March 21, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference in Cairo, Egypt, on Thursday, March 21.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference in Cairo, Egypt, on Thursday, March 21. Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/Reuters

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the “gaps are narrowing” between Israel and Hamas to get a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages, but conceded that “there’s still real challenges.”

“We’ve been working, as you know, with Egypt, with Qatar and with Israel to put a strong proposal on the table. Hamas responded to that,” Blinken said during news conference in Cairo, Egypt, with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

Blinken said he still believes a deal is possible, despite “difficult work to get there.”

“The teams are working every single day on this,” he said. “There’s still real challenges. We’ve closed the gaps but there are still gaps.”

As Israel prepares for a possible operation in the Rafah region of Gaza, Blinken said the US believes Hamas “can be effectively dealt with without a major ground operation in Rafah.” He said a ground operation would “be a mistake,” and officials will outline alternative plans when an Israeli delegation goes to Washington, DC, next week.

Meanwhile, Shoukry said he and Blinken agreed to plan “concrete steps” to increase humanitarian aid in Gaza.

The minister stated that the US and Egypt are aligned in their “total rejection of military operations in Rafah.”

The minister added that Egypt would do “whatever is possible, whatever is required to facilitate a cessation of hostilities and an end to the military activity.” 

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[World] Trump’s hush-money trial to begin 15 April

BBC News world-us_and_canada 

Image source, Reuters

Donald Trump will face the first ever criminal trial of a former US president on 15 April, a judge has ruled, over hush money payments he made to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Mr Trump faces four criminal cases, but this may be the only one to make it to a courtroom before November’s election.

The presidential candidate’s lawyers had aimed to delay or dismiss the case.

Mr Trump, 77, faces fraud charges over payments he made to Ms Daniels before the 2016 election.

He has pleaded not guilty to all 34 charges, arguing the claims do not constitute “a crime”.

During his bid to retake the White House, the former president and his legal team have sought to delay as many of his trials as possible.

But Justice Juan Merchan ruled on Monday that there was no reason to delay Mr Trump’s hush money trial any further, despite the defence’s arguments, and ordered the case to begin on 15 April.

After spending much of Monday morning sitting next to his attorneys inside the courtroom, Mr Trump told reporters that the case should be considered “election interference”.

“It’s a disgrace, and we will obviously be appealing,” he said. “But this is a pure case of voter intimidation and election interference, and it shouldn’t be allowed to happen.”

The trial was originally set to begin with jury selection on Monday, but it was delayed after thousands of documents were released last week from the 2018 federal investigation into the payments to Ms Daniels.

Justice Merchan instead held a hearing on Monday centred on whether there had been any wrongdoing in the sudden release last week of more than 100,000 pages of documents related to the federal prosecutors’ case.

Mr Trump’s team had argued the Manhattan district attorney’s office had engaged in misconduct by not doing enough to get the federal prosecutors to hand over the documents in a timely manner. They alleged prosecutors were attempting to “suppress” evidence.

The document release followed a request by Mr Trump’s attorneys in January for records from the federal case. Justice Merchan questioned why the defence had not discussed the long wait with him earlier.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s office had agreed to a delay of 30 days for the documents to be reviewed, but prosecutors said at the hearing that they believed only 300 new documents needed to be considered.

They said that they would be ready to go to trial in mid-April.

But Mr Trump’s legal team pushed for more time to review the documents.

On Monday, Justice Merchan grilled Mr Trump’s lawyer to specify how many of the “thousands” of documents they would consider relevant and requiring review for this case.

Mr Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, painted a broad picture of what was in the new batch, which he said included records from the Robert Mueller investigation – the federal inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

He alleged that the relevant records numbered in the thousands, rather than the 300 figure offered by prosecutors. Mr Trump’s legal team required time to thoroughly study the documents, he argued.

“We got the material a week ago,” Mr Blanche said. “We’re still going through them.”

The judge, however, appeared impatient and unpersuaded by the attorney’s arguments, including the claim that prosecutors had acted unethically.

“You’re literally accusing the Manhattan DA’s office, and people assigned to this case, of engaging in prosecutorial misconduct and trying to make me complicit in it,” Justice Merchan said.

