2024 Copa America Update

The 2024 Copa America is set to take place in the United States this summer. Defending champions Argentina, led by Lionel Messi, will aim to retain their title against strong contenders such as Brazil, Mexico, and the United States. The tournament will begin on June 20 with Argentina facing the winner of a playoff match, and it will be broadcast exclusively on FOX Networks until the final on July 14.

Trump initially admits to losing the 2020 election, then backtracks in newly released audio

 

Ramin Setoodeh, Co-Editor-in-Chief of Variety, joins Nicolle Wallace on "Deadline: White House" to discuss his new book, "Apprentice in Wonderland: How Donald Trump and Mark Burnett Took America Through the Looking Glass." The book offers fresh insights into Trump's recent memory issues, including his admission of losing the 2020 election.

Donald Sutherland, a master of subtle and sardonic performances, dies at 88

Donald Sutherland, the acclaimed actor with a career spanning over seven decades and more than 200 films and TV shows, passed away on Thursday in Miami, Florida, after a prolonged illness. He was 88 years old.

"He loved what he did and did what he loved, and one can never ask for more than that," his son Kiefer Sutherland wrote on X. "A life well lived."

Sutherland's often cynical and subversive presence became a fixture in American cinema. Despite his long and illustrious career, which began during the Vietnam War era, he never received an Oscar nomination, although the Academy awarded him an honorary Oscar in 2017. "I wish I could say thank you to all the characters I've played," Sutherland said during his acceptance speech. "Thank them for using their lives to inform my life."

The Canadian actor's career initially focused on roles as American soldiers. His breakout role came in 1967 with "The Dirty Dozen," where he portrayed a convict turned soldier on a suicide mission ahead of D-Day.

Director Robert Altman, impressed by Sutherland's performance, cast him as the wisecracking combat surgeon Hawkeye in the 1970 film "M*A*S*H." That same year, he played a rogue tank commander named Oddball in "Kelly's Heroes." These films were released amid the tumultuous backdrop of the Vietnam War.

Despite frequently portraying soldiers, Sutherland was an outspoken critic of the Vietnam War. In 1971, he and Jane Fonda performed in a traveling roadshow in front of U.S. military soldiers as a leftist counterpoint to Bob Hope's pro-war USO tour. This show, featuring skits, songs, and interviews with soldiers, was documented in the 1972 film "F.T.A." Sutherland and Fonda, who were involved in a romantic relationship at the time, were placed on National Security Agency watchlists for two years due to their anti-war activities.

Sutherland's political activism did not hinder his career. He moved on to leading roles, portraying a sullen police officer in "Klute," an aspiring artist in "The Day of the Locust," and grieving fathers in "Ordinary People" and "Don't Look Now."

Sutherland was perhaps best known for his portrayals of off-kilter authority figures, playing doctors, sadistic prison wardens, and paranoid government officials, such as in Oliver Stone's "JFK." A new generation of fans, including actress Jennifer Lawrence, recognized his chilling portrayal of the tyrannical President Snow in "The Hunger Games" film series. "Donald is the most committed, professional, kind person I have ever met," Lawrence said at the 2017 Governors Awards, where Sutherland received his honorary Oscar.

Sutherland's children, including his son, actor Kiefer Sutherland, followed in his footsteps. Despite never winning an Oscar, he earned other accolades, including Emmy and Golden Globe awards. Donald Sutherland's subtle, dry performances left audiences both amused and unsettled, achieving the exact impact he intended.

Sweden accuses Russian warplanes of airspace violation

 

Stockholm accused Russian warplanes of violating Swedish airspace.

The Nordic country's armed forces made the complaint on Saturday. They said the incident occurred briefly east of the Baltic island of Gotland last Friday.

Several Swedish fighter jets took to the skies to chase a Russian fighter jet for violating its airspace.

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström described the airspace violation as "unacceptable".

