‘Children are crying out in agony for food": Aid distributor on humanitarian crisis in Gaza
Arwa Damon, President of the International Network for Aid, Relief and Assistance talks with CNN's Wolf Blitzer about the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
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Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump and Musk to speak today after feud escalates
Good morning, all. It's National Donut Day. Celebrate by treating yourself to a free doughnut. Here's where you can get one. Now, on to the news. Subscribe to get this newsletter in your inbox each morning. President Trump and Elon Musk are reportedly scheduled for a call one day after their alliance appeared to crumble in a tit for tat that began with Trump saying he was 'disappointed' by Musk's criticism of his 'big, beautiful bill.' Escalating rhetoric: After the president's comment, Musk suggested Trump couldn't have won the 2024 election without him. Trump threatened to revoke Musk's government contracts, and Musk, without evidence, claimed Trump was in the so-called Epstein files. [CNN] Reactions: Congressional Republicans criticized Musk, while some Democrats reacted with glee. 'This is like the Real Housewives of Foggy Bottom,' Rep. Jared Moskowitz quipped. The internet responded in typical meme fashion. [USA Today/TheWrap] Bill updates: Trump's tax and spending bill is currently moving through the Senate, where Republican lawmakers are considering more Medicare changes. Meanwhile, GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said she would vote no on the bill when it returns to the House. [The Hill] 🏀 Haliburton's Hail Mary With 0.3 seconds left in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton sank a buzzer-beater to defeat the Thunder 111-110, completing yet another epic playoff comeback that even stunned one NBA legend. Watch it. [Yahoo Sports] ⚖️Colorado suspect in court ⚖️ hamed Soliman is scheduled to appear in federal court today after a state hearing yesterday in which he was charged with 118 counts, including 28 counts of attempted murder, in relation to the fire attack that injured at least 15. [CNN] ➡️ Sean 'Diddy' Combs's trial After the judge in Sean Combs's sex trafficking trial warned that he could be excluded from court for gesturing at the jury, another one of Combs's exes, 'Jane,' testified that she was forced to participate in his 'freak offs.' [Yahoo News] 🏛️Harvard visa update A federal judge temporarily blocked Trump's proclamation that would've banned foreign students from getting visas to attend Harvard University, saying it would sustain 'irreparable injury.' A hearing is set for later this month. [The Hill] 🎬 Tom cruises to a world record Tom Cruise's preference for doing his own stunts won him a Guinness world record for the most burning parachute jumps, which he did 16 times while filming the latest Mission: Impossible. Watch the footage. [Entertainment Weekly] 🎵 New music drops: TikTok star Addison Rae released her debut, self-titled album, and Sabrina Carpenter debuted her first single of 2025, a country pop song called 'Manchild.' [Billboard] 🎬 Now in theaters: Ballerina, the 'entertaining, ultraviolent' John Wick spinoff starring Ana de Armas and Keanu Reeves, and The Ritual, an exorcism horror film featuring Al Pacino. [Variety/IndieWire] ⚾ On the field, cross-state rivals, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Philadelphia Phillies, play at 6:40 p.m. ET on the MLB app. [AP] 🏀 On the court, the Dream tip off against the Sun at 7:30 p.m. ET on Ion. [Norwich Bulletin] 🏒 On the ice, the NHL Stanley Cup Final continues with the Oilers and the Panthers facing off in Game 2, starting at 8 p.m. ET on TNT. [Yahoo Sports] ☀️ And don't forget to: Read your daily horoscope. Play the crossword. Check the forecast in your area. In 1944, Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France, on D-Day to begin liberating German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. Photographers accompanied the infantrymen as they ran headfirst into enemy fire. See some of their incredible photos. [Yahoo News] Getting ready for the summer and need a new book? Yahoo Entertainment reporter Kelsey Weekman has some ideas. Jessica: What are the hot new releases people are talking about? Kelsey: Atmosphere, by internet darling Taylor Jenkins Reid, might just be the beach read of the year! For my fellow romance lovers, I'd suggest Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry — I always see at least three copies of it when I board a plane. And if you're in the mood for something hard-hitting, try Flashlight by Susan Choi. Kelsey: Everyone's talking about the Mark Twain biography by Ron Chernow. It's 1,200 pages long, so they must mean business. Matriarch by Tina Knowles is my favorite recent celebrity memoir, and Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green has a head-turning cover, but it's illuminating and surprisingly hopeful. Kelsey: For the YA crowd, you can never go wrong with the new Hunger Games book, Sunrise on the Reaping, by Suzanne Collins. And for younger kids, Lulu Is a Rhinoceros by Jason and Allison Flom seems like a sweet one — it was just adapted for TV! Ready to read? Here are more new summer releases. Betsy Shortsleeve thought she was joining her daughter, Kathryn, on a work trip to Washington, D.C. Instead, Kathryn surprised her with a six-day European vacation. 'It was truly one of the most special weeks — everything just clicked,' Kathryn said. [People] Have a great weekend. See you Monday! 💡 P.S. Before you go, your daily advice: If you want to simultaneously limit your screen time and increase your step count, this app has you covered. [Yahoo Life] About The Yodel: The Yodel is a morning newsletter from Yahoo News. Start your day with The Yodel to get caught up on weather, national news, politics, entertainment and sports — in four minutes or less. Did you like this morning's newsletter? Subscribe to have it sent to you on weekdays. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.
