Salem News Channel

JOHANNESBURG, June 4 (Reuters) - Kenyan President William Ruto on Thursday said his government was doing "the right thing" by allowing the United States to set up an Ebola quarantine facility in Kenya. Satellite imagery seen by Reuters showed the U.S. government is moving ahead rapidly with setting up the facility at an air force base in central Kenya, despite protests and Kenyan court orders blocking it. The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The tented facility in Nanyuki, a town in central Kenya, is due to host a 50-bed unit for Americans who might be exposed to the virus, which has infected hundreds in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicentre of the outbreak. The outbreak has also spread to neighbouring Uganda, which has reported 16 cases. "I can tell you without fear of any contradiction, and I can look at everybody in the eye, ... and tell you we are doing the right thing," Ruto told a press conference during his state visit to South Africa. "It would be most unfortunate if on one request by the Americans to set up a facility at their cost, we would refuse, we would look very inhuman," Ruto added. Since May 27, a block of land totalling around 0.046 square kilometres or 11 acres within the Laikipia Air Base has been cleared, according to satellite imagery seen by Reuters. By June 4, a collection of connected white tents had been set up in the middle of the clearing, where tarmac appears to have been laid. There are further structures, earth-moving equipment and other vehicles also visible in the cleared section, which lies to the east of the runway. On Thursday, more flights landed at the air base, with people and heavy equipment on board, an eyewitness told Reuters. At least two people were killed earlier this week in protests in Nanyuki against the base. A Kenyan court first ordered work on the Ebola facility to be suspended on May 28. The U.S. embassy in Nairobi has said it is working with the Kenyan government to resolve any objections.

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June 3 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said in a podcast interview aired on Wednesday that Vice President JD Vance and U.S. Secretary of State Rubio, teaming up for a 2028 presidential run, would be unbeatable. Both men ?are seen as contenders for the 2028 Republican nomination, and Rubio's recent turn at the White House podium drew praise from Republicans and even some Democrats who noted his smooth performance, which included quips and a 1990s hip-hop reference to describe Iran's negotiating position. "I would think that JD and Marco as a team would be very hard to beat," Trump told Miranda Devine in a podcast aired on Wednesday. "It's interesting, human thing, the human equation. So I watch them together, they get along great," he added. Trump has continued to fuel the succession talk even as both Vance and Rubio downplay their 2028 ambitions. Vance and Rubio have taken turns to take the stage at White House briefings to defend the Trump administration against a wide range of questions including the increasingly unpopular Iran war. No one has formally entered the race for the November 2028 vote, but maneuvering has begun. Democratic contenders are already jockeying for a 2028 presidential run, signaling an open race with no clear party standard-bearer in the fight to succeed Republican President Donald Trump.

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A two-year investigation into immigrants with fake identity documents led to federal officials detaining 48 workers at a South Carolina metal casting business and six people facing state charges, including two top managers at the plant, authorities announced Thursday. Dozens of officials with federal and local law enforcement agencies raided Burnstein von Seelen Precision Castings in Abbeville on Wednesday. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers took the workers into custody on alleged immigration violations, and the company's plant manager and human resources director were arrested on allegations they knowingly hired immigrants in the U.S. illegally, state Attorney General Alan Wilson said at a news conference. The company officials were indicted by a state grand jury, along with four other people accused of making and selling false U.S. and state identifications using information from identity thefts. “We want to send a message that this isn’t about going after people who are trying to feed their family,” Wilson said. “This isn’t going after companies or businesses who unknowingly hiring illegal. This is about going after something much larger, you know, a conspiracy of people around South Carolina to steal identities, to create fake Social Security cards, fake driver’s license, fake immigration documents." Officials at Burnstein von Seelen did not immediately return messages left by phone and through its website, The two company managers were expected to appear at the Richland County Courthouse in Columbia on Thursday to face charges of criminal conspiracy and identity fraud to obtain employment. It was not immediately clear if they had lawyers who could respond to the allegations. Burnstein von Seelen, founded in 1985, is a metals casting business, using different alloys of copper, brass and bronze to make an array of components, according to its website. It's located in Abbeville County, population around 25,000, in western South Carolina not far from the Georgia line, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) west of Columbia. ICE officials said they were reviewing the immigration status of the 48 workers who were detained, who they said included people who have had previous encounters with ICE and some who were previously ordered deported. Authorities said the investigation is continuing and more indictments and arrests were possible. State officials began the probe began in October 2024. At the time it started, local law enforcement officials were frustrated by a lack of federal enforcement efforts against false identifications and identity theft under President Joe Biden's administration, Wilson said. That changed, he said, when President Donald Trump took office last year, and federal authorities joined the state investigation, he said. Wednesday's raid at the plant was not typical of Trump's mass deportation efforts that have garnered criticism. Immigration raids at businesses have been a relatively small part of the deportation campaign, and state officials played a leading role in the South Carolina investigation. Officials approached the investigation in ways similar to drug probes, said prosecutor Creighton Waters, pursuing not just the people using the phony documentation but those supplying it.

