Republican Candidates Attack Trump for Not Showing Up for Debate

CBS: Seven Republican candidates met for the second primary debate in California on Wednesday, taking aim at President Biden and each other while the clear front-runner in the race for the GOP nomination was speaking nearly 2,000 miles away. The candidates tackled issues like the strike by United Auto Workers, the looming government shutdown, immigration policy and education, placing the blame squarely at Mr. Biden’s feet for most of the issues currently facing the country. But it was former President Donald Trump who loomed large over the gathering at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, even as he skipped the contest to deliver a speech outside Detroit (CBS). Ron DeSantis: Donald Trump is missing in action tonight. He should be here explaining his comments saying that pro-life protections are somehow a “terrible thing.” We’re better off when everybody counts — and we should stand for what we believe in (X). Townhall: VIVEK: “Transgenderism, especially in kids, is a mental health disorder” (X). Byron York: Christie has based his whole campaign on attacking and confronting Trump, and it comes down to this groaner? Not serious (X).

Donald Trump Misses GOP Debate to Speak with UAW Strikers in Michigan

Associated Press: As his Republican rivals sparred onstage in California at their second primary debate, Donald Trump was in battleground Michigan Wednesday night working to win over blue-collar voters by lambasting President Joe Biden and his push for electric cars in the midst of an autoworkers’ strike. “I will not allow under any circumstances the American automobile industry to die,” Trump said at Drake Enterprises, a non-unionized auto parts supplier in Clinton Township, about a half-hour outside Detroit (Associated Press). Reporter Emel Akan: Instead of participating in the second Republican debate, former president Donald Trump is giving a speech to hundreds of blue collar workers in Michigan, including dozens of UAW union members (X). Reuters: Speaking in terms that contrast with the confidence shown by carmakers spending aggressively to electrify their fleets, Trump predicted the U.S. auto industry would succumb to massive losses in just a few years. “It doesn’t make a damn bit of difference what you get because in two years you’re all going to be out of business,” Trump told several hundred blue-collar workers gathered at a non-union auto supplier outside Detroit (Reuters).

Senator Bob Menendez Enters “Not Guilty” Plea to Bribery Charges

Reuters: U.S. Senator Bob Menendez pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges of taking bribes from three New Jersey businessmen, as calls for his resignation from fellow Democrats escalated. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan last week accused Menendez, 69, and his wife of accepting gold bars and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash in exchange for the senator using his influence to aid Egypt’s government and interfere with law enforcement investigations of the businessmen. Menendez entered the plea through his lawyer, Seth Farber, at a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ona Wang in Manhattan. Wang said Menendez could be released on a $100,000 personal recognizance bond. The senator will be required to surrender his personal passport, but may retain his official passport and travel abroad on official business (Reuters). CBS: The bribery charges filed against him come years after Menendez faced roughly a dozen federal charges following accusations he accepted gifts from a wealthy Democratic donor in exchange for political favors. That case ended in a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a verdict (CBS).

Dr. Fauci Traveled to CIA HQ to Shape the Results of Their Covid Origins Investigation

New York Post: Dr. Anthony Fauci was secretly “escorted” to CIA headquarters where he attempted to “influence” the outcome of the agency’s investigations into the origins of COVID-19 during the pandemic, the Republican chairman of the House coronavirus panel alleges. Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), the head of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, revealed what he called “concerning information” obtained by his panel in a letter sent to the inspector general of the ​​DHHS on Tuesday, arguing that it “lends credence to heightened concerns about the promotion of a false COVID-19 origins narrative by multiple federal government agencies.” “The information provided suggests that Dr. Fauci was escorted into Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Headquarters — without a record of entry — and participated in the analysis to ‘influence’ the Agency’s review,” Wenstrup said (New York Post). Katie Pavlich: Fauci had an interest in pushing CIA intelligence to avoid looking too closely at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the COVID-19 pandemic lab engaged in dangerous gain of function research heavily funded by Fauci’s NIAID and the NIH (Townhall). Newsmax: The allegations against Fauci come after a whistleblower, a senior-level CIA officer, claimed to Congress that the agency had offered to pay off analysts who had found that COVID-19 most likely leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China (Newsmax).

CVS to Close Nearly 900 Stores by 2024 Citing Crime

Daily Mail: CVS is set to close hundreds of stores across the country as it undergoes a complete retail overhaul – as more outlets move towards online sellers amid rampant increases in crime. The major drugstore chain is coming to the end of a policy launched in 2021 which will see 300 stores closed each year – meaning 900 will have shuttered by 2024. In the announcement, which has hit headlines again recently amid rampant shoplifting at the chain, bosses they said that they were undergoing a new ‘retail footprint strategy.‘ Rival pharmacies are making similar moves to close their doors, with Rite Aid and Walgreens also closing stores. Rite Aid announced it would close two more stores earlier this month, following the closure of 25 stores earlier this year, amid reports the company is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (Daily Mail). John Catsimatidis Jr.: CVS is closing 10% of its stores because of theft! I’ll tell you as a retailer in NYC—it’s not people stealing bread because they’re hungry. These are coordinated and organized criminals wreaking havoc. Helps internet companies hurts retail businesses (X). Guy Benson: These decisions aren’t entirely about crime; other pressure-building trends are also in the mix. But consequence-free lawlessness plunges a dagger into any hopes of keeping many of these brick and mortar stores open. Companies can’t make a profit and can’t keep employees safe (Townhall).