The Swedish Foreign Minister said that the officials of the Russian embassy in Stockholm will be summoned to his ministry in this incident.

In an email to Reuters, the Swedish foreign minister said they are in close contact with their allies and partners about the incident.

Reuters has reached out to the Russian Embassy in Sweden for comment on the incident. But there was no immediate response.

Sweden's armed forces said in a statement that it was first alerted to a Russian Su-24 fighter jet violating its airspace. But when that didn't work, they sent fighter jets.

Head of the Swedish Air Force, Jonas Wickmann, said that this incident is an example of Russia's lack of respect for Sweden's territorial integrity. They followed the entire incident. And was ready to take action according to the situation.

Sweden is a new member of the Western military alliance NATO. The incident comes at a time when several of the country's new allies are engaged in naval exercises in the Baltic Sea.

Another similar airspace violation by a Russian warplane occurred in 2022, the Swedish military said. Then two Su-27 and two Su-24 Russian fighter jets violated Swedish airspace near Gotland.

Sweden's neighbor Finland said on Friday it suspected four Russian warplanes had violated its airspace on June 10.

Fact check: Trump falsely claims Biden didn’t lower Americans’ insulin costs

President Joe Biden is campaigning on his success in getting seniors with diabetes a $35-per-month cap on their insulin spending. But his Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, claimed Saturday that Biden has actually done nothing to lower insulin costs and that Biden is taking credit for Trump’s own accomplishment.

“Low INSULIN PRICING was gotten for millions of Americans by me, and the Trump Administration, not by Crooked Joe Biden. He had NOTHING to do with it,” Trump wrote on social media. “It was all done long before he so sadly entered office. All he does is try to take credit for things done by others, in this case, ME!”

Facts First: Trump’s claims that Biden did nothing to lower insulin costs and “it was all done” before Biden became president are both false. Trump did get a $35-per-month cap on insulin for some seniors, through a voluntary program that Medicare prescription drug plans could choose to participate in. But Biden ensured that all 3.4 million-plus insulin users on Medicare got $35-per-month insulin — through a mandatory cap that not only covers more people than Trump’s voluntary cap but also applies to a greater number of insulin products and stays in effect at a level of individual drug spending at which Trump’s cap disappeared.

Trump could fairly say he played a role in lowering insulin costs and that Biden does not deserve sole credit. The Biden-era federal government has acknowledged that Biden’s mandatory $35 monthly cap, signed into law in his Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, “closely aligns with” the voluntary $35 monthly cap in the Trump-created program that was announced in 2020 and launched in the final month of the Trump presidency in 2021.

But Trump’s claim that Biden deserves no credit at all is inaccurate. Biden’s policy goes beyond Trump’s policy in multiple ways.

Asked for comment, a Trump campaign spokesperson provided an emailed statement that asserted Biden had replaced Trump’s insulin cap with a “weaker” policy. But after CNN outlined the ways Biden’s policy is demonstrably stronger than Trump’s, and asked how it could reasonably be considered “weaker,” the Trump campaign did not reply further.

Biden’s policy was passed by Congress and signed into law, making its future more secure than the Trump initiative that was created without new legislation and that was described as a five-year test. And here are four substantive ways Biden’s policy does more than Trump’s did.

1: Biden’s policy applies the $35-per-month cap to every insulin user in Medicare Part D. Trump’s policy didn’t

Biden’s policy, which took effect in 2023, requires every prescription drug plan in Medicare Part D to provide each insulin prescription for no more than $35 per month. Conversely, in 2022, 38% of Part D prescription drug plans chose to sign up for the voluntary Part D Senior Savings Model program initiated by Trump, according to data provided to (think today ) by Juliette Cubanski, deputy director of the Program on Medicare Policy at health policy organization KFF. Only “enhanced” plans were allowed in, not basic plans.

