Morning Headlines - Tuesday, Jun. 27, 2023

U.S. and World Headlines

Biden Calls Mutiny A 'Struggle Within The Russian System' And Says US And NATO Played No Part

President Joe Biden declared Monday that the United States and NATO played no part in the Wagner mercenary group's short-lived insurrection in Russia, calling the uprising and the longer-term challenges it poses for President Vladimir Putin's authority “a struggle within the Russian system.”

Biden and U.S. allies supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia's invasion emphasized their intent to be seen as staying out of the mercenaries' stunning insurgency, the biggest threat to Putin in his two decades leading Russia. They are concerned that Putin could use accusations of Western involvement to rally Russians to his defense.

New Recording Shows Trump Discussing ‘Secret’ Documents He Did Not Declassify: Report

A newly released audio recording obtained by CNN includes former President Trump discussing holding onto classified documents in a 2021 meeting in Bedminster, New Jersey.

The recording, which first aired on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” offers new insights into a conversation that is a piece of evidence in special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment against Trump over mishandling classified documents and attempting to keep them from the government. According to the indictment, the conversation took place during an interview with a writer and publisher for a book at his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey on July 21, 2021.

Senate Investigation Argues FBI, DHS Officials "Downplayed" Or Failed To Properly Share Warnings Of Violence On Jan. 6

A scathing new report from Democrats on a Senate panel accuses the FBI of "downplaying" and failing to thoroughly communicate the risks and warnings ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The investigation by the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee blamed both the FBI officials and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) intelligence analysts for misjudging or misreading the risks, sluggishly and passively issuing warnings and "finger pointing" in the aftermath of the tragedy.

The 2024 Presidential Race Is The AI Election

Artificial intelligence and generative bots like ChatGPT are poised to upend modern American politics in the same way that social media reset the playbook in 2008, with mounting warnings for democracy.

Top technologists are portraying a dystopian landscape in 2024 in which misinformation and disinformation proliferate with a speed and ease that means "you can't trust anything that you see or hear," as former Google CEO Eric Schmidt puts it.

Intermittent Fasting Is As Effective As Calorie Counting For Weight Loss, Study Finds

When Krista Varady began studying intermittent fasting two decades ago, she felt her research wasn't taken very seriously.

"All the previous diet fads focused so much on calorie counting or low-fat diets," she said.

But a new study from Varady and a team of researchers, published Monday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, showed that limiting food intake to a specific time window was as effective as calorie counting for weight loss.

Wisconsin Headlines

Wisconsin Child Care Administration Association Calls For Strike Over Ending Of Program

Advocates are urging child care providers to take a stand after the Republican-led joint finance committee cut funding for a COVID-era child care program.

The "Child Care Counts" program awarded nearly $600 million to nearly 5,000 child care providers in Wisconsin during the pandemic. The committee ruled to end the program in early June.

Members of the Wisconsin Child Care Administration are calling for a strike at child care centers across the state on Tuesday. They say it will show the impact when families don't have child care.

Methamphetamine Trafficking On Menominee Indian Reservation Leads To Five-Year Prison Sentence

Gregory J. Haanstad, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that Peter J. Boyd (age: 36), formerly of Keshena on the Menominee Indian Reservation, received a sentence totaling five years following a conviction for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

The sentence, imposed on June 21, 2023, by Senior United States District Judge William C. Griesbach, was the result of a guilty plea entered by the defendant on March 30, 2023. Boyd will also face five years of supervised release once he completes his prison sentence.

An investigation revealed that on October 15, 2022, law enforcement executed a search warrant at a residence on SE Bass Lake Road, which is on the Menominee Indian Reservation. The warrant was based on several weeks of drug activity occurring at the house. Officers seized a total of 111 grams of methamphetamine, scales and other paraphernalia associated with the use and sale of illegal drugs, over $2,000 in cash, along with nine firearms.

Wisconsin Democrats Introduce Bill Expanding Private Insurance Coverage For Postpartum Mothers, Newborns

Legislation introduced by Wisconsin Democrats would expand private health care benefits for new moms and babies. But its future is uncertain before the Republican-controlled state Legislature.

The bill was introduced one week after Republican lawmakers on the Joint Finance Committee voted down a $34.5 million provision in Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' proposed budget that would have extended Medicaid coverage for mothers for up to a year after giving birth.

Meanwhile, a similar but bipartisan effort to extend Medicaid coverage for postpartum mothers is making its way through the state Legislature and has been referred to committees in both the Assembly and Senate.

Virginia-Area Man Who Groomed A Child Online And Sexually Assaulted Her After Moving To Wisconsin Receives 20 Years In Federal Prison

Gregory J. Haanstad, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on June 23, 2023, Senior United States District Judge William C. Griesbach sentenced Stanley J. Seifert III (age: 45) to a total sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, followed by 20 years’ supervised release, and a lifetime sex-offender registration after Seifert pled guilty to child enticement and receiving child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 2252A and 2422.

According to court records, when Seifert was living in Virginia, he met a then-15-year-old from Wisconsin in an online game platform. Unknown to the child’s parents, Seifert groomed her for months, including sexually explicit chats and live videos of child pornography. Seifert moved to Green Bay in July 2022 to be closer to the victim. Soon thereafter, Seifert bought the victim a phone and began surreptitiously picking her up for sexual encounters in a secluded wooded area. The child’s mother first learned of Seifert’s existence and conduct when she went into the child’s room and interrupted a live video where Seifert was directing the child to perform sexually explicit acts. Officers were immediately contacted and began investigating. They found and arrested Seifert in Michigan, where he was working for his Wisconsin-based employer, a job he recently obtained to move closer to the victim.

WisDOT Awarded $15 Million To Reduce Road Congestion, Improve Safety

​The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) is ready to get to work and apply the recently announced $15 million federal grant to modernize infrastructure, reduce congestion and improve community connectivity along I-41 in Milwaukee County. The investment comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant program. It will allow WisDOT to make critical improvements to one of the busiest freeway corridors in Wisconsin, while staying within the existing corridor footprint.

“I voted for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law because it is updating our crumbling infrastructure to keep Wisconsinites safe, strengthen our supply chain, and create good-paying jobs," Senator Baldwin said. “I am proud to work with our state partners to bring home this funding to southeastern Wisconsin to ensure that drivers, bikers, and walkers can safely get where they need to go and our economy can run smoothly. I thank our state and local partners for their collaboration and look forward to seeing Wisconsin get put to work fixing our infrastructure and keeping Wisconsinites safe."