95-Year-Old Korean Veteran Evicted from Elder Care Facility, Replaced by Illegal Immigrants

Fox News: A 95-year-old Korean War veteran said he was given less than two months’ notice to figure out where he was going to live after the nursing home he resided in was sold to become a facility for undocumented migrants. “The thing I’m annoyed about is how they did it, it was very disgraceful what they did to the people in Island Shores,” Tammaro said, referencing the assisted living facility he was in. He said that Island Shores “gave us time to get out,” but not enough time to protest the decision to boot residents – which Tammaro said he tried to do (Fox News). Daily Mail: More than 113,000 undocumented migrants have arrived in New York after crossing the southern border since last year in a crisis mayor Eric Adams has warned will ‘destroy the city’. And around 100 hotels have been turned into shelters including the Paul Hotel, The Paramount Hotel, and the Roosevelt which alone is now housing some 3,000. The mayor is planning to spend an extra $1billion on hotel accommodation for migrants over three years with the city’s public services facing cuts to pay for it (Daily Mail).

Senate Votes to Establish Dress Code While on Chamber Floor

Fox News: The Senate unanimously passed a resolution late Wednesday formalizing business attire as the proper dress code while on the floor of the chamber following bipartisan backlash, after Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., quietly relaxed dress requirements last week that allowed Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., to continue to wear hooded sweatshirts and gym shorts. The bipartisan bill by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, requires that members abide by a dress when on the Senate floor. The new written rules include a coat, tie, and slacks for men. The resolution does not detail dress codes for women members (Fox News).

North Korea Expels American Soldier Who Crossed the DMZ Two Months Ago

National Review: Private 2nd Class Travis King is in American custody, U.S. officials said Wednesday. This news comes after North Korean state-run news agency KCNA reported that the country’s government would “expel” King, 23, the American soldier who crossed over the border between North and South Korea without permission during a tour of the Joint Security Area on July 18. King, who left an airport where he was meant to board a flight to Fort Bliss, Texas, joined a tour of Panmunjom instead, eventually sprinting across the line of demarcation between the two peninsular states. He had recently been released from a South Korean prison where he had been detained for two months on assault charges (National Review). Associated Press: North Korea’s decision to release King after 71 days appears relatively quick by the country’s standards, especially considering the tensions between Washington and Pyongyang over the North’s growing nuclear weapons and missile program and the United States’ expanding military exercises with South Korea. Some had speculated that North Korea might treat King as a propaganda asset or bargaining chip. In the end, the North apparently concluded that King simply wasn’t worth keeping (Associated Press).

Philadelphia Stores Looted by BLM After Murder Case Against Police Officer was Dropped

Daily Wire: Hours after murder charges against a former Philadelphia police officer were dropped on Tuesday, large groups, mostly made up of teenagers, looted multiple stores in the city. Police started receiving calls around 8 p.m. Tuesday night about a large crowd moving into Center City, the main dining and shopping scene in downtown Philadelphia. The crowd eventually turned riotous, ransacking a Foot Locker, Lulumelon, and an Apple store, among other businesses, before at least 20 were arrested. Video footage of the looting showed a large police presence outside of a Lulumelon as numerous people ran out of the store carrying stolen clothing. The footage also shows police detaining at least four looters on the ground outside of the store (Daily Wire). Andy Ngo: BLM rioters looted a liquor store in Philadelphia during a night of mass theft in the name of racial justice (X). Reporting account Dixie: Philly Apple store being looted (X). Libs of TikTok: Remember when AOC said people have to loot because they need bread to feed their families? I wasn’t aware that Apple, Lululemon, and Nike stores in Philadelphia sell bread (X).

NASA Astronaut Returns to Earth After Spending a Full Year in Space

CNN: Record-breaking NASA astronaut Frank Rubio has finally returned to Earth, feeling the pull of the planet’s gravity for the first time in more than a year. Rubio and his two Russian colleagues — cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin — parachuted to a landing in Kazakhstan aboard the Russian Soyuz MS-23 capsule on Wednesday. The crew’s arrival marked the end of a long — and unexpected — journey for Rubio, who had been slated to spend only six months aboard the International Space Station. He instead logged a total of 371 days in space following the discovery of a coolant leak coming from his original ride while docked to the orbiting outpost. Rubio’s stay set a new record for the longest a US astronaut has ever spent in microgravity. He also became the first American to log an entire calendar year in orbit (CNN). NASA HQ Photo: Welcome home! After 371 days in space, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin have returned to Earth in Kazakhstan (X).