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"Shocked and horrified": AP, Al Jazeera condemn Israel's bombing of their offices in Gaza
The Associated Press and Al Jazeera on Saturday condemned the Israeli airstrike that destroyed a high-rise building in Gaza that housed their and other media offices.
What they're saying: The White House, meanwhile, said it had "communicated directly to the Israelis that ensuring the safety and security of journalists and independent media is a paramount responsibility," according to press secretary Jen Psaki.
The Associated Press: "We are shocked and horrified that the Israeli military would target and destroy the building housing AP’s bureau and other news organizations in Gaza. They have long known the location of our bureau and knew journalists were there," said AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt.
- "The world will know less about what is happening in Gaza because of what happened today," he added.
- "The Associated Press office is the only place in Gaza City I feel somewhat safe," said Fares Akram, AP’s correspondent in Gaza since 2014.
Al Jazeera: "Al Jazeera condemns in the strongest terms the bombing and destruction of its offices by the Israeli military in Gaza and views this as a clear act to stop journalists from conducting their sacred duty to inform the world and report events on the ground," the outlet said in a statement.
- "The destruction of Al Jazeera offices and that of other media organizations in al-Jalaa tower in Gaza is a blatant violation of human rights and is internationally considered a war crime," said Mostefa Souag, acting director general of Al Jazeera Media Network.
- Al Jazeera reporter Safwat al-Kahlout said, "I have been working here for 11 years. I have been covering many events from this building, we have lived personal professional experiences now everything, in two seconds, just vanished.”
Committee to Protect Journalists: "This latest attack on a building long known by Israel to house international media raises the specter that the Israel Defense Forces is deliberately targeting media facilities in order to disrupt coverage of the human suffering in Gaza," said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon.
- "Journalists have an obligation and duty to cover unfolding events in Gaza and it would be illegal for the IDF to use military means to prevent it."
The big picture: The airstrike came nearly an hour after Israel's military warned that the building would be attacked.
- Israel said it was in retaliation for the rocket attack on Tel Aviv earlier Saturday that killed at least one Israeli civilian, per Axios' Barak Ravid.
- The latest fighting between Israel and Hamas began Monday following violence in Jerusalem over the planned evictions of six Palestinian families to make way for Israeli settlers.
- At least 14o Palestinians in Gaza and nearly a dozen in the occupied West Bank have been killed since Monday, according to Palestinian health officials. Nine people in Israel have been killed.
- Of note: CPJ on Thursday condemned the attacks on other buildings in Gaza that also housed international and local media offices.
Go deeper...
Biden recess plan omits Afghanistan
The White House is downplaying Afghanistan in outside-the-Beltway events during the August congressional recess, hoping voters will pay more attention to President Biden's big spending plans.
Why it matters: Democrats privately fear political blowback, even though the White House insists voters aren't talking about the Kabul calamity.
What they're saying: White House senior adviser Neera Tanden didn't mention Afghanistan once when Axios asked her how much the events of the past week will affect what Biden can accomplish on the Hill.
- "We developed our plan around August recess in July," she said. "We planned for a cadence of multiple events a week around Build Back Better and infrastructure and we have been operationalizing that plan and will continue to do so."
- "So we’re going to continue that work, and this agenda is important to the public."
Between the lines: The Atlantic's Peter Nicholas argued in a piece published Friday titled, "Biden Is Betting Americans Will Forget About Afghanistan," that the White House is "relying on Americans’ notoriously short-term memory."
- The White House insists that Democratic lawmakers are excited to have Cabinet members hosting events in their districts around infrastructure, climate and energy, health care and the economy.
- But communications strategiescan only do so much amid the reality and images emerging from Afghanistan.
Behind the scenes: Since joining the White House in May as senior adviser to Biden, Tanden has kept a low profile. But her role, after losing a confirmation fight to be Biden's budget director, is setting her up to have outsized power in helping sell the president's agenda.
- When Tanden helped create the White House plan for selling Democrats' agenda during the August recess, Afghanistan wasn't among the policy priorities to discuss with voters. It still isn't.
Aides are tracking whether opposition surfaces at vulnerable House Democrats' town halls and district event this month.
- "There are numerous components of Build Back Better that are incredibly popular amongst Republicans," Tanden told Axios.
- "It’s challenging for them to create the kind of energy they did in past eras," she added, pointing out that the White House is seeing nothing like the emotionalism around the Affordable Care Act during former President Obama's first term.
According to internal White House documents obtained by Axios, aides have tracked 18 town halls or events with Democratic lawmakers this month.
- At least sixwere virtual or by phone. So while the White House says there's been "no organized opposition" from angry Republicans, as seen in past August recesses, that would be hard to know.
- An event with Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) allowed only written questions — and those weren’t documented. Instead, a White House document notes that the senator "discussed infrastructure."
Tiger Woods "awake, responsive" after emergency surgery on leg following car crash
Tiger Woods is "awake, responsive and recovering in his hospital room" after being seriously injured in a rollover car crash in Los Angeles County, his team said in a statement early Wednesday.
The latest: Per the statement, the 45-year-old golfing great underwent "a long surgical procedure on his lower right leg and ankle" at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center Tuesday night.
- Anish Mahajan, the center's chief medical officer and interim CEO, said in the statement Woods "suffered significant orthopaedic injuries to his right lower extremity that were treated during emergency surgery."
- The medical team inserted a rod into his leg, while injuries to his foot and ankle bones were stabilized with screws and pins, Mahajan added.
The big picture: Woods was involved in a rollover car crash in Los Angeles County on Tuesday morning, the LA County Sheriff's Department said. The vehicle sustained "major damage" the sheriff's department said.
- The department initially said Woods was removed from the wreck with the "jaws of life" but Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby later said a different tool was used to remove him, per NBC.
- "Deputies at the time, they did not see any evidence of impairment," Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said at Tuesday afternoon press conference.
- Woods was the only occupant of the vehicle at the time of the crash, the sheriff's department said. Authorities said crash occurred on a road known for accidents.
What they're saying: "It's very fortunate that Mr. Woods was able to come out of this alive, because this is an accident prone stretch of road," said Deputy Carlos Gonzalez at a press conference Tuesday. "We've seen a number of accidents on this stretch of roadway."
This post has been updated with further information about the car crash from Los Angeles County officials and the Woods' team.
Trump admin alums to launch 'Center for Election Integrity'
The America First Policy Institute, led by Trump administration alumni, on Thursday will announce a Center for Election Integrity, a nonprofit group it says will push policies in state legislatures to "help make it easy to vote, but hard to cheat."
Driving the news: CEI will hold a morning announcement event at Atlanta Metropolitan Cathedral, a nod to Georgia's swing-state status as a hotbed of election controversy.
- The group posted an introductory video.
What they're saying: Hogan Gidley, a former White House spokesman and the center's director, said CEI "will work tirelessly to protect the voters and safeguard the integrity of future elections because one illegal vote is one too many.”
- The group aims to support voter ID requirements and to "require ballots to be returned by election day...ensure voter rolls are consistently cleaned and kept up to date...and litigate cases of voter fraud."
- CEI chairman Ken Blackwell, a former Ohio secretary of state, said in a statement: "We must help make sure that people have confidence in our system and that we give citizens a fair vote count."
Reality check: Although election security is a hot issue with Republicans, even Bill Barr, who was attorney general under President Trump, said he saw no evidence of widespread election fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
- And more than half of Americans are "more concerned about laws restricting voting access than making sure that no one who is ineligible votes," according to recent polling.
- Meanwhile, hundreds of bills aimed at restricting voter access at the polls have been proposed across the country.



