A former top aide to former President Biden’s 2020 campaign declared she felt “lied to” over bombshell revelations that Biden was “fatigued, befuddled, and disengaged” in the days leading up to Biden’s disastrous performance in the June presidential debate, where he squared off against Donald Trump. Ashley Allison, who served as a senior official on the Biden-Harris campaign, voiced her fury on CNN Wednesday, following the release of excerpts from journalist Chris Whipple’s forthcoming book. The most damning of those excerpts includes testimony from former Biden White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, who reportedly said he was “startled” by Biden’s exhaustion and that the president seemed “out of it.” “Do you feel lied to?” host Abby Phillip asked. “Yes,” Allison responded. “If the people around him knew that he was not capable, it is unacceptable to me that they allowed him to go onto that stage. I deserve better as a voter — not even as a Democrat — as a voter and as an American. I do.” According to Whipple, Klain confessed Biden had veered dramatically off course during debate prep — wandering away to nap by the pool before the highest-stakes moment of his re-election campaign. On CNN NewsNight, Phillip turned to Biden ally and The View co-host Ana Navarro, pressing her on the shocking account. “This is the middle of debate prep,” Phillip said. “He took a nap by the pool. This isn’t even governing — this is just campaigning. The right decision, it seems pretty unequivocally, is that he should not have run for reelection.” Navarro, who maintains a personal relationship with Biden, tried to walk a fine line — defending her longtime friend while conceding something was clearly wrong that day. “I’ve known Joe Biden for over 25 years. The Joe Biden today is not the Joe Biden of 5, 10, 20 years ago,” she admitted. “But something happened in those days around the debate that was not the case the day after. He was a completely different person.” Navarro said she had been in contact with Klain, who, she claimed, told her his comments were “taken out of context.” But her defense did little to quell the growing chorus of alarm. Republican strategist Shermichael Singleton didn’t mince words: “This was a cover-up.” Even Allison, who once helped carry Biden to victory, couldn’t disagree. “The night of the debate was terrifying,” she said. “It hurt my heart, but it was very clear that might not have been the first time this happened. And I find that unacceptable. I would find that unacceptable in a Trump administration. I would find that unacceptable in an Obama administration. And I find it unacceptable now.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s common-sense proposal to increase penalties for masked agitators who harass or threaten violence is facing a surprising roadblock in the state Senate, where lawmakers are balking—out of what sources describe as “heightened concern” for student demonstrators, even as threats against Jewish communities continue to rise. The governor’s measure, which would target individuals who purposely conceal their faces while engaging in menacing behavior, was introduced during closed-door budget negotiations in a bid to finally take action on an issue long demanded by Jewish leaders, civil rights groups, and public safety advocates. But despite the bill’s narrow focus on violent behavior—not peaceful protest—sources say many senators are privately rejecting it, worried it could impact the optics of recent pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses, particularly after Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested anti-Israel student agitators. “It’s dead unless she forces it,” one senator told the NY Post. In recent months, masked demonstrators have used anonymity as a shield while engaging in antisemitic harassment and intimidation. The Anti-Defamation League and NAACP have both backed the proposal, citing its importance in deterring violence and holding bad actors accountable. “This isn’t about silencing free speech,” said one law enforcement official. “It’s about preventing individuals from hiding their identities while threatening others.” Governor Hochul first floated the policy last year but omitted it from her public remarks in January, instead attempting to work it into the budget deal—just as she has done with successful policies in the past. Her approach, she explained, is part of a deliberate and strategic push to ensure controversial but necessary laws make it to the finish line. State Sen. James Skoufis, the bill’s sponsor, remains confident the proposal can be saved with minor adjustments. “It’s still a live bill,” he told The Post. “If we can get the lion’s share of the proposal, I’d happily support it.” Opponents claim the measure would chill protest. But advocates argue the law draws a clear line: peaceful demonstration is protected, violent intimidation—especially while masked—is not. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
