News – Page 861 – 105.7 WDNY

Biden’s former golf instructor takes a swing at Trump’s game: ‘I like the president’s chances’

July 12, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — As Joe Biden and Donald Trump continue to trade barbs over their fitness to be president, an unexpected area of dispute has arisen: golf.

“He can’t hit a ball 50 yards,” former President Trump said of President Biden during the recent presidential debate. “He challenged me to a golf match; he can’t hit the ball 50 yards.”

“I’d be happy to have a driving contest with him,” Biden fired back.

“I’m happy to play golf if you carry your own bag. Think you can do it?” Biden added in an exchange that sparked a barrage of jokes on the internet.

Then at a campaign event on Tuesday, Trump challenged Biden to an 18-hole match, offering to pay $1 million to a charity of Biden’s choice if he wins.

While Trump, who owns several golf courses and hits the links on a regular basis, might be the odds-on favorite in such a match, there’s one golf pro who likes Biden’s chances: Earl Cooper, a golf instructor who previously gave Biden lessons.

Golf is “a great way to unveil the individual’s character, because it is one of the few sports that is solely relying on you,” Cooper, who is also the cofounder of modern golf apparel company Eastside Golf, said in an interview with ABC News.

Cooper, who was approached by Ron Olivere, the father of Beau Biden’s widow, to give Biden golf lessons in 2015, told ABC News that Biden “wanted to get better at golf.”

“It was something that I appreciated because he took it very seriously,” Cooper said. “It wasn’t just a showman thing.”

Cooper, a former PGA professional with the Wilmington Country Club in Delaware, where Biden is a member, confirmed that Biden once held a single-digit handicap — a claim Trump questioned during the debate.

“[Biden] was shooting in the 70s, which is good — a single-digit handicap is a really good golfer in general,” Cooper said.

During the debate, the candidates’ golfing gloating occurred after they started trading jabs about their physical fitness.

When asked by CNN’s Dana Bash to respond to voters who have concerns about his ability to serve through the end of a next term, when Trump would be 82, Trump touted his accomplishments on the links.

“I’m in very good health. I just won two club championships, not even senior, two regular club championships,” Trump said. “To do that, you have to be quite smart and you have to be able to hit the ball a long way. And I do it. He doesn’t do it.”

“I’ve seen your swing, I know your swing,” Trump later needled Biden.

At Thursday’s NATO press conference, Biden jabbed back at Trump.

“And where’s Trump been? Riding around in his golf cart, filling out his scorecard before he hits the ball?” Biden said of the former president, who’s previously been accused of creative scorekeeping on the course.

According to Cooper, Biden — who drove his own golf cart — enjoyed playing golf at the country club “because it was the only time that he could drive himself.”

“Secret Service [was] driving him everywhere,” Cooper said. “So this was the one time that he could get in a golf cart, and drive himself.”

Cooper said that, after watching the CNN debate, “There’s no doubt [Biden] is slowing down” — but he still believes Biden could beat Trump in a golf match.

“I like the president’s chances, because I know golf, and I’m not sure about his competitor following all the rules,” Cooper said.

The Biden campaign this week addressed Trump’s golf challenge, releasing a statement that read in part, “Donald Trump hasn’t been seen in public for 12 days, now he’s … challenging the President of the United States to golf.”

“Donald Trump is … only out for himself,” the statement said. “Par for the course.”

American Airlines flight evacuated via emergency slides after smoke reported during taxiing at San Francisco airport

July 12, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(SAN FRANCISCO) — An American Airlines flight was evacuated after the crew reported smoke in the cabin as the plane taxied at San Francisco International Airport, according to airport officials.

Three people suffered minor injuries during the evacuation through the emergency slides, but no one needed medical transport, according to the airport.

The fire department has responded to put out the smoke source.

Passengers will be transported to the terminal, the airport said.

The flight was set to depart for Miami at the time, according to the airport.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

American Airlines flight evacuated after smoke reported during taxiing at San Francisco airport

July 12, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(SAN FRANCISCO) — An American Airlines flight was evacuated after the crew reported smoke in the cabin as the plane taxied at San Francisco International Airport, according to airport officials.

The airline said the smoke came from a laptop in a passenger’s bag.

American Airlines said one person suffered minor injuries, but SFO said three people experienced minor injuries while evacuating through the emergency slides. No one needed medical transport, according to the airport.

The airline said some passengers evacuated via the emergency slides and others deplaned from the jet bridge.

