Por Stefano Pozzebon y Germán Padinger, CNN en Español

En medio del ataque de EE.UU. en Venezuela que resultó con la captura de Nicolás Maduro, el ministro de Defensa venezolano, Vladimir Padrino López, dijo que Venezuela resistiría la presencia de tropas extranjeras en el país. “Esta invasión representa la mayor afrenta que ha sufrido el país”.

Padrino López acusó a EE.UU. de impactar “con misiles y cohetes” disparados de helicópteros de combate poblaciones civiles en las localidades de Fuerte Tiuna, Caracas, los estados Miranda, Aragua y La Guaira.

Vladimir Padrino López es el pilar militar del chavismo: garante de la lealtad armada a Maduro, acusado de abusos y narcotráfico, pero seguía firme en el poder y todos los ojos están en él tras las acciones de EE.UU. y la captura de Maduro.

“Maldito el soldado que apunte su arma contra su pueblo” es una frase a menudo atribuida al Libertador Simón Bolívar y un estribillo constante en las sucesivas olas de protestas opositoras en contra del Gobierno chavista en Venezuela.

Desde al menos octubre de 2014, después del primer movimiento masivo que desafió a Nicolás Maduro, en muchos hogares opositores ese soldado ha tenido una cara y un cargo definidos: el general en jefe de la Fuerza Armada, Vladimir Padrino López.

Se trata de uno de los hombres de más confianza del presidente de Venezuela y, como ministro de Defensa desde hace más de una década, es la representación física de la “unión cívico militar” tan alabada por la retórica gubernamental.

Ese papel le ha costado amistades y el cariño de hasta parte de su familia, pero también le ha garantizado a Padrino López ingresos mucho más altos que el sueldo promedio de un uniformado (el salario mínimo es de US$3 al mes), según denuncian agentes federales estadounidenses, que lo acusan de aceptar sobornos de organizaciones narcotraficantes a cambio de permitirles pasar libremente por el espacio aéreo venezolano. Padrino ha negado esas acusaciones, que considera “infundadas” e “impúdicas”.

En su rol de líder de los cuatro componentes de la Fuerza Armada Nacional Bolivariana —Ejército, Armada, Aviación y, crucialmente, la Guardia Nacional Bolivariana, que es la que pone el freno en la mayoría de las protestas— Padrino ha garantizado la estabilidad y el apoyo incondicional de las tropas al Gobierno del Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela, además de jugar un rol clave en apaciguar las decenas de supuestas conspiraciones de las que Maduro había denunciado ser víctima en reiteradas ocasiones.

Caraqueño de toda la vida, Padrino nació el 30 de mayo de 1963 en la Parroquia de Santa Rosalía, según contó él una rara entrevista concedida al periodista y exministro de Cultura de Venezuela, Ernesto Villegas, en 2021, durante el nivel más alto de la pandemia de covid-19.

Desde siempre esquivó a los medios, sus interacciones con la prensa son infrecuentes, mientras que en distintas ocasiones se ha dirigido a la nación para reafirmar su lealtad al proyecto de Gobierno del entonces presidente Hugo Chávez y, sucesivamente, Nicolás Maduro.

Eso, a pesar de que, según cuenta el propio ministro, desde joven no tenía vocación de militar y solo aceptó presentarse a la Academia Militar para acompañar un amigo de la secundaria.

“Mi compañero no quedó y yo sí quedé. Así pues, que son las cosas”, contó Padrino en ocasión de dicha en

By Emma Tucker, CNN

(CNN) — The immense joy of Spencer and Monique Tepe was unmistakable on their wedding day in a 2021 video shared by the family, which captured them exchanging vows. The then newlyweds embraced and laughed in their Columbus, Ohio, home as friends and loved ones cheered them.

But just one month before their fifth anniversary, the same setting where the couple began their life together became the site of unspeakable tragedy. The respected dentist, 37, and his 39-year-old wife, a stay-at-home mother, were found dead on Tuesday after being gunned down in their upscale home while their two young children were inside.

A memorial of roses and sunflowers now grows outside the home as news of the shocking killings spread nationwide just days after Christmas, generating more questions than answers.