A Brooklyn woman who described herself as “haunted inside” was arraigned Thursday from her hospital bed on manslaughter charges following the high-speed crash that left a Jewish mother and two young daughters dead — and a young boy fighting for his life. Miriam Yarimi, 32, a wigmaker with a troubling history and a social media trail riddled with paranoia, was behind the wheel of a 2023 Audi A3 when she barreled through a red light on Ocean Parkway at more than double the speed limit. Her car slammed into a Toyota Camry Uber, flipped, and struck the Saada family as they crossed the street — killing Natasha Saada, 35, and her daughters Diana, 8, and Debra, 5 A”H. Their 4-year-old son, Philip, remains hospitalized in critical condition after losing a kidney. Yarimi, who appeared for her arraignment via video from NYU Langone Hospital–Brooklyn, wore a yellow hospital gown and sat with her hair neatly trimmed, seemingly composed — a stark contrast to the unhinged and erratic statements she allegedly made after the crash. “The devil’s in my eyes,” she reportedly told police. “I’m haunted inside… I need CT scans in my eyes. I need to get scanning done now.” According to prosecutors, Yarimi had to be restrained at the hospital, where she shouted, “Take me out of these cuffs! Why can’t you uncuff me? I am a wigmaker!” She continued rambling about her daughter — who was in New Jersey at the time — and refused to speak further with police after demanding a lawyer. Yarimi’s apparent obsession with speed was no secret. A former acquaintance described her as having a “need for speed,” and her social media is littered with cryptic, conspiratorial posts — including claims that a celebrity was assassinated by the CIA and that a hidden camera had been placed in her Midwood apartment bathroom. Her history with law enforcement is equally turbulent. Just months ago, Yarimi won a $2 million settlement from the city after alleging that she had been repeatedly assaulted by a now-former NYPD officer starting at the age of 14. More recently, she filed a $5 million notice of claim accusing the NYPD of manhandling her during a psychiatric evaluation in October. She livestreamed that confrontation on Instagram. Despite her silence during Thursday’s court appearance — speaking only to acknowledge questions from Judge Jevet Johnson — the weight of the charges against her was unmistakable. Yarimi faces a battery of counts, including manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, reckless endangerment, assault, and numerous traffic violations. She was remanded without bail. Her next court appearance is scheduled for Friday. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
A firestorm of outrage has erupted across social media after veteran “60 Minutes” host Lesley Stahl asked a question that many are calling shocking—and even sympathetic to terrorists—during a Sunday night segment with American-Israeli hostage Keith Siegel, recently released from nearly 500 days in Hamas captivity. In the emotional interview, Siegel recounted being starved, beaten, and humiliated by his Hamas captors. He recalled how, after his wife Aviva was released, “they became very mean and very cruel and violent. They were beating me and starving me.” Stahl then posed the now-infamous question: “Do you think they starved you on purpose, or they just didn’t have food?” Siegel’s response was unequivocal: “No, I think they starved me, and they would often eat in front of me and not offer me food.” The question ignited a wave of condemnation from pro-Israel voices, Jewish organizations, and former hostages’ advocates, who accused CBS and Stahl of providing cover for a genocidal terror group. “She should ask the Nazis if they meant to starve the Jews in the Holocaust or didn’t have enough aid,” wrote Jewish journalist Ari Hoffman on X. Others, like the account Jews Fight Back, expressed disbelief: “Lesley Stahl looked a Jewish hostage in the face—after being starved, tortured, beaten, and dragged through hell—and asked if maybe Hamas didn’t mean to starve him. Are you … kidding me?” Siegel was kidnapped on October 7, 2023, during the Hamas massacre in southern Israel. He spent 484 days in captivity under unimaginable conditions—conditions that included starvation, beatings, and psychological torture. His testimony included descriptions of being allowed to bathe only once a month and witnessing Hamas members assaulting female hostages. Despite the uproar, CBS News has yet to issue a response. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Yale Law School has fired an Iranian scholar, accusing her of refusing to cooperate as it probed allegations that she is involved with a group that the U.S. calls a “sham charity” for a designated terrorist organization. But Helyeh Doutaghi, an outspoken critic of Israel who worked at Yale on a visa as an associate research scholar and deputy director of the school’s Law and Political Economy Project, denies being uncooperative. She believes she was fired because of her criticism of the war in Gaza, as colleges around the country face financial pressure to crack down on antisemitism from the Trump administration. The school said in a statement that Doutaghi, 30, was terminated on March 28 after refusing for several weeks to appear in person to answer questions about “serious allegations” that included a possible connection to the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network — which the U.S. and Canada designated in October as a “sham charity that serves as an international fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization.” Yale cited a posting on Samidoun’s website that it says identified Doutaghi as a member of the group among the materials it was reviewing. Samidoun did not return an email message seeking comment. Doutaghi, however, said that posting was from 2022 when Samidoun wasn’t designated as a terror-supporting group, and she said Yale had not produced any evidence that she was involved in such a group. Another webpage listed Doutaghi as a speaker in an online panel discussion in October 2024 sponsored by Samidoun and other groups. She said she did not take part in that event because it was canceled or postponed and Samidoun was not the main organizer of the discussion. Asked by The Associated Press if she was a member of Samidoun or affiliated with it in some other way, she would only say that she is not involved in any group that violates U.S. law. Doutaghi and her lawyer, Eric Lee, said they offered to answer Yale’s questions about her affiliations in writing. Doutaghi said her concerns about being detained and deported were a factor in not wanting to appear in person. “This has become part of the fascism that is unfolding in this country, that people who dare to speak up against genocide and the U.S. support for it and complicity in it, they have to expect to pay the price with their careers, with their livelihoods, with their jobs, students with their degrees, as we’ve seen at Columbia, we’ve seen at Cornell and elsewhere,” she said in a phone interview, referring to pro-Palestinian students at those schools who have been targeted for deportation. (AP)