CNN
21 minutes ago
- CNN
Trump tells CNN he's ‘not even thinking about Elon' and won't speak to him ‘for a while'
President Donald Trump told CNN on Friday he is 'not even thinking about' billionaire Elon Musk and won't be speaking to him in the near future. 'I'm not even thinking about Elon. He's got a problem. The poor guy's got a problem,' Trump told CNN's Dana Bash. The comments come after a day Trump and Musk traded barbs on social media as their relationship deteriorated in spectacular public fashion. Trump said Thursday he was 'very disappointed' with the tech billionaire for criticizing his massive tax and spending cuts package while Musk fired back that 'Trump would have lost the election' without him. In a brief phone call, Trump talked about the forthcoming jobs report, inflation and gas prices. Asked if he had a call with Musk, the president responded: 'No. I won't be speaking to him for a while I guess, but I wish him well.' As the two powerful onetime friends duked it out online on Thursday, their shared allies sought to quietly broker a truce, CNN previously reported. Musk, for his part, appeared open to a thaw. 'You're not wrong,' Musk responded to a post from billionaire investor Bill Ackman, who wrote on X: 'I support @realDonaldTrump and @elonmusk and they should make peace for the benefit of our great country. We are much stronger together than apart.'
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump's big bill includes an ‘unprecedented' tax credit for a national school voucher program. Here's how it would work
Part of the massive domestic policy bill currently moving through Congress known as the 'Big Beautiful Bill,' includes an unprecedented $5 billion national school voucher program. Republicans have long advocated for so-called school choice, but critics have labeled the initiative a tax cut for the wealthy. Sending public dollars to private schools has long been the subject of partisan divide and controversy. It has many powerful advocates, most notably former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who served under Trump during his first term. And it has fierce critics, particularly on the left. But congressional Republicans' proposal, known as the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA), goes beyond any previous efforts, not just by creating the first nationwide program but also by creating an unusual federal tax credit for anyone wanting to donate toward the cause. Families making up to 300% of area median income would be able to apply for, and receive, scholarships to use toward private school tuition, homeschooling books or tutoring, for example. The money would be given out by third-party scholarship granting organizations (SGOs) certified by the US Treasury and IRS. Donors would be the ones to reap the tax benefits, though. Anyone across the country – with or without kids – would be able to donate to one of these SGOs as they would to any charity. But unlike donating to a church or food bank, where tax-deductible contributions help lower total taxable income, SGO donations would result in a full tax credit, dollar for dollar, up to the greater of $5,000 or 10% of one's income. For example, $1,000 donated to an SGO would result in $1,000 taken off one's tax bill. Advocates say these incentives would strongly encourage taxpayers to contribute and that the opportunities could change the lives of kids stuck in failing public schools. 'We have what might be a once-in-a-generation opportunity this year to capitalize on what has been a real movement at the state level for school choice by creating a pathway to supercharge school choice in every state in our nation through a school choice tax credit,' wrote Tommy Schultz, CEO of American Federation for Children, in an email to CNN. Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, says the program is generous – to say the least. 'A dollar-for-dollar charitable donation tax credit is unprecedented at the federal level,' he told CNN in an email. Furthermore, House Ways and Means committee staff verified to CNN that stocks would be accepted as donations in this proposal. Donors would receive a tax credit for the value of those stocks, without having to pay capital gains taxes that would have been required had the stock been sold instead. 'This is unbelievable,' said Sasha Pudelski, director of advocacy for AASA, The School Superintendents Association. 'It's weaponizing the tax code to code to destroy our public schools.' But Schultz said, 'These concerns are not in good faith unless those raising them have also been calling to overhaul 501c3 giving overall.' On the state level, there are similar existing tax credits for donors contributing to state school voucher programs. An ITEP study showed that for three states providing data, Arizona, Louisiana and Virginia, more than half of all voucher tax credits are flowing to families with annual incomes over $200,000. The House narrowly passed the bill, and it is now in the hands of the Senate, where its future is uncertain. If passed, the ECCA would go into effect after December 31 and would cap annual tax credits to $5 billion, with the option of increasing the cap by 5% each year. The program would sunset at the end of 2029, unless Congress renews it. Families do need more educational choices, said Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE), a nonpartisan research organization affiliated with Arizona State University. Of the various studies on school choice CRPE has done in the last 30 years, Lake said results can be mixed. She said study evidence is weak that vouchers result in better academic achievement for participating students. But Lake said there are more positive outcomes when looking at graduation rates and parent satisfaction – when school choice is done right. Lake described the pillars that make school choice most effective, which don't happen overnight: a supply of high-quality schools, incentives and startup funds for great school proposals, a pipeline to develop great educators, and accountability. 