CBS News
House to vote on sanctioning International Criminal Court
Washington — The House is expected to pass a Republican-backed bill that would punish the International Criminal Court over the decision to seek the arrests of top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The ICC has to be punished for this action,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said Tuesday. “We cannot allow this to stand.”
The legislation, which was introduced by Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas and is cosponsored by more than 70 Republicans, would sanction those involved in “any effort to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute any protected person of the United States and its allies.” The sanctions include revoking U.S. visas held by ICC officials, blocking their entry into the U.S. and preventing them from property transactions.
Rep. Pete Aguilar of California, who chairs the House Democratic Caucus, said he expected “a lot” of Democrats to oppose the measure, while still supporting Israel.
“The relationship that the U.S. has with Israel is strong,” he told reporters Tuesday. “We’re going to continue to be a strong ally of Israel.”
Still, the vote could further expose Democratic divisions over the war in Gaza.
The effort to punish the ICC was initially expected to be bipartisan after Republicans and Democrats expressed outrage when the court’s top prosecutor applied for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza. The prosecutor is also seeking arrest warrants for Hamas leaders.
But the White House, after criticizing the ICC, said it would not support the measure. In a statement Monday, the White House said it “strongly opposes” the legislation, arguing that it was too broad.
“This legislation could require sanctions against court staff, judges, witnesses, and U.S. allies and partners who provide even limited, targeted support to the court in a range of aspects of its work,” the White House said, though it stopped short of threatening a veto if the measure reaches the president’s desk.
House Democrats made similar arguments Tuesday during floor debate on the bill.
Rep. Gregory Meeks, a New York Democrat, said the measure is “counterproductive” to U.S. interests and undermines its leadership abroad.
“Sanction of the court and all those who support it will backfire badly on us,” Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said.
Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the ICC’s actions against Israel “have cheapened the court’s reputation” by putting “politics over justice.”
“Today, it’s Israel,” he said. “Tomorrow it could be the United States and we must sanction those who deliberately abuse their power for political gain.”
The measure is likely to be ignored by the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Kristin Brown contributed reporting.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Dodgers legend Fernando Valenzuela, known affectionately to fans across the baseball world as “El Toro” has died at 63 years old.
The Etchohauquila, Sonora, Mexico native recently stepped away from his role in the Dodgers’ broadcast booth to focus on his health just ahead of the team’s run to the World Series. He had planned to return for the 2025 season.
/ Getty Images
The man behind “Fernandomania,” which took Los Angeles by storm during the 1980s, spent 11 of his 17 seasons in Major League Baseball with the Boys in Blue, leading the team to two World Series titles in 1981 and 1988.
He was well-known for his signature windup and high leg kick before dazzling hitters with his virtually unhittable screwball. Upon retirement, he ranked amongst the franchises top 10 all-time in wins, strikeouts, innings pitched, games started, complete games and shutouts.
The Dodgers honored Valenzuela in 2023 by retiring his No. 34, making him only the 11th Dodger to achieve the spot above the left field bleachers.
Late Tuesday evening the team took to X to acknowledge Valenzuela’s death.
“Fernandomania por siempre,” said a photo. “Fernandomania forever.”
More to come.
DELPHI, Ind. (CBS) — Jurors in the Delphi, Indiana murders trial got a closer look Tuesday at some of the most concrete evidence in the case.
Richard Allen, 52, is facing four counts of murder in connection with the murders of Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty “Libby” German, 14, in 2017.
Video taken from Libby’s phone right before the murder shows a man, believed to be the killer, walking on a bridge. For the first time Tuesday, jurors got to see a longer version of the video.
A digital forensic analyst also testified about how he got the data off the phone.
Also Tuesday, lead crime scene investigator Brian Olehy brought several key pieces of evidence from at or near the crime scene to court—though they were not shown to the jury, according to CBS affiliate WTTV in Indianapolis.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Brad Rozzi asked several times whether swabs from the crime scene contained any DNA linking Allen to it, WTTV reported, Olehy said he was not aware of any such connection.
Olehy also testified that he believed the branches found on the girls’ bodies were placed there to conceal them, and said it was a “logical assumption” that Libby was “disrobed”—as she was wearing some of Abby’s clothes, WTTV reported. He said investigators could not determine the sequence of events, and did not test the sticks that were found with the bodies, the station reported.
There was also testimony about a single unspent bullet at the scene that is at the center of the case against Allen, the station reported.
Testimony was also heard from Railly Voorhies, who was a 16-year-old high school student who happened to be walking near the Freedom Bridge in Delphi and saw an “unsettling” man who glared at her, WTTV reported. She said the image of the man on the bridge documented in Libby’s phone was the man she saw, the station reported.
Another witness, Betys Blair, also testified that she saw the man on the bridge, WTTV reported.