Former President Trump is suing CBS News over a “60 Minutes” interview it broadcast with Vice President Harris earlier this month that he and his allies have claimed was edited to cast her in a positive light.
The lawsuit, which seeks $10 billion in damages
and was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in the northern district of Texas alleges the network engaged in “partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference through malicious, deceptive, and substantial news distortion.”
“To paper over Kamala’s “word salad” weakness, CBS used its national platform on 60 Minutes to cross the line from the exercise of judgment in reporting to deceitful, deceptive manipulation of news,” the lawsuit reads.
CBS News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump and his allies have railed against CBS for weeks over the wide-ranging interview with Harris, pointing to an answer the vice president gave to a question about the war in Gaza that was not included in the full broadcast
and instead published by the outlet online
.
It is standard practice for broadcast outlets to edit questions and answers during interviews with major newsmakers for clarity, accuracy and time.
Trump initially agreed to sit for a similar interview with “60 Minutes,” the network said at the time it broadcast its conversation with Harris, but the former president backed out after the program said it would fact check him.
Trump first teased a potential lawsuit
against CBS earlier this month, saying the network “should lose their license and take ’60 Minutes’ off the air.”
CBS is one of several mainstream news networks Trump has threatened to use the federal government to crack down on over coverage that is critical of him.
Trump’s lawsuit was filed in federal court in Amarillo, Texas, which guaranteed it would be assigned to U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk. His single-judge division has become an attractive forum for Republican-led lawsuits challenging Biden administration actions
.
A second Donald J. Trump presidency would almost certainly mark a return to an era of foreign policy decrees, untethered to any policy process, at a moment of maximum international peril.
Mycology is the study of fungi — hence the Illinois Mycology Association. During mushroom season in Illinois, mid-April to early November, the Illinois Mycological Association members conduct surveys around Chicagoland a few times a month.
Mycologist Dr. Patrick Leacock identifies fungi collected by the Illinois Mycological Association at the St. Mihiel Woods-East nature preserve in Tinley Park on Oct. 26, 2024. (Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune)Melissa Fei lays fungi on a blanket after a fungi collection by the Illinois Mycological Association at the St. Mihiel Woods-East nature preserve in Tinley Park on Oct. 26, 2024. (Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune)
Kate Golembiewski, dressed in a bridal veil stinkhorn mushroom Halloween costume, holds fungi while listening as mycologist Dr. Patrick Leacock identifies fungi collected by the Illinois Mycological Association at the St. Mihiel Woods-East nature preserve in Tinley Park on Oct. 26, 2024. (Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune)John Willis, 12, collects fungi with the Illinois Mycological Association at the St. Mihiel Woods-East nature preserve in Tinley Park on Oct. 26, 2024. (Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune)A tray lays open with fungi specimens that Kate Peltz collected with the Illinois Mycological Association at the St. Mihiel Woods-East nature preserve. (Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune)
A member of the Illinois Mycological Association wears a witch hat as a Halloween costume while collecting fungi at the St. Mihiel Woods-East nature preserve. (Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune)John Willis, 12, left, looks in awe at a blewit mushroom that Gino Albert found with the Illinois Mycological Association at the St. Mihiel Woods-East nature preserve in Tinley Park on Oct. 26, 2024. (Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune)President of the Illinois Mycological Association Matt Nelsen wears a fungi-infected ant Halloween costume while collecting fungi at the St. Mihiel Woods-East nature preserve. (Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune)
A member of the Illinois Mycological Association collects fungi at the St. Mihiel Woods-East nature preserve in Tinley Park. (Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune)Member of the Illinois Mycological Association and volunteer at the Field Museum Madison Biesinger looks at fungi collected by Kate Peltz at the St. Mihiel Woods-East nature preserve in Tinley Park on Oct. 26, 2024. Some of the collected fungi will be taken to the Field Museum for DNA analysis. (Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune)Neil Fei, 8, in a mushroom hat that he wears as a Halloween costume every year, collects fungi with the Illinois Mycological Association at the St. Mihiel Woods-East nature preserve in Tinley Park on Oct. 26, 2024. (Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune)
Mycologist Dr. Patrick Leacock explains that the fungi in his hand is poisonous after a fungi collection by the Illinois Mycological Association at the St. Mihiel Woods-East nature preserve in Tinley Park. (Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune)DJ Jones wears a gorilla Halloween costume while collecting fungi with the Illinois Mycological Association at the St. Mihiel Woods-East nature preserve in Tinley Park on Oct. 26, 2024. (Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune)Kate Peltz wears a forest elf fairy Halloween costume while collecting fungi with the Illinois Mycological Association at the St. Mihiel Woods-East nature preserve. (Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune)
Molly Willis, 6, searches for fungi with the Illinois Mycological Association at the St. Mihiel Woods-East nature preserve. (Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune)Mycologist Dr. Patrick Leacock identifies fungi collected by the Illinois Mycological Association as puffball mushrooms at the St. Mihiel Woods-East nature preserve on Oct. 26, 2024. (Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune)Kate Peltz wears a forest elf fairy Halloween costume while collecting fungi with the Illinois Mycological Association at the St. Mihiel Woods-East nature preserve in Tinley Park on Oct. 26, 2024. (Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune)
Kate Peltz wears a forest elf fairy Halloween costume while collecting fungi with the Illinois Mycological Association at the St. Mihiel Woods-East nature preserve in Tinley Park on Oct. 26, 2024. (Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune)
Residents of Phoenix are feeling the heat, and it’s not just the weather. Instead, it’s the relentless rise in inflation that has tightened its grip on household budgets, forcing many to reevaluate their spending and lifestyle choices. The current financial reality has become painfully clear: the American dream
has become a distant memory, seemingly out of reach for many Phoenix families.