The fire department responded to put out the smoke source.

The Airbus A321 was set to depart for Miami at the time.

Alec Baldwin trial day 3: Jury dismissed as court discusses motion to dismiss case over ammo evidence

July 12, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(SANTA FE COUNTY, N.M.) — The jury has been dismissed for the day in Alec Baldwin’s manslaughter trial while the court discusses a motion filed by the defense claiming live ammunition that came into the hands of local law enforcement related to the investigation into the deadly on-set “Rust” shooting was “concealed” from them.

In an expedited motion filed late Thursday, the defense argued the case should be dismissed over the handling of the ammunition evidence. During court on Friday, the state argued the evidence has no exculpatory value and is not relevant to Baldwin’s case.

The court is on break before hearing anticipated testimony on the matter, including from Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office Cpl. Alexandra Hancock, the lead detective in the case, and Seth Kenney, who supplied the film with firearms, blanks and dummy rounds.

The matter was initially raised during court on Thursday, the second day of the actor’s involuntary manslaughter trial over the death of “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was fatally shot by Baldwin on the Santa Fe set of the Western in October 2021 when his revolver fired a live round.

Spiro asked state’s witness Marissa Poppell, a crime scene technician with the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office who collected evidence in the case, about a “good Samaritan” who handed over ammunition to the sheriff’s office in March — at the conclusion of “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez’s trial — that had reportedly ended up with Kenney.

Gutierrez was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Hutchins’ death, with prosecutors arguing the armorer was the source of the live bullet that killed her and saying she failed to follow safety protocols meant to protect the crew while handling the firearms.

Poppell testified that her lieutenant instructed her to create a report documenting that the individual came and gave them the ammunition and she filed it under a case number different from the “Rust” case.

“You buried it,” Spiro said.

“No,” Poppell responded. “There is a supplemental report on it, and that was placed into evidence.”

Spiro went on to ask, “Isn’t it the case that law enforcement likely has the matching rounds to the ammunition that killed Ms. Hutchins?”

“I do not know,” Poppell said.

“And you do not know because you made a doc report about this and did not put it with the rest of the ‘Rust’ evidence, correct?” Spiro asked.

“Those rounds were not placed with the rest of the ‘Rust’ evidence, correct,” Poppell said.

“Nor were they sent to the FBI for testing with the ‘Rust’ evidence, were they?” Spiro asked.

“No, they were not,” Poppell said.

During redirect on Thursday, prosecutor Kari Morrissey had Poppell confirm that Baldwin has not been charged with involuntary manslaughter for bringing live rounds onto the movie set or for loading a live round into the gun.

“Has a person already been tried and convicted for those things?” Morrissey asked.

“Yes,” Poppell said, referring to Gutierrez.

Morrissey asked Poppell if she was aware that the “good Samaritan” who provided the ammunition in question in the motion was Troy Teske, a “close friend” of Gutierrez’s father, famed Hollywood armorer Thell Reed, to which Poppell said she was not.

“Are you aware that Troy Teske had his own motivations for wanting to place blame on Seth Kenney to help Hannah Gutierrez?” Morrissey asked.

“No, I had no knowledge of that,” Poppell said.

Poppell testified that Kenney provided the sheriff’s office with his own live rounds, which were tested and found not to match the live ammunition found on set. Live ammunition found at Kenney’s prop house was also not found to be a match, she said.

Poppell testified that Gutierrez was determined to be the source of the live rounds, based on photographic evidence from the set.

During Friday’s motion hearing, Morrissey said the state initially had been provided a photograph of the ammunition by Teske, a retired officer who lives in Arizona, and determined based on the photograph that it was not a match to the live ammunition found on the set and they were “not going to continue going down this rabbit hole.”

“There is absolutely nothing about the ammunition that Troy Teske had that has any evidentiary value in the Gutierrez case. It has no evidentiary value in the Baldwin case,” Morrissey said.

Defense attorney Luke Nikas charged that the evidence was “concealed” by being placed under a different case number and said it was “critical” evidence that was required to be disclosed.

“Miss Morrissey does not get to determine what has evidentiary value and what doesn’t,” he said.

While on the stand during Friday’s motion hearing, Poppell disputed that the ammunition was hidden and said it wasn’t evidence that Kenney provided the live ammunition to the set of “Rust.”

“If you buried it, how did the defense attorneys know to cross-examine you on it yesterday?” Morrissey asked Poppell.

