Run for the Border: The Biden administration is talking tough with the expiration of Title 42, the Covid era policy that allowed quick deportation of migrants from the country before they could apply for asylum.

  The federal government is expecting as many as 13,000 people to cross the southern border each day. Texas cities Brownsville, Laredo, and El Paso declared a state of emergency.

  Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas  said that migrants arriving at the border illegally will now be labelled ineligible for asylum and face consequences including a five-year ban on re-entry and potential criminal prosecution. “The border is not open,” Mayorkas said.

The War Room: Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelensky says his military needs more time for planning and more equipment before launching a counteroffensive against Russia. He said the army would “lose a lot of people” if it starts now. 

  Zelensky said that western military equipment has been arriving “in batches,” but he’s waiting for more, particularly armored vehicles. Britain is sending long-range Storm Shadow missiles capable of hitting ammunition and fuel dumps from 150 miles away. 

  Despite what Zelensky says, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group private army, claims the Ukraine offensive has already begun. He said in a Telegram message, “Those territories that were liberated with blood and lives of our comrades every day progressing by dozens or hundreds of meters during many months, today are abandoned almost without any fight by those who are supposed to hold our flanks.” 

  And in the US, the Justice Department announced that it has transferred millions of dollars in assets seized from a Russian oligarch for use in rebuilding Ukraine, the first repurposing of funds taken because of  sanctions violations.

Death in Texas: Firearm deaths in Texas are on a dramatic rise since a previous peak in the 1990s, according to data compiled by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune.

  Gun deaths overall in Texas or up 50 percent since 1999 with homicides committed with a gun up 66 percent in the same period.

  Most of the state’s gun deaths are homicides and suicides. Texas has been relaxing its gun laws and suffering the results. Two years ago Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law what Republicans call a “constitutional carry” bill, allowing Texans to carry handguns without a license or training.

  Texas has had 17 mass shootings so far this year and three mass murders. The state has had 214 deaths by gun violence.

Ask E. Jean: A lawyer for former columnist E. Jean Carroll, who won a sexual assault and defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump this week, said the former president speaking in the CNN town hall Wednesday night may have given Carroll  ammo for a third lawsuit against the former president.

  Trump called Carroll’s claim of rape and defamation “fake” and said she’s a “wack job.”

  Trump at first said, “I never met this woman,” yet moments later said,  “I met her in the front door of Bergdorf Goodman. I was immediately attracted to her and she was immediately attracted to me.”

 He went on to say that within minutes the two were in a dressing room and “What kind of a woman meet somebody and brings them up and within minutes, you’re playing hanky-panky in a dressing room, okay?”

  Carroll told the NY Times she’s been insulted by better people. 

Deportmment of Edikashun: The Florida Department of Education announced this week that it approved 66 of 101 submissions for new social studies textbooks, some of which made the grade only after making changes. 

  In one case a refence to taking a knee in protest during the National Anthem was changed to say, “Point out the American Flag every time you see it. Make it a game. Who can find the most American Flags in a week?”

  In another, references to a “socialist economy” were changed to “planned economy.”

  In still another, a reference to “social justice” in the Hebrew Bible was changed to “key principles.”

  Initially, only 19 books were approved “due to inaccurate material, errors and other information that was not aligned with Florida Law,” the department said.

Tuning In: Some reports say CNN is ready to give a prime time slot to Kaitlan Collins, the morning anchor who hosted the Donald Trump town hall Wednesday night. It’s been clear CNN has been grooming Collins to be a star and the Trump show was a test of her mettle under heat. She hung in there, staying calm and challenging Trump with actual facts while he talked over her. 

Subway Killing: Daniel Penny, a 24-year-old Marine veteran who choked to death a mentally ill and erratic New York subway passenger, has been charged with manslaughter.

  Witnesses from the train told police that Jordan Neely, who worked the streets as a Michael Jackson impersonator, had been shouting at passengers but had not actually attacked anyone. The incident has put a focus on subway safety.

The Spin Rack: Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered the release of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was arrested this week as part of a corruption inquiry. The court ruled that Khan was illegally arrested. — The Biden administration announced the first regulations to limit greenhouse pollution from existing power plants with the intention of eliminating carbon dioxide emissions from electricity production by 2040 — The Dutch suspect in the 2005 disappearance of American student Natalee Holloway in Aruba will be extradited to the US to face charges that he tried to extort the Holloway family for information about the location Natalee’s body. Joran van der Sloot is serving time in Peru for the murder of a young woman. He was seen with Natalee Holloway leaving a nightclub on the evening she vanished.

Below the Fold: Alabama’s Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville had the following exchange with a radio host:

    Q: “Do you believe they should allow white nationalists in the military?”

 Tuberville: “Well, they call them that. I call them Americans.”