Law enforcement has been reluctant to disclose any details about a possible suspect or motive but said the killer or killers of the young couple remain on the loose. Even more mysterious, police revealed there were no obvious signs of forced entry, and no firearm was found at the scene, CNN affiliate WSYX reported.

Police are asking the public for any information on a case they say is being investigated as a double homicide, not a murder-suicide.

Here’s what we know and don’t know about the tragedy:

How concerned friends and colleagues led police to home

Spencer Tepe had rarely missed work at Athens Dental Depot, located about 75 miles southeast of the family’s Columbus home, and he and his wife were always responsive, according to the owner of his practice, Dr. Mark Valrose, CNN affiliate WSYX reported.

But on Tuesday morning, he didn’t show up for work, spurring concern from his colleagues that continued to grow when they could not get in touch with him or his wife, according to 911 calls reported by WSYX.

Valrose made the first 911 call at around 8:58 a.m. and asked police to conduct a wellness check, telling the dispatcher: “He is always on time, and he would contact us if there were any issues,” according to the recording.

“I don’t know how else to say this, but we are very, very concerned. This is very out of character for him,” he continued. “We can’t get in touch with his wife, which is probably the more concerning thing.”

At 9:22 a.m., an officer arrived at the home to perform the welfare check, but no one answered the door, WSYX reported, citing police records.

Around 30 minutes later, Tepe’s colleagues and a friend arrived at the home, but also did not get a response, the dispatch records showed. A man at the scene also called 911 at 9:56 a.m., saying he heard children crying inside.

“I can hear kids inside, and I swear I think I heard one yell,” the caller said, according to dispatch audio. “But we can’t get in. At this point, I don’t know if I need to break the door in to get in the house or what.”

Two minutes later, another colleague of Tepe called 911 to say they had been unable to reach him for about three hours, according to the recordings obtained by WSYX.

Around 10:03 a.m., a friend of Tepe, who said the two last spoke the day before, was audibly distressed as he called 911: “There’s a body,” he reported.

“Our friend wasn’t answering his phone … we just came here and he appears dead,” the friend said.

Officers found the bodies of Spencer Tepe and Monique Tepe in their home in the Weinland Park neighborhood, Columbus police said.

Their two children, ages 1 and 4, were also fo

By Chelsea Bailey, Sarah Owermohle, CNN

(CNN) — In the days since the Trump administration announced it would freeze federal child care payments to Minnesota amid an alleged fraud investigation, fear and confusion have spread almost as fast as the viral video that launched the scandal.

Minnesota receives about $185 million annually in federal child care funding, supporting care for 19,000 children, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services. The state says the money helps cover the cost of routine child care for thousands of low-income families each month, allowing parents to work or attend school.

But HHS announced Tuesday it would freeze that funding – and it’s not clear if there are any alternate plans for families affected by the freeze.

“Funds will be released only when states prove they are being spent legitimately,” Deputy Secretary of HHS Jim O’Neill said Tuesday.

Now, families and child care providers are grappling with the cascade of consequences that may soon come if federal funding dries up.

“I’m a parent who receives federal funding for child care for my kiddo,” Deko Nor told reporters at a news conference at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul on Wednesday.

“I’m currently a medical student, I rely on child care, I work,” she said. “If child care is cut, I’m unable to go to work, or go to school.”

A pause stretched on as Nor, who had to skip school to attend the news conference, grew too emotional to continue her remarks.

The child care providers who spoke at the capitol Wednesday said they adamantly opposed fraud and supported efforts to investigate and address any claims of wrongdoing.

But they also said they felt compelled to stand in support of the Somali providers who may be too afraid to speak up after Nick Shirley’s video claiming to find widespread fraud at Somali-run child care centers went viral.

The child care centers featured in the video were operating as expected when visited by investigators, the state Department of Children, Youth, and Families said in a news release Friday.

The agency gathered evidence and initiated further review, noting the investigation into four of the centers was ongoing, the report stated.

Minnesota’s Twin Cities are home to the nation’s largest population of Somalis, a community that has recently experienced heightened tensions over increased immigration enforcement and disparaging remarks from President Donald Trump.

Amanda Schillinger, director of Pumpkin Patch Childcare & Learning Center in Burnsville, Minnesota, said she feels the community is being “unfairly vilified.”