Before adjourning for a break, the judge made it clear that he felt unconvinced by the arguments.

“It’s odd that we’re even here and that we’ve taken this time,” he said.

 

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Sacha Baron Cohen denies Rebel Wilson’s claim he was an ‘a–hole’ on movie set

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Rebel Wilson called out Sacha Baron Cohen by name as the “a–hole” she wrote about in her upcoming memoir, “Rebel Rising.”

A representative for Cohen slammed Wilson’s accusation as “demonstrably false.”

“While we appreciate the importance of speaking out, these demonstrably false claims are directly contradicted by extensive detailed evidence, including contemporaneous documents, film footage, and eyewitness accounts from those present before, during and after the production of ‘The Brothers Grimsby,'” the representative told Fox News Digital.

The “Pitch Perfect” star chose to name Cohen as the “a–hole” she wrote about after he allegedly “bullied” her with lawyers and PR.

REBEL WILSON SAYS WEIGHT LOSS RECEIVED ‘PUSHBACK’ FROM MANAGEMENT TEAM

“I will not be bullied or silenced by high priced lawyers or PR crisis managers,” Wilson wrote on her Instagram story. “The ‘a–hole’ that I am talking about in ONE CHAPTER of my book is: Sacha Baron Cohen.”

Representatives for Wilson did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Wilson and Cohen starred together in the 2016 film “The Brothers Grimsby” as a husband and wife of nine kids. Later, Wilson accused Cohen of “harassing” her on the movie set during a radio show interview, according to Variety.

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The actress first revealed she had written about an “a–hole” with whom she previously worked in an Instagram post shared on March 15.

“When I first came to Hollywood, people were like, ‘Yeah I have a no a–hole policy. Means like, yeah I don’t work with a–holes.’ I was like, ‘Oh yeah, that sounds sensible, logical,'” Wilson said in the shared video.

“But then it really sunk in what they were meaning by that – older people in the industry – because I worked with a massive a–hole, and yeah, now I definitely have a ‘no a–holes policy,'” she further explained. “The chapter on said a–hole is chapter 23. That guy was a massive a–hole.”

“Rebel Rising” will be released April 2.

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‘The View’ bashes NBC over ‘despicable’ hiring of ‘shapeshifter’ Ronna McDaniel

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“The View” co-hosts bashed NBC News on Monday over its “despicable” hiring of former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel, who they called a “shapeshifter.” 

McDaniel was hired by NBC News on Friday and sat down for her first interview as a contributor with NBC’s Kristen Welker on Sunday during “Meet the Press,” and co-host Ana Navarro was among the many voices deriding her new contract.

“I think she’s a shapeshifter, and she says and does what’s convenient for her to say and do when it’s convenient. She’s from Michigan, where the Romney, which is her name, she used to use. When she was in Michigan she was a Romney, when she became the RNC chair, and it was under Trump, who did not like Romney, she took out the word, the name Romney,” Navarro said. 

Navarro applauded NBC News’ Chuck Todd for criticizing his own network after Welker’s interview. Todd said NBC News owed Welker an apology and ripped the network for bringing on McDaniel in remarks that went viral.

RONNA MCDANIEL CLASHES WITH NBC NEWS HOST IN HEATED INTERVIEW: ‘DO YOU OWE THIS COUNTRY AN APOLOGY?’

Navarro said the move was a mistake because of “credibility issues.” Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin said there were better Republicans NBC News could have brought on as contributors, who “never dabbled” in denying President Biden’s victory in 2020. 

“You cannot have election deniers given these types of roles in major network news,” co-host Sara Haines argued. “Questioning an election is fine, denying every result that proves you wrong is not fine.”

Co-host Sunny Hostin accused McDaniel of being “involved in actively suppressing” the Black vote in Detroit, Michigan, alluding to her and Trump’s efforts to not certify Biden’s victory there in 2020.

“I think there could have been more pushback,” Hostin said of McDaniel’s interview with Welker. “She is still pushing the same exact narrative, she is being rewarded basically for trying to take away the votes of Americans and I think it’s a despicable decision.”

EX-RNC BOSS RONNA MCDANIEL FINDS NEW HOME AT NBC, MSNBC AS POLITICAL ANALYST

McDaniel clashed with Welker on Sunday during a contentious interview after she was hired by NBC to be a contributor. 