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WASHINGTON, June 4 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Thursday he will invoke Cold War-era emergency powers to direct nearly $700 million to help the U.S. coal industry ship the carbon-intensive fuel to Asia and power companies to burn it domestically. Trump plans to use the Defense Production Act, a 1950 law granting presidents broad authority over industries deemed critical to national security, to fund upgrades to over a dozen coal-fired power plants, help finance two new coal plants and support construction of a West Coast coal export terminal. The Trump administration has framed energy policy as a national security issue to ensure electricity for AI data centers and reduce reliance on other countries. POLLUTION CONCERNS The plan drew condemnation from environmental advocates. Patrick Drupp, climate policy director at the Sierra Club, called it a taxpayer-funded subsidy for a polluting industry and said the group would fight the initiative in courts. "It is disgusting and reprehensible that the president of the United States is giving away our taxpayer dollars to deadly and expensive coal plants," Drupp said. Rich Nolan, CEO of the National Mining Association, said the funding would strengthen production of a fuel source that helps insulate consumers from energy price volatility while supporting rising electricity demand. "The administration is supporting that strategy with decisive action at home to ensure that upgrades to existing energy assets are made, and at our ports to ensure that U.S. coal can answer the world's needs," Nolan said. Coal, responsible for more than half of U.S. electricity generation in 1990, now generates less than one-fifth as utilities shifted toward cheaper natural gas and renewable energy sources. Despite rolling back environmental regulations on the industry, Trump has been unable to boost the ranks of coal miners. The number of working U.S. coal miners has fallen from about 51,500 in 2017 to about 39,800 last year, according to the St. Louis Fed. More than half of the funding would be used to upgrade 13 coal-fired power plants, with additional money for coal facilities in Alaska, Maryland and West Virginia and the long-proposed West Gateway coal export terminal in Northern California, the official said.

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Russia and Armenia Relations Suffer

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There are evil people out there who actually think Luigi Mangione was justified for murdering a CEO. And now? He's got a fan club. Meet 'The Mangionistas'—radical liberal women celebrating a cold-blooded killing. Even crazier? Some of them are credentialed NYC journalists. -- Two iconic talk radio hosts. One unfiltered daily conversation. No scripts. No spin. Just Mike Gallagher and Mark Davis breaking down the news the way it should be — with decades of experience and zero apologies. If you love smart unscripted talk show chemistry, you’re in the right place. Subscribe & Watch M and M Extra Live ?? youtube.com/@MandMExtra ?? Weekdays at 12 PM ET Watch The Mike Gallagher Show Live ?? salemnewschannel.com/watch-live ?? Weekdays 9 AM – 12 PM ET Listen to The Mark Davis Show ?? 660amtheanswer.com/listenlive ?? Weekdays at 7AM - 10AM CT

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China's War On Religion

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John Bolton Agrees to Plea Deal

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On today's show, Jeff Vaughn fills in for Josh Hammer and is joined by Dan Schneider, Vice President of MRC Free Speech America, to discuss Spencer Pratt's social media strategy in the Los Angeles Mayoral race, and the future of AI in political messaging. Next, Will Swaim, CEO of California Policy Center, joins the show for a closer look at the candidates in several key primaries in the golden state. Finally, Jeff outlines the clear and undeniable media bias against conservative and republican political candidates in deep blue California.