“The truth is Minnesota has guardrails in place to make defrauding the child care system extremely difficult,” she said. “Fraud is never acceptable; but cutting off child care funding to everyone in the state is not the answer, and it’s not acceptable.”

The Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families doubled down on their commitment to preventing fraud and continuing to support families in the statement on Friday.

But, the agency warned, the distribution of “unvetted or deceptive claims and misuse of tip lines can interfere with investi

By Sarah Owermohle, Jacqueline Howard, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump wants to tamp down on public debates about his health.

The oldest president to assume office has been dogged by questions about recent doctors’ visits, bruises on his hands and whether he’s fallen asleep during public events.

Trump dismissed these concerns in an apparently impromptu interview with the Wall Street Journal this week, in which he blamed the visible bruises on a high daily dose of aspirin — more than his doctors recommend — and said he has plenty of energy.

The president, who for years criticized former President Joe Biden’s age and cognitive health, followed up Friday with a Truth Social post saying he had aced his “third straight” cognitive test.

But the disclosures have done little to quell reemerging scrutiny of his health.

In fact, here are five questions his most recent health disclosures have raised.

First, who is Trump’s doctor, Sean Barbabella?

The physician overseeing Trump’s care and the recent pronouncement of exceptional health is Dr. Sean Barbabella, a Navy captain who was named to the role in March. Barbabella specialized in combat trauma and emergency care while in the military. He has defended Trump’s recent advance medical imaging and a semiannual physical this year as routine screening and care.

He is the latest in a line of personal physicians who have praised Trump’s physical health and cognition.

When Trump entered his first term, he kept on Dr. Ronny Jackson, who had served as President Barack Obama’s personal physician and grew to be one of Trump’s close personal advisers after a glowing news conference about the then-45th president’s “incredible genes.”

Jackson stepped down from his White House role in March 2018 when Trump nominated him to lead the Veterans Affairs Department. But he withdrew his nomination a month later amid allegations about his professional conduct while in the White House. He now serves in the House of Representatives as a Republican from Texas.

Jackson was followed by Dr. Sean Conley, a Navy emergency physician who in 2019 said that Trump was “in very good health” and that he expected the president “will remain so for the duration of his Presidency, and beyond.”

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Conley prescribed hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug that had gained popularity among conservatives as an alternative — though unproven— therapy to aid against infection from the virus, as a preventive measure for Trump. In October 2020, when Trump contracted Covid-19, Conley oversaw his treatment.

The White House physicians were preceded by Dr. Harold Bornstein, Trump’s longtime personal physician in New York City. During his first presidential campaign, Bornstein proclaimed in an effusive letter that Trump “will be healthiest individual ever elected” president.

Bornstein later claimed that Trump dictated that letter to him over the phone. After the election, he said Trump officials raided his office for the president’s personal medical records, an account disputed by administration officials who said it was a routine handover of his private records.

Bornstein told The New York Times at the time that the encounter took place two days after a February 2017 interview in which he told NBC News that the president takes Propecia, a prostate drug often prescribed for hair loss.

What are the risks of taking high-dose aspirin daily?

The president said he takes a higher dose of aspirin than recommended by his do

* WHAT…Dangerous rip currents and breaking waves due to
elevated surf expected. Minor coastal flooding due to
abnormally high tides between 7.0 and 7.5 feet and gusty
southerly winds.

* WHERE…Beaches and coasts of Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa
Barbara, and San Luis Obispo Counties.

* WHEN…Through Monday morning.

* IMPACTS…Pooling of sea water is possible around high tide at
beach and harbor areas that is uncommon with normal tidal
ranges. Enhanced beach erosion is also possible. No
significant damage is expected. There is an increased risk of
ocean drowning. Rip currents can pull swimmers and surfers out
to sea. Waves can wash people off beaches and rocks, and
capsize small boats nearshore.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS…Peak high tides are expected between 8 am
and 11 am. A High Surf Advisory will likely be needed for Sunday
for the Central Coast and Ventura Coasts.
Remain out of the water due to hazardous swimming conditions, or
stay near occupied lifeguard towers. Rock jetties can be deadly
in such conditions, stay off the rocks.

The post Beach Hazards Statement issued January 3 at 2:01AM PST until January 5 at 10:00AM PST by NWS Los Angeles/Oxnard CA appeared first on News Channel 3-12.