Welker questioned McDaniel’s support for Trump as the head of the RNC during the heated interview, and asked if McDaniel enabled the former president to “spread election lies.” Liberals, including many figures within NBC, have lambasted the network for hiring McDaniel, calling the move “appalling.”

“I think what people struggle with is, by the time Jan. 6 happened, all of those court cases, more than 60 court cases had already been litigated. Donald Trump had lost, the Supreme Court said they’re not going to take up concerns; as the head of the RNC, did you not have a responsibility to say Joe Biden won?” Welker asked. 

McDaniel argued that she had said that Biden won. 

“At the time? At the time, before January 6th? Before January 6th, and you’re still saying there are concerns this morning as you sit here,” Welker said. 

“Saying there’s concerns about the election doesn’t mean he didn’t win, and that’s the only thing I’m going to say,” McDaniel responded.

 

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Suspect critical after Milwaukee officers return gunfire during foot pursuit

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Milwaukee police officers responding to reports of gunfire shot and critically wounded a 20-year-old man overnight after he fled the scene on foot and fired at officers, police said Monday.

ILLINOIS SHERIFF’S K-9 INJURED DURING ARREST OF 16-YEAR-OLD WHO CRASHED STOLEN CAR, AUTHORITIES SAY

After police received 911 calls about gunshots in the area late Sunday, officers arrived at the scene and found an armed suspect who ran from officers and ignored their commands to stop, said Assistant Chief Craig Sarnow of the Milwaukee Police Department.

The 20-year-old man ran about two blocks before he fired at officers who returned fire about 11:15 p.m., hitting the suspect several times, Sarnow said early Monday during a news conference.

Emergency responders took the young man with life-threatening injuries to a hospital, where he was listed in critical condition, police said.

No one else was injured and police said a gun was recovered on the scene.

Three officers were placed on administrative duty, a routine step following shootings involving police officers. The Milwaukee Police Department said the Wauwatosa Police Department will lead the investigation into the shooting.

 

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[World] Canada’s maple syrup reserve hits 16-year low

BBC News world-us_and_canada 

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption,

Maple syrup is stored by the barrel at Quebec’s iconic Strategic Maple Syrup Reserves

Canada’s maple syrup reserve – the world’s only – has reached a 16-year low, raising questions about the future of a globally loved sweet staple in the face of climate change.

The reserve, located in Quebec, is designed to hold 133 million pounds of maple syrup at any given year.

But in 2023, the supply fell to 6.9 million pounds (3.1 million kg).

Experts link the shortage to both a rise in demand and warmer weather, which has disrupted production.

But they say that this will not affect the availability or price of maple syrup to consumers – at least for now.

“The strategic reserve is holding its lowest amount of maple syrup since 2008,” Simon Doré-Ouellet, the deputy director general of the Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, told the BBC. “But we do not foresee any supply issues in the near future.”

Canada’s billion-dollar maple syrup industry accounts for 75% of the world’s entire maple syrup production.

According to national data, a majority of that – around 90% – is produced in the province of Quebec, where the world’s sole strategic reserve of maple syrup was set up 24 years ago.

The amount of maple syrup in the national reserve – stored in tens of thousands of barrels in several warehouses across Quebec – has dwindled significantly since 2020. That year, the reserve had more than 103 million pounds of the sticky product.

Now, the amount in the reserve is only 7% of what it was four years ago.

Part of the reason why, Mr Doré-Ouellet said, is because of poor harvest seasons over the last few years.

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Watch: Maple syrup’s bittersweet future in face of climate change

Maple syrup production, which is typically done between early March and late April, relies heavily on a delicate balance of below freezing overnight temperatures and warmer daytime temperatures above 0C (32F).

The cold temperatures help the maple tree absorb water from the soil, while the warmer weather during the day creates pressure that pushes water down to the bottom of the tree, making it easier to harvest the sap.

In 2021 and 2023, warmer spring temperatures felt across the country resulted in a reduction in maple syrup production, which fell 21% in 2021 from the year prior.

This reduction, however, came on the heels of two consecutive record years of production, in 2020 and 2019.

