Day: September 27, 2024

Hurricane Helene: Florida gov. Ron Desantis provides update on deadly storm

Hurricane Helene made its way through the sunshine state and emergency crews rushed Friday to rescue people trapped in flooded homes. Florida and other states such as Georgia experienced massive storm surge power outages. Florida governor Ron Desantis held a press conference on Friday providing an update on Hurricane Helene.

FOX Weather’s Bob Van Dillen Rescues Woman From Atlanta Floodwater

FOX Weather Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen found himself in the middle of a harrowing rescue mission during Hurricane Helene. Conditions deteriorated rapidly in the pre-dawn hours around Atlanta, with millions facing the threat of life-threatening flooding. On Friday morning, the city was placed under its first-ever Flash Flood Emergency, as Atlanta endured its wettest three-day period in 104 years. While covering the storm's aftermath, Van Dillen, a journalist from the area, heard a woman's desperate cries for help along Peach Tree Creek. She had driven into floodwaters and was trapped in her car before sunrise.

Hurricane Helene makes landfall in Florida as major category 4 storm

Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida's Big Bend region as a catastrophic storm, lashing the region with devastating winds over 130 mph, and threatening a potentially "unsurvivable" 20-foot storm surge and flooding rain. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis gave an update moments after Helene made landfall in Taylor County, FL at 11:10pm ET.

Helene Update & Next 2 Storms Coming Is VERY Concerning!

The next 2 storms forming will be tricky and potentially strong. We also still have Tropical storm Helene. We also have severe weather, damaging winds and potential tornadoes. In this video I will show you the information and impacts so you can better prepare.

DeSantis Reveals Fatalities Due To Hurricane Helene, Discusses Search & Rescue Operations

Biden-Harris Admin Announces Over $8B In Additional Aid For Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shakes hands with US President Joe Biden during an event with world leaders launching a Joint Declaration of Support for Ukrainian Recovery and Reconstruction on the sidelines of the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 25, 2024. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
1:28 PM – Thursday, September 26, 2024

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/biden-harris-admin-announces-over-8b-in-additional-aid-for-ukraine/; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

After President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s recent visit to Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that more than $8 billion in military aid would be provided to Ukraine in its war against Russia.

The first delivery of the Joint Standoff Weapon, a precision-guided glide bomb with a maximum range of 81 miles, will be one of the many expensive explosives provided as part of the aid. With the medium-range missile, Ukraine can try to strike Russian forces at “safer ranges,” and it significantly improves its arsenal of weaponry.

“Biden will not announce that Washington would let Ukraine use U.S. missiles to hit targets deeper in Russia," a U.S. official said,” according to Reuters.

“We’re making clear that we stand with Ukraine now and in the future,” Biden told reporters ahead of a bilateral meeting with Zelensky in the Oval Office. He said the U.S. would continue to help Ukraine strengthen its position on the battlefield, and that he had directed the Pentagon to allocate all remaining security funding by the end of his term in January.

Zelenskyy praised Biden for his decision to give Ukraine even more assistance, and he emphasized the need to secure Ukraine’s membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union.

At least $5.5 billion of the extra aid will be disbursed before the financing authority expires on Monday, the last day of the U.S. fiscal year. Under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, an additional $2.4 billion is available, enabling the administration to purchase more weapons for Ukraine from companies.

According to Biden, this will boost Ukraine’s defense industrial base, support its maintenance and sustainment needs, and give it more air defense, unmanned aerial systems, as well as air-to-ground weapons.

The president also stated that his proposal also calls for the Defense Department to repair and supply Ukraine with more Patriot missiles and an extra Patriot air defense battery.

In order to boost training for Ukrainian F-16 pilots, Biden directed the Pentagon to support U.S.-funded training of at least 18 pilots in the upcoming year.

“I am grateful to the United States for providing the items that are most critical to protecting our people,” Zelenskyy said on Twitter, noting the Patriot battery, the large number of drones, and other long-range missiles.

At a campaign rally in North Carolina on Wednesday, former President Donald Trump expressed his own feelings regarding the continued U.S. funding of billions of dollars to Ukraine.

“We continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refused to make a deal, Zelenskyy,” Trump reminded the crowd.

Time Magazine and the BBC outlet also had some discouraging words to say about Ukraine’s war efforts.

“U.S. officials also need to recognize that even if this aid continues, there is no realistic chance of a total Ukrainian victory next year, or the year after that. Even if the Ukrainians can build up their forces, Russia can deepen its defenses even more,” Time Magazine reported.