“I do not know,” she replied.

Gutierrez’s attorney, Jason Bowles, said it was “beyond shocking” that the live rounds provided to the sheriff’s office by Teske weren’t tested.

“They were hiding the ball until called out on it in trial. If you want to get to the truth, you run down all leads,” he said in a statement.

Judge dismisses Rudy Giuliani’s bankruptcy case, allowing collection of damages

July 12, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A federal bankruptcy court judge has dismissed Rudy Giuliani’s bankruptcy case, saying it is “in the best interests of creditors.”

The decision exposes the former New York City mayor to lawsuits, foreclosures and other measures that allow creditors, including two defamed Georgia election workers, to collect what they’re owed.

The decision followed months of missed deadlines by Giuliani, who evaded questions about his finances.

“The record in this case reflects Mr. Giuliani’s continued failure to meet his reporting obligations and provide the financial transparency required of a debtor in possession,” the decision said. “The lack of financial transparency is particularly troubling given concerns that Mr. Giuliani has engaged in self-dealing and that he has potential conflicts of interest that would hamper the administration of his bankruptcy case.”

Giuliani filed for bankruptcy in December 2023 after a jury ordered him to pay nearly $150 million to former election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss for defaming them with false accusations that the mother and daughter committed election fraud while the two were counting ballots in Georgia’s Fulton County on Election Day in 2020.

The dismissal will allow Giuliani to appeal the defamation judgment.

Life-threatening heat heading to East Coast as high temperatures continue to rage in the West

July 12, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Historic heat is still raging in the West, with life-threatening temperatures baking California to Colorado before the dangerous, triple-digit heat moves to the East Coast.

Las Vegas hit its sixth day in a row of temperatures at or above 115 degrees as the city soared to a scorching 118 degrees on Thursday.

Sacramento, California, reached 113 degrees and Salt Lake City hit 106 on Thursday.

On Friday, temperatures are forecast to soar to 115 degrees in Las Vegas, 116 in Phoenix and 111 in Sacramento.

This weekend, the worst of the heat will stretch from the Southwest into the Rockies and the Plains.

A heat advisory is in effect in Denver, where temperatures over 100 degrees are possible Friday and into the weekend.

An excessive heat watch has been issued as far east as Omaha, Nebraska, where the heat index — what temperature it feels like — could climb to 112 degrees.

Part of that western heat dome will then move farther east, bringing a new heat wave to the East Coast from Sunday through Wednesday.

By Tuesday, the heat index is forecast to jump to 101 degrees in Atlanta and New York City; 105 degrees in Philadelphia; and 107 degrees in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Record highs are possible next week from Atlanta to Washington, D.C., to New Hampshire.

Click here for what to know about staying safe in the heat.

One dead, two missing after helicopter crashes into ocean in Hawaii

July 12, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(KAUAI, Hawaii) — One person is dead and two others are missing after a helicopter carrying three people in Kauai, Hawaii, crashed into waters about a quarter mile offshore, according to state officials.

Officials said they received a report of a helicopter crash into the ocean around 1:20 p.m. local time, after hikers along the Kalalau Trial witnessed the helicopter go down in the water and reported it to dispatch.

The crash, involving a Ali’i Kaua’i Air Tours and Charters helicopter, was reported near the Hanakoa Valley along Na Pali Coast.

“Our hearts go out to the families impacted by this tragedy. We will continue working with our partners to locate the missing individuals and provide support during this difficult time,” said Kauai Police Chief Todd Raybuck. “Our multi-agency response remains focused on the search and recovery efforts.”

The Federal Aviation Agency put a temporary flight restriction in the area as the search operation continues.

Preliminary information indicates the type of helicopter involved was a Robinson R44, according to an FAA spokesperson.

The U.S. Coast Guard, Rescue 3 aboard Air 1, personnel with the Kaua’i Fire Department, the Kaua’i Emergency Management Agency, the Hawai’i Emergency Management Agency, personnel with the Ocean Safety Bureau and the Kaua’i Police Department all responded to the incident.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate, with the NTSB in charge of the investigation.

4-month-old baby dies in extreme heat wave: Tips to keep kids safe

July 12, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(PHOENIX) — A 4-month-old baby died in Arizona last week after suffering a heat-related illness while on a boat, according to police.

The infant’s death comes amid an ongoing heat wave in the U.S. affecting tens of millions of people across multiple states.

