The U.S. Department of Justice has announced terrorism charges against senior leaders of Hamas. And with the kickoff to a new NFL season a day away, betting on the games is expected to break records. These stories and more highlight The Morning Rundown for Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024.
US charges 6 Hamas leaders with terrorism over Oct. 7 attack
The Department of Justice has announced charges against six senior Hamas officials for killing at least 43 Americans since the terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023, in Israel. Nearly a year later, there are mass protests taking place in the streets of Israel after six more bodies of hostages were recovered.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the federal charges unsealed Tuesday, Sept. 3, won’t be the last efforts by the DOJ to hold Hamas accountable for its heinous crimes.
“On Oct. 7, Hamas terrorists murdered nearly 1,200 people, including over 40 Americans, and kidnapped hundreds of civilians,” Garland said. “They perpetrated the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. The charges unsealed today are just one part of our effort to target every aspect of Hamas’ operations. These actions will not be our last.”
Garland said the department is also investigating the deaths of Americans as acts of terrorism — including the death of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old American-Israeli found killed in Gaza over the weekend.
The recovery of the bodies of Goldberg-Polin and five other hostages in Gaza sparked a massive round of protests in Israel. Thousands of people are calling for more action to be taken to see the release of the remaining hostages.
The charges filed against six Hamas leaders include conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization, conspiracy to murder U.S. Nationals, and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.
However, of the six Hamas officials charged, three of them are already dead. The other three have not yet been captured.
Zelenskyy: Ukraine to hold onto Russian territories ‘indefinitely’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Kyiv will be holding on to the Russian territories it seized last month indefinitely as its war with Russia stretches on. It’s part of a plan to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.
Almost a month ago, Ukrainian troops took over Russia’s Kursk region in an unexpected operation. Ukraine now claims it controls nearly 500 square miles of Russian territory and has taken hundreds of Russian prisoners of war.
In an interview with NBC News, Zelenskyy would not discuss whether Ukraine planned to try to seize more Russian territory.
The interview aired hours before Ukraine’s foreign minister resigned Wednesday, Sept. 4, as a Ukraine parliament deputy warned it would be the “day of resignations,” with more than half of Zelenskyy’s cabinet members expected to be replaced.
Harris to announce economic plans, Trump to hold town hall
There are now less than nine weeks until Election Day and both presidential candidates will be on the road today.
The Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, is set to give a speech in New Hampshire, unveiling plans for new benefits for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Those plans are set to include a tax deduction of up to $50,000 for starting a small business; ten times the $5,000 amount currently granted to small businesses in their first year.
She is also set to announce a goal of 25 million small business applications during her first term if she’s elected president. That would surpass the 19 million new small businesses under the Biden administration.
Meanwhile, Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump will be holding a town hall in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
He’ll take questions during the event at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg hosted by Fox News’ Sean Hannity. The town hall will air Wednesday night on the network.
Both vice presidential candidates are also holding events Wednesday. Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is set to be in Pennsylvania and Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance in Arizona.
Federal judge won’t intervene in Trump’s New York criminal case
A federal judge has rejected former President Trump’s request to intervene in his New York criminal case. Trump’s lawyers were hoping to move the case to federal court so they could try to have his conviction overturned in the wake of the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling.
The judge said Trump’s conviction for falsifying business records involved his personal life, not official actions the Supreme Court ruled are immune from prosecution.
Republican states file new lawsuit to end Biden student debt forgiveness plan
President Joe Biden said he won’t stop trying to eliminate student loan debt for millions of Americans, as a new lawsuit claims he told servicers to cancel billions of dollars’ worth of debt in secret.
The lawsuit brought by six Republican states and led by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey alleges they have documents proving the Biden administration plans to begin canceling loans this week, even though a cancellation plan technically does not exist yet.
Usually, states cannot file to block federal regulation until it’s officially in place, but in this case, the states say they have proof the secretary of education is implementing the plan without one officially being in place.
The lawsuit claims the administration has been planning this move since May. The Education Department has not commented on the pending litigation.
$35 billion expected to be bet on NFL this season
The NFL’s 2024 season kicks off Thursday, Sept. 5, and the American Gaming Association predicts Americans are about to dish out the big bucks betting on games. They say $35 billion will be placed in legal wagers this season.
If the association is right, that would be a roughly 30% increase from the amount bet on the NFL in the 2023 season.
Last season there was nearly $27 billion spent on legally betting on NFL games. Since then, even more states have passed laws to allow for legal betting markets, including North Carolina, Maine, and Vermont.
Betting is now legal in 38 states and Washington D.C.
The American Gaming Association said more bets are placed and more money is wagered on the NFL than any other league.