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Former Vice President Mike Pence will receive the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for his refusal to go along with President Donald Trump’s efforts to remain in office after losing the 2020 election, Kennedy’s family announced Thursday. The award recognizes Pence “for putting his life and career on the line to ensure the constitutional transfer of presidential power on Jan. 6, 2021,” the JFK Library Foundation said. Trump pressured Pence to reject election results from swing states where the Republican president falsely claimed the vote was marred by fraud. Pence refused, saying he lacked such authority. When a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, some chanted that they wanted to “hang Mike Pence.” Pence was whisked away by Secret Service agents, narrowly avoiding a confrontation with the rioters. “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify,” Trump wrote at the time on X, formerly Twitter, as rioters moved through the Capitol and Pence was in hiding with his family, aides and security detail inside the building. Pence rejected the Secret Service’s advice that he leave the Capitol, staying to continue the ceremonial election certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential election victory once rioters were cleared. Two years ago, Pence said Trump’s “reckless words endangered my family.” The Profile in Courage Award, named for a book Kennedy published in 1957, before he became president, honors public officials who take principled stands despite the potential political or personal consequences. “His decision is an example of President Kennedy’s belief that an act of political courage can change the course of history,” Caroline Kennedy and Jack Schlossberg, JFK’s daughter and grandson, said in a statement. Pence said in a statement that he’s “deeply humbled and honored” to get the award. “I have been inspired by the life and words of President John F. Kennedy since my youth and am honored to join the company of so many distinguished Americans who have received this recognition in the past,” Pence said. The award will be presented on May 4 at the JFK library in Boston. (AP)
President Trump shows off the new Gold Card: “For $5 million this could be yours… it will be out in about less than 2 weeks probably. Pretty exciting, right?”
Wall Street shuddered, and a level of shock unseen since COVID’s outbreak tore through financial markets worldwide Thursday on worries about the damage President Donald Trump’s newest set of tariffs could do to economies across continents, including his own. The S&P 500 sank 4.8%, more than in major markets across Asia and Europe, for its worst day since the pandemic crashed the economy in 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,679 points, or 4%, and the Nasdaq composite tumbled 6%. Little was spared in financial markets as fear flared about the potentially toxic mix of weakening economic growth and higher inflation that tariffs can create. Everything from crude oil to Big Tech stocks to the value of the U.S. dollar against other currencies fell. Even gold, which hit records recently as investors sought something safer to own, pulled lower. Some of the worst hits walloped smaller U.S. companies, and the Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks dropped 6.6% to pull more than 20% below its record. Investors worldwide knew Trump was going to announce a sweeping set of tariffs late Wednesday, and fears surrounding it had already pulled Wall Street’s main measure of health, the S&P 500 index, 10% below its all-time high. But Trump still managed to surprise them with “the worst case scenario for tariffs,” according to Mary Ann Bartels, chief investment officer at Sanctuary Wealth. Trump announced a minimum tariff of 10% on imports, with the tax rate running much higher on products from certain countries like China and those from the European Union. It’s “plausible” the tariffs altogether, which would rival levels unseen in roughly a century, could knock down U.S. economic growth by 2 percentage points this year and raise inflation close to 5%, according to UBS. Such a hit would be so big that it “makes one’s rational mind regard the possibility of them sticking as low,” according to Bhanu Baweja and other strategists at UBS. Wall Street had long assumed Trump would use tariffs merely as a tool for negotiations with other countries, rather than as a long-term policy. But Wednesday’s announcement may suggest Trump sees tariffs more as helping to solve an ideological goal than as an opening bet in a poker game. Trump on Wednesday talked about wresting manufacturing jobs back to the United States, a process that could take years. If Trump follows through on his tariffs, stock prices may need to fall much more than 10% from their all-time high in order to reflect the recession that could follow, along with the hit to profits that U.S. companies could take. The S&P 500 is now down 11.8% from its record set in February. “Markets may actually be underreacting, especially if these rates turn out to be final, given the potential knock-on effects to global consumption and trade,” said Sean Sun, portfolio manager at Thornburg Investment Management, though he sees Trump’s announcement on Wednesday as more of an opening move than an endpoint for policy. Trump offered an upbeat reaction after he was asked about the market’s drop as he left the White House to fly to his Florida golf club on Thursday. “I think it’s going very well,” he said. “We have an operation, like when a patient gets operated on and it’s a big thing. I said […]