'Folks in the private school world can bristle at the idea of regulation, but in order for families to really take advantage of choice programs, they need to have some kind of information about how the schools are working,' she said. 'And I would argue that if public funds are going to support these schools, there's also a responsibility for some public accountability as well.' Accountability has become crucial, with recent investigations like one in Florida by WESH-TV, showing that 8,400 students had received reimbursements for theme park tickets through the state-funded vouchers. 'Critics are quick to point to examples of isolated waste being caught and addressed but are more hesitant to discuss the massive scope of fraud and waste documented and often unaddressed in the public education system – or the fact that public schools caught up in this type of waste often just keep getting more taxpayer dollars,' Schultz said. As written, the ECCA leaves accountability to the SGOs, who would verify and grant the use of scholarship dollars. SGOs would have to be certified by the US Treasury and IRS and would be subject to independent audit. 'Nothing is ever clean, right?' said Bridgette Garcia, a mother of four children who all graduated from St. Genevieve Parish Schools in the Los Angeles area. 'None of these different tax programs or programs within the government are (on the) up and up. But if somebody can actually benefit,' she said she would love to see that happen for families like hers, where she and her husband worked multiple jobs to afford tuition. Garcia's youngest child just graduated from St. Genevieve this June. She jokes that with tuition payments all done, her family can finally get a new car after driving the same 2007 Mercury and 2005 Torres for about 20 years. She wanted her children to have a Catholic education, 'where it's ok to say I believe in God and pray at the beginning of the day.' She was also concerned about the safety of their local public schools. Next year's tuition for St. Genevieve high school students is $13,475; elementary school tuition will be $7,550, prices Garcia says she couldn't afford if she didn't have scholarships provided by the school. But parents who are invested in their local public schools see this voucher program as a threat. 'It is sort of an abandonment of public schools,' said Maria Clark, whose two daughters are part of Daviess County Public Schools in Kentucky. Clark, who is on the board for the district foundation, said these vouchers would only exacerbate educational disparities, allowing some students to leave the public system while others may not be able to. Many private schools do not have resources to accommodate special needs students or may require certain testing or grades to be able to enroll. Some public school students, including those who are lower income – without transportation, for example - cannot simply switch to a private school if given a voucher. To those who say parents should be granted resources to put their children in better-performing private schools, Clark says, 'My argument is we can make all of those (good) things happen at public schools, and we should, because we already have money in public schools.' She worries that public schools will lose per-pupil funding as kids leave, even as parents like her already donate buckets of classroom tissues and pencils at the start of every school year. 'We have struggled to find bus drivers,' Clark said. 'Last year… we had busses doing two runs, and some of those kids would get to school an hour and a half, two hours late.' But Schultz, the school choice advocate, said that 'funneling more dollars into public schools in America does not equal improvement or make public schools the right fit for every kid.' The proposed ECCA would allow families making as much as 300% of area median income to receive scholarships. For Daviess County, that means a family of four making under $195,969 per year could still be eligible to receive scholarships for private school, using the US Census Bureau's estimates for 2019-2023. For Los Angeles County, a four-person household making under $263,280 would still be eligible. In the wealthiest county in the US, Loudoun County, Virginia, a family of four making under $536,121 could be eligible to receive scholarships for their children. The ECCA does not limit how much an SGO can give a family in scholarships. In some Democratic-leaning states like California, voters have already rejected the idea of voucher programs. If a nationwide program were to exist, it would be the first opportunity for parents in states like California to use vouchers to send children to private schools. The ECCA's donation process also benefits donors. Typically, someone who donates to a food bank or pet rescue would receive no more than 35 cents in tax savings for each dollar donated, according to ITEP. But someone who donates to private voucher groups would receive a full reimbursement for the donation, dollar for dollar. And stock donations could open up a way for wealthy donors to avoid paying capital gains taxes. ITEP estimates the bill would reduce federal tax revenue by $23.2 billion and state income taxes by $459 million over the next 10 years as currently drafted. 'There's a danger that politicians will increasingly pick and choose which kinds of donations get the best tax breaks and if your values don't align with theirs, well then you're out of luck,' ITEP's Davis wrote to CNN. Public school systems may also lose money, depending on how many students leave the district. Dr. Darin Brawley, superintendent of Compton Unified School District, said his district has already seen a 4% annual decline in enrollment as people leave the state, shrinking his budget by about $8 million per year. 'From the initial look at our enrollment trends for next year, we're already significantly behind,' Brawley said. If more students leave, Brawley worries about an 8% decline, which would result in the loss of $21.12 million and therefore layoffs, hiring freezes and bigger class sizes.