The infant, who was not identified by police, was rescued from a boat on Lake Havasu on July 5 and transported to a local hospital, according to authorities.

From there, the infant was taken to Phoenix Children’s Hospital, where they “succumbed to their injuries,” the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement released Monday.

The sheriff’s office said the investigation into the child’s death is “ongoing.”

A sheriff spokesperson told ABC News Wednesday the office is not releasing any further information.

On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the medical examiner’s office in Maricopa County, where Phoenix Children’s Hospital is located, identified the infant as Tanna Rae Wroblewski and said her cause of death has not yet been determined.

A GoFundMe page established for the Wroblewski family states that they were enjoying a “family day on the lake” when the infant “lost consciousness” and family members started performing CPR.

“Lake Havasu City Fire Department quickly arrived to take over life-saving procedures. Tanna was rushed to Havasu Regional Medical Center where they continued to work on her to get a pulse,” the fundraiser states. “She was then airlifted to Phoenix Children’s Hospital where they did everything in their power to revive her, but God had other plans, and took Tanna to heaven that night.”

Attempts to reach members of the Wroblewski family by ABC News were not successful.

In the Lake Havasu area, temperatures over the past week have hit triple digits, reaching as high as 120 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Weather Service.

As of Tuesday, more than 70 million people were under heat alerts in the West amid a scorching heat wave enveloping much of the U.S., but particularly the West Coast.

How to protect kids from heat

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children are more susceptible than adults to the health effects of extreme temperatures, including extreme heat, because they cannot regulate their body temperature as well as adults.

When it comes to extreme heat, children may suffer health effects including heat exhaustion, heat cramps and heat stroke, according to the AAP.

Parents and caregivers should do their best to keep kids in indoor, air-conditioned areas in periods of extreme heat, and make sure kids are well-rested and hydrated.

Symptoms of heat-related illness to watch for in babies and kids include faintness, extreme tiredness, intense thirst, headaches, fever, nausea, vomiting, hyperventilation and skin numbness or tingling, according to the AAP.

It’s now GOP policy to build a US Iron Dome. Here’s what Trump’s plan could mean.

July 12, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — As Republicans look toward their party convention in Milwaukee next week, the new Donald Trump-style approach to national security represents a dramatic departure from the GOP’s past.

Eight years ago, the party called for a military large enough to fight more than two major wars at once and wanted tougher sanctions against Russia. Now, the new 2024 GOP platform talks of avoiding conflict because “wars breed inflation.”

Official GOP policy also calls for a American-built national missile defense system similar to Israel’s Iron Dome – something the military hasn’t asked for and experts say could have limited utility for the United States.

“PREVENT WORLD WAR THREE, RESTORE PEACE IN EUROPE AND IN THE MIDDLE EAST, AND BUILD A GREAT IRON DOME MISSILE DEFENSE SHIELD OVER OUR ENTIRE COUNTRY — ALL MADE IN AMERICA,” the 2024 GOP platform states of the party’s new goals.

So, where did this talk of a U.S. Iron Dome come from? And is it even realistic?

Here’s what to know:

Trump wants ‘the greatest dome of them all’

Iron Dome was developed by Israel to zap rockets and mortar fire out of the sky — acting as a kind of shield over a country under the near-constant threat of short-range and medium-range missile attacks.

The multi-billion system played a major role in successfully defending Israel last April when Iran launched some 300 missiles and drones at the Jewish state in retaliation for an Israeli airstrike that killed a top Iranian commander.

Iron Dome’s success caught the attention of Trump, who had already been tossing out the idea at campaign rallies that the U.S. could build its own version of the technology considering the U.S. had spent some $3 billion to help Israel manufacture and maintain the system.

Trump’s comments on a U.S. Iron Dome often prompted loud cheers from his supporters, much as it had in 2016 when he called for building a wall at the U.S. southern border with Mexico.

“In my next term, we will build a great Iron Dome over our country, a dome like has never seen before, a state -of-the-art missile defense shield that will be entirely built in America,” Trump said at a June rally in Wisconsin as the crowd applauded.

“We’re going to build the greatest dome of them all,” he promised.

The military hasn’t asked for an Iron Dome, and it wouldn’t protect against the latest threats anyway

On its surface, experts say replicating an Iron Dome system for the U.S. wouldn’t make much sense. With allies north and south of the U.S., and oceans on either side, the U.S. doesn’t face the same kind of short-range missile threat as Israel.

But what about a nation-wide missile defense system that’s like the Iron Dome but tailored for the U.S.?

According to a U.S. defense official, U.S. Northern Command — the military combatant command charged with defending the homeland from foreign missiles — has not expressed interest in a nationwide missile defense system.

The military already employs multiple systems “that together provide agility in responding to potential threats, which increases available options for the nation’s leaders,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Among those systems is Ground-Based Midcourse Defense program, which was designed to knock down rogue long-range missiles from a country like North Korea. It would, however, have more limited utility if there were ever a large-scale attack from a country with a hefty arsenal like Russia.

Expanding that system to cover every inch of the U.S. though would likely cost billions of dollars at a time when the country also is trying to protect against attacks in cyber and space. China and Russia are now pursing hypersonic weapons, while administration officials this spring acknowledged Russia’s pursuit of nuclear capabilities in space, greatly complicating what it means for any one system to keep the U.S. safe.

“You can’t defend the entire United States. It’s unrealistic, unaffordable and unachievable,” said Gen. Glen VanHerck, who retired this year as head of U..S Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command.

Instead, he said, whoever is in the White House next year should develop clearer policy on what U.S. assets to defend beyond critical military infrastructure — something he said he pressed for during his tenure as head of NORTHCOM.

“Ultimately, it goes back to policy. What are your priorities? What do you want us to do? And then we can make realistic decisions with the force we have today, and we can then budget and resource for the forces of the future,” he said.

Party platforms and campaign rhetoric tend to be more political crowd-pleasers than pragmatic blueprints for how to run a country.

In 2016, for example, Trump called for a “big, beautiful” wall along America’s southern border with Mexico; when he left office, only about a quarter of the border had new fencing — most of which replaced smaller existing structures. Trump’s demands for a border wall were essentially shorthand for hardline immigration policies.

Military analyst Steve Ganyard, a retired Marine Corps colonel and an ABC contributor, said calling for an Iron Dome over the U.S. probably doesn’t make much sense from a strategic standpoint considering the new threats from space. More notable, he said, is what’s missing from the document.

For the first time in decades, the party isn’t calling for increased spending for a bigger fighting force or extending U.S. military reach globally.

“It just strikes me as how isolationist it is, particularly in comparison to past Republican platforms,” Ganyard said.

For former Trump advisers, refocusing US spending on homeland security is a good thing.

“It’s a very strong document that has sound common-sense principles that include building up the American military base,” Elbridge Colby, who served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development during the Trump administration, said of the new GOP platform.

The platform forces on protecting the homeland, “not looking for monsters to destroy,” Colby said.

Princess Anne returns to royal duties following hospitalization

July 12, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(GLOUCESTERSHIRE, England) — Princess Anne returned to royal duties Friday, nearly two weeks after she was hospitalized following what Buckingham Palace described as an “incident” at Gatcombe Park, her estate in Gloucestershire, England.

Anne, the younger sister of King Charles III, visited the Riding for the Disabled Association National Championships at Hartpury University and Hartpury College in Gloucester.

The 73-year-old princess, wearing a hat, coat and gloves, was seen interacting with officials and attendees at the championship event.

Anne was treated at Southmead Hospital in Bristol on June 23, following the incident at her home. The palace said the princess was being treated in the hospital “as a precautionary measure” and was “expected to make a full and swift recovery.”

The palace has not shared any further details of Anne’s health.

It’s not clear precisely how the incident occurred, but the princess sustained injuries to her head while out walking on her Gatcombe Park estate. There were horses nearby, and the medical team who examined her said that her head injuries are consistent with a potential impact from a horse’s head or legs.

Anne has been a working member of the royal family since 1969, when she started public engagements at the age of 18, according to her official biography.

She is described on the royal family’s website as having “one of the busiest working schedules of any member of the royal family.”

The princess is married to Sir Tim Laurence, who shared a public update on Anne after visiting her in the hospital on June 25.

“She is recovering well, thank you. We are both profoundly grateful to the medical team and hospital support staff for their expert care — and to the emergency services who were all so wonderful at the scene,” the 69-year-old said at the time. “We are both deeply touched by all the kind messages we have received from so many people near and far. It means a great deal.”

Anne is also a mom of two children — Peter Phillips and Zara Phillips Tindall — whom she shares with her former husband, Captain Mark Phillips.

ABC News’ Zoe Magee and Kevin Shalvey contributed to this report.

+ More