Christopher is a young professional in Arizona
(he asked not to use his full name). His story is emblematic of a larger struggle faced by many in his generation, as the dream of financial independence feels increasingly elusive.
He graduated from Arizona State University in 2023 with an English degree. Now, he works in the human resources department at an in-patient rehabilitation hospital in Mesa. Living with his mother in Scottsdale—an arrangement borne of necessity rather than choice—he is confronted daily by the exorbitant costs of living in Phoenix. Using the Heritage Foundation’s Inflation Calculator, Christopher’s monthly household expenses total $4,753. This marks a staggering increase of 35.9% or $1,254, since January 2021.
The impact of inflation,
propagated by reckless government spending, is evident across all facets of life, from essential needs to discretionary spending. Households are grappling with financial decisions that were once straightforward, as the cost of living has surged at an alarming rate.
Christopher’s personal expenses run through The Heritage Foundation Inflation Calculator at myinflation.com.
Rent is the largest financial burden for Christopher. He currently splits a two-bedroom apartment with his mother at $2,800 per month, 37.2% or $759 a month more than he would have paid four years ago. For many, rent or mortgage costs consume a substantial portion of household income, leaving little room for savings or other expenses.
He says that his dream of homeownership is slipping further away: “Trying to move out into a decent neighborhood means an average monthly mortgage payment of $2,500 minimum. As a recent graduate and single guy, this is completely impossible for him.
“I can’t afford that rent payment on my own, so I save by staying at home with my mom,” he said.
Transportation and car expenses have not escaped the inflationary heat wave either. He pays $240 per month for gasoline, which is $73, or 43.9%, more expensive than 2021.
The cost of commuting 80 minutes from Scottsdale to Mesa for a day of work is burning a hole in his budget, too. Other transportation costs, including insurance,
have also seen significant increases. He pays $200 monthly for car insurance, a drastic 54.9% increase compared to just four short years ago.
Some of the expenses that one can input into The Heritage Foundation Inflation Calculator at myinflation.com.
Another area where residents feel the pinch is in their grocery bills. Christopher spends an average of $200 per month on groceries, which have increased by 21% since 2021. Eating out has become a luxury that many can no longer afford, as it has increased by 23.1% since Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took office. The simple pleasure of enjoying a meal with friends or family is increasingly overshadowed by financial constraints.
Taking his mother or a date to Cheesecake Factory warrants a bill of $60, compared to $48 just four years ago. “Inflation kills the restaurant business because they have tight margins, so they either raise food prices or cut costs by laying off employees and making portions smaller,” Christopher said. This vicious cycle places the financial burden squarely on consumers, who either receive less for their money or choose to forgo dining out altogether.
It is crucial policymakers address the underlying causes of inflation. By implementing responsible fiscal policies and fostering economic growth that prioritizes affordability, such action would alleviate the financial strain on individuals like Christopher.
The current inflation crisis is a wake-up call for Phoenix. Arizona families and all Americans
deserve an economy that supports them and contributes to a higher standard of living, not one that stifles them with rising costs. It’s time for Phoenix to rise above these economic challenges and ensure that the American dream remains within reach for all its residents.
TEL AVIV, Israel — Rocket barrages from Lebanon into northern Israel killed four foreign workers and three Israelis on Thursday, Israeli medics said, the deadliest cross-border strikes in Israel since it invaded Lebanon. Israel kept up airstrikes it says targeted Hezbollah fighters across Lebanon, where health authorities on Thursday reported 24 people killed.
U.S. diplomats were in the region pushing for cease-fires in both Lebanon and Gaza, hoping to wind down the wars in the Middle East as the Biden administration enters its final months. Pressure has been building ahead of the U.S. election next week.
In northern Gaza, Israeli forces struck one of the last functioning hospitals, according to the World Heath Organization said, destroying much-needed supplies that the U.N. agency had delivered to the facility. The strikes set off a fire that affected the dialysis unit, destroyed water tanks, damaged the surgery building and injured four medics trying to extinguish the blaze, said the hospital’s director, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya.