The Pentagon’s acting inspector general announced Thursday that he would review Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the Signal messaging app to convey plans for a military strike against Houthi militants in Yemen. The review will also look at other defense officials’ use of the publicly available encrypted app, which is not able to handle classified material and is not part of the Defense Department’s secure communications network. Hegseth’s use of the app came to light when a journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, was inadvertently added to a Signal text chain by national security adviser Mike Waltz. The chain included Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and others, brought together to discuss March 15 military operations against the Iran-backed Houthis. “The objective of this evaluation is to determine the extent to which the Secretary of Defense and other DoD personnel complied with DoD policies and procedures for the use of a commercial messaging application for official business,” the acting inspector general, Steven Stebbins, said in a notification letter to Hegseth. The letter also said his office “will review compliance with classification and records retention requirements.” Hegseth and other members of the Trump administration are required by law to archive their official conversations, and it is not clear if copies of the discussions were forwarded to an official email so they could be permanently captured for federal records keeping. The Pentagon referred all questions to the inspector general’s office, citing the ongoing investigation. In the chain, Hegseth provided the exact timings of warplane launches and when bombs would drop — before the men and women carrying out those attacks on behalf of the United States were airborne. The review was launched at the request of Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the committee’s top Democrat. In congressional hearings, Democratic lawmakers have expressed concern about the use of Signal and pressed military officers on whether they would find it appropriate to use the commercial app to discuss military operations. Both current and former military officials have said the level of detail Hegseth shared on Signal most likely would have been classified. The Trump administration has insisted no classified information was shared. Waltz is fighting back against calls for his ouster and, so far, President Donald Trump has said he stands by his national security adviser. On Thursday, Trump fired several members of Waltz’s staff after far-right activist Laura Loomer urged the president to purge staffers she deemed insufficiently loyal to his “Make America Great Again” agenda, several people familiar with the matter said. In his Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday, Trump’s nominee for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, would not say whether the officials should have used a more secure communications system to discuss the attack plans. “What I will say is we should always preserve the element of surprise,” Caine told senators. (AP)
President Donald Trump’s expansive new tariffs flips on its head a decades-long global trend of lower trade barriers and is likely, economists say, to raise prices for Americans by thousands of dollars each year while sharply slowing the U.S. economy. The White House is gambling that other countries will also suffer enough pain that they will open up their economies to more American exports, leading to negotiations that would reduce the tariffs imposed Wednesday. Or, the White House hopes, more companies — both American and foreign — will reverse their moves toward global supply chains and bring more production to the United States to avoid higher import taxes. A key question remains: How will Americans react? But a key question for the Trump administration will be how Americans react to the tariffs. If prices rise noticeably and jobs are lost, voters could turn against the duties and make it harder to keep them in place for the length of time needed to encourage companies to return to the U.S. The Yale Budget Lab estimates that all the Trump administration’s tariffs would cost the average household $3,800 in higher prices this year. The figure includes the impact of the 10% universal tariff announced Wednesday, plus much higher tariffs on about 60 countries, as well as previous import taxes on steel, aluminum and cars. Inflation could top 4% this year, from 2.8% currently, while the economy may barely grow, according to estimates by Nationwide Financial. Investors turned thumbs down on the new duties Thursday, with the broad S&P 500 index dropping 4.1% in afternoon trading. The Dow Jones plunged more than 1,400 points. The only sector not selling off was consumer staples, which consists of companies that sell basic food stocks. Still, Trump offered an upbeat reaction Thursday when asked about the stock market drop as he left the White House to fly to his Florida golf club. “I think it’s going very well,” he said. “We have an operation, like when a patient gets operated on and it’s a big thing. I said this would exactly be the way it is.” The average U.S. tariff could rise to nearly 25% when the tariffs are fully implemented April 9, economists estimate, higher than it has been in more than a century and higher than the 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariffs that are widely blamed for worsening the Great Recession. Economists note that the United States engages in much more trade now than it did then. “The president just announced the de facto separation of the U.S. economy from the global economy,” said Mary Lovely, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Relations. “The stage is set for higher prices and slower growth over the long term.” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, in an interview on CNBC Thursday, said the policies will help open markets overseas for U.S. exports. “I expect most countries to start to really examine their trade policy towards the United States of America, and stop picking on us,” he said. ”This is the reordering of fair trade.” Mixed feeling among Americans so far Bob Lehmann, 73, stopped by a Best Buy in Portland, Oregon, to buy a keyboard Wednesday. He opposed the tariffs. “They’re going to raise prices and cause people to pay more for daily living,” he said. Mathew Hall, a 64-year-old paint contractor, said he thought […]
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Many in Bnei Brak are in shock after learning of the sudden passing of R’ Avraham Leibush Levi z”l, a well-known figure in the city and a prominent volunteer with Yedidim, Ichud, Zaka, Shomrim and many other Chesed organizations. He was 35. Sources tell YWN that he suddenly collapsed at home and was Niftar. In Bnei Brak, R’ Avraham was known as an extraordinary man of kindness, always eager to assist others. Anyone in need of help would call him, and he made himself available 24 hours a day to everyone. Many knew him where he worked at Kalman’s Deli in Bnei Brak, where he served customers with dedication and loyalty. R’ Avraham was also known for his frequent visits to the Kevarim of tzaddikim, particularly the resting place of the Bnei Yissaschar of Dinov, where he took responsibility for all aspects of hospitality during Yomim Tovim and yahrzeits. His passing has sent shockwaves through his wide circle of friends and acquaintances, who are devastated by this horrific tragedy. He leaves behind his parents, and his wife. Sadly, he did not leave behind any children. Boruch Dayan Ha’Emes… (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
SUFFERN: An MVA involving an overturned vehicle occurred on Cragmere Road near Yale Drive. Hatzoloh EMS, Ramapo Police, and both Tallman and Suffern Fire Departments are on scene. The vehicle reportedly lost control and struck the curb, causing it to overturn. Injuries have been reported.
POTUS: “The markets are going to boom. The stock is going to boom. The country is going to boom — and the rest of the world wants to see is there any way they can make a deal,”
ELIMINATED: The IDF and Shin Bet reported that a strike on a Hamas command center in northern Gaza’s Jabalia yesterday killed at least four operatives, including Shadi Diab Abd al-Hamid Falouji, a member of Hamas’s East Jabalia Battalion who participated in the October 7, onslaught.
US Department of Defense Inspector General has launched an investigation into Pete Hegseth’s use of the Signal app to discuss information pertaining to military actions in Yemen.
General Motors just announced it will increase truck production at its assembly plant in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in light of President Trump’s tariffs. The company will also increase overtime and hire additional workers.
The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee criticized Pentagon “mid-level” leadership for what he said Thursday was a misguided plan to reduce the number of U.S. troops based in Europe. The Defense Department, however, has not made public any proposal to cut force levels there. “There are some who believe now is the time to reduce drastically our military footprint in Europe,” Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said at a hearing with U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command military leadership. “I’m troubled at those deeply misguided and dangerous views held by some mid-level bureaucrats within the Defense Department,” Wicker said. “They’ve been working to pursue a U.S. retreat from Europe and they’ve often been doing so without coordinating with the secretary of defense.” It was not immediately clear what “mid-level bureaucrats” Wicker was talking about. The number of U.S. troops in Europe increased by about 20,000 under Democratic President Joe Biden in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. They helped with training, logistics of weapons shipments and, in general, reassured allies on NATO’s eastern flank that the United States would defend them. There have been roughly 100,000 troops there since, including the Navy’s 6th Fleet, as well as nuclear warheads. U.S. firepower ensures that NATO’s ability to deter Russia is credible. NATO allies have expressed concern about any reduction of American troops or support in the region. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Brussels this week seeking to reassure NATO allies about the American commitment to the alliance under Republican President Donald Trump. That military reassurance had been almost immediately put into question by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who used his first visit to NATO and the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in February to tell allies that the U.S. would be reassessing troop levels with an eye toward focusing more on China. Trump has tried to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine but so far that effort has faltered. (AP)