The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services told CNN that in 2022, before Biden’s policy took effect, more than 800,000 people with diabetes in Part D were eligible for $35-or-less insulin through the program initiated by Trump. And some substantial additional number of seniors, which is not publicly known, were paying $35 or less per month for reasons other than that Trump program.

Regardless, Biden made $35-per-month insulin universal for seniors with diabetes. Trump did not.

2: Biden’s policy applies the $35 cap to Medicare Part B. Trump’s policy didn’t

Biden’s policy imposes the mandatory $35 monthly cap on insulin taken via a pump, which is obtained through Medicare Part B. Under Trump’s program, the voluntary $35 monthly cap only applied to insulin obtained via Medicare Part D drug plans, such as insulin that is injected or inhaled.

“The Inflation Reduction Act, which the American Diabetes Association supported, expanded and made permanent the cost-sharing limits for insulin users enrolled in all Medicare Part D plans and those who take insulin under Part B,” the association said in an email, underlining the word “all.”

Biden and Trump campaigns agreed to mic muting, podiums among rules for debate Gaza

 

Joe Biden taps Hollywood orbit for $28 million fundraiser

Donald Trump’s ground game strategy: Rely on help from outside organizations like Turning Point

Supreme Court’s abortion pill ruling puts new focus on conservative Trump judge in Texas

Civilian mariner remains missing 2 days after Houthi militants struck cargo ship in Red Sea

Johnson says House will go to court for Biden recordings after DOJ says it won’t prosecute AG Garland

Biden administration imposes sanctions on Israeli group blocking humanitarian aid into Gaza

McCarthy ally Garret Graves won’t seek reelection after new Louisiana map made his seat more Democratic

President Joe Biden's son could be sentenced to 25 years

 

President Joe Biden on Thursday offered his first public remarks about his son Hunter’s conviction on federal gun charges earlier this week, telling reporters in Italy he is “proud” of him and accepts the jury’s verdict.

“I’m extremely proud of my son Hunter. He has overcome an addiction, he’s one of the brightest, most decent men I know,” Biden said during a news conference on the margins of the G7 summit.

“I am satisfied that I’m not going to do anything — I said I’d abide by the jury decision. I will do that. And I will not pardon him,” he added.

Hunter Biden was found guilty on three federal charges this week, punctuating an emotionally tumultuous trial that unearthed many dark and private moments for the Biden family.

Biden reaffirmed that he would not pardon his son, echoing a commitment he made last week, before he was convicted in his gun case.

The president also went a step further Thursday, saying he would not consider commuting his son’s sentence. Presidents have the power both pardon and commute, or reduce, sentences in federal cases.

Hunter Biden has not yet been sentenced in his gun case, and it likely will not happen for another couple of months.

White House officials suspected the president may face questions from reporters at Thursday’s press conference regarding his son’s conviction, including whether the president would commute the sentence, a senior White House official told thinktoday.

Biden aides suspected there was a good chance the president would be asked to comment on the verdict, the official said, and they were sensitive to the fact that White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s response to a question the day before had inadvertently created fresh headlines that the White House would not rule out the possibility of a commutation.

But the official told thinktoday that Jean-Pierre’s response had simply been a reflection of the fact that some aides had not discussed that matter with the president.

The president has sought to draw a distinction between his own acceptance of the jury’s verdict and rival Donald Trump’s claim that his own legal issues amount to a “rigged” justice system. To that end, he has largely chosen to stay quiet about his son’s criminal trial.

Last week, the president in a statement noted that while he is the commander-in-chief, he is also a father. He repeated those sentiments in a statement after his son’s conviction on Tuesday.

Although Biden has shied away from talking about his son's criminal case to avoid the appearance of putting his thumb on the scale, other family members have supported Hunter Biden in court. First Lady Dr. Jill Biden was in the courtroom for much of the trial, with Hunter making several transatlantic flights on behalf of Biden while the First Family was in France to celebrate the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

The president's siblings, Valerie and James, appeared in court to support Hunter Biden.