The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment about a strike on the hospital, which it stormed last week after alleging it was harboring Hamas fighters. Gaza’s Health Ministry on Thursday condemned Israeli attacks on the hospital and called on the international community to safeguard medical facilities in Gaza.
Back-to-back deadly rocket attacks hit Israel
Projectiles from Lebanon crashed into an agricultural area in Metula, Israel’s northernmost town, killing four foreign workers and an Israeli farmer, local officials said Thursday.
Hours later, the Israeli military reported another volley of some 25 rockets from Lebanon, striking an olive grove in a suburb of the northern Israeli port city of Haifa. That strike killed a 30-year-old man and 60-year-old woman while wounding two others, said Magen David Adom, Israel’s main emergency medical organization.
Both Hezbollah and Hamas are backed by Iran, Israel’s regional adversary. Hezbollah did not immediately claim responsibility for Thursday’s rocket fire. Israel’s military said 90 projectiles were fired from Lebanon on Thursday.
Hezbollah has been firing thousands of rockets, drones and missiles into Israel —and drawing fierce Israeli retaliatory strikes — over the past year since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of the Gaza Strip triggered Israel’s devastating war in the Palestinian enclave.
The residents of Metula evacuated in October 2023, and only security officials and agricultural workers remain. The Hotline for Refugees and Migrants, an Israeli organization that advocates for foreign workers, said authorities had put them in danger by allowing them to work along the border without proper protection.
Agricultural areas near Israel’s border are closed military zones that can only be entered with official permission. For the few remaining residents, the thump of interceptions by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system and wailing air raid sirens punctuate daily life.
Nonetheless, local officials largely support continuing a ground operation in southern Lebanon.
“If the Israeli government accedes to an agreement brought by (the Biden administration) … we will not have it because for us this is rehabilitating Hezbollah again on our borders,” said Eitan Davidi, the mayor of the northern town of Margaliot.
Israeli bombs across Lebanon after evacuation warnings
Israeli strikes killed 24 people in Lebanon on Thursday, among them 13 people in the country’s eastern Bekaa Valley, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News agency, a day after the Israel’s military warned residents there to evacuate.
The warnings sent thousands of people fleeing and spread panic across the city, known for its colossal Roman ruins.
The Lebanese Health Ministry reported that over the last 24 hours, Israeli bombardments killed 45 people and wounded 110 in various parts of the country.
Jean Fakhry, a local official in the Deir al-Ahmar region in the Bekaa Valley, said Israeli airstrikes pummeling the area turned the main highway “a parking lot” of fleeing cars stuck in traffic.
Around 12,000 displaced people are staying in the area, he said, with most taking refuge in private homes. At one of the shelters in Deir al-Ahmar, families with luggage were still arriving Thursday.
“Our homes were destroyed,” said Zahraa Younis, from the village near Baalbek. “We came with nothing — no clothes or anything else.”
US officials are in the region seeking a cease-fire
Senior White House aides Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein were in Israel Thursday for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior officials about the conflicts with Hamas and Hezbollah.
The meetings focused on efforts to secure a cease-fire deal in Lebanon and to assess new proposals floated by mediators to free Israeli hostages being held in Gaza, according to a U.S. official familiar with planning for the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly. The meetings were attended by Netanyahu as well as Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defense minister; David Barnea, the director of the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency; and other officials.
But with the U.S. election on Tuesday, hopes for immediate progress appeared remote — particularly in Gaza where Israel has come under criticism for not letting more humanitarian aid into the besieged north.
The death toll from more than a year of war in Gaza passed 43,000 earlier this week, Palestinian health officials reported.
The Awda Hospital in central Gaza said late Thursday it had received 16 bodies of people killed by Israeli bombardment of two houses in Nuseirat refugee camp. The hospital said more than 30 others, including a medic and two journalists, were wounded.
Over the past year, the broadening Israeli campaign in Lebanon against Hezbollah has killed 2,865 people there, wounded over 13,000 and devastated Lebanese towns near the border.
Some 1.2 million people in Lebanon have been displaced since Israel escalated the conflict into a full-blown war last month, when it launched a wave of heavy airstrikes that killed Hezbollah’s top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and most of his deputies.
A year of Hezbollah rocket attacks have also forced 60,000 Israelis to evacuate from near the border.
Frankel reported from Jerusalem and Tawil from Deir al-Ahmar, Lebanon. Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani and Matt Lee in Washington and Eleanor H. Reich in New York contributed to this report.
A co-chair of Donald Trump’s transition team said Trump supporter Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants access to federal health data so he can show vaccines are unsafe and lead to them being pulled from the market in a second Trump administration.
Special Counsel Jack Smith told a federal judge Thursday to reject former President Donald Trump’s move to dismiss his federal election fraud prosecution on the basis that the special counsel doesn’t have standing to bring the charges.
