Wednesday, July 13 top stories
It is Wednesday, July 13. Here are today’s top stories.
Uvalde school shooting video released
On Tuesday night, videos of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas were released to the public.
The videos show the gunman entering a school hallway, carrying a long rifle before he approaches a classroom door and shoots at it and enters.
About three minutes after, several police officers enter the hallway, but as they try to approach the classroom door, they got shot at and end up running away, spooked, looking for safety at the end of the hallway.
For more than an hour, there were dozens of law enforcement officers waiting and looking at the classroom door from either end of the hallway, with none of them attempting to breach the door.
An hour and 14 minutes passed before a group of officers finally rushed inside the classroom and killed the gunman.
The news outlet that released the videos, the Austin American-Statesman, said “The video tells in real time the brutal story of how heavily armed officers failed… to save more children if possible… and it reinforces the trauma of those parents, friends and bystanders who were outside of the school and pleaded with police to do something, and for those survivors who quietly called 911 from inside the classroom to beg for help.”
Inflation hits 9.1%
The U.S. government said inflation is now up 9.1% compared with the same time last year. It is the highest rate of inflation in America since 1981.
Axios said, “The price shock is tanking Americans’ view of the economy — and risks pushing the Federal Reserve into moving aggressively to cool inflation, possibly triggering a recession.”
President Biden said that while the inflation report is unacceptably high, the next report should be better because there have been decreases in gas prices since mid-June.
Twitter sues Elon Musk
On Tuesday, Twitter filed a lawsuit in a Delaware court against Elon Musk over him backing out of the deal to purchase Twitter for $44 billion.
Twitter said in the lawsuit that Musk “apparently believes that he… is free to change his mind, trash the company, disrupt its operations, destroy stockholder value, and walk away.”
Axios said there are three possible outcomes — that the court sides with Twitter and forces Musk to purchase for $44 billion, that the court allows Musk to walk away, or that the two sides reach an out-of-court settlement.
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Jan. 6 Committee’s 7th hearing
On Tuesday, the Jan 6. House Committee held its seventh hearing.
The committee showed that on December 18 after Trump lost the election, there was a meeting in the Oval Office between White House lawyers and staff and a group of private lawyers that included Rudy Giuliani.
The second group tried to get Trump to take extreme action to change the election outcome, such as using the U.S. military to seize voting machines.
A White House attorney said the idea was “nuts.” Giuliani told the White House lawyers that they were not being tough enough.
Pat Cipollone, one of the White House lawyers, said he repeatedly asked for the Giuliani group to present their evidence (of election fraud) but they wouldn’t because they didn’t have any.
The committee said Trump chose to side with the Giuliani group because after midnight, on December 19, Trump tweeted, “Statistically impossible to have lost the 2020 election. Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!”
The committee showed that the tweet inspired many Trump supporters to make plans to go to D.C. on January 6th.
There will be one more and final hearing on July 21. It will focus on what Trump did in the White House when the Capitol attack was unfolding.
Deadly shootings at bars in South Africa
On Saturday night in Johannesburg, South Africa, 16 people died when they were shot by a group of unknown armed men who entered a bar. Police said the shooting was random and that they are looking for five suspects.
ABC News said there was another mass shooting on Saturday in another city, Pietermaritzburg. Two gunmen opened fire at a bar, killing at least four people.
On Friday night, in another city, two people at a bar were shot and killed by two gunmen.
So that brings a total of 22 people killed in three separate mass shootings at bars. An analyst with ABC News said the shootings may have resulted from disputes between tavern owners and the gunmen, that one side didn’t like the people on the other side.
Last month, in a separate incident in South Africa, 21 young people died in a mysterious incident at a nightclub in the city of East London that may have been a result of a crowd crush or dangerous chemicals in the air. Police said they’ve arrested the bar’s owner and two employees for serving alcohol to underage minors, but the investigation into the deaths is ongoing.
People rescued from flash floods at Gatlinburg campground
On Tuesday night in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, heavy thunderstorms triggered flash flooding that impacted a campground, forcing at least 400 people to be evacuated.
First responders rescued 14 people who were trapped at the campground. The water levels were as high as a picnic table.
Fortunately, there are no reports of injuries. Pictures of the scene show various vehicles that were pushed into the woods by rushing water. Tents and other camping equipment were also swept away.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.axios.com/2022/07/13/june-cpi-report-inflation-fed-biden
https://www.axios.com/2022/07/12/twitter-sues-elon-musk
https://www.npr.org/2022/07/13/1111176134/jan-6-hearing-takeaways-oath-keepers-proud-boys
https://abcnews.go.com/International/14-dead-injured-south-africa-tavern-shooting/story?id=86547921
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/21-mysterious-deaths-nightclub-south-africa-3-arrested/
https://www.wvlt.tv/2022/07/13/multiple-water-rescues-underway-gatlinburg-sheriffs-office-says/