Mr Doré-Ouellet said that because of the harvest unpredictability, fluctuations in the reserve’s supply are not unusual.

“The strategic reserve was put in place to stabilise supply – which is highly weather dependent – for buyers,” he said. “In the last four years, that is exactly what it has done.”

Coupled with the poor harvest years is a rising demand for for the golden product.

In 2021, Canada exported 161 million pounds of maple syrup to 71 countries worldwide – an increase of more than 19% from the year before.

Mr Doré-Ouellet said the growth in demand is tied to Quebec’s efforts to promote Canadian maple syrup and its benefits to other countries, primarily the US, UK, Germany, Australia and Japan.

With the reserve supply dwindling in the face of growing demand, many are keen to see how the upcoming harvest season unfolds.

Canada is coming out of one of its warmest winters on record. Temperatures in December, January and February were the warmest since record-keeping began in 1948.

Despite this, Mr Doré-Ouellet said there is reason to be optimistic.

“The sugaring season has come early this year and is still underway,” he said. “So far, production has been plentiful and the weather forecasts are encouraging for the next few weeks all across Quebec.”

Because the reserve stabilises the maple syrup market for producers and buyers, he said it is important that it be built back up.

Efforts to do so are already underway, including the release of 14 million new taps to producers over the last three years to bolster harvesting efforts, he said.

Mr Doré-Ouellet did note that replenishing Canada’s maple syrup supply is a “multi-year process”, adding that he believes the outcome of the 2024 season will not “make or break” the future of Canada’s most iconic export.

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Russian Soyuz spacecraft with 3 astronauts docks at the International Space Station

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MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian spacecraft with three astronauts successfully docked Monday at the International Space Station.

The Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, Russian Oleg Novitsky and Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus reached the space outpost after Saturday’s blastoff from the Russian-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan that followed an aborted launch attempt two days earlier.

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Thursday’s attempted launch was halted by an automatic safety system about 20 seconds before the scheduled liftoff. Roscosmos and NASA said the crew wasn’t in danger during the aborted launch.

The head of the Russian space agency, Yuri Borisov, said the launch abort was triggered by a voltage drop in a power source.

The three astronauts join the station’s crew consisting of NASA astronauts Loral O’Hara, Matthew Dominick, Mike Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, as well as Russians Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, and Alexander Grebenkin.

Dyson is on her third trip to the orbital complex, where she is set to spend six months before returning to Earth in September with Kononenko and Chub, who will complete a year-long mission on the space lab.

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Novitsky, who is making his fourth flight to the orbiting outpost, and Vasilevskaya, on her first space mission as her country’s first astronaut, will spend 12 days on the station and will return to Earth along with O’Hara.

The space station, which has served as a symbol of post-Cold War international cooperation, is now one of the last remaining areas of collaboration between Russia and the West amid tensions over Moscow’s military action in Ukraine. NASA and its partners hope to continue operating the orbiting outpost until 2030.

 

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Israel announces thwarting of massive Iranian operation to smuggle weapons to Palestinians

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Israel announced Monday that forces thwarted a massive Iranian operation aimed at smuggling advanced weaponry to Palestinians in the West Bank on Monday.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and Israel Security Agency (ISA) said an investigation into known Hezbollah and Iranian operative Munir Makdah ultimately uncovered the smuggling scheme. Makdah had been working to recruit “agents in Judea and Samaria to carry out attacks,” the IDF and ISA said in a joint statement.

“In recent months, Iranian agents have been attempting to smuggle weapons, including advanced arms originating from Iran, into Judea and Samaria with the intention of carrying out terror acts against Israel,” the statement read.

“The operation was exposed and thwarted by the ISA and IDF, while investigating detained Palestinian operatives that had attempted terrorist attacks against Israeli targets. Investigations revealed information about the current activities of Munir Makdah, a resident of Ain al-Hilweh in Lebanon who is of Palestinian descent, known for years as an operative of both Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and continues to attempt to carry out attacks,” it continued.

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“As part of the ISA operation against Munir Makdah, a significant amount of advanced weapons that had been smuggled into Judea and Samaria were seized,” the statement added.