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A man carrying what authorities described as an explosive device powerful enough to damage a plane, as well as a torch lighter, knife, zip ties and other items, was arrested after trying to pass through a Sacramento International Airport security checkpoint over the weekend, federal prosecutors said. The 49-year-old from Sacramento was wearing a scarf covering his face and latex gloves, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant said in a news release. He also had five cell phones: one with a 15-minute timer set to begin, a second with a message on the screen from another phone number saying, “we will be awaiting your call.” Evidence photos released by prosecutors show a cardboard tube about the size of a toilet paper roll fitted with a green fuse. Bomb technicians tested the device. The powder and fuse “were determined to be viable and energetic,” Grant said. If the device had detonated next to a window on a pressurized aircraft flying above 10,000 feet (3 kilometers), Grant said, “it had the potential to damage the aircraft and cause a possible loss of cabin pressure.” Before the device was removed from the airport, officers put a bomb blast suppression blanket over it and taped off the immediate area, according to the federal complaint against the man. He was arrested Saturday and appeared in federal court in Sacramento on Wednesday. He is charged with unlawful possession of explosive material in an airport. The complaint also alleges he made “rambling” calls to the FBI in the months beforehand to report he was being threatened and intimidated. His public defender, Meghan McLoughlin, said in an email to The Associated Press on Thursday that “there is often more to these cases than the government’s allegations, and that the criminal process will reveal” her client’s story as well. It wasn't immediately known how extensively the man was searched at the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint. Last year, air travelers in the U.S. were no longer required to take off their shoes during security screenings. Screenings without shoes became a requirement in 2006, several years after “shoe bomber” Richard Reid’s failed 2001 attempt to take down a flight from Paris to Miami.

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WASHINGTON, June 4 (Reuters) - The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives approved a resolution on Wednesday to block President Donald Trump from continuing the war against Iran, reflecting growing concern among members of his party about the 3-month-old conflict. The House voted 215 to 208, as four Republicans voted with Democrats in favor of the war powers resolution, which directs Trump to withdraw U.S. troops from Iran unless Congress declares war or authorizes the use of military force. It was the latest setback for Trump in Congress despite his party's slim majorities in both the House and Senate. For now, the vote is largely symbolic, as legislation must pass the Senate as well as the House to become effective, and there is debate over whether war powers resolutions would be constitutional even if they are approved by Congress. The vote, nonetheless, reflects unease among some Republicans over Trump’s handling of the conflict and marks a rare bipartisan effort to curb presidential war powers as the war has entered a fourth month. Three previous war powers resolutions had failed in the House by increasingly slim margins and the chamber's Republican leaders abruptly postponed a vote on this one last month when it looked likely to pass. Trump on Thursday morning called the vote unpatriotic, coming "right in the middle of my final negotiations to end the War with the Islamic Republic of Iran." In a social media post, he said the Republicans who sided with Democrats on the issue should be ashamed of themselves. The Senate advanced a separate, but similar resolution last month in a procedural vote, after seven previous attempts had failed. Further votes on the Senate measure have not yet been scheduled. The four House Republicans who voted for the war powers resolution were Representatives Tom Barrett of Michigan, Warren Davidson of Ohio, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Thomas Massie of Kentucky. No Democrats voted against it. Seven House members did not vote. RECENT PUSHBACK AGAINST TRUMP Trump recently has faced some opposition from members of his party in Congress, after months in which very few Republicans pushed back against his policy initiatives. Separately on Wednesday, the House approved a procedural motion that clears the way for a vote on the Ukraine Support Act, which would provide security aid to Ukraine as it fights a Russian invasion. The act reached the floor only after a petition reached a 218-signature threshold last month to move ahead. Six Republicans and one independent who normally votes with Republicans voted in favor of the Ukraine measure. Republicans recently have revolted against Trump's plans to create a "weaponization" fund to pay his political allies who said they had been the subject of government abuse. Republican lawmakers on Wednesday also criticized Trump's pick of loyalist Bill Pulte - a mortgage regulator with no national security experience - to serve as acting director of national intelligence. SEPARATION OF POWERS Democrats have called on Trump to come to Congress for authorization to use military force in the Iran conflict, noting that the U.S. Constitution says only the legislature, not the president, can declare war. They warned that Trump may have pulled the country into a long conflict without setting out a clear strategy and also railed against higher prices for gasoline, food and other products since the joint U.S.-Israeli air strikes on Iran began on February 28. "The passage of this WPR today signals a significant turning point: more and more Republicans are listening to their constituents who do not want another open-ended war in the Middle East," Representative Gregory Meeks, who sponsored the war powers resolution and serves as ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement after the vote. Democrats have made affordability a central theme of their economic message ahead of midterm elections in November that will decide whether Republicans keep control of Congress. U.S. producer prices posted their biggest increase in four years in April, boosted by soaring costs for goods and services since the war began. The Trump administration insists that the war on Iran is necessary for U.S. national security, citing an urgent need to prevent the Islamic republic from developing a nuclear weapon. Republican critics of the war powers resolutions call them political grandstanding by Democrats who want to weaken the United States and score points against Trump.