Meanwhile, the BBC reported that: “the former commander of the UK’s Joint Forces Command has warned that Ukraine could face defeat by Russia in 2024.”

According to AllSides’ Political Bias Meter, the BBC lands “center-left,” while Time Magazine leans fully “left” politically.

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Senate Report: USSS Agent in Charge Withheld Threat Info at Trump’s Butler, PA Rally

BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA - JULY 13: Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump is whisked away by Secret Service after shots rang out at a campaign rally at Butler Farm Show Inc. on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump slumped and injuries were visible to the side of his head. Butler County district attorney Richard Goldinger said the shooter and one audience member are dead and another was injured. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump is whisked away by the Secret Service after shots rang out at a campaign rally at Butler Farm Show Inc. on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

OAN Staff Blake Wolf
11:47 AM – Thursday, September 26, 2024

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/senate-report-usss-agent-in-charge-knew-of-threat-at-trumps-butler-rally-didnt-inform-superiors/; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

A new Senate report has revealed that the U.S. Secret Service agent in charge of former President Donald Trump’s July 13th Butler, Pennsylvania, rally was aware of “credible intelligence” regarding a dire security threat, yet did not pass the information on to event planners or her supervisor.

The Wednesday report, released by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, found that the Secret Service’s lead agent in charge of the Trump rally had stated in a security planning document that there was “no adverse intelligence” regarding Trump’s Butler rally, despite her own “prior knowledge of an unspecified threat.”

Additionally, the advance agent in question reportedly told Senate investigators that she had notified the special agent in charge (SAIC) of the Secret Service’s Pittsburgh field office regarding the “credible intelligence” prior to the rally. However, after contacting Pittsburgh’s SAIC and speaking to him directly, he disputed her claims and informed Senate officials that he was not informed and had no knowledge of this.

Pittsburgh SAIC then told investigators that if he had known about the threat, the rally would have most likely moved to an indoor location in order to mitigate the potential risk.

The 94-page report also cited security failures, which included: a lack of chain of command, poor coordination between state and local law enforcement, insufficient equipment and resources, and a failure to effectively secure the site of the rally.

Gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, came within millimeters of killing the former president on live television. Crooks climbed on top of a nearby building and, soon after, fired eight gunshots from his AK-47 style firearm in Trump’s direction. Nonetheless, the gunman only hit Trump in the side of his right ear, as the former president had turned and moved his head at the exact timing of the gunshots.

However, 50-year-old rally goer Corey Comperatore and two others were not so lucky. Comperatore passed away that day after being hit by a barrage of bullets, while the other two men were quickly rushed to the hospital.

In terms of the Senate report, it also revealed that counter snipers were on site due to this exact “credible intelligence” of a threat, yet the majority of Secret Service personnel who spoke to the committee still claimed that they had been unaware of the threat.

Secret Service agents said that they “could not identify” who had the final authority to make decisions during the Trump event.

“It was almost like an ‘Abbott and Costello’ farce with ‘who’s on first’ finger pointing by all of the different actors,” stated Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), “It was really truth being stranger than fiction.”

“Every single one of these actions is directly related to a failure in the U.S. Secret Service’s planning, communications, intelligence sharing and law enforcement coordination efforts,” Chairman Gary Peters stated on Tuesday. “Every single one of these failures was preventable, and the consequences of those failures were dire.”

Despite egregious mistakes by the lead agent and other Secret Service members, they still refused to accept any responsibility when questioned by investigators on the security failure findings.

The lead agent’s identity has not been made public, however, during a July hearing with Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe, Missouri Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) stated “I know their name,” referencing the lead agent.

Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi also stated that the agency reviewed the report and agreed that the committee’s findings aligned with many of the Secret Service’s “Mission Assurance Review,” revealing multiple communication issues as well as a lack of “due diligence.”

“The weight of our mission is not lost on us and in this hyperdynamic threat environment, the U.S. Secret Service cannot fail,” Guglielmi stated. “Many of the insights gained from the Senate report aligned with the findings from our mission assurance review and are essential to ensuring that what happened on July 13 never happens again.”

The committee has reportedly completed 12 interviews, reviewed roughly 2,800 documents, and conducted a walkthrough inspection at the Butler rally site, with additional interviews expected in the coming weeks.

Committee aides have not confirmed if the probe will expand or continue, looking into the second assassination attempt, which took place earlier this month at Trump’s West Palm Beach golf club. However, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced at a recent Justice Department event that the DOJ will “waste no resources” in the agency’s investigation of the second incident.

“We’ve put a lot of meat on the bones here, but we are a long way from getting the information we need,” stated Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), a member of the investigation subcommittee.

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