ISRAELI STRIKES IN RAFAH LEAVES 31 PALESTINIANS DEAD AHEAD OF PLANNED GROUND INVASION

The confiscated cache included 2 BTB15 peripheral shrapnel charges, 5 Iranian anti-tank mines model YM-2 and 5 detonators, ⁠4 M203 grenade launchers, ⁠15 kg of C4 explosives, 10 kg of Semtex explosives, 13 shoulder-fired anti-tank missiles, ⁠15 RPG launchers, ⁠16 RPG-7 rockets + explosives, 25 hand grenades, ⁠33 M4 rifles and 50 pistols, the Israeli agencies said.

The operation comes as Israel is looking to close out its campaign against Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces significant pushback from the U.S. on a potential invasion of Rafah, the terror group’s southern stronghold.

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Israel says Rafah, a border city near Egypt, is Hamas’ final foothold in Gaza. President Biden’s administration has warned that an invasion would be a “huge mistake,” citing the massive civilian population in the area.

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While Netanyahu vowed that an offensive is imminent, he also agreed to send a delegation of officials to Washington to determine whether a compromise can be made. On Monday, he said he was canceling the delegation’s trip after the U.S. failed to veto a United Nations resolution demanding a cease-fire.

 

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TNT blast kills 2 Polish military engineers during training exercise

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Two Polish military engineers died on Monday following the detonation of TNT during a training exercise at a military facility in southern Poland, the defense minister said.

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Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said that two sappers with a chemical regiment died in Solarnia in the southern region of Silesia.

“In these tragic moments, our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the soldiers,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The deaths follow another training tragedy among Polish soldiers earlier this month. In that case, a military tracked vehicle ran over two soldiers during a drill at a test range in the northwestern town of Drawsko Pomorskie. Both soldiers died.

 

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Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee expects a school choice ‘revolution,’ with parental rights a key 2024 election issue

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Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee says his state is joining what he views as a “revolution in America right now around school choice,” as a $400 million bill to overhaul public school achievement testing and implement universal school choice advances in the state legislature. 

Lee, who is also president of the Republican Governors Association this term, said the issue of school choice resonates nationally beyond just Tennessee during the 2024 presidential election year. 

The governor explained in an interview with Fox News Digital that school choice, to him, is “really about freedom,” noting how regarding matters of COVID-19 vaccines, books in public school libraries and classroom instruction, “parents on the left and right have very strong opinions about what that ought to look like.” 

“The only way to resolve those differences are [is] to give parents the choice so that they’re not resolved to live with whatever, you know, some teacher or some classroom or some library or some educational school district believes that they ought to be,” Lee said. “Most all of us Americans, not just elected officials, recognize that education is one of the top priorities when it comes to issues and what Americans care about.” 

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“This is not a choice between school choice and public schools. We have a strong commitment in this state toward the improvement of our public school system. The vast majority of our kids are going to be educated in our public schools, even years after a choice initiative like our proposed legislation goes through,” the governor added, responding to criticism that the proposal would divert resources from Tennessee’s underfunded public schools. “We need to have the best public school systems. They need to be funded well. They need to be innovative and creative and part of the part of the legislation.” 

Lee said he’s observed an increased understanding among conservatives – but also from Americans more generally – that parents should be given the ability to impact what happens in their children’s education. He credited the pandemic, when remote learning gave parents insight into what gender and racial ideologies were included in public school curricula, as well as the resulting learning loss from keeping kids out of classrooms, as parents seek options to play catch-up several years later. 

“I do believe there is a push in this country, especially among conservatives, for understanding how important freedom is – freedom in education, freedom in health decisions, freedom in what we do for our employment,” he said. “We talk a lot about Tennessee being a place where people have access to opportunity and security and freedom. And as it relates to education, that is an Education Freedom Scholarship Act. And that’s what we are really hopeful passes in this state in the next few weeks.”  

Despite some objections from state Democrats, Lee’s proposal, known as House Bill 1183, advanced through the state House Government Operations Committee and was recommended to move forward to the state House Finance Subcommittee last week. As Lee enjoys a Republican super majority in both the Tennessee House and Senate, he said he expects a version of the legislation to pass after the final provisions are ironed out between chambers. 

