In our news wrap Thursday, three-time Olympic canoe racer David Hearn pleaded not guilty on charges he deliberately damaged the Reflecting Pool in Washington, Ukraine struck more energy targets inside Russia with long-range drones and authorities in southern China say flooding has killed at least 39 people after days of record rainfall.
Geoff Bennett:
In the day’s other headlines: Three-time Olympic canoe racer David Hearn today pleaded not guilty to deliberately damaging the Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C.
The 67-year-old was met with cheers as he left the courthouse this morning. He was indicted on a single felony count of property destruction last week. Hearn says he reached into the pool to examine the peeled liner, but let go when told to do so by a park worker.
His lawyer says the case against him is based on a concocted narrative.
Norm Eisen, Attorney For David Hearn:
Every American should be alarmed about this prosecution. This indictment reflects the administration’s effort to scapegoat Davey and to shift blame for their own failures.
Geoff Bennett:
President Trump’s multimillion-dollar renovation of the pool has been plagued with issues, including freshly formed algae and sealants peeling off.
The president has claimed without evidence that vandals slashed the pool sealant with a box cutter, and U.S. attorney Jeanine Pirro has said that six others were arrested on related charges. Hearn’s next hearing is scheduled for early August.
As of today, travelers flying in or out of Palm Beach, Florida, will pass through President Donald J. Trump International Airport. The change follows a law Governor Ron DeSantis signed back in March renaming Palm Beach International Airport after nearly half-a-century under that name.
It’s part of a broader push to put Mr. Trump’s name or image on public buildings and other institutions. About a dozen U.S. airports are named for presidents, but it’s rare for an airport to be named after someone still living. And this is the first named for a sitting president.
President Trump also took the unusual step of registering trademarks for the airport’s new name, raising questions about whether he stands to profit.
Turning overseas now, Ukraine struck more energy targets inside Russia today with long-range drones. Its military released these videos of strikes on tankers and other vessels in the Sea of Azov. They also hit oil refineries elsewhere. A day earlier, President Trump pledged to grant Ukraine a license to build its own patriot air defense systems.
In response, the Kremlin largely downplayed that development and instead focused on U.S. diplomatic efforts to end the war.
Dmitry Peskov (through interpreter):
Unlike the unlike the Europeans, the United States retains a desire to facilitate a move toward a peace process. They may be misguided or mistaken at times, but that desire strikes us as sincere. We welcome it.
Geoff Bennett:
Meantime, a top Ukrainian official cautioned it could take a year or longer to actually produce the Patriot interceptor missiles.
In Southern China, authorities say flooding has killed at least 39 people after days of record rainfall. A massive rescue and relief operation is under way as entire communities are underwater in the region of Guangxi.
Officials there say the partial collapse of a local dam is responsible for most of the fatalities. And they warn that many other structures could be compromised.
Chen Rundong (through interpreter):
Currently, more than 300 reservoirs across the region are operating above their flood limit water levels. Extreme torrential rainfall has triggered critical emergencies, including dam overtopping and breaches.
Geoff Bennett:
Meantime, E.U. climate watchers confirmed today that Western Europe endured its hottest month of June ever. That’s as here in the U.S. another heat wave is expected across much of the country.
Turning to the nation’s housing market now, U.S. home prices hit an all-time high last month. The National Association of Realtors said today that the median price for existing homes rose nearly 2 percent to around $440,000. Those elevated prices and high mortgage rates are adding pressure to would-be homebuyers.
Meantime, on Wall Street, stocks ended higher as oil prices eased a bit. The Dow Jones industrial average added around 140 points on the day. The Nasdaq jumped more than 300 points. The S&P 500 also closed the session with a solid gain.
Trailblazing aviator Mary Wallace, or Wally Funk, has died. In the early 1960s, she was among the Mercury 13, a privately funded effort intended to train women to fly in space. The 13 women in the program undertook the same training and testing required of the seven men selected by NASA for the Mercury space flight program.
Funk continued to fly and later served in high-level roles at the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board. Then, at age 82, she was chosen for Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket crew and became the oldest woman ever to reach space. Wally Funk was 87 years old.
And in the music world, Welsh singer-songwriter Bonnie Tyler has died. Her anthem “Total Eclipse of the Heart” was a huge hit of the ’80s, earning Tyler one of her three Grammy nominations. It’s been streamed more than a billion times on both Spotify and YouTube.
Born Gaynor Sullivan, she brought her distinctive gravelly voice to other hits, including “It’s a Heartache” and “Holding Out For a Hero.” In 2022, she was honored as a member of the Order of the British Empire for her services to music. Bonnie Tyler’s family said she died unexpectedly in Portugal, where she was being treated for an illness. She was 75 years old.
The Trump administration expands Medicare coverage for increasingly popular weight loss drugs; the sister of a formerly imprisoned Iranian-American businessman speaks out about Americans still detained in Iran; plus, an in-studio performance by the band Hermanos Gutierrez.