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed that the New World screwworm fly has arrived in south Texas. The case announced Wednesday marks the first time in decades that the flesh-eating parasite has threatened the nation's cattle industry and only the third time it has appeared in the U.S. in that time. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the case was found in a 3-week-old calf in La Pryor, Texas. The Texas state veterinarian has established a 12-mile quarantine zone to prevent animals from moving out of that are without an inspection. Officials were quick to say that the food supply is not compromised by the infestation.

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The Democrats Will Do Whatever it Takes to Keep Their Power

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John Bolton Is Jailbait

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Despite Republican leads on Election Night, counting has mysteriously ground to a halt, with officials now claiming it could take weeks as massive numbers of late mail-in ballots suddenly appear.

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Former National Security Adviser John Bolton, who served in President Trump’s first term, is set to plead guilty to one count of illegally retaining sensitive national security documents and pay more than $2 million in fines.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton has agreed to plead guilty to a single count of retaining classified information under a deal with the Justice Department that could allow him to avoid prison time. That's according to a person familiar with the matter. The deal would resolve a criminal case filed in October that charged Bolton with 18 counts of either retaining or sharing diary-like notes with family members. Officials said the material contained classified information as he was preparing a memoir of his time in government. The person familiar with the matter insisted on anonymity to discuss a deal that hasn't been made public

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President Donald Trump says Israel's ongoing military operations in Lebanon are making it more difficult to secure a peace agreement with Iran, offering a rare public glimpse into tensions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In an interview released Wednesday, Trump acknowledged that he called Netanyahu "crazy" during a recent phone conversation as frustration mounted over continued fighting involving Hezbollah in Lebanon. The president said he was concerned that the conflict was becoming an obstacle to broader diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the war with Iran. Trump described himself as "a little bit perturbed" by the situation, arguing that military action in Lebanon has complicated ongoing negotiations. Despite the criticism, Trump insisted that his relationship with Netanyahu remains strong. He said both leaders understand the pressures of governing during wartime and continue to work together on regional security issues. The comments come as the administration faces growing pressure to broker a broader peace agreement in the Middle East while conflicts involving Iran, Israel, and Hezbollah continue to threaten regional stability. Trump's remarks underscore the challenges facing diplomatic efforts as the United States seeks to balance support for Israel with its push for a negotiated end to the wider conflict.

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Israel says it will keep troops in parts of southern Lebanon despite a newly announced U.S.-backed ceasefire agreement aimed at reducing hostilities along the border. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday that Israeli forces will remain in areas currently occupied by the military as part of what the government describes as a security buffer zone designed to protect northern Israeli communities from attacks by Hezbollah. Under the ceasefire agreement announced Wednesday, Hezbollah is expected to halt attacks on Israel and withdraw its fighters from territory south of the Litani River. The Lebanese military would then assume control of the area. However, Katz said Israeli troops would continue operations to dismantle what he described as terrorist infrastructure and maintain the ability to respond to future threats. He also indicated that many Lebanese residents displaced by the fighting would not yet be allowed to return to their homes in the affected areas. Hezbollah has not publicly commented on the ceasefire agreement. Prior to its announcement, the Iran-backed militant group said it had launched drone and rocket attacks targeting Israeli forces inside Lebanon. The fighting in Lebanon has become a major obstacle in broader efforts to negotiate an end to the ongoing conflict involving Iran, Israel, and the United States. Tehran has previously indicated it would not support a wider peace agreement unless a ceasefire also addressed fighting in Lebanon. The agreement has also faced criticism within Israel. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called the ceasefire a "serious mistake," arguing Hezbollah would not comply with its terms and warning that the group could emerge stronger in the future. The latest ceasefire follows months of fighting that have displaced more than a million people in Lebanon and caused extensive casualties on both sides of the border.

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A New York judge is facing criticism after closing a court hearing in the murder case against Luigi Mangione to the public and press without providing a public explanation. The sealed virtual proceeding took place Wednesday before Judge Gregory Carro, who said the hearing was closed at the request of the defense. However, the judge did not disclose the reason for granting the request, prompting concerns from media organizations and transparency advocates. Mangione, 28, is accused of killing Brian Thompson in 2024 in a case that has drawn significant national attention. According to reports, an attorney representing several news organizations sent a letter to the judge seeking an explanation for the closure of the hearing. The request reportedly received no response from the court, and court staff declined to provide additional information. The lack of public access has raised questions about openness in judicial proceedings, particularly in a high-profile criminal case involving allegations of murder. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to the charges and remains in custody. His trial is scheduled to begin on September 8. The case continues to attract widespread public interest as prosecutors and defense attorneys prepare for what is expected to be a closely watched trial.

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