The current version in the House would increase payment for teacher health insurance from 45% to 60% – a measure intended to help rural districts retain quality teachers, as well as provide a $75-per-student infrastructure payment toward school facilities and maintenance and increase state funding for students in small and sparsely populated school districts, The Tennessean reported. It also allows for teacher and principal evaluations and state-mandated student testing to happen less often. 

A corresponding version of the legislation in the state Senate, SB 0503, is estimated to cost about $250 million less than the House proposal. But the upper chamber’s version would primarily focus on creating the governor’s Education Freedom Scholarship program and opening inter-county school enrollment. It excludes the House bill’s provisions on teacher health insurance, evaluations and changes to testing requirements. 

As the governor noted, school choice initiatives passed in states like Arizona, Iowa, Oklahoma and Arkansas last year and more recently in Wyoming and Alabama. It’s also gaining momentum in Kentucky, North Carolina and Georgia, Lee said, and Florida and Indiana have multiple stages of school choice. Though it varies by state, Lee said they have the same premise that “the parent knows best.”  

TENNESSEE GOV. BILL LEE ANNOUNCING STATEWIDE SCHOOL CHOICE PROPOSAL: ‘THERE IS MORE WORK TO DO’

In states like Texas, Lee said, it has cost candidates elections to oppose school choice. 

Tennessee has one of the fastest-growing populations and one of the top-performing economies among all 50 states in recent years, Lee acknowledged, stating how the influx of families weighs in on school choice. 

“We need to give parents more choices. And when we do, children are going to have much more options to be successful. And at the end of the day, that’s what this is all about,” Lee said. “It’s not really political, even though it’s a very conservative issue. But hey, look at the states that have Democrat governors are passing that choice now as well, because Americans are beginning to believe that this is about children and the future of our country. And we ought to do everything we can to challenge the status quo and get it and get a better outcome.” 

Lee said he first proposed school choice legislation five years ago during his first legislative session that passed narrowly for a few of the state’s largest counties and has been working to expand it since. 

He announced the statewide initiative in November, an atypical move to provide more time before the start of legislative session for stakeholders and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to weigh in. Long before becoming governor, Lee said he did nonprofit work with an at-risk inner-city youth program. There he met one child whom he met with weekly for many years. 

Lee said the child, whose mother was in prison and who never knew his father, was failing every subject when he first met him. Over time, Lee said, the boy improved and Lee worked with the child and his grandmother to find him a charter school option outside of the neighborhood he grew up in. 

“The fact that it’s an election year and that Republican primary voters by an overwhelming margin approve of school choice, it impacts what’s happening. Legislators understand that they know their voters want this. I think that’s one of the reasons you see such a move toward it. It’s not just an ideological thought,” Lee said. “For me, it’s much more than that. It was a practical reality that I saw 15 years ago. But at the same time, it’s an issue that if you’re a representative, and you’re representing constituents, your constituents want choice.” 

Just short of the one-year anniversary of the March 27, 2023, shooting that killed three children and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville, Lee said that though this legislation does not focus on the issue, Tennessee “became sadly and tragically aware of just how important it is that we provide security for our schools, and our legislature responded, in a way that that has made our schools safer.”

“And I suspect public safety, and especially around kids in schools, that conversation should and will never stop in the state,” he added, noting how the state legislature passed a sweeping bipartisan school safety legislative package last year that provided funding for school resource officers in every school, and there have been continued add-ons that have strengthened school alarm systems. 

In the aftermath of the Covenant School bloodshed, the Biden White House backed three Democratic state lawmakers who became known as the Tennessee Three who joined demonstrators in interrupting a legislative session at the state Capitol to protest about gun control. 

One of those lawmakers expelled and reinstated amid last year’s controversy, Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, has recently taken issue with a provision in the House’s version of the governor’s school choice proposal that would exclude non-U.S. citizens from the Education Freedom Scholarships voucher program, The Tennessean reported. 

Jones cited the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Plyler v. Doe that prohibits states from withholding school funding for educating children of illegal immigrants. Rep. Scott Cepicky R-Culleoka, said the bill would allow any student regardless of immigration status to enroll in any public school, but lawmakers can still set limiting factors on who can receive a “public benefit,” such as Lee’s voucher program.  

 

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