest, and if they protest within the law, that’s fantastic. That’s part of what the university experience should bring. But it also has to be within the law, and we expect more activity, but we are prepared for it.””The encampments were a violation of Wisconsin law, full stop,” Rothman added that if they are set up again, “We’re going to have to address them, and we are prepared to do that.” ABC News Washington Bureau Chief Rick Klein says neither presidential candidate will receive questions or topics in advance of Tuesday night’s debate despite the unfounded claims by former President Donald Trump.”No, of course not,” Klein said. “It’s actually stipulated in the formal rules. And no candidate gets any kind of an advantage like that, no. No glimpse at the topics, the questions, any of the sort. And the ABC News contributors are not part of the debate prep. It’s journalists that are working on it and will be David Muir and Lindsey Davis asking the questions.” Tuesday night’s debate will include no audience and the candidates mics will be muted when it’s not their turn to speak. “They’ve never been in the same room in a sustained way that we’re aware of before, and they certainly have never interacted in a policy discussion,” Klein said. “It’s all brand new for so much of the country, and given the upheaval of the last couple of weeks and months, it seems like an enormous moment all around.”

Kohberger defense challenges Idaho death penalty [Video]
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Kohberger defense challenges Idaho death penalty [Video]

The defense team for Bryan Kohberger, the man charged in the 2022 killings of four University of Idaho students, is seeking to remove the death penalty from his case.Kohberger faces four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in the November 13 killings of students Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20.Related video above: Idaho residents relieved after suspect’s arrestIn 13 motions made public Thursday evening, Kohberger’s lawyers argued myriad reasons why the state’s intent to seek the death penalty is unconstitutional.Among the various arguments, Kohberger’s attorneys wrote, “Idaho’s system of obtaining death convictions is unconstitutional at this time” and that the state’s “guarantee to a speedy trial prevents effective assistance of counsel in death penalty cases.” They go on to argue that capital cases “must be subjected to heightened constitutional scrutiny” and cannot be prepared in 10 months. Kohberger’s trial is scheduled to start in June 2025.One motion focuses on what Kohberger’s defense team calls an “ideological shift” and “evolving standards” in the way Americans view the death penalty.”The lack of an active death penalty in the majority of states within the United States indicates that there has been an ideological shift and that the punishment now violates our contemporary standards of decency,” they wrote, noting that five US states have abolished the practice in recent years. Other motions argued the state’s death penalty statute constitutes a violation of international law and the fundamental precepts of international human rights. They also contend Idaho’s methods of execution, lethal injection and firing squad, are cruel and unusual punishment and therefore a violation of the Constitution of the United States.In 2023, Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed a bill into law that allows the state’s department of corrections to perform execution by firing squad if lethal injections drugs are not available.The 13 filings were made Thursday to meet a court-set deadline for any motions challenging the death penalty. The court has set Oct. 10 as the deadline for the state’s response and scheduled a hearing on the matter for Nov. 7.Last year the prosecution in the case stated their intention to pursue the death penalty, stating in a filing it had “not identified or been provided with any mitigating circumstances” to stop it from considering capital punishment.