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Rep. Elise Stefanik rebukes Biden and praises Trump in address to Israeli parliament

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Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, the highest-ranking Republican woman in the House, rebuked President Biden and praised former President Trump over U.S. military support for Israel in an address to its parliament on Sunday.  

“There is no excuse for an American president to block aid to Israel – aid that was duly passed by the Congress, or to ease sanctions on Iran, paying a $6 billion ransom to the world’s leading state sponsor of terror, or to dither and hide while our friends fight for their lives,” The New York congresswoman and House GOP conference chairwoman said.

Earlier this month, acknowledging the U.S. had paused a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel, Mr. Biden said that the U.S. would not provide Israel with weapons for an offensive in Rafah, and he acknowledged that Israel has used powerful American-made weapons in deadly attacks in Gaza. He suggested the U.S. would further curtail weapons shipments if Israel broadened its ground offensive to include civilian population centers in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

However, Mr. Biden also said that the U.S. would continue to provide defensive military aid to Israel, and the White House has said that the U.S. would ensure that Israel would receive the full amount pledged in a recently signed supplemental funding package that includes about $14 billion for Israel’s defense. And last week, the Biden administration informed Congress that it intends to transfer $1 billion in weapons to Israel.

Recalling a letter from George Washington wrote to Jews in Newport, Rhode Island, Stefanik said Americans are “firmly behind Israel and the Jewish people.”

Stefanik noted that “for years, I have been a leading proponent and partner to President Trump in his historic support for Israeli independence and security.” She’s a close ally of Trump and was among the first to endorse his 2024 presidential bid. Sources have told CBS News that Trump views her as a potential running mate.

In congressional hearings late last year, Stefanik pressed the presidents of Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania on antisemitism on their campuses. Soon afterward, two of the presidents resigned. 

“We must not let the extremism in ‘elite’ corners conceal the deep, abiding love for Israel among the American people. Most Americans feel a strong connection to your people,” Stefanik told members of the Knesset.

Nikole Killion contributed to this report.



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Former Bolivian President Evo Morales claims his car was fired upon in attempted assassination

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Former President Evo Morales of Bolivia claimed he survived an assassination attempt on Sunday after unidentified men opened fire on his car. He was not injured and there was no immediate confirmation of the attack from authorities.

Morales alleged the shots were fired while he was being driven in Bolivia’s coca leaf-growing region of Chapare, the ex-president’s rural stronghold whose residents have blockaded the country’s main east-west highway for the past two weeks.

The roadblocks — protesting what Morales’ supporters decry as President Luis Arce’s attempts to sabotage his former mentor and bitter political rival — have isolated cities and disrupted food and fuel supplies.

Morales, who led Bolivia from 2006 to 2019, emerged unscathed from the alleged attack Sunday, appearing on his weekly radio show in his usual calm manner to recount what happened.

He told the radio host that as he was leaving home for the radio station, hooded men fired at least 14 shots at his car, wounding his driver.

Morales was quick to blame his successor, President Arce, with whom he is fighting to be the candidate of governing socialist party in next year’s presidential election. He claimed that Arce’s government resorted to physical force having been unable to defeat him politically.

Bolivia Morales
Former President Evo Morales speaks to supporters after marching to La Paz, Bolivia, to protest current President Luis Arce, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024.

Juan Karita / AP


“Arce is going to go down as the worst president in history,” Morales said. “Shooting a former president is the last straw.”

Officials in Arce’s government did not respond to requests for comment on the incident.

Cellphone video circulating online shows Morales’ driver bleeding from the back of his head. Morales can be seen in the passenger’s seat holding a phone to his ear as the vehicle swerves and a woman’s voice shrieks “Duck!”

The footage shows the car’s front windshield cracked by at least three bullets and its rear windshield shattered. Morales can be heard saying, “Papacho has been shot in the head,” apparently referring to his driver.

“They are shooting at us,” Morales continues on the phone. “They shot the tire of the car and it stopped on the road.”

Morales’ claim deepens political tensions in Bolivia at a volatile moment for the cash-strapped Andean nation of 12 million.

In June, there was an apparent attempted coup by a rogue military general leading a rebellion, where armored vehicles and troops marched to the presidential palace and tried to force their way into the building. The rebellion retreated after Arce confronted the general, bringing the alleged coup attempt to a head, and ordered him to stand down. The general and other senior officers were later arrested.


Apparent military coup fails in Bolivia

04:28

Then, last month, Morales led a massive march against the government’s mismanagement of the economy that quickly devolved into street clashes with pro-government mobs. Imported goods are scarce and prices are rising. Drivers wait for hours to fill up at gas stations. The gap between the official and black-market exchange rates is widening.

Earlier this month, the feud between Morales and Arce moved to the courts as Bolivian prosecutors launched an investigation into accusations that Morales fathered a child with a 15-year-old girl in 2016, classifying their relationship as statutory rape.

Morales has dismissed the allegations as politically motivated and refused to testify in the case. Since reports surfaced of a possible arrest warrant against him, the ex-president has been holed up in the Chapare region, in central Bolivia, where supportive coca growers have kept vigilant watch to protect him from arrest.

President Arce accuses Morales of trying to undermine his administration to advance his own ambitions.



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Open: This is “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Oct. 27, 2024

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Open: This is “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Oct. 27, 2024 – CBS News


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This week on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance discusses Russian disinformation campaigns and the Trump-Vance ticket’s “women problem.” Plus, former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney joins.

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Full interview: GOP vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance

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Full interview: GOP vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance – CBS News


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Watch Margaret Brennan’s full interview with Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, a portion of which aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Oct. 